| ninetailschris said: "While this is indeed a small cross section of both the country and the community, the demand for the console is clearly high and the comments regarding the inability to secure a preorder in most stores rang true as of all the stores i frequent i have rarely ever seen preorder slots available unless they had been put out or advertised within an hour or my arrival." I honestly don't understand, how people can creditable make this argument anymore. We seen it now 5 times. Lines/pre-orders in Japan means absolutely nothing. Preorders hard to get for Wiiu? It didn't mean high demand. Preorders for vita? It didn't mean high demand. Preorders for 3ds? It didn't mean high demand. Preorders for vita tv. It didn't mean high demand. Preorders for ps3 fat. You get the point. When will this argument based on pre-orders die? For all we know they shipped as little as vita tv. Obviously it's not that low but you get the idea. If we don't know numbers. We can't say high or low. |
The last time Yodobashi, Bic and Yamada Denki were accepting preorders in volumes as high as they have done for the PlayStation 4, it was for the original Wii, which hit 400k in the first day in Japan but was limited in stock quantity, prior to that was the PlayStation 2 which hit 600k in the first day and ran in to supply issues early on, but still pulled a million in the first 10 days.
Your examples are all flawed, because:
WiiU was poorly placed in Japan, with many customers getting their Nintendo fix on the 3DS after its sales had improved.
Vita launched with a high price and against the relative success of the thriving (in japan) PSP that not only had an expansive library but cheaper games
3DS launch in Japan was terrible, just as it was everywhere else in the world because early support was borderline nonexistant, and the media had run with stories of kids getting headaches and/or seizures from the 3D screen for weeks prior to its launch.
Vita TV is considered by many to be an optional Vita accessory that not many really wanted, much of its usefulness in Japan is in streaming the PS4 to other displays, something not possible without the PS4 having launched.
PS3 suffered because of the extrodinarily high price, being slated in the media as too expensive with no Japanese games, despite this is still sold over 81k the first day.
For all of the Nintendo systems, advertising in stores, on TV and on the streets was also virtually non existant, so the demographic most likely to buy it did not understand what the product even was.
The huge difference here is that the entire country has seen the success of the PS4 elsewhere, and the media has nothing but praise for the console, with extensive advertising in every store, on the streets, in subway car displays, on TV and radio.
But hey, don't take my word for it, see for yourself in a week when the sales are in.
