I agreed with you in my intial reaction, but I am not so sure thinking it through. GTA 4 not being exclusive hurts, but it is still there. If it was exclusive it would push it harder in markets it is already performing very well in. The OP is putting forth the idea that perhaps those two games could help save the PS3 in Japan by showing stronger support in the form of major japanese franchises. It will depend on how the sales of GTA are split. If PS3 sales account for 50% or less of the total sold world wide then I would say it easily hurt worse than losing those two titles. If it garners more I would say we need to wait and see how the titles perform before making the final judgment. Monster Hunter is not a proven console franchise yet, and Draqon Quest has struggled to get a large fanbase outside of Japan.

The thought that the 360 would be dead if a game that has not been released yet was not coming out for it is absolutely retarded though. Turn the fanboy down a few notches before trying to knock other fanboys down to earth.

I am pretty sure you are right on that count, but the theoretical DQ10 could have gone to it. Given that Square-Enix likes to put it on the most popular systems in Japan there is very little chance the PS3 will get the main series of the game like its older brothers got. I guess it is hard to call losing Dragon Quest a blow though since the series will always go to the system that least needs it to boost sales. What an odd catch-22 that is.

Personally I believe MH3 is *potentially* their biggest loss on the japanese home court.

Considering Sony still holds exclusive rights to FFXIII which has the equivalent magnitude of DQIX/DQX those 2 arent too huge losses, but of course they are losses nevertheless.

FFXIII and perhaps Kingdom Hearts will keep Sony afloat in Japan.

No one has yet mentioned MGS4. It's a big game that was missed in this analyst. If it does nothing for sales in Japan, the PS3 can consider that region lost, and hope that the PS4 can do something there when it comes out.

If it does boost sales, then the loss of those game, while worse then GTA4, is not as bad. (still bad however).

"It is I suppose sad to see a brand like Playstation have this happen. Especially since I owned 35 games for my Ps2 and only like 8 on Xbox and I think 9 on GC."

Times change,and this industry,for better or worse,is just too volatile....selnor,perhaps you´ve noticed what I call the '3rd console curse'...the system that has had 2 'leader brothers' (N64,PS3) is never able to live up to the legacy....curious pattern.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is not in the same league as the franchises mentioned. It will be an extraordinairy turn of events for it to break a million in Japan, but those other franchises should sell more than that in their first week. If MGS4 were to bomb it really wouldn't be that big a deal for the PS3.

Ouch...

GTA 4 exclusivity lost affects more on WW
MH3/DQ9 exclusivity lost affects more of Japan... I think...

MH3 though... is ouch.......... for me...

You see it the wrong way. No one is denying that GTA is by far the biggest franchise of the ones mentioned (maybe even anyway), but about 50% of the GTA4 sales will still be going to PS3.

The lose of Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter will cause a chain reaction.
a) If these games were on PS3 to accompany Final Fantasy it wouldn't have been in trouble in Japan, but DQ is THE biggest game in Japan and MH is planning to become the #2.

b) These games not being on PS3 causes developers to think about the 2nd tier Japanese games like Suikoden, Kingdom Hearts, Tales, Arcadia etc. With all the main Japanese franchises on PS3 it would have been almost a non-brainer to make those for PS3, not anymore. Especially since developing for more successful platforms is cheaper.

c) Once the 2nd tier start coming to Wii (like we saw happening with DS) there's no stopping it. Already we have a lot of Japanese type of titles announced like Tales of Symphonia 2, Project O, Fragile, Crystal Bearers, Shiren 3, Oboro Muramasa.
Just imagine that the rumoured Kingdom Hearts 3, Skies of Arcadia 2 and Suikoden 6 will come to Wii as well.

Don't underestimate the number of people that bought a PS2 for the Japanese support, also in the western areas. (Or otherwise ask Onna and Zen why they are so dissatisfied with their PS3.) I wouldn't at all be surprised if the total is higher than the people that will buy GTA4 on 360.

The Playstation brand seems to have become more 'westernised'.

A bit sad? I think selling like 80% hardware for a generation is sad xD. If anything I'm glad the other companys are showing signs of life. I think owning 8 games on an xbox and 35 on the ps2 is "a bit sad". This is forcing so many amazing games out of the woodworks all in a struggle for competition. GREAT would be the word for it :)