• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

"Nintendo has practically eradicated PlayStation" from Japanese market | 99% of game sales of 2021 in Japan is switch

buizel

Banned
As a reactionary take on the title bcuz reading - why would anyone make games for any other consoles if it's a 99% disparity? Probably some weird percentage thing I don't get.
 

Woopah

Member
As a reactionary take on the title bcuz reading - why would anyone make games for any other consoles if it's a 99% disparity? Probably some weird percentage thing I don't get.
The title is massive clickbait. Basically there were no major releases in the first few weeks of the year, so almost every game in the top 30 was Switch evergreens, with a couple of recent PS4 releases. That's where the 99% comes from.

PS4 doesn't have a lot of evergreen software, but third parties can still get very good sales from the platform.
 

Neo_Geo

Banned
Same guy who predicted that the Wii U would be extremely successful haha, or that said that PS5 isn't going to be successful in Japan because... it's white.

This dude is basically Japan's Michael Pachter. His insight is interesting and at times funny, but should be taken exactly as seriously as Pachter's.
The Wii U was a very expensive paid beta test for the Nintendo Switch, so there is a bit of truth to that statement.
 

FStubbs

Member
Kids today dont care about graphics, but fun games. And they enjoy 1000 times more games as mario kart than any sony exclusive.

This is also a generational issue: kids today care about fun games, gamers of 35-45 care about graphics and muscles of kratos.
I don't think this is true - or at least you're 5-10 years off when it comes to graphics fans. Gen X and older Millenial gamers are the ones who sold out the NES classic for example. I'm guessing other than kids, they're also the core audience on Switch.
 

iHaunter

Member

Yeah, I don't think Playstation gives a shit, they're selling almost as much as Xbox and Switch Combined.

october-2020-sales-1-1.png
 

Woopah

Member
Yeah, I don't think Playstation gives a shit, they're selling almost as much as Xbox and Switch Combined.

october-2020-sales-1-1.png
Switch will outsell the PS4 in roughly 18 months, but that doesn't take anything away from Sony's achievements this gen which are fantastic.
 
Last edited:

Redlancet

Banned
He just mentioned:
-A post apocalyptic linear action game
-An open world game set in feudal Japan
-A creator game
-An openworld Spider-man game
-A remake of Demon's Souls. A title that is beloved by Japanese players.

"Woke walking simulators"
What in the hell are you talking about?
This whole "woke walking sim" its the gaming equivalent of the pillowfuckers who cant get any pussy action and label all woman "frigid bitch"

I pity them,weak and médiocre
 

Flutta

Banned
PlayStation practically does not care for Japan anymore.
Dont think that is true at all. They do care maybe not as much as you want them to. Besides its the otherway around actually, most japanese gamers dont care about console gaming anymore. But you already knew that.
 
Last edited:

mortal

Gold Member
This whole "woke walking sim" its the gaming equivalent of the pillowfuckers who cant get any pussy action and label all woman "frigid bitch"

I pity them,weak and médiocre
It's just a series of dumb buzzwords in this case.
Even more so when it's obvious he doesn't like TLOU part 2, even to the point where he's willing to ignore all the other variety of tiles on offer from Sony. Titles that are the complete opposite of that shallow criticism.

It's nonsense lol
 

MagnesG

Banned
He just mentioned:
-A post apocalyptic linear action game
-An open world game set in feudal Japan
-A creator game
-An openworld Spider-man game
-A remake of Demon's Souls. A title that is beloved by Japanese players.

"Woke walking simulators"
What in the hell are you talking about?
Ohh suddenly we get all rational about it.
 

mortal

Gold Member
What do you expect with Sony pandering to Western SJW blue hairs with their game making?

The audience for Sony games has grown considerably over time since the 90's to include all sorts of people around the world.
Obviously this required becoming more mindful of some cultural differences for the marketing, right?
I'd imagine a similar logic applies to game development. There are more game designers from all around the planet than at time 20 years ago, where most of the premier talent were coming from.
Game designers with different influences and design philosophies that might not coincide with those of Japanese developers It's not just Japanese developers at the cutting edge anymore.

Whatever the reasons Sony isn't dominating the Japanese market as much Nintendo is likely due to a myriad of factors.
Reducing it all down to Sony pandering to western SJW blue hairs is such a ridiculous generalization.
So anyone that enjoys their current output of games is considered an SJW? That's millions of people from multiple regions in the western world.

Like come on really?
 

mortal

Gold Member
Ohh suddenly we get all rational about it.
I don't understand, who is 'we'?

It just seemed really silly to me that one can see a list that includes several games that are literally open world, aren't politically charged, let alone far left leaning; and still refer to them as walking simulators or SJW.

Am I crazy?
 

oagboghi2

Member
I don't understand, who is 'we'?

It just seemed really silly to me that one can see a list that includes several games that are literally open world, aren't politically charged, let alone far left leaning; and still refer to them as walking simulators or SJW.

Am I crazy?
It was an obvious joke.
 

BootsLoader

Banned
Dont think that is true at all. They do care maybe not as much as you want them to. Besides its the otherway around actually, most japanese gamers dont care about console gaming anymore. But you already knew that.
I literally mean what you exactly said. Japanese people are mobile oriented. That’s why Sony didn’t release a new handheld, because Nintendo dominates in that space. So Sony doesn’t care anymore.
 

iHaunter

Member
Nintendo Switch will outsell PS4 effortlessly and which country do you think gives Nintendo that much advantages over Sony?
It's only because of handhelds. If Sony released another handheld, they'd be back in. Japan is heavy adopters of handhelds and eat it up.

If there's any criticism of Sony, it's that they gave up too quickly on the Vita/Vita 2 respectfully.
 

MagnesG

Banned
I don't understand, who is 'we'?

It just seemed really silly to me that one can see a list that includes several games that are literally open world, aren't politically charged, let alone far left leaning; and still refer to them as walking simulators or SJW.

Am I crazy?
The whole Uncharted series = at least 30% walking simulator
Uncharted DLC = sjw
Last of Us 2 trans using steroid as Abby model, then act like that body mass is a normal thing for women, it's possible if thereo a gym bla bla bla = sjw

Am I wrong?
 

mortal

Gold Member
The whole Uncharted series = at least 30% walking simulator
If 70% of the entire Uncharted series does not consist of walking ( according to you) then how can it be considered a walking simulator? That doesn't make any sense lol.

Uncharted DLC = sjw
Wait, can you explain how the Uncharted DLC is sjw? The entire series is inspires by Hollywood blockbuster films. It's more or less a power fantasy. What is that equation of yours even based on?
Last of Us 2 trans using steroid as Abby model, then act like that body mass is a normal thing for women, it's possible if thereo a gym bla bla bla = sjw
I can understand not liking how a character is written, I've read/ listened to some decent arguments criticizing character writing in TLOU. Although your criticism can be boiled down to girl with muscles bad.

You call Abby trans because she's more muscular than most conventional female characters in games? Really?

Ironically enough there are other characters within TLOU 2 confirmed to be trans, yet you don't cite that. Which just makes your criticism more shallow lol
Am I wrong?
Imo, yes.
 

Bodomism

Banned
It's only because of handhelds. If Sony released another handheld, they'd be back in. Japan is heavy adopters of handhelds and eat it up.

If there's any criticism of Sony, it's that they gave up too quickly on the Vita/Vita 2 respectfully.
Thanks to Japan, Nintendo Switch will outsell PS4 effortlessly.

Moral of the story, Japan is a big market where Nintendo dominates over 85% of both hardware and software.
 

e&e

Banned
Nier Automata on Switch wouldn't be possible.


My problem with the Switch is that its extremely underpowered hardware. Sure its better than smartphones but it won't push gaming forward. The power gap between a PS5 and the Switch is vast.
What? Are you so unaware of your use of word impossible when The Witcher 3 is on the damn Switch (something I read was iMpOsSiBlE)?
 

MagnesG

Banned
If 70% of the entire Uncharted series does not consist of walking ( according to you) then how can it be considered a walking simulator? That doesn't make any sense lol.


Wait, can you explain how the Uncharted DLC is sjw? The entire series is inspires by Hollywood blockbuster films. It's more or less a power fantasy. What is that equation of yours even based on?

I can understand not liking how a character is written, I've read/ listened to some decent arguments criticizing character writing in TLOU. Although your criticism can be boiled down to girl with muscles bad.

You call Abby trans because she's more muscular than most conventional female characters in games? Really?

Ironically enough there are other characters within TLOU 2 confirmed to be trans, yet you don't cite that. Which just makes your criticism more shallow lol

Imo, yes.
Walking simulator is just a jab for what it does, and 30% is me being generous it's more like half the games you're just dangling around the controller moving on one fixed path.

Real life model for Abby is a trans who injected steriods into his body aka not even a real woman. But yeah since it is a game let's just call him a woman right?

New hollywood = sjw fest

I'm not being overly serious here, but your ignorance is just off the charts.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
It's only because of handhelds. If Sony released another handheld, they'd be back in. Japan is heavy adopters of handhelds and eat it up.

If there's any criticism of Sony, it's that they gave up too quickly on the Vita/Vita 2 respectfully.
Yeah, so it’s Sony’s fault for throwing the towel, just like it’s Nintendo’s fault for giving up on the specs race in the console arena. Only the second one turned out to be an actually successful decision for the time being, in more than one market. People should stop pretending the Switch’s success is only the result of a lack of effort from Sony. You were all singing a very different tune in January 2017, when PS4 was thriving against the nonexistent WiiU and the X1 needing a hardware upgrade to stay relevant.

About Sony getting back in with a Vita 2, it’s not that simple anymore. They wouldn’t be competing with an underpowered Nintendo handheld-only this time, they’d be up against Nintendo’s latest and greatest games. And it wouldn’t be that easy for them to make a vastly more powerful product without having to make some serious compromises, and PlayStation fans have showed time and again that they don’t want to compromise. A good part of Sony abandoning Vita is that the machine was a compromise in too many ways compared to their home console, a premium product that couldn’t offer the premium experiences Sony fans expected.

It’s time to realize Nintendo took hold of a niche that the competitors didn’t even suspect existed, with a product that’s unique in a lot of ways. It’s debatable if there’s room for two competitors in that niche.
(before anyone tries to be a smartass here, “niche” doesn’t necessarily mean small-size)
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I dont understand why sony couldn't launch their own handheld, the way games scale thses days would make it much easier to develop simultaneously for ps5 and and the handheld. Where as the vita sony had to dedicate separate teams to each machine, and this resulted in far less games for the handheld. Makes more sense in terms of potential buyers than psvr2.
 

Woopah

Member
The whole Uncharted series = at least 30% walking simulator
Uncharted DLC = sjw
Last of Us 2 trans using steroid as Abby model, then act like that body mass is a normal thing for women, it's possible if thereo a gym bla bla bla = sjw

Am I wrong?

The "woke walking simulator" attack against Sony titles is just as bad as the "kiddie" attack against Nintendo titles. Threads are better off without this sort of pettiness.
There's many legitimate criticisms that can be made of Sony's titles, but they don't include "there's walking in them!" or "there's women in them!"
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Because it makes no sense to invest more than $1 to scale a game down for Sony handheld. There are a lot of better ways to spend that $1
 

Celine

Member
You just posted a list of portable games not console games
Uh, I posted top 20 best selling console games in Japan.
Handheld consoles, home / TV / stationary consoles, tabletop consoles are all videogame consoles.

Most of the franchises that appears on the list are mainstays for the japanese console market for a long time like Pokemon (introduced on GB in 1996), Animal Crossing (introduced on N64 in 2001), Super Mario Bros (introduced on FC/NES in 1985) , Smash Bros (introduced on N64 in 1998), Mario Kart (introduced on SFC/SNES in 1992), Monster Hunter (introduced on PS2 in 2004) and Dragon Quest (introduced on FC/NES in 1986), with only Splatoon being a new IP introduced in the last decade (keep in mind that if we knew how much Minecraft had shipped in total on every consoles in Japan it would be part of the list).
Best selling game on PS4 in Japan? A game in the Monster Hunter franchise.
Second best selling game on PS4 in Japan? A game in the Dragon Quest franchise.

Anyway the point I was making is that the japanese console market is unique compared all the other markets.
In no other market you have one single publisher, which is also a platform holder, with such big software market share compared to all the other publishers combined.
In US Nintendo sell a lot of games but it is counterbalanced by other western third-party publishers which also sell a lot of games (CoD, GTA, RDR, Madden, Fifa, NBA 2K, Assassins Creed, Mortal Kombat etc...).
In Japan Nintendo's first-party software usually own > 20% of the physical software market share and in recent years, with Nintendo holding strong and japanese third-party declining software sales, this percentage surged to an absurd height.
In the latest Famitsu magazine issue it was revealed the top 100 best selling games for 2020 and combining them with the weekly sales data for the year, gave to Nintendo's first-party (Nintendo+TPC) a software market share close to 60% (58.45%) while all the other third-party publishers and SIE accounted for a measly 40%.
This is quiet frankly unprecedented, so much that only the early days of the Famicom era (when videogame console with intercheangeable games was popularized to the mass) could resemble the same situation.

For those interested in the top 100 best selling games of 2020 in Japan, GameDataLibrary reported the figure (click on the link):
EtgaHXVXAAIHXZr



For those that don't understand why I'm saying it is unprecedented what's happening in Japan, take a look at this chart courtesy of Hiska-kun from ERA which depicts the annual physical total software sales by the top 10 publishers in Japan from 2013 to 2020 (2013-2019 uses Media Create top 1000 data, 2020 uses Famitsu top 100 data + weekly top 30):
2021-02-06-13-51-49.jpg
 
Last edited:

Celine

Member
Yeah, I don't think Playstation gives a shit, they're selling almost as much as Xbox and Switch Combined.
Launch aligned (by quarter) Switch is ahead of the PS4 by more than 12 million units:
2LicUWO.jpg


However as you said I don't think SIE cares much about Japan, in the last decade they shifted their focus on the west and PS4 is without doubt the most successful and profitable PlayStation console ever (by far).
It's just that Japan isn't an irrelevant market as some pretend to be only because PlayStation is faltering there, Nintendo's the living proof that it's possible to be successful there and reap a lot of profits while doing so.
 

Woopah

Member
I think Sony does care about Japan but they are more focused on their own performance than Nintendo's.

They'll be happy that the PS4 saw growth in the US and unhappy that they didn't see growth in Japan. Switch outselling them in both countries won't be too much of a concern.
 

iHaunter

Member
Yeah, so it’s Sony’s fault for throwing the towel, just like it’s Nintendo’s fault for giving up on the specs race in the console arena. Only the second one turned out to be an actually successful decision for the time being, in more than one market. People should stop pretending the Switch’s success is only the result of a lack of effort from Sony. You were all singing a very different tune in January 2017, when PS4 was thriving against the nonexistent WiiU and the X1 needing a hardware upgrade to stay relevant.

About Sony getting back in with a Vita 2, it’s not that simple anymore. They wouldn’t be competing with an underpowered Nintendo handheld-only this time, they’d be up against Nintendo’s latest and greatest games. And it wouldn’t be that easy for them to make a vastly more powerful product without having to make some serious compromises, and PlayStation fans have showed time and again that they don’t want to compromise. A good part of Sony abandoning Vita is that the machine was a compromise in too many ways compared to their home console, a premium product that couldn’t offer the premium experiences Sony fans expected.

It’s time to realize Nintendo took hold of a niche that the competitors didn’t even suspect existed, with a product that’s unique in a lot of ways. It’s debatable if there’s room for two competitors in that niche.
(before anyone tries to be a smartass here, “niche” doesn’t necessarily mean small-size)
It was not a successful decision because Nintendo is still heavily losing the race.

See chart.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Walking simulator is just a jab for what it does, and 30% is me being generous it's more like half the games you're just dangling around the controller moving on one fixed path.
What you're describing are linear games, not walking simulators. Even as a jab it doesn't really apply.
If there was excessive walking I'd understand, but in those games you run, climb, swim, shoot & hide behind cover, solve puzzles, and occasionally ride vehicles. All of that done with linear level design in mind.

Your argument is pretty weak.

Real life model for Abby is a trans who injected steriods into his body aka not even a real woman. But yeah since it is a game let's just call him a woman right?
1. Abby is fictional character, not a real person.

2. There are two models for the fictional character Abby. Jocelyn Mettler modeled for her face & Colleen Fotsch modeled for her body.
Neither are trans in real life as far as I'm aware. The latter is a biological woman who is a competitive cross-fit athlete. She's in very good physical shape compared to most people, let alone the average woman.
She still isn't some shredded muscled freak, as her physique (and by extension Abby's) is that of a woman that does CrossFit and strength training. She's jacked sure, but she still retains the natural frame of a woman.
Men competing in CrossFit look physically different than women doing the same. You know because our species is dimorphic.
Even if she took enchantments like steroids or var (which is probable) that still wouldn't make her trans, that's just silly. She's literally a woman born with two XX chromosomes, ovaries, & a womb.
If that isn't considered a "real" woman by your standards, then I don't know what you're talking about. Not sure you even know what you're talking about tbh.

New hollywood = sjw fest
That's not even an argument lol

Uncharted came out in 2007 and clearly draws some inspiration from older Hollywood movies like Indiana Jones and other romanticized adventure stories.
Stories where the hero is always in perilous situations but manages to make it out alive. It's very traditional storytelling.

What does "new Hollywood" have anything to do with this?

I'm not being overly serious here, but your ignorance is just off the charts.
lol if anything your lack of self awareness here is off the charts.
 
Last edited:

Woopah

Member
It was not a successful decision because Nintendo is still heavily losing the race.

See chart.
Only if you arbitrarily ignore PS4's three year head start.

PS4 will end up with over 115 million consoles sold and Switch will end up even higher than that, so the decision to move to one platform was a very successful decision for no companies.
 

Kerotan

Member
Switch will outsell the PS4 in roughly 18 months, but that doesn't take anything away from Sony's achievements this gen which are fantastic.
Yeah and the fact that if Sony wanted the ps4 to sell a lot more they could have. A ps4 super slim starting at €199 gets them to 140M.
 

Woopah

Member
Yeah and the fact that if Sony wanted the ps4 to sell a lot more they could have. A ps4 super slim starting at €199 gets them to 140M.
Exactly. PS2 was able to reach very high sales in part to due to the slow start of the PS3. But that's not an ideal situation for Sony. We've seen from their latest report that they want hardware buyers to move over to PS5 very quickly (while having current PS4 owners still buy lots of software).

Unit sales are important for these companies, but profit is more important. Sony and Nintendo could both cut the price of the hardware to sell more units, but it doesn't make too much business sense for them to do so. I think PS4 will eventually be phased out without any further price cuts, while Switch will get a new revision instead of a price cut (at least in the foreseeable future, Switch could get a price cut next year or in 2023).
 

K1Expwy

Member
Switch is on track to be the 2nd best selling platform ever in Japan. The traditional gaming mark is growing, not shrinking.
Switch tracking for 2nd best ever-- with no companion platform like Nintendo of old, while yet another home-only console sells sub-10m (PS4, followed by PS5), and Xbox remains Xbox-- is a sharp decline from the ~75m hardware units of 7th gen (DS+PSP+Wii+PS3+360)

And we won't talk about arcade centers, gaming-only retail, and print magazines, that have either shut down or downsized in the past 10 years
(I know, it's the 2020s, but gaming magazines and B&M retail in Japan would still be around in the 2020s, if the gaming market had more activity to support them)
 

AmuroChan

Member
I think Sony does care about Japan but they are more focused on their own performance than Nintendo's.

They'll be happy that the PS4 saw growth in the US and unhappy that they didn't see growth in Japan. Switch outselling them in both countries won't be too much of a concern.

Sony's strategy in Japan is mobile. Fate Grand/Order alone has grossed them $4B+ in the last few years. That's probably more profit than every 1st party Vita game has made combined. You can also see it in their recent acquisitions in the anime space and partnership with Kadokawa. Anime and mobile gacha games are a perfect pairing. Low development costs with huge earning potential.
 

Woopah

Member
Switch tracking for 2nd best ever-- with no companion platform like Nintendo of old, while yet another home-only console sells sub-10m (PS4, followed by PS5), and Xbox remains Xbox-- is a sharp decline from the ~75m hardware units of 7th gen (DS+PSP+Wii+PS3+360)

And we won't talk about arcade centers, gaming-only retail, and print magazines, that have either shut down or downsized in the past 10 years
(I know, it's the 2020s, but gaming magazines and B&M retail in Japan would still be around in the 2020s, if the gaming market had more activity to support them)
Famitsu at least is still around and we know for a fact that video game hardware and software sales at retail are growing.

I'm not saying the traditional video game market is exactly the same as it was 10 or 20 years ago (it's changed, just like in every other country). I'm saying that the market is strong and growing, with 2021 set to be another year of growth.
Sony's strategy in Japan is mobile. Fate Grand/Order alone has grossed them $4B+ in the last few years. That's probably more profit than every 1st party Vita game has made combined. You can also see it in their recent acquisitions in the anime space and partnership with Kadokawa. Anime and mobile gacha games are a perfect pairing. Low development costs with huge earning potential.
Yes sorry I should have specified that I was looking at PlayStation's strategy rather than the company as a whole. Their anime part are in a much better place in Japan than PlayStation and don't face the same challenges.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom