noname2200 said: Actually, I'd disagree with that statement. Gaming in Japan isn't dead, it's just transferred to the handhelds (especially the DS) and to non-traditional titles. For the Wii, six titles went platinum in Japan alone, including Mario Party 8, Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Wii Play. Six more titles went over 500k, including Mario & Sonic and Wario Ware. Four more are over 250k, and 31 games total are over 100k. The thing is, Nintendo is dominating the list, because it's the one offering non-traditional titles. Namco and Konami are also benefitting primarily on the strength of such titles. Capcom's there too, but on the lower end, and just with traditional titles. Long story short: gaming in Japan isn't dead, it's just evolved to the changing environment. |
See, here's the problem: The X360, PS2 and PS3, despite their userbases, manage to sell core titles. Not as much as they used to, but despite the userbases, there have been some successes, again despite the user bases.
You have to realize something is wrong with your userbases' buying habits (the Wii's) when Metal Gear Solid 4 on PS3 can nearly outsell your top 2, 3rd party games on another system with well over twice the userbase.
Here's the damning list against the Wii of Top 3rd Party Console Games. All next-gen systems, with games above 100,000 units sold:
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System | Title | Units Sold |
PS3 | Metal Gear Solid 4 | 652,101 |
Wii | Dragon Quest Swords | 502,193 |
PS3 | Dynasty Warriors 5 | 411,405 |
PS3 | Winning Eleven 2008 | 321,462 |
PS3 | Devil May Cry 4 | 311,530 |
PS3 | Gundam Mousou | 298,005 |
PS3 | Yakuza 3 | 277,287 |
Wii | Resident Evil: UC | 276,993 |
Wii | Deca Sports | 246,045 |
Wii | Dragonball Z 3 | 244,432 |
Wii | Tales of Symphonia: DoTNW | 237,059 |
PS3 | Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit | 171,399 |
X360 | Tales of Vesperia | 153,125 |
PS3 | Ridge Racer 7 | 153,026 |
PS3 | Valkyria Chronicles | 150,324 |
PS3 | Blade Storm | 141,905 |
PS3 | Gundam: Target In Sight | 139,296 |
Wii | Resident Evil 4 | 138,593 |
Wii | Powerful Pro Baseball | 138,252 |
Wii | Family Trainer | 137,380 |
Wii | Family Ski | 136,566 |
PS3 | Soul Calibur IV | 133,973 |
PS3 | Call of Duty 4: MW | 128,754 |
PS3 | Pro Yakuu Spirits | 111,546 |
Wii | Gundam 0079 | 111,091 |
Wii | Chocoboo's Mysterious Dungeon | 110,220 |
PS3 | Disgaea 3 | 108,977 |
Wii | Winning Eleven Playmaker | 108,803 |
Wii | One Piece Unltd. Adv. | 107,594 |
X360 | Infinite Undiscovery | 106,403 |
Wii | Master of Festivals | 104,960 |
Wii | Shiren the Wanderer 3 | 103,772 |
X360 | Dead or Alive 4 | 103,150 |
Wii Total Sales | 2,703,953 | |
PS3 Total Sales | 3,510,990 | |
X360 Total Sales | 362,678 |
As it stands, The Playstation 3 is the best seller of 3rd party software over 100k (and most likely entirely). Period. Maybe that's me, but if console has almost 1/3rd the hardware units in the wild, yet are outselling your competition, there's a massive problem. I'm not going to comment further than this, because I think the numbers speak for themselves.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.