By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Sephiran on 28 November 2025
Edit Thread
Otter said:
Sephiran said:

Kirby Air Riders is yet another proof that Sony's problem in Japan is IP and software related, this is a pretty niche Nintendo game that has an incredible launch week in Japan, comfortably outselling AAA Sony titles instantly, on a still fairly small user base as well. That in itself shows the taste of the Japanese gaming market, its just much more in line with what Nintendo is offering there.

Just as Sony benefits from offering AAA games in Spain due to the taste of the European market, Nintendo is slated to continue to dominate Japan all because of software related reasons.

As i stated, you can't dominate everywhere, in a global market, countries in different regions will have very different taste in general when it comes to games.

It's a shame Astrobot didn't do better in Japan. I don't think it did bad but I think  its around 70k-80k in physical sales (56k at end of 2024). It deserved a lot more. Elsewhere in US and Europe it was able to maintain top 10 status for months whereas Japan it randomly dropped out the top 30 after a few weeks top 10

AstroBot sold badly because they haven't built an audience for those types of games in Japan. The same reason why Metroid Prime 4 will likely bomb in Japan as well.