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Forums - Sales Discussion - Switch overtakes total PS4 sales in Japan, in less than half the time

curl-6 on 18 May 2019
Pinkie_pie said:
curl-6 said:

You seem to have forgotten what the topic even is. Metacritic is totally irrelevant. We're talking about what sells in Japan. Look at Japan's software charts, look which system's games take nearly every spot on the chart; the Switch.

Allow me to answer the question for you; Switch is selling better than the Vita primarily because it has a far better library. That's what makes the difference between a portable selling less than the PS4 (Vita) and more than the PS4. (Switch) The games.

I didnt answer your question because i thought it was obvious when i said vita had no 1st party and 3rd party AAA games. You need to pay more attention to previous posts. Also the wii u has many of switchs 1st party games so why is switch on track to triple quadruple the wii u in sales in japan?

Because in addition to being portable, Switch has a better library than Wii U ever had, boasting improved versions almost all of Wii U's best games plus plenty more excellent games Wii U never got, and unlike Wii U it's not a horribly designed system with a cumbersome, unappealing gimmick nobody wanted or asked for.

Last edited by curl-6 - on 18 May 2019

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Farsala on 18 May 2019
curl-6 said:
Farsala said:

The Vita sold around 70% of PS4 in Japan, which is insane compared to NA and Europe at ~8% and ~13% respectively. (VGC numbers) Both are near the end of their life so I use current figures.

To put this more into perspective:

After 9 quarters, the Switch has sold around 71% of 3DS in Japan, NA and Others at 136% and 134%. (Nintendo shipments)

So we can definitely say that the Vita massively overperformed in Japan due to being portable. The Switch on the other hand is underperforming in Japan, most likely due to price. It is not guaranteed that Nintendo will do more than 1 price cut, if that.

None of that discounts that portability clearly isn't the only factor as Vita still failed to outsell PS4 in Japan.

Portability is clearly the only factor that Vita had as much sales as it did. Put it this way if the PS Vita was a  home console it would have sold as much as PSTV.



curl-6 on 18 May 2019
Farsala said:
curl-6 said:

None of that discounts that portability clearly isn't the only factor as Vita still failed to outsell PS4 in Japan.

Portability is clearly the only factor that Vita had as much sales as it did. Put it this way if the PS Vita was a  home console it would have sold as much as PSTV.

This isn't about the Vita's theoretical sales in some parallel universe though. It's about the Switch's sales in real life. To claim they are solely due to portability is simply out of touch with reality.

Last edited by curl-6 - on 18 May 2019

curl-6 on 18 May 2019

Okay the edit function is offline for some reason, but basically wanted to amend my post above to "painting portability as an automatic win button doesn't stack up in light of the non-portable PS4 outselling the portable Vita."

Now, obviously portability is a factor, I never disputed that, but the Switch's success cannot be solely attributed to it.



Farsala on 18 May 2019
curl-6 said:
Farsala said:

Portability is clearly the only factor that Vita had as much sales as it did. Put it this way if the PS Vita was a  home console it would have sold as much as PSTV.

This isn't about the Vita's theoretical sales in some parallel universe though. It's about the Switch's sales in real life. To claim they are solely due to portability is simply out of touch with reality.

Sorry I wasn't really disputing the reasons for Switch's success. I just added some sales for context. I just thought that the PS Vita's portability in Japan was understated.

I think it is fair that we agree on this statement though.

PS4 outsold the Vita in all countries due to games and other factors, but Vita had a stronger presence in Japan due to portability.



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curl-6 on 18 May 2019
Farsala said:
curl-6 said:

This isn't about the Vita's theoretical sales in some parallel universe though. It's about the Switch's sales in real life. To claim they are solely due to portability is simply out of touch with reality.

Sorry I wasn't really disputing the reasons for Switch's success. I just added some sales for context. I just thought that the PS Vita's portability in Japan was understated.

I think it is fair that we agree on this statement though.

PS4 outsold the Vita in all countries due to games and other factors, but Vita had a stronger presence in Japan due to portability.

Yeah sorry if I came on a bit strong. Context appreciated.



zippy on 18 May 2019

We shall see how much portability factors in when the inevitable Switch mini comes out. I'm thinking it will be the better selling of the two models when they do the chart breakdown. Of course it being cheaper will also help.



TheBraveGallade on 18 May 2019

Well the Vita didn't get MH, that alone decided that Vita would lose badly in Japan.
But remember, the Vita still had a higher market share than the PS4 throughout most of it's effective lifetime (which Id say ended in 2016, like how the 3ds's effective lifetime ended when USUM came out late 2017)



crissindahouse on 18 May 2019

Whataboutism is strong in this thread.

Congrats to Nintendo. They offer exactly what people in Japan want. Great games on a device playable everywhere



MasonADC on 18 May 2019

That’s great, but third parties will always ignore it sadly. LTD should be third place behind ds and 3ds