@Imperial: Yakuza and Yakuza 2 both sold the same amount in Japan, unless you think going from 0.74m to 0.73m is a relevant difference... Yakuza 3 has sold about a third of that, and it doesn't appear to have legs. The Yakuza franchise is about as big as the MGS franchise in Japan in terms of sales numbers, but I think MGS4 will easily beat Yakuza 3.

Don't even bring up PES 2008 on the Wii, first of all it has nothing to do with the PS3, second it came much later than the other versions meaning that most PES fans had the opportunity to get it for the best selling console in Japan, the PS2.

Regarding your last paragraph, the lack of quality support will continue. As I said above the only hope for the PS3 in Japan is FFXIII, until then Japanese exclusives will continue to slip to the Wii as they have so far (MH3, Fatal Frame IV). Without sales momentum, it's hard to justify making games for it, and without more games no sales momentum is attained, it's a vicious circle at this point.

I have a 360 and I enjoy the Japanese software on it. People make it sound like everyone that owned a PS2 went with the PS3.

if was MS i would had done everything to get the exclusives rights for final fantasy(only in their dreams though)

@ NJ5

Yakuza 1 & 2 were released years later into the PS2's lifecycle (thus a much larger install base).

Also both those games saw re-releases, Yakuza's sales more than doubled due to its re-release and now apparently tops Yakuza 2 sales. Considering everything Yakuza 3 performs well above expectations. The game wasn't even on Famitsu's list of anticipated games, but the game was very well reviewed and probably this resulted into good sales.

well i wouldnt say that ps3 is doomed in japan, ps2 sold 22 milliones ,neither wii nor ps3 is even close yet and alot can happen before one of the concoles reach that number.

@EaglesEye379

>> With Japanese consumers always being loyal to Japanese products (except Windows) what did you guys expect in regards to hardware? Its like the car industry, like selling GM, Ford in Japan.

You can't attribute the failure of Microsoft to the "Japanese only like Japanese hardware" claim, because that is not quite true.

There are a number of hardware companies (or manufacturing in general) that succeeded in the Japanese market, including Dell, HP, Apple, Daimler, and BMW. If you look beyond manufacturing -- pharmaceutical, apparel, finance, industrial software, foods, etc -- there are a great number of companies that have been very successful in the Japanese market. The Japanese people don't discriminate foreign products or services simply because it's foreign.

You may wonder why MS failed then.

I once worked for a company that did some market research for Ford. Ford was wondering why they couldn't sell their cars in Japan.

Then-Ford Japan failed mainly because their business practice was based on the assumption that whatever strategy they implemented successfully in the U.S. or Europe should work well in Japan. This is the fallacy that the game division of MS Japan fell into.

Think about what MS Japan did to sell XBOX360.

The poor hardware (You can never expect to succeed in Japan with such a high failure rate), the initial lack of software library that would appeal to Japanese audience (FPS or some action game with macho American hero characters won't interest them), and Bad PR (Do you even know how ridiculous the commercial they put on TV was?).

If you want to compete in the market with different preferences, you have to carefully tailor your business strategy specifically for the market. MS simply did not. That's why they failed.

>> Unless things drastically change in the developers community, I think its more a case of Japan better hope Microsoft does not give up on them, or HD Japanese games are going to go another step backwards.

I sort of lol-ed while reading this statement. Ask regular gamers in Japan if they should be worried about MS leaving Japan. I'm sure you'll get tons of LOL.

They don't need to "hope Microsoft does not give up on them". They don't care about MS. They don't want to play Gears of War, Halo, GTA, Madden, or whatever American FPS/Sports/Sandbox/etc. Most of them don't even care about HD games either. Handheld (PSP,DS,MobilePhone) and Wii are what they want. Those who want HD look for Sony.

You can't just project to the market what you want them to want. Different consumer preferences do exist, whether we like them or not. Those who don't adapt simply fail businesswise.

I wouldn't say the ps3 is doomed in Japan, but it's not looking good. 19 months after release in Japan and it's sold a little over 2 million. The ps2 had sold over 6 million in Japan after 19 months.

Also, Imperial said that Yakuza isn't a proven series in Japan because they hadn't sold 1 million. Well neither has any MGS game, yet a lot of Sony fans believe it along with GT5 and FF13 will be the ps3's saviors in Japan. It will probably sell 350k first week, 700k lifetime. Nothing eye-popping. Oh, let's also not forget Sony lost the next installment of ps1 and ps2's biggest games (Dragon Quest) to the DS.  So, with ff13 and gt5 not coming this year, I guess 2009 will the year of the ps3 in Japan. Sure.

OK, add a "PSP-like miracle" to the list of PS3 hopes. Even if that's the case, by that time the Wii will have already cemented the position it's now quickly building in the Japanese console market.

@omoneru

I have seen the stupid Do-Do-Do ads, and seeing that releases for the 360 in Japan are late and mostly macho American as you put it, I do admit that I was overly blunt about Japanese country specific loyalty. No offense intended to Japanese gamers. In a free market dog eat dog world, only the good businesses do well.

But what I really was trying to say is that Microsoft being a foreign brand with the relatively new foreign Xbox brand will obviously have much higher barrier of entry (and this applies to all markets in the world) than Sony or Nintendo due to brand loyalty and how long Sony and Nintendo has successfully delivered to the Japanese. You mentioned 'Those who want HD look for Sony', which is what I was trying to say, brand loyalty is much higher in Japan.

Also let me put it this way. You mentioned 'They don't want to play Gears of War, Halo, GTA, Madden, or whatever American FPS/Sports/Sandbox/etc'. However, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear, both from Japanese developers can gain worldwide recognition and sell superbly outside Japan (in the millions). Its much harder for a Western game franchise to penetrate the Japanese gaming community and gain mainstream appeal in Japan (the closest is GTA, and even thats only 500k?). Again, emphasizing my point that the barrier of entry into Japan is higher, so this exacerbates Microsoft's position.

For your second point, again no offense to Japanese gamers, and Im sure I will get the LOLs, but the crux of my point was regarding Japanese developers and talent. I think they will care way more if MS pulls the plug, especially Namco, Square Enix, Capcom, who are shooting for global mainstream sales, distribution and income (based on upcoming games and recent financial reports). This will only be better for Japanese gamers who will have more games at the end of the day.

From recent interviews and reports, Japanese developer and publisher support for Xbox is on the way up and long-term relationships are being built. And who knows, the 360 game that the Japanese gamer will really care about may be around the corner. (There are already 2 contenders this year. By the way, I really care about Lost Odyssey).