Japanese Sales Charts: PS4 Starts Slipping to Pre-Price Cut Numbers

Yup, it'll be back to the 5K to 10K in no time. At least with Wii U there are reasons for why the numbers aren't mind blowing, especially with NX looming. Sony has done a terrible job with PS4 over there, however.

"under the rather disappointing 20,000 mark again."

Is there something special about 20k? Wii U is doing half that, Xbox One, well I think it's literally trying to sell 1 a day, so we all know Japan is all about their smartphones. So whats special about 20k, rather than 25k or 15k, that makes anything under that disappointing? Is it a PS3 or Wii comparison from their heyday?

Shouldn't Sony just be happy it's doubling Wii U and X1 combined? Heck it's outselling new 3DS and new 3DS XL combined. How much more do you want? Smartphones win, what can I tell ya.

I wonder what triggered the Xbox sales spike.

@rjejr it actually outsold all 3DS models combined

@lacerz Well there ya go. It amazes me people still buy the old model, i think the new ones have been out over a year now in Japan, you would think that clearance sale would have been over long ago. Not sure how much cheaper they could be, but 2nd thumbstick, NFC, faceplates and super stable 3D should be worth the price difference. Unless they are all Hello Kitty, Monster Hunter and other themed models?

What in the name of Nep-nep is Extreme Dimension Tag Blanc + Neptune VS Zombie Army?

@rjejr
Well, the 3DS family is only roughly 1,000 below PS4 this week. Next week, unless PS4 holds stead or 3DS slips (which isn't likely) PS4 will be back below 3DS numbers.

If it had been pulling these numbers consistently I don't think the author would be taking issue. It's the fact it's still slumping down after the price cut, which means next week won't be as good as this one, and as I said the PS4 only outsold the 3DS family by about 1,000 units.

@rjejr Completely agree with this. You also have to bear in mind that the PS4 is going to be at least double the price of the 3DS and a big chunk more expensive than the Wii U. You also know that it's got things like KH3, FFXV, FFVII, DQXI, SO5 and more all coming along, albeit SO5 is also on PS3.

The 3DS is really cheap, its games are really cheap, they're also mainly aimed at children who tend to be much more led by fads and conforming to what their friends are playing (see Pokemon in 90s America). In some ways it's like comparing sales of Skittles to sales of fillet steak. Both food but bought for different reasons by different people and at different prices.

Bottom line, Japan just isn't that important to the video game industry anymore.......in terms of total software output and it's general appeal to the western world.

Nintendo, oddly for an insular company, does a much better job at keeping multiple demographics interested (in comparison to most third party Japanese companies, big and small.)

Saying Japan's market isn't as important anymore is naive. if you could win it back you'll be the king. But that's something only they themselves can do. Spread the word by mouth, convince friends consoles or PC is the way to go. Not lousy mobile phones.

@Riririn

But it's not, not compared to what it was 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 years ago. It sucks, Konami and Capcom were perhaps the best developers of the late 80's to mid 90's.

@Riririn
Nintendo is 'winning' Japan, yet MS surpassed Wii U's sales in one year, without a bit of support from Japan. I'm not going to say there aren't some great, and important, development studios from there anymore but lets be honest, 'winning' Japan isn't as big a deal in 2015 as it was in 1997.

Japan is coming out of its worse recession which has gone on for over 10 years. Rising house mortgages which take generations to pay off. People save rather than spend. Salaries were down 2.8% compared to previous year. And minimum wage is $6.90. No wonder consoles or anything luxurious is not selling well in that country. Families and professionals prefer to save rather than spend. Could explain why ios/android is doing well there cos of free games and cheap $1 apps, and possibly free mmo's on pcs.

@rjejr I completely agree. Everyone is always so disappointed over at NL and at least they have a reason with the Wii U selling so abysmally. But over here everyone should be happy. The PS4 is top of the charts week after week. You literally can't do better than #1. Just because it sold a little more or a little less week to week you shouldn't complain. The PS4 is a titan.

@TheLobster
When top of the charts is still sh*tty there's nothing to be happy about. The console market in Japan is in trouble and that's not a good thing.

Except that even while the console market is in trouble in Japan, the ps4 is still selling faster and better than any console before, a record pace even. The needle will move in Japan when killer software releases for them, i.e. Dragon Quest 11, FF15. Sure Sony would love to be selling more in japan, but US and EU are more important at this point, IMO. Maybe one day they will emerge from there mobile haze, but if not, so be it, Sony and Microsoft will do fine without them.

@Gamer83 Just proof that the bar is always moving and fans will never be happy.

@Gamer83 If Sony have done a terrible job with the PS4 in Japan, what word would you use to describe the job MS have done with the Xbone? Or, to a lesser degree, the job Nintendo have done with the Wii U? The latter might lead in total sales but it's cheaper and has been out for a couple of years more.

The tech arms race has never really interested the Japanese, hence the 3DS getting along very well being like an N64 with the fortune of only having to output about half the res of old SD TVs. Their most successful console ever was the incredibly underpowered DS... Then look how many Japanese PS1 games were basically slightly tuned up SNES games.

@Matroska

.......and despite the woes of the 8th generation of video game consoles, they still decimate mobile when it comes to quality.......really doesn't explain Japan's love affair with mediocre to downright shady mobile titles.

@Matroska

MS was never a factor in Japan so it's not even worth commenting. Nothing MS does will get the Japanese on board because even with the 360, which MS did try hard to court Japanese players with, it was still avoided.

As for the other two, I said the console market there is pretty much dead, which would imply I'm not impressed by the job anybody has done so you don't have to take offense and defend corporate mother Sony. Of course there are other factors but the bottomline is consoles are not selling the way they used to and it's up to and it's up to Sony and Nintendo figure out how to change that. So far both have failed miserably, that's the fact and people don't have to like it but do have to accept it.

@TheLobster

Last I knew there was nothing wrong with being disappointed by subpar performance.

@Gamer83
People seem to have a hard time adjusting to the new reality, where the Japanese simply aren't interested in home consoles anymore. Where gaming used to be part of a huge subculture, as time progresses it didn't become as mainstream as we all like to think; Japan has still very much got a culture of proud and shame, and to be sitting at home gaming means your pissing away time you could be working or studying.

But this said, there is still a enormous love for gaming, but mobile gave them a chance to look less like a "loser" while playing, because it's socially accepted since you play from and to your work/ college. Of course this is utter bull and people are addicted as can be to some f2p games, but as long as everyone believes you're a goalgetter, than that's fine.

But Japan still is a huge market, with more of their disposable income going to games than in any other modern Western country, just not to the games we would like. A UK f2p game consumer is worth about $0,50 - $1 per top 20 game, which is quite okay but you need massive numbers to succeed. In South Korea, where microtransactions are more common place in PC gaming, a f2p can make as much as $4 per person, per popular game. In Japan this figure is an estimated $50 - $55 per game, which is completely bonkers. I've actually attended a lecture about this, which focused on the chances for European devs to get a piece of the pie, but the numbers were staggering. And these estimates didn't even take in account the purchases made in the tons of slightly more unpopular games, so there is a huge amount of money in Japan to be divided and it's up to Sony to make gaming cool or accepted again.

This trend is one that no one could have predicted 10 years ago, not even taking the recession and their culture in account. Cause because so many people there grew up gaming, it was bound to become socially accepted and would stay a huge part of their lives and not something they'd be "ashamed" about, yet they are. That's why Sony is focusing so much on local celebrities in their commercials, as opposed to here, it's to show gaming at home is alright, because even .....- San is doing it. Ultimately I think Sony can make gaming cool again and at least part of a huge subculture. VR has the potential to give them something so cool, that it isn't frowned upon. You probably see some educative games that'll accompany the launch in Japan, but there is potential. But in the end there's just one thing they can do: make more and better games! We've seen what the right games can trigger in the Japanese and if they're given something they can't resist, it's just like with mobile games: they'll surrender themselves and totally go for it.

@Boerewors Nice essay. So much better than when I usually just say Japan has small apartments and small tvs so they don't need a home console, a small handheld screen will suffice. Which I dont' even know if that's true, but it sounds good. I would be willing to bet the average screen size in the US is larger than the average screen size in Japan. Higher average # of speakers hooked up to our surround sound systems too. (I have a 52" tv in my basement w/ 6 speakers, 39" tv in my bedroom w/ 5 speaker, and a 32" tv in my sons bedroom but no surround. I don't do a lot of mobile gaming.)

@rjejr
Lol, and in Texas TVs start at 60"...fact!

It was quite the essay, sorry bout that, but Japan and Japanese culture never ceases to amaze and interest me. I studied in Japan for almost half a year and in that time, where I actually studied a social phenomenon that is unique to Japanese culture, I didn't come an inch closer to understanding Japanese people than I would reading sales-charts for videogames; they have incredibly deep grounds and I learned there's a huge difference between 'knowing' a thing or two about a culture and really 'understanding' it.

So you might say both Japan, which I visit as often as I can, and gaming are two of my biggest passions...maybe because I know that no matter how much I learn about the two, or experience it first hand, there will always be things left to surprise me!

(Just half an essay, I'm getting there!)

@Boerewors "Texas TVs start at 60""

60 inches? I think you mean 60 FEET.

@rjejr
Texans are less hard to understand: they just do whatever feels right at that exact moment. And if that means you end up with a screen that costs more than the stadium it's in...so be it!

You know that in Norwegian slang it's pretty common for people to replace "crazy" with "Texas"? I'm not completely Texas or anything or making this stuff up, they have been using it for quite a while already and it just makes sense. But it's the good kind of crazy, not "West Virginia" crazy