well Playstation used to do great in Japan and no longer does, that's one of the biggest differences (if you look at both PS1 and early PS2 numbers, they were insane in Japan).

the Nintendo handhelds basically the last thing killing it in Japan but that could change, I wouldn't give up on Japan yet. it was shocking that it alone was a bigger place for video game sales than the WHOLE of Europe for quite a while

same levels as 1987?? That was 99% famicom only, no portable gaming at all. R.I.P.

Are the numbers adjusted for inflation?   This is very important to understand 30 years of sales data.  

Japan = smartphone land.

RIP indeed my friend. RIP indeed.

Yeah, you bring up some good points, especially the last sentence. There's definitely a lot of potential here for Nintendo and luckily we won't have to wait much longer to see how well it will do.

2017 will have less Wii U sales, vita most likely down, 3DS down, ps4 probably down.

But add in a lot of Switch sales and this year will probably buck the trend and be up.

Time to Switch things up.

Good guy Japan. Dedicated gaming devices need to die. Open platforms should be the future.

I think the Switch has a decent shot at turning it around in Japan if Nintendo plays their cards right.