Japan's Console Market Lowest In 24 Years

Apparently the Xbox One and the PS4 are failing to win over the masses in Japan.

Japanese gamers bought fewer consoles and physical console games last year than in any year since 1990 - when SNES arrived in the country. Sales figures from Famitsu (translated by NeoGAF) reveal the decline in full - and all despite the launch of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in Japan last year.

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Because Japan is ahead of the rest of the world, or at least leading the other first world nations in going with mobile stuff for entertainment. We'll catch up to them eventually, but there'll be like pockets of low-tech and older thinking because the larger land area in the US promotes isolated areas where advancement is basically standing still and hasn't changed since the 1940s.

Japan is so needy... I wouldn't worry about it if I were them. They never buy the same systems as most other areas.

Well, the SNES was better than the Xbox One.

Wonder if this is population related? Japan had a declining birth rate.

I am still a bit jealous, though. They still have a strong arcade market.

The new round of consoles are very western style. Previous, with Nintendo, Sega, NEC - they were born in Japan and brought over here. Now, it's designed in the USA, built in China and sold worldwide. Japan isn't the sweet spot anymore.

BladeVenom said:

Well, the SNES was better than the Xbox One.

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True. It's hard to beat the classics, though. Graphics may not be as awesome, or 960p , but you could play for days and still want more. But, you have to eat sometime.

It's nice seeing my kids playing the old games more often than the One. The One is excellent, and I enjoy it. The old games are just quick, hard, and they don't hold your hand. Good times. My son wanted to borrow my 32" CRT (bought only for the classic systems) to hook up the N64. I was so proud.

traycerb said:

Wonder if this is population related? Japan had a declining birth rate.

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While that may be a small factor, I think it's mostly handhelds and mobile have taken over for entertainment.

Ur_Mom said:

True. It's hard to beat the classics, though. Graphics may not be as awesome, or 960p , but you could play for days and still want more. But, you have to eat sometime.

It's nice seeing my kids playing the old games more often than the One. The One is excellent, and I enjoy it. The old games are just quick, hard, and they don't hold your hand. Good times. My son wanted to borrow my 32" CRT (bought only for the classic systems) to hook up the N64. I was so proud.

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My son loves the virtual console titles on the Wii-U a lot now, aside from Smash Brothers, he mainly only plays classic titles now.

Japan has always been more PC friendly; I still have fond memories of the PC-88/PC-98.

The console market does go through cycles ... although the reasons are different, we might just be seeing a transition moment (like what happened between the crash of Atari and the rise of the NES) ... consoles need to find something (other than becoming DVRs) to differentiate themselves ... perhaps if they can advance the VR technologies more before the next refresh they could revitalize their market with a combo of headsets and motion control for a more immersive gaming experience ... or 4K and super large screens might present some new gaming experiences as well

traycerb said:

Wonder if this is population related? Japan had a declining birth rate.

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not likely, for this year their pop shrunk by 250,000. The rate will increase but for now its not the primary cause. The economy on the other hand is having a heart attack. Their vaunted positive trade balance has disappeared after fukushima and Abenomics has cause a collapse in exports and 18 month of real consecutive wage decline coupled with high inflation and higher taxes. This lead to a savings rate crashing to American levels.

I dunno - the new consoles were not exciting to me. I have two kids that use an Xbox 360. Neither of them asked for a new console for Christmas. Not even a mention of it. They play Minecraft mostly - not even sure the Xbox One or PS4 version is much better? The PC version is better than all console version anyway.

kbrickley said:

The console market does go through cycles ... although the reasons are different, we might just be seeing a transition moment (like what happened between the crash of Atari and the rise of the NES) ... consoles need to find something (other than becoming DVRs) to differentiate themselves ... perhaps if they can advance the VR technologies more before the next refresh they could revitalize their market with a combo of headsets and motion control for a more immersive gaming experience ... or 4K and super large screens might present some new gaming experiences as well

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Me, my cat, and our cans of whipped cream 100% support the idea of there being tons of nauseated zombies playing video games on screens that cover up their ability to see us sneaking up on them. Oh and there needs to be headphones too so that no one can hear us either. I mean we're super sneaky, but once in a while you knock over someone's coat rack or something by accident or trip over a fireplace poker that you didn't notice and that totally ruins it. With VR hardware and motion sickness, this hugely helps make creaming everyone before they know it a lot easier.

Does Japan play PC games? The only other explanation I could think of is they just don't play many games anymore? I can't imagine them being PC gamers. Though that would certainly add to the already growing master race.

Advertise that some rottencrotch celebrity rubbed the controllers over her nethers and they'll sell out in 24 hours.

This is because mobile gaming is a lot more popular than fixed consoles. It's the culture: mass transit plus small shared living space means your best "alone time" is often when you're surrounded by strangers on the train.

And everyone knows that smartphones have hurt portable gaming: Nintendo's sales of the 3DS are much lower than the DS/DS Lite, and the Vita is such a lost cause, Sony is not developing any more games for it.

You can see the transition to smartphone gaming on that graph: the peak at 2006-2007 was the heyday of the DS Lite + PSP (the first few years following release, when lots of software was bought). Those first few years following release were the highest-selling period for portable consoles ever. And then people discovered that their phones could play the same style games, and sales of consoles plummeted.

I don't think this graph counts sales of portable games on Android/iOS.

defaultluser said:

This is because mobile gaming is a lot more popular than fixed consoles. It's the culture: mass transit plus small shared living space means your best "alone time" is often when you're surrounded by strangers on the train.

And everyone knows that smartphones have hurt portable gaming: Nintendo's sales of the 3DS are much lower than the DS/DS Lite, and the Vita is such a lost cause, Sony is not developing any more games for it.

You can see the transition to smartphone gaming on that graph: the peak at 2006-2007 was the heyday of the DS Lite + PSP (the first few years following release, when lots of software was bought). Those first few years following release were the highest-selling period for portable consoles ever. And then people discovered that their phones could play the same style games, and sales of consoles plummeted.

I don't think this graph counts sales of portable games on Android/iOS.

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As tablets and phones have become more powerful I think this is definitely a factor for some of the decline ... the fact that many of the older PC games (and some new ones) have ported over to the mobile platforms with a minimal amount of deviation speaks to the continued growth of those platforms ... and unlike consoles (that remain on a 7-10 year upgrade cycle) you see the tablet and PC space remaining on more of the Tick-Tock annual cycle

Japan is a mobile culture. Staying at home to do anything is considered largely lazy behavior and unacceptable by current cultural beliefs. Home consoles require an investment in time that the Japanese no longer feel they have.

This is a culture mind you that now has the lowest birthrate on the planet. They have the highest instance of marriage decline and by something like 2080 almost all of Japan will be senior citizens if the birthrate doesn't start climbing up.

As a culture Japan is dying and its very xenophobic attitude towards anyone that isn't Japanese is the reason. Immigration in Japan was 2 percent last year.. right near the bottom of developed nations. They also don't give female workers paid leave for being pregnant. Top this all off with an economy that is in a new depression and you have a society that is on the verge of disappearing.

Things like home consoles are the least of Japan's worries.

CreepyUncleGoogle said:

Because Japan is ahead of the rest of the world, or at least leading the other first world nations in going with mobile stuff for entertainment. We'll catch up to them eventually, but there'll be like pockets of low-tech and older thinking because the larger land area in the US promotes isolated areas where advancement is basically standing still and hasn't changed since the 1940s.

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HAHAHAHH! No, just no.

Comparing farmville on your iPhone to a PS4 game is like comparing paddle-ball to tennis.

Just because they are both recreational activities to waste your time doesn't put them in the same league.

Ducman69 said:

HAHAHAHH! No, just no.

Comparing farmville on your iPhone to a PS4 game is like comparing paddle-ball to tennis.

Just because they are both recreational activities to waste your time doesn't put them in the same league.

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Yeah, there is no comparison to full-on games. This is why I bought a 3DS even though I already own a Galaxy S4 - I like my controls to be substantial, and I like deeper games.

But the reality is that most people who bought the DS bought it because it had touch-enabled simple games like Brain Age, Nintendogs, etc. Now you can play these same games on a much bigger touch screen for "free," provided you pay for a little pricier phone than you used to.

Godmachine said:

Japan is a mobile culture. Staying at home to do anything is considered largely lazy behavior and unacceptable by current cultural beliefs. Home consoles require an investment in time that the Japanese no longer feel they have.

This is a culture mind you that now has the lowest birthrate on the planet. They have the highest instance of marriage decline and by something like 2080 almost all of Japan will be senior citizens if the birthrate doesn't start climbing up.

As a culture Japan is dying and its very xenophobic attitude towards anyone that isn't Japanese is the reason. Immigration in Japan was 2 percent last year.. right near the bottom of developed nations. They also don't give female workers paid leave for being pregnant. Top this all off with an economy that is in a new depression and you have a society that is on the verge of disappearing.

Things like home consoles are the least of Japan's worries.

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So much wrong with this:
1) The world cannot sustain its trend of exponential human population growth without massive reduction in quality of life. The only reason there are too many old people in Japan, is because previous generations were irresponsible and fucking too much. Japan's population density is approximately ten times the United States, which is itself overpopulated, and especially troubling when you factor in that a lot of that space you really can't even live in. The idea that they should fix the overpopulation problem by having more children is ridiculous, as is the idea that there won't be enough Japanese people in the country... they could have five hundred years of population decline at this rate and still be hugely overpopulated far higher than the density in present United States.

Put. your. dicks. AWAY! Or wrap it first, its not rocket science.

2) As stated, Japan is already bursting at the seams with people. To get into a subway is insane, as they are packed in like sardines. You can't drive anywhere without heavy traffic. Housing is hugely expensive, and people have to be crammed into tiny apartments for the most part. They SURE AS HELL don't need to be bringing in a crapton of poor immigrants from India and the Philippines to make a bad situation worse, and I am glad that the Japanese people respect their culture enough to preserve it. France was one of the first to embrace multiculturalism, and now they complain that they are overrun by Muslisms that don't want anything to do with the French or their way of life... well what did you think would happen? And now they are being shot in the streets.

3) Japan's per capita GDP is still the highest in Asia, at around $40K. That's a healthy living for most, if they didn't have to compete so much with one another for housing and transportation. Their economic issues sure as hell aren't something they could have solved by bringing in tons of uneducated peasants, and primarily an issue with too high of taxes and too high of an elderly population because of the mistakes of previous generations that kept popping out too many children. If you solve that by having more children now, you have an even WORSE problem for the next generation unless you keep it up forever... and that's not feasible.

People don't feel comfortable in their homes in Japan not because they are seen as "lazy" for living in them, but because they for the most part suck ass. They go to open areas to get away from the claustrophobia induced by overly expensive land due to too damn many people.

This is a public swimming pool in Japan:


This is an apartment in Tokyo:


And these are some of the "coffin" apartments that are becoming popular with today's youth that simply can't afford a decent living space:


But, no, you're right, damn xenophobic Japanese need to open their borders to India and SE.Asian poor countries and have more children.

A lot of Japanese are also selling off their consoles and replacing them with high powered android devices etc they double as consoles

Consoles have been slowly dying in that market for a few years, portable systems and phone games are where the money is made now. Problem is a lot of those phone games aren't even any good, just freemium garbage but people seem to eat it up.

They're just shifting to Steam.

Ducman69 said:

So much wrong with this:
1) The world cannot sustain its trend of exponential human population growth without massive reduction in quality of life. The only reason there are too many old people in Japan, is because previous generations were irresponsible and fucking too much. Japan's population density is approximately ten times the United States, which is itself overpopulated, and especially troubling when you factor in that a lot of that space you really can't even live in. The idea that they should fix the overpopulation problem by having more children is ridiculous, as is the idea that there won't be enough Japanese people in the country... they could have five hundred years of population decline at this rate and still be hugely overpopulated far higher than the density in present United States.

Put. your. dicks. AWAY! Or wrap it first, its not rocket science.

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So let's start with this. The world isn't "running out" of land its running out of resources. If we start to manage our resources , which we will have to if we plan to survive , then this is not an issues at large. In Japan space is at a premium but largely in big cities like Toyko. Have you been to Tokyo? I have and I've been to the countryside where space is much less of an issue and I'm 6'4 and it was like walking around in a densely packed amusement park (in Tokyo).

Regardless this has nothing to do with population decline. Its the newer trends of social behavior that have taken route in Japan and the general decline of marriage as a whole because of shifting sociopolitical views and how the traditional male role is being replaced with families that are no longer "Nuclear" in style. It also doesn't help that most Japanese youth feel more comfortable communicating through digital means that out in public. This I know for a fact. Combine all this and you get??

http://www.vice.com/video/the-japanese-love-industry

Japan is a country that is dying—literally. Japan has more people over the age of 65 and the smallest number of people under the age of 15 in the world. It has the fastest negative population growth in the world, and that's because hardly anyone is having babies.

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Ducman69 said:

2) As stated, Japan is already bursting at the seams with people. To get into a subway is insane, as they are packed in like sardines. You can't drive anywhere without heavy traffic. Housing is hugely expensive, and people have to be crammed into tiny apartments for the most part. They SURE AS HELL don't need to be bringing in a crapton of poor immigrants from India and the Philippines to make a bad situation worse, and I am glad that the Japanese people respect their culture enough to preserve it. France was one of the first to embrace multiculturalism, and now they complain that they are overrun by Muslisms that don't want anything to do with the French or their way of life... well what did you think would happen? And now they are being shot in the streets.

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You already made this point in your first paragraph so not worth really repeating what I said already.

Ducman69 said:

3) Japan's per capita GDP is still the highest in Asia, at around $40K. That's a healthy living for most, if they didn't have to compete so much with one another for housing and transportation. Their economic issues sure as hell aren't something they could have solved by bringing in tons of uneducated peasants, and primarily an issue with too high of taxes and too high of an elderly population because of the mistakes of previous generations that kept popping out too many children. If you solve that by having more children now, you have an even WORSE problem for the next generation unless you keep it up forever... and that's not feasible.

People don't feel comfortable in their homes in Japan not because they are seen as "lazy" for living in them, but because they for the most part suck ass. They go to open areas to get away from the claustrophobia induced by overly expensive land due to too damn many people.

This is a public swimming pool in Japan:

This is an apartment in Tokyo:

And these are some of the "coffin" apartments that are becoming popular with today's youth that simply can't afford a decent living space:

But, no, you're right, damn xenophobic Japanese need to open their borders to India and SE.Asian poor countries and have more children.

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Your estimate for GDP is too high. Its actually around $36,000+ and it fell DRAMATICALLY from 2012 to 2014. That is an indication that Japan as an economy is in a serious down turn.

If the GDP fell by $4,000-$5,000 in two years in the US then it would be bankrupt and no amount of fed borrowing would save it.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/263596/gross-domestic-product-gdp-per-capita-in-japan/

Also :

http://www.forbes.com/sites/investo...ession-warnings-of-a-global-financial-crisis/

The major central banks have pursued a “zero interest rate policy” known as ZIRP, since the financial crisis of 2008-2009. More than $10.5 trillion of artificial credit were created. Has this unprecedented policy, never before seen in history, caused sustainable economic recoveries?

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No recession, not even the Great Depression, has seen such anemic economic growth. Looking at it scientifically, instead of as an economist, we must ask, “Have central bank efforts to ‘stimulate’ actually done the opposite?” Has ZIRP actually contributed to global deflation?

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$10.5 Trillion. TRILLION. Japan is in a recession. Its not a question .. its a "fact".

Towards Japanese Xenophobia :



I've seen several ads where this kind of "innocent racism" as its called in Japan (seriously that's what they call it as I've been told). I also personally got my own dose when I tried to go into a bar in downtown Tokyo and was shown the "No Whites!" sign outside the door (it was in Japanese with a White Male waving next to it). Japan also rarely accepts immigrants either and its not just because its individuals from "South Asia" its because in general Japan has an insulated society that prefers its own mix.

Like it or not but you are just categorically about your assumptions regarding Japan. Crowded pools and apartments DO NOT explain a low birthrate or decline in marriage.

Ducman69 said:

xenophobic Japanese

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only part of that post that was true... I won't miss japan or the japanese mentallity

Ducman69 said:

So much wrong with this:...

....But, no, you're right, damn xenophobic Japanese need to open their borders to India and SE.Asian poor countries and have more children.

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Japanese big cities are overcrowded, but the rural areas have been deserted. Many small town hospitals have closed down their maternity wards because there are no children born in the area anymore.

OlIv0rIolI said:

not likely, for this year their pop shrunk by 250,000. The rate will increase but for now its not the primary cause. The economy on the other hand is having a heart attack. Their vaunted positive trade balance has disappeared after fukushima and Abenomics has cause a collapse in exports and 18 month of real consecutive wage decline coupled with high inflation and higher taxes. This lead to a savings rate crashing to American levels.

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I don't know, the Japanese still need to start screwing each other more and have more kids. The savings gained in shutting down schools in the early years is probably not going to save them over paying for health care in the later years, with an ever shrinking work base.

Ducman69 said:

So much wrong with this:
1) The world cannot sustain its trend of exponential human population growth without massive reduction in quality of life. The only reason there are too many old people in Japan, is because previous generations were irresponsible and fucking too much. Japan's population density is approximately ten times the United States, which is itself overpopulated, and especially troubling when you factor in that a lot of that space you really can't even live in. The idea that they should fix the overpopulation problem by having more children is ridiculous, as is the idea that there won't be enough Japanese people in the country... they could have five hundred years of population decline at this rate and still be hugely overpopulated far higher than the density in present United States.

Put. your. dicks. AWAY! Or wrap it first, its not rocket science.

2) As stated, Japan is already bursting at the seams with people. To get into a subway is insane, as they are packed in like sardines. You can't drive anywhere without heavy traffic. Housing is hugely expensive, and people have to be crammed into tiny apartments for the most part. They SURE AS HELL don't need to be bringing in a crapton of poor immigrants from India and the Philippines to make a bad situation worse, and I am glad that the Japanese people respect their culture enough to preserve it. France was one of the first to embrace multiculturalism, and now they complain that they are overrun by Muslisms that don't want anything to do with the French or their way of life... well what did you think would happen? And now they are being shot in the streets.

3) Japan's per capita GDP is still the highest in Asia, at around $40K. That's a healthy living for most, if they didn't have to compete so much with one another for housing and transportation. Their economic issues sure as hell aren't something they could have solved by bringing in tons of uneducated peasants, and primarily an issue with too high of taxes and too high of an elderly population because of the mistakes of previous generations that kept popping out too many children. If you solve that by having more children now, you have an even WORSE problem for the next generation unless you keep it up forever... and that's not feasible.

People don't feel comfortable in their homes in Japan not because they are seen as "lazy" for living in them, but because they for the most part suck ass. They go to open areas to get away from the claustrophobia induced by overly expensive land due to too damn many people.

This is a public swimming pool in Japan:

This is an apartment in Tokyo:

And these are some of the "coffin" apartments that are becoming popular with today's youth that simply can't afford a decent living space:

But, no, you're right, damn xenophobic Japanese need to open their borders to India and SE.Asian poor countries and have more children.

Click to expand...

Confused post. The cities are not shrinking, it's the countryside that is dying out. That's still a net loss in population if the fertility rate is around 1.4 births.

Tokyo will continue to be packed for decades because it is a big city with prime realestate, as people die off, more and more people out in the sticks will move closer to the city until the rest of Japan is a barren wasteland of human beings. Dead and dying. This is not something to be celebrated.

What a load of nonsense that Japan of all countries needs to have more children:

1) The overpopulation problem, and result of too many elderly people will resolve itself as the elderly people die off and are replaced with fewer elderly by the next generation.

2) Slow population decline is a GOOD thing, especially when we are talking about an island most of which isn't reasonably inhabitable that has little arable land and approximately TEN TIMES the population density of the United States.

3) Japan has NEVER I repeat NEVER experienced population decline. Ever. The 2010 census still shows more people than 2005, and the population is still 52% above 1950s levels.

In this respect they are a model for the rest of the world, as is Germany that is finally putting great emphasis on family planning and safe sex and reducing teen pregnancy to extremely low levels (and telling the Catholics to STFU, lol). If only we could teach India, Africa, and other nations with high birthrate and STD rates to do the same, the world would be a much better place to live in and a lot more sustainable.



And to be back on topic, you will see that the higher the population density, the less living space the average person has, and the more they tend to go for "micro" devices and generally spend less time at home (same in the US). They give up cars and garages, no big projector screen setups, not much furniture, and the apartment becomes something you just go home to sleep in. So its not that mobile gaming is seen as superior or "teh futurez", its the negative fallout of the sins of the previous generation causing overpopulation creating too great a burden on the youth and being crammed like sardines into tiny spaces where people just aren't comfortable spending a lot of recreational time. 3DS and what not are where its at, as you can play that sitting on a bench outside, in the subway, and so forth.

Or heck just watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-yN2G5BY0 before recommending that Japan can solve their current problems caused by previous generations having too many babies by having more babies themselves. I will agree that they and heck the rest of the world has more to worry about than PS4 sales, and if I were king I would restrict people to living in cities for the most part, put limits on land we deforest/strip-mine/etc and set apart large swaths of land and ocean as nature preserves and would strongly endorse a Chinese-like "1-child" policy and family planning and education until we at least got back to 1950s population size globally and remained there sustainable. As technology increases, if that just means more people get to experience the consumption that 1st world countries do, then that is GREAT!

Ducman69 said:

3) Japan has NEVER I repeat NEVER experienced population decline. Ever.

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BS. The population has declined the last three years, and looks to continue to decline. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...drops-for-third-straight-year-25-are-elderly/ "Japan’s population has shrunk for the third year running, with the elderly making up a quarter of the total for the first time," What happens when there are too many old people, for the young people to take care of?

Japanese population has also declined in WWII. Probably in other wars to, but you can look that up for yourself.