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Forums - Sony Discussion - Why did LBP fail in Japan?

So Little Big Planet Vita only sold  6k in Japan... Now thats pretty terrible.

I haven't paid much attention to the series's success over there but I've been told that its never been a big franchise, I wasn't expecting sales above or ven close to 100k, but a number more impressive then 6k lol . It scored really good reviews, is graphically amongst the best we've seen on the Vita and has a great cutesy artstyle which I would've thought would be quite appealing in japan (Sackboy slightly reminds me of hello kitty).

So my question is why hasn't the franchise and this game in particular been revieved well over there, I wouldn've thought Japanese PSVita owners would snap up any decent titles they can get their hands on. Having played the game, I would happily say its the best game on the Vita right now and  for me, the best in the franchise.

Is it the gameplay: loose physics based platforming, the emphasis on user generated content? Bias against western developed games? Maybe the way sony has marketed  it over there?...  Also whats your predictions for its western release?

Lemme know your thoughts below. :)

 



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More than likely it's the loose platforming, it doesn't seem like something Japan would like. It might have also been marketing. Doubt it's bias against western developers, as they'll buy a good platformer if it's a good platformer, as evidenced by Crash and Ratchet & Clank.

The best thing about LBP is the world and atmosphere itself, but what's to say that Japan would like those?



I think it's the art style, it's imho much more western appealing in general.



Christhor's probably right. The type of platformer specifically doesn't really appeal to Japanese sensibilities, and the Japanese aren't really up on user-generated-content as a basis for games. Some western platformers do decently well over there, so its not just racism.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

Art Style, imo with a bit of western bias.



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Like others said, it's the type of platformer. Not only that, the Vita itself isn't doing well in Japan, and there aren't many Japanese-styled levels.



I'm guessing Sony released without any marketing whatsoever.



Sigs are dumb. And so are you!

The vita doesn't sell very well there so very low sales are too be expected, I suspect that the artstyle simply doesn't appeal to the japanese and perhaps some western bias.



Japanese platformer have three key elements:

Speed( most Japanese platformers can sped run)
Action
Platforming

LBP only has one of those features.



Christhor said:
More than likely it's the loose platforming, it doesn't seem like something Japan would like. It might have also been marketing. Doubt it's bias against western developers, as they'll buy a good platformer if it's a good platformer, as evidenced by Crash and Ratchet & Clank.

The best thing about LBP is the world and atmosphere itself, but what's to say that Japan would like those?


Crash Bandicoot: Absolutely, the Japanese lapped that stuff up.  But their tastes seem to have shifted quite a lot since then.

About Ratchet & Clank: The very first game on PS2 was heavily bundled with that console in Japan, which gave it inflated sales figures (and slowly trickled down into the second and third games).  By the PS3, Japanese had lost interest in Ratchet & Clank.