Is Nintendo focusing to much on Japan?

[Joelcool7]

padib said:

Joelcool7 said:

I agree Nintendo is always developing products with the future in mind big time. I am very sure that they realized back before N-Gage was released that smart phones would be future competitors, though I doubt they knew Apple would be their main competitor. I'm not sure how they plan to counter Apple, but I know Sony is not their main concern anymore and with MH the only threat to Nintendo in Japan is iOS and Android. I am unsure about how Nintendo could land a blow against Apple since its software sales aren't really public and games are not its main selling feature.

Nintendo cannot convince gamers to buy a 3DS instead of a phone like they can with Vita. Fact is everyone needs a phone, so what can Nintendo do to harm Apple?

As for the GCN and GBA, both consoles had MarioKart on them. GBA had side scrolling Mario games just like DS and Wii do. Nintendo's first party software was amazing on both platforms, though it did target the niche Nintendo fan market. The thing that caused Wii and DS to succeed was rappid growth in the industry caused by bringing in non-gamers. Only problem is Nintendo hasn't shown a single 3DS title to date aimed at these non-gamers and Monster Hunter isn't going to appeal to the market Nintendo had with DS.

Essentially 3DS is a niche product just like GCN and GBA were. Until Nintendo gives consumers BrainAge: Train your brain in 3D, 3DSports and other games targetting the non-gaming demographic they will have trouble. Actually if Animal Crossing fails and so does Nintendo's first party titles then Nintendo's ability to compete in NA and EMEAA will be severly compromised.

Thats personal opinion that Japanese games are more imaginative and cultural. However I was refering to sales wise and none of those Japanese developers have produced DS games that sell more then a million copies in the West. Even MH failed to break the two million mark in the west. Japan might be the cultural center of the gaming world, but its games don't sell well out here and aren't going to make 3DS successful outside Japan.

Now yah if Nintendo dominates Japan, its a good start but if they don't dominate NA or EMEAA next then they will fall flat on their faces. Dominating the smallest region is going to boost company moral, its going to increase Japanese software sales. However it won't do squat to help Nintendo in NA and EMEA.

Any way you look at it, Nintendo can't neglect the west. With 3DS or even next year with WiiU. Japan is not the largest market for games, its large yes but its not the largest. The games that sell well in Japan don't sell as well in North America (Outside Nintendo's own software) just like Western software doesn't sell well in Japan. The markets are drastically different and if you win Japan at a cost of the west, your going to loose profit and marketshare!

Good point for the Mario Kart on GC. Mind you it was the biggest seller on the platform if I'm not mistaken. Then again, there weren't the train your brain, the Wii Sports including personalized avatars and pick up and play sports, the Wii Play, WarioWare, Wii Fit and all this content that targets a non-core audience, is approachable and is pick-up and play. So yes Mario Kart on GC, but as for comparing the catering to the wider market Wii is the king winner.

As for the effects of Nintendomination in Japan, it has not only to do with morale, but with developer confidence. If Nintendo gets the respect it deserves as a console manufacturer, we will finally stop seeing the days of "All things popular/cool go on XBox or Playstation". That is the place Nintendo needs to get to, and being a considerable force in the core market of Japan is the right way to go about it. Remember, a huge front Nintendo is fighting on is that of 3rd party confidence. They are really doing a good job at it at least in Japan and my argument is that it will and should translate to the West once it is achieved. To help, ask youself, how do you think western 3rd parties feel about the Vita after the PSP, making a poor performance in the West, was able to attract a considerable audience in Japan. They probably feel confident about it. This industry is all about momentum, and Sony got some due to Japan, yes even in the West. I have no facts to back it up, but putting that with all the other Sony ingredients and you have devs supporting platforms that launched at 600$ instead of a massively multi-million userbase console (the Wii). It's about credibility, it's about momentum, I can't stress it enough. That, Nintendo will achieve in Japan soon.

As for Nintendo neglecting the West, has it not been able to maintain a nearly 73M base (US + Europe) on the Wii with barely any Western exclusive, save the lackluster Red Steel (by lackluster I mean sales @ 1.21m global)? How many western exclusives pushed the console? They maybe withheld it by catering to the broader audience but never pushed consoles like MH did for Japan. The same could be said for the DS. Yes the West has been able to profit from the userbases, but not propel them. You can say it's better than nothing, but there is precisely where the difference lays.

I agree Japan is very important to moral and Japanese developer confidence. Is it really PSP success in Japan that is driving western third party support today? I highly doubt it, PSP in Japan didn't sell all that well infact other then Monster Hunter the software market was in shambles.

Why are western third parties giving so much more support to Vita. Well firstly it uses such similiar technology to PS3 that it is extremely easy to develop multiplatform titles on. Its also easier because developers have experiance working with the hardware, but lets not forget that unlike PSP, Vita adds new things to the table. Like the touch screen, touch pad on the rear and the countless other new and unique features. Vita is an entirely new platform with entirely new capabilities and no doubt Sony has been reaching out to the western publishers to give it support.

Look at the sales figures for PSP in EMEAA and America, PSP did best in EMEAA by a landslide and titles on PSP in North America also sold better then their DS counter parts in many cases. Look at EAGames sales of software for PSP and compare to 3DS, or Activision's sales of software on DS compared to PSP. The top fifty EAGames titles on DS sold 27,500,000 copies while EAGames with only 39 titles for PSP sold 22,650,000 copies. PSP was a much smaller market then DS was and EAGames was more profitable for the amount of software they released on PSP then DS. Lets look at Activision, sales on PSP of a single title  from their core franchises like Call Of Duty were 1,790,000 the sales on the DS with a much larger user base and four entries was only 2,410,000 copies. The single PSP game fell only 420,000 copies short of outselling all four DS games.

You want to bring Wii into this, the biggest third party game and most influential third party title on the Wii, came from UbiSoft. Just Dance 2 sold over 8-million copies. Just Dance as a franchise has sold more then 13-million copies combined and of those sales who knows how much hardware was shifted. A quick look at the highest selling third party software on Wii shows that western titles dominated.

Japanese developers definatly have influence but when it comes to actual sales figures and hardware numbers the western publishers and studios are just as important.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say Japanese studios aren't important. I'm just saying the days of Japanese developers and publishers running the games industry are over. Infact Square-Enix and Capcom and many Japanese publishers themselves have stated that the Japanese development community has reached its limits. Western studios are needed for success and the Japanese industry no longer has the clout needed to dominate.

If Square-Enix , Capcom , Tecmo Koei and all the major Japanese publishers are realizing Japan's days of running the industry are over. How can anyone possibly believe its smart to focus entirely on Japan, which not only is loosing its reputation amongst the development community but amongst gamers as well as being the smallest market.

Nintendo needs to make sure they receive support from their western counter parts. It would be a big mistake to loose all the western support in exchange for Japanese dominance!