An extremely recent post by "Starcraft" raised an interesting question for me. While I don't think the PS3 is dead in the water in Japan this generation I think the 360 absolutely is and the PS3 seems to be heading that way fast. So....

If Japan, a country with a far higher technology adoption rate (particularly HDTVs), is rejecting HD consoles does that spell trouble for the HD consoles in other regions this for this generation?

Before this thread turns into a crapfest let me just say the answer is FAR more complex than "yep" or "nope". And anyone who gives that simplistic of an analysis of the issue only highlights their own ignorance on this topic. Personally I don't feel I know enough about the Japanese and European cultures to build that sort of analysis properly so I'm hoping that someone who has those qualifications as well as a fair-minded approach will give it a shot.

The XB brand failed last gen, did better but still failed this gen maybe next time. The PS brand is struggling this gen and it needs to great games to start selling better. I think Japan will eventually see PS3 sales pick up.

Im very flattered at this threads existence:)

I totally understand your point, I know a few people running 360's and PS3's on standard definition televisions, and many people with HDTV's that own only Wii's.

All in all I highly doubt that the market at large view HDTV's and HD consoles as things that must go together.

Are you talking about Japan only, or worldwide?

Worldwide the Xbox 360 has been profitable for 6 months......... 

  Yes just Japan.

I have to agree the majority of consumers probably don't make that connection for whatever reason. But the fact that the HD consoles themselves are considered better tech would logically lead to the idea that a tech enthusiast nation would adopt it quickly.

So for me the underlying question is why did the Japanese reject those HD consoles relatively speaking and does that reasoning resonate with the American and European consumers?

The Wii will begin to recieve most of the Japanese Dev support.

I believe that HD TV has been in Japan for a long time now. I think the benefits of HD over SD has been seen for a long time now and is kind of "Meh" to most Japanese, where as us US consumers are still drooling over HDTV graphics.

@ Rol

I don't think Japanese devs are going to drop the PS3 or 360. MS and Sony will always moneyhat exclusives.

And now, a lot of developers are trying to make games appeal to both markets.

Last Remnant, Valkyria Chronicles (gameplay is supposedly inspired by Gears of War), etc.

Nope, I still don't Japanese devlopers will be giving up anytime soon. (Neither will MS or Sony for that matter......)

I think the simple fact that HDTV adoption rates are up in Japan is not nearly thorough enough to draw any results from. The success is likely not based purely off of the fact that it is new tech. While Japan has technophile tendencies there are other factors that need to be considered. I would guess that a bigger factor in HDTV adoption rate is actually the size of the TVs themselves. Japanese apartments are notoriosly small in urban areas and flat screen TVs are ridiculously small. The rise in HDTV purchases may be completely independant of potential screen resolution and very tied to space concious consumerism.

The other big factor is HD consoles being very tech heavy but not very gadget heavy. The technophile in American (and European) cultures leads us to the bigger, faster, and prettier being the best way to show off your tech-peen. What we could be seeing is a huge difference in cultures in regards to that. Perhaps your tech-peen size in Japan is dependant on how quircky your latest purchase is rather than how shiny.

I admit to making a lot of assumptions here but none of them are entirely baseless. Given most of what I put forth is based on stereotypes and information gleamed through pop-culture so I could be entirely wrong on all fronts. Still, I feel there is truth in a lot of the points I made, and I know the most critical ones are fairly accurate. In the end I don't think Japan will be that great a predictor of the rest of the world. The vastly different cultures will very much define how this generation plays out.