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Japan sales week 51: Total Nintendo domination

Celine

Member
Serious question, is console gaming viewed as strictly a kids hobby over there? Like is that why all these cartoony ass low budget games sell well over there?
Japan is an amusement oriented market.
While there sport simulations and cinematic games can sell well those kind of games aren't the pillar of the mass market (those games sell less than 1 million units to give you a reference) as instead happens in US and Europe (where Madden/Fifa, CoD, GTA/RDR are among the best sellers each year alongside the Nintendo big hits).
Japanese mass market is more attracted by gameplay oriented experiences especially the ones that can generate good word of mouth and possess good social qualities.

The peculiarity on how the events in the console space evolved in Japan compared to US and Europe is that Nintendo sells a lot of games on both of these markets however if in US/Europe markets other western third-party publishers sell a lot of software too (EA, Activision Blizzard, Take 2), in Japan only a couple of third-party game franchises can nowadays be certain to sell well over 1 million units (basically Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest) with a few unexpected hits on the side (the foreign owned Minecraft for instance).
In Japan the situation is currently so lopsided in favor of one publisher that Nintendo is as strong or stronger than all the other japanese publishers combined (I mean in term of software sold in the domestic market).
 
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"Nintendo is commercializing Sex again"
"Nintendo Switch isn't attractive and there's no catch phrase for that"
"Nintendo overpaid the actress for commercial"
"Nintendo Switch has no games to promote"
"Lazy ass advertisement"
"Don't sleep with a full make up on your face"

Many people were butthurt by Nintendo Switch monopoly in Japan and the actress in that commercial was hired to promote RingFit adventure. After RFA exploded in Japan thanks to the ads that played part in contributing the sales, Nintendo continues with the same actress to promote Nintendo Switch in 2020 holiday but the advertisement managed to offend some of those people too.



so that's why that crap gimmicky game sold well: bunch of 40 yo virgin japanese simps buying it because their perfect virtual girlfriend said so

really sad this Nintendominatrix
 

Celine

Member
I'd expect better from switch tbh. No competition in the mobile console space and it's the successor to the Nintendo portable and non portable lines with the full support of both behind it.
In the entire history of the japanese console industry the only console that have sold around 6 million units or more in Japan in a year was the DS in 2006 and 2007.
That should suggest what an exceptional year 2020 was for Switch.

In truth the most impressive aspect of the Switch is how good Nintendo software is selling on it.
Animal Crossing New Horizon became in 2020 the best selling console game ever in Japan, beating a record that Pokemon Red/Green held for around 20-25 years.
Before Switch only 11 games had ever sold more than 5 million units in Japan (almost every of which was published by Nintendo).
Animal Crossing NH, Smash Bros Ultimate, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 DX, Pokemon Sword/Shield are all performing so well that their sales trajectory should lead them all over 5 million units sold.
 
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In the entire history of the japanese console industry the only console that have sold around 6 million units or more in Japan in a year was the DS in 2006 and 2007.
That should suggest what an exceptional year 2020 was for Switch.

In truth the most impressive aspect of the Switch is how good Nintendo software is selling on it.
Animal Crossing New Horizon became in 2020 the best selling console game ever in Japan, beating a record that Pokemon Red/Green held for around 20-25 years.
Before Switch only 11 games had ever sold more than 5 million units in Japan (almost every of which was published by Nintendo).
Animal Crossing NH, Smash Bros Ultimate, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 DX, Pokemon Sword/Shield are all performing so well that their sales trajectory should lead them all over 5 million units sold.
"In the entire history of the japanese console industry the only console that have sold around 6 million units or more in Japan in a year was the DS in 2006 and 2007."

Not a fair comparison, they combined their handheld and console markets. Wii + DS slaughtered the switch

"Animal Crossing New Horizon became in 2020 the best selling console game ever in Japan, beating a record that Pokemon Red/Green held for around 20-25 years."

When you put it like that, I now have depression
 

Woopah

Member
are you genuinely thinking that minigame gimmick is selling on merit?
I think it's multiple factors:

1. Brand power - It's a famous franchise and many people who played it with their parents now have kids of their own.
2 Holiday season - software sales are usually high this time of year, especially for games that families can play together
3. Strong word of mouth - People who enjoy playing the game with their families tell their friends how much they are enjoying it
4. Big marketing campaign from Konami and Nintendo
 
PS5 lotteries, December 31

Aeon Hokkaido
2.jpg



Ojamakan Fukakusa Kyoto
2_o.jpg


Aeon Kyushu
1.jpg

PS5 vs GC



001.jpg


https://jp.gamesindustry.biz/article/2012/20122502/
 

Celine

Member
"In the entire history of the japanese console industry the only console that have sold around 6 million units or more in Japan in a year was the DS in 2006 and 2007."

Not a fair comparison, they combined their handheld and console markets. Wii + DS slaughtered the switch
I don't see why it is unfair since every Switch versions run the same games hence it's the same platform.

And it's not like annual sales of 6 million consoles for a console manufacturer whole ecosystem is a small figure in Japan.
For comparison here the annual sales for the PlayStation ecosystem from 1994 to 2019, in 2020 the whole PlayStation ecosystem had sales of around 800K consoles (chart courtesy of Chris1964 from ERA):
graph.png


The worrisome part for Sony is that the whole PlayStation ecosystem is slowing down to unprecedented low level in Japan, so much that I believe in 2021 it will once again fail to sell at least 1 million consoles in Japan.
 
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I think it's multiple factors:

1. Brand power - It's a famous franchise and many people who played it with their parents now have kids of their own.
2 Holiday season - software sales are usually high this time of year, especially for games that families can play together
3. Strong word of mouth - People who enjoy playing the game with their families tell their friends how much they are enjoying it
4. Big marketing campaign from Konami and Nintendo

my original post was about Ring Fit Adventure
 

nordique

Member
Their strategy changed after WiiU flopped and MHW commercial success in the west.

Rise for domestic market
World for Rotw

ahh gotcha. Fair

I haven’t really been following. That said though, the 3DS situation you referred to was a complete swap from psp/Sony handheld to Nintendo handheld

whereas I guess on the console side it went from wii to ps4/xb1

is that correct/what you meant?
 

nordique

Member
For sure, it was risky just expecting World 2 to be able to maintain the same level of sales.
There were two separate teams one focused on World and the other on Rise, overall this year was their most unsuccessful year in Japan in a long time.

Overall so far they saw a huge decline on Nintendo ecosystems due to not really having games lined-up for the Switch after being one of the Top 3rd Party publishers on the 3DS. Only title on the Switch that has surpassed 50K in Japan is Monster Hunter XX

Capcom 3DS Top 10
  1. Monster Hunter 4 - 3.591.334
  2. Monster Hunter Generations - 2.832.833
  3. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - 2.617.803
  4. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - 1.941.106
  5. Monster Hunter XX - 1.718.052
  6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies - 370.591
  7. Monster Hunter Stories - 316.470
  8. Resident Evil: Revelations - 302.965
  9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - 272.591
  10. Great Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 201.863
TOTAL: 14.165.608


The other issue they've faced in the past few years is that Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Dragon's Dogma, Devil May Cry & Sengoku Basara all declined. While they cannot launch a game of Monster Hunter World's scope every two years. Also they weren't prepared with Ace Attorney or new IPs for the Switch leading to their worst annual result in Japan in decades.

Capcom Software Top 100 Famitsu(2014-2020):

2014 - 3.098.464
  1. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - 2.381.177
  2. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 - 248.832
  3. [PS3] Sengoku Basara 4 - 234.995
2015 - 3.413.860
  1. [3DS] Monster Hunter Generations - 2.441.977
  2. [PS3/PS4] Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - 258.551
  3. [3DS] Great Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 191.237
2016 - 1.203.786
  1. [3DS] Monster Hunter Generations - 374.735
  2. [3DS] Monster Hunter Stories - 286.500
  3. [3DS] Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - 272.591
2017 - 2.606.026
  1. [3DS/NSW] Monster Hunter XX - 1.888.350
  2. [PS4] Resident Evil 7: biohazard - 335.081
  3. [3DS] Great Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2 - 110.941
2018 - 2.292.077
  1. [PS4] Monster Hunter: World - 1.962.221
  2. [NSW] Monster Hunter XX - 49.834
  3. [PS4] Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 - 44.689
2019 - 1.285.811
  1. [PS4] Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne - 493.831
  2. [PS4] Resident Evil 2 - 403.833
  3. [PS4] Devil May Cry V - 189.121
2020 - 293.683
  1. [PS4] Resident Evil 3 - 258.676
  2. [NSW/PS4] Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy - 21.440
  3. [PS4] Street Fighter V: Champion Edition - 8.705

Next year I would expect them to have their best sales in Japan since 2010 when they achieved 7.19 million sales across the Top 1000 games with 49 Titles across 5 Platforms - PSP, PS3, Wii, DS & 360.
In 2010 Xbox 360 Capcom titles actually sold more than they managed in 2020.

whoa that’s an incredible and informative post. Thank you for breaking that down. I think I follow now.

there may also be people like me as well who pick up rise in the west. I tried the original monster hunters l and I tried frequently from ps2 to psp to wii to 3ds but they never clicked Because It was the whole constant loading that killed it for me whereas rise looks very attractive with the breath of the wild style map and that might do it for me. I dunno how that personal preference relates to Japanese sales at all but I imagine it could make it more attractive for people with similar “barriers” to the franchise
 

Bodomism

Banned
I don't see why it is unfair since every Switch versions run the same games hence it's the same platform.

And it's not like annual sales of 6 million consoles for a console manufacturer whole ecosystem is a small figure in Japan.
For comparison here the annual sales for the PlayStation ecosystem from 1994 to 2019, in 2020 the whole PlayStation ecosystem had sales of around 800K consoles (chart courtesy of Chris1964 from ERA):
graph.png


The worrisome part for Sony is that the whole PlayStation ecosystem is slowing down to unprecedented low level in Japan, so much that I believe in 2021 it will once again fail to sell at least 1 million consoles in Japan.
Resident Evil VIII will save PS5
 

Bodomism

Banned
PS5 lotteries, December 31

Aeon Hokkaido
2.jpg



Ojamakan Fukakusa Kyoto
2_o.jpg


Aeon Kyushu
1.jpg

PS5 vs GC



001.jpg


https://jp.gamesindustry.biz/article/2012/20122502/
"In particular, I think that the problem is (2), and although Aniplex under Sony is making a lot of money with the gacha of the swimsuit character of FGO, it is double that the swimsuit expression can not be sold on PS or it is forced to correct. It's only standard. Doing this only increases the distrust of the user. I should quit this kind of thing immediately.
 However, unfortunately, it seems that it is taboo for Sony's upper management to touch on expression restrictions, so I expect that the opinion of the Ace Economic Research Institute this time will be completely silent. I'm sure Sony will regret it."

This guy is chad 💪
 
Resident Evil VIII will save PS5
I don't see why it is unfair since every Switch versions run the same games hence it's the same platform.

And it's not like annual sales of 6 million consoles for a console manufacturer whole ecosystem is a small figure in Japan.
For comparison here the annual sales for the PlayStation ecosystem from 1994 to 2019, in 2020 the whole PlayStation ecosystem had sales of around 800K consoles (chart courtesy of Chris1964 from ERA):
graph.png


The worrisome part for Sony is that the whole PlayStation ecosystem is slowing down to unprecedented low level in Japan, so much that I believe in 2021 it will once again fail to sell at least 1 million consoles in Japan.
Sony will fail to sell 1 million consoles in 2020 already and 2021 it could easily happen again. Also Sony will never sell 2 million in a year again with just the PS5 at that price and being that big. Maybe a slim version in 4 or 5 years can do something
 
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smbu2000

Member
Geo stores is very playstation centric.
That may be, but at my local Geo stores the ps section has been getting smaller and the switch section has been getting bigger it seems. Even before the ps5 release, I believe.
Also before the ps4 section was in more of a place of prominence (after the new release area), now the Switch has taken that spot and the ps4 section has been moved further back.

Could just be the stores around me though.
 

amigastar

Member
Switch – 211,725 (14,045,916)
PlayStation 4 – 10,291 (7,702,754)

Do i read this right that Switch has double the lifetime sales of PS4 already?
Switch seems like a huge success for Nintendo, didn't know that.
Still i would like to have a successor to 3DS from Nintendo, love my 3DS.
 
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smbu2000

Member
Switch – 211,725 (14,045,916)
PlayStation 4 – 10,291 (7,702,754)

Do i read this right that Switch has double the lifetime sales of PS4 already?
Switch seems like a huge success for Nintendo, didn't know that.
Still i would like to have a successor to 3DS from Nintendo, love my 3DS.
The SKUs are separated. You also need to add this to the PS4 total:
PlayStation 4 Pro – 52 (1,575,418)
and this to the Switch total:
Switch Lite – 51,579 (3,016,285)

That puts the PS4 total at about 9.27 million and the Switch total at just over 17 million. Not quite doubled yet, but should get there fairly quickly as the PS4 is barely selling anything and the Switch is on fire.
 

amigastar

Member
The SKUs are separated. You also need to add this to the PS4 total:
PlayStation 4 Pro – 52 (1,575,418)
and this to the Switch total:
Switch Lite – 51,579 (3,016,285)

That puts the PS4 total at about 9.27 million and the Switch total at just over 17 million. Not quite doubled yet, but should get there fairly quickly as the PS4 is barely selling anything and the Switch is on fire.
Ok, good to know, thx.
Switch is indeed on fire.
 

Shaqazooloo

Member

Don't know if this was already posted:​

Media Create – Software sales (Taiwan – Top 5)​

01./02. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo) {2019.10.31}
02./01. [PS4] Cyberpunk 2077 (Sega) {2020.12.10}
03./00. [NSW] Super Mario Party (Nintendo) {2018.10.05}
04./05. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.12.15}
05./03. [NSW] Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Nintendo) {2020.11.20}

Number of games in Top 5

NSW – 4
PS4 – 1

Media Create – Software sales (South Korea – Top 5)​

01./02. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo) {2019.10.18}
02./03. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) {2020.03.20}
03./04. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.12.15}
04./00. [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15}
05./00. [NSW] Super Mario Party (Nintendo) {2018.10.05}

Number of games in Top 5
 
I see PS5 in Japan

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"Chinese resellers are rumbling around Yodobashi."




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Damn.......

"I got 300,000 New Year's gifts from Yodobashi early in the new year
People who are screaming about reselling the PS5 are just jealous of others making money after all."

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Kerotan

Member
Sony's strategy to ship less console in Japan is clearly benefitting scalpers greatly.

I think PS5 current situation is much worse than PS4 late launch window.
Yeah but it affects them elsewhere. Ultimately ps5 is the most attractive console to buy at launch ever and Sony could never meet demand. Scalpers were always going to win.
 

Shaqazooloo

Member
It'd be nice if their was somewhat of a competition in Japan, I was hoping the Xbox would at least do better than the One did and I don't really think Playstation is gonna be that competitive with the Switch or what comes after, even if you live in Kerotan Kerotan 's world that means Sony has nothing to go against in Japan.

As much as I love seeing Nintendo kick ass, I don't exactly like it being one-sided, at least in Japan.

It's still early though so, maybe PS5 will end up being decent competition for Nintendo down the road.
 
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Kerotan

Member
It'd be nice if their was somewhat of a competition in Japan, I was hoping the Xbox would at least do better than the One did and I don't really think Playstation is gonna be that competitive with the Switch or what comes after, even if you live in Kerotan Kerotan 's world that means Sony has nothing to go against in Japan.

As much as I love seeing Nintendo kick ass, I don't exactly like it being one-sided, at least in Japan.

It's still early though so, maybe PS5 will end up being decent competition for Nintendo down the road.
You're comparing different types of consoles in a market that favours portables.

Nintendo have no portable consoles to compete against and PlayStation has no worthy traditional home console to compete against. They are both flourishing in their respect fields.
 

Bodomism

Banned
You're comparing different types of consoles in a market that favours portables.

Nintendo have no portable consoles to compete against and PlayStation has no worthy traditional home console to compete against. They are both flourishing in their respect fields.
Nintendo Switch sold around 6M units in 2020 while Sony PS4+PS5 sold less than 1M units in 2020.

Nintendo software also made up nearly 75% of total software sales in 2020.

There's no competition in Japan. Nintendo Switch is clearly dominating Japan like never before.
 

noshten

Member
You're comparing different types of consoles in a market that favours portables.

Nintendo have no portable consoles to compete against and PlayStation has no worthy traditional home console to compete against. They are both flourishing in their respect fields.

Microsoft is also flourishing by closing the gap with the PlayStation during the launch year of XSX in Japan,
Everybody gets a Win!

2014 PS4 vs X1
PS4 - 970.667 (95.8%)
X1 - 43.267 (4.2%)

2020 PS5 vs XSX

PS5 - 241.962 (88.6%)
XSX - 31.219 (11.4%)
 
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