Fusioncode said:
Thing is, I think a game like Splatoon is built more for a Western audience than an Eastern one. It's a competitive, multiplayer-centric, third person shooter. This isn't the sort of thing Japan usually goes crazy over. Which is why I find it surprising it's doing so much better in Japan than the US. Sales are sales regardless but it kind of flipped my expectations. |
I'm not that surprised, it seems like exactly the kind of concept and play that would get Japanese gamers more excited about shooters. If traditional shooters don't do it for them, then something different and kind of cooky could. Every week when I look at Japanese best seller lists, I find myself struggling to recognize the franchises that are on the list, the market is just vastly different.
I think the fact that the West is so obsessed with these traditional shooters is the very reason why Splatoon was never going to be as big here; gamers already found the titles they enjoy and Splatoon was different enough that these people would likely never enjoy it much at any rate. Like the outrage at lacking content and voice chat, poor customization, no adjusting round times, map changes etc; these are things that most regular gamers would find and do find unacceptable and unappealing and these are also the hallmarks of most great online, competitive shooters that have done well in the past and present market.
For me, it was obvious that Japan would be Splatoon's best market, the price in the US is also a huge drawback. This is why I told users like tbone to wait for global numbers before jumping on the ceiling, it seemed fairly likely that the other regions would present far weaker performances. Especially the complete lack of hardware boost in the US in the launch week and month is very telling of the game's impact compared to Japan.
