LOL. I dont know, but you sir win the fail award. Console gaming dead in japan, ha ha ha ha hahahahhaha!

Same crap every damn year. Let this topic die already.

kram, to be fair, Japan is a very different market than most other places.

It is very possible that console gaming will diminish if the handhelds can get even better.
If the handhelds become able hold their own against the consoles, then it is at least possible.

To all those in denial, just look at the console sales. Consoles have a hard time selling while the DS and PSP crushes them on the way. Nobody said that they are already dead. But is not what it was used to be 10 years ago. Not at all.

Before the NDS/PSP appeared, the biggest gaming platform there, besides the PS2 was nothing more than nothing but the cell phone. The reason is that japanese have very dew free time and ithey technically make lines for everything and everywhere. They don't spent much time at home. With the DS and the PSP the line between home consoles and portable consoles are blurring and for the japanese life style that's something that fits correctly.

Yes many games like RE5, Star ocean and Mario Kart sold very well and no doubt they sell consoles in some way but is not the same. These games are aimed at people that played those games since ever. They are not like in the US where some games like GTA, MGS or even Wii sports make consoles sell like hell. Just look at the japanese charts. more than 5 games in the top 10 are portable titles and the console ones doesn't last a lot.

What will happen? who knows. Rol's solutions make sense theorically. But I bet that even Nintendo/sony/MS are scratching their heads trying to figure out what the hell to do quickly.

And we all love our consoles but being in denial doesn't help people. Grow up.

Console gaming does seem dead when compared to the sales of ds/psp.

I read the entire thing. I agree with everything you said.

Nice work RolStoppable. I never interpreted the situation this way, and you may bring up a valid point here.

I think your first reason is why it isn't what it used to be in Japan. Not as sure about the rest.

I have to wonder, just how true is it that the Japanese spend much more time at work/school than we do? I know it's popular to say that, but do we have any hard data that indicates that's the case? And even if it is, it's not like they're never home.

I suspect that much of the problem here is that the demographics of Japan are changing much more rapidly than they are in the West. Japan's population is aging at an alarming rate, and that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.

I'd originally written a somewhat longer spiel about how the key demographics now are older adults and young children (witness the success of Training and pet games, for instance), but that seems flawed: Pokemon, Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, and a few more besides still do well on the charts.

For once, I can't approach a problem with my usual, cocky, "I know at least some of the answers" attitude. I think the big-three would be best served by not relying on sequels so much as radically new forms of gaming, but that's a damned tall order.

Best of luck.

Japan's population is falling. If they have more kids, then more consoles will be sold.

Dead? Absolutely not.
Weak? Maybe but not dead.

@noname

radically different forms of gaming don't tend to sell well at all. You may argue that the wii is a radical change, but it really isn't. It's Nintendo, one of the oldest comanies in the biz.

Japan likes their brands and sequels much more than here.

About the school thing, the typical Japanese teenager goes to highschool for about 8-9-10 hrs a day and then goes to cram school right after for another 3-4 hours.

Japanese adults working for a business usually work for 8-9 hours and then it is kind of required to go out with associates for another few hours or more. Japanese are almost never home, except for teenage girls and housewives ^ ^