They should just include Wii Sports over there as well. I'm absolutely flabberghasted as to why Nintendo doesn't do that anyway :s Oh, and just give 'em some different colors. I'm sure a black, pink, silver and red Wii would do well in Japan. :)
Honestly, I think those 2 things could go a loooong way.

The thing is, handhelds and home consoles perform slightly different jobs. Both are entertainment, but one is entertainment on the go and the other is social/family/group entertainment. I suppose it could be true that the DS has sold so much that it now performs the second job (by having a number of DS's in a single household), but I'm not sure if that's widely true. That's why I would suspect it has more to do with lifestyle, the job of on-the-go entertainment becoming more important than social entertainment, which is a reflection of the lifestyle Japanese people are living today.

And of course, efforts like MH3 and DQX will surely boost the system for sure when they're released.

The Wii's also starting to get some RPG love, too, so that SHOULD help the system (Fragile doesn't really count because it isn't a "true" RPG and more of a niche title), but titles such as ArcRise Fantasia, Crystal Bearers, Tales X and Kizuna all should help the system considerably.

-Jon T.

And of course, efforts like MH3 and DQX will surely boost the system for sure when they're released.

The Wii's also starting to get some RPG love, too, so that SHOULD help the system (Fragile doesn't really count because it isn't a "true" RPG and more of a niche title), but titles such as ArcRise Fantasia, Crystal Bearers, Tales X and Kizuna all should help the system considerably.

-Jon T.

""In these times, we need to provide the Japanese market with entertainment that only a home console can realize," he said."


I wonder what Iwata has in mind for this. New Wii colors won't do it, it may give a temporal boost but not enough to change the situation. It must be software. Like he said, Animal Crossing, Wii Music, even Mario Galaxy failed in Japan. Probably things like the new Kirby game, Motion Plus, and the TV Channel.

"Mario Galaxy" didn't do that badly in Japan (I think it's crossed over 1 million by now), but its sales were significantly smaller than in other parts of the world.  Still, it was hardly a failure.

I just looked at the charts and you're right   It already passed the million mark (I thought it would take longer)

Anyway, it was a failure for Nintendo in the same way Animal Crossing and Wii Music were a failure. They couldn't build momentum for the Wii in Japan in the same way other games did it, like Mario Kart or Wii Fit.

Exactly. It wasn't a system seller. This is the same reason we call games like LBP a failure, they were intended as system sellers, even though they're a commercial success.

I just think that Home Consoles are not "cool" in japan right now, right now in the West thanks to the Wii and the ground work the PSX and PS2 laid gaming is cool. I have Japanese friends, and they tell me that really gaming is for nerds and kids... kinda sounds like what the gaming market was mainly in the pre- Playstation era.

That's strange...

Far more people game in Japan than in the West. Consider the console per capita ratio in Japan, almost no other country rivals it (though, some do on specific consoles).