PS4 Fails To Inspire Japanese Market

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
According to this report, the PS4 hasn't sold more than 10k units a week on its home turf. While that may be odd, it's selling like hotcakes everywhere else so I don't think Sony has anything to worry about on the PS4 front.

The PlayStation 4 was launched in Japan in February, several months behind Europe and North America, but early enough in 2014 to have made a significant impact on the market. Indeed, according to Media Create data, Sony's console hasn't sold more than 10,000 units in a single week in more than two months, putting it behind both the Wii U and the PlayStation Vita in terms of popularity.
Click to expand...
 
Make some games to go with the console. It's a pretty boring landscape on both xbox one and ps4 when it comes to games, still.
 
They probably think the PlayStation brand has been white-washed and refuse to support it. Japanese people are racist as hell, so this might actually be true.
 
makes sense, japanese have their own style of games, and they mostly play RPGs, which obviously doesnt exist yet on the console, beside if i were japanese too i would have boycoted the ps4, because i would be angry to see, a national company, decides to ship everywhere before they ship to us, kinda suck.
beside once japanese developers will start making their homegrown Rpgs, like FF, dragon quest etc the console will start selling.
 
Megalith said:
They probably think the PlayStation brand has been white-washed and refuse to support it. Japanese people are racist as hell, so this might actually be true.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about gaijin?

(yes, i'm being ironic)
 
Most of the Japanese developers (besides Namco) I've played games from seem like they're just now figuring out the PS3 (i.e. their graphics are just now getting to PS3 levels).

It'll be another 4 years before they figure out the PS4...
 
Is anybody in the US still buying the ps4? I mean I do not regret buying it on launch but I've ran out of stuff to play. All the games that I thought would be available shortly after launch have been delayed.

At least the ps4 looks more attractive on my entertainment console than the xbone because neither platform would be getting any use in my house right now. I did pickup a wii u for mk8 though and i've thrown some hours at it.
 
Worse launch ever . . .on all sides of the table . .no games , less than stellar perfomance " think htpc" with a gamepad. I dont see neither console pulling out of this hole. My Xbone 1 doesnt even compete with my samsung smart tv with features . .
 
Dawill said:
Is anybody in the US still buying the ps4?
Click to expand...

Of course, it's been the highest selling platform since the Holidays (shortages) here in the States.

I've never expected any of the new home consoles to do well in Japan. I know there have been threads here and other forums where folks thought the Japan launch was going to push Sony up to even higher numbers and some said the same for Microsofts Xbox One. The problem is the Japanese absolutely adore handhelds. The Vita of all things is actually thriving there. They don't do home consoles as much as they used too. The PS2 launch was insane in Japan.

The article LeviathanZERO linked to was a good read. I'd also say that the cultural shift and difficulty in designing video games after the 7th Generations started forcing Japanese developers to leave their comfort zone.

Even with huge Japanese focused games and marketing I don't see Japan coming back for anyone.
 
I have several friends and co-workers who bought the PS4, unboxed it and put it back in the box.

Reason: No games yet. Everyone is waiting for games.

As for Japanese developers "coming to grips" with PS3/PS4 hardware. It is not that they don`t understand it, the teams are RIDICULOUSLY small sometimes.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
To understand this, highly recommended reading:

http://neojaponisme.com/2011/11/28/the-great-shift-in-japanese-pop-culture-part-one/
Click to expand...

Very interesting read, a refreshing and educated look at the situation, thanks!

Some of the social changes mirror our own. For example buying cheap goods from Walmart and such reflecting the shrinking incomes/middle class this side of the pond as well:

What is troubling, however, is the market’s move towards meeting consumer demand with inferior goods. Inferior goods, economically-speaking, are goods that see demand increase as incomes fall. In these instances, consumers choose poor-quality, substitutes for a preferred item. Instead of buying a normal good like fresh deli ham, consumers go for a cheaper, less satisfying product like Potted Meat Food Product.
...
This is a sign that the consumer living standard considered normal just a decade ago has fallen dramatically into a new “basket of goods” that would once have be seen as only appropriate for the relatively destitute
Click to expand...

Yep, we seem to have that in common. I'm curious to see how this gets addressed down the line there.

Other interesting points (Sorta a summary):

- Fascinating how low birth rates are forcing companies to shift their products and marketing to the older generation, the younger generation used to be the high spenders, but low birth rates plus shrinking middle class is changing that now.

- Also it seems that, due to cultural and corporate barriers - oligarchies dominate the markets, and they fear losing control if internet picks up - the Japanese net is still stuck in the 1990s, and this causes problems where income lost in traditional markets has not been compensated for through digital economy - ala Steam, Amazon, etc. An internet success there would basically be tied to uprooting the foundation of Japanese social and corporate culture itself.

- Niche subcultures (otaku, yankii, etc) are one of the few big spenders left, making their influence much more significant now, corporations are embracing them to stay in the business. While this is needed for success locally, it causes difficulties when exporting products overseas - it significantly limits their appeal and thus corporations are stuck between catering to local vs international markets, which is the definition of a rock and hard place.

One exception is cars, but cultural/entertainment goods are taking a heavy hit, Korea and China are starting to strongly take over in these areas.
 
Wierdo said:
Korea and China are starting to strongly take over in these areas.
Click to expand...

I'm intereted in China's possible sales but the hardware probably won't do well until we see the price of entry drop to sub 200 dollars or more.

I'm in S. Korea at the moment and have not noticed huge demand for PS4 (or any console for that matter). I'm not in Seoul so I can't comment on that city. It just seems like Asia as a whole has dropped off or went to PC.
 
With this news the "600k" sold at launch in Japan is kind of suspect. I wonder how many of those were purchased by Sony and are being resold on ebay @$359-$369.
 
Might be a combo of things. I think that the PS4 was created for westerners in mind, hence why it's been selling like hotcakes in western countries. 2nd, I think there is a lack of games that appeal to the Japanese market. 3rd, I recall reading that handheld gaming is hugely popular in japan.

No doubt when the japanese devs bring in the games, sales will rise.
 
For a Japanese developer to drop big yen into a portable title and it to fail in Japan, it is grounds for ritual suicide in shame.

We suffered through dudebro-oscarmike FPS games last generation, they're still suffering through their own "we need to make this in order to compete and make money": Monster Hunter clones.
 
Love it how everyone says it's just "the market" and 5-million other excuses now with the gaming drought on both XBone and PS4, whereas when Wii U came out it was all doom and gloom and Nintendo needed to leave the hardware industry.

Enjoy your "Next Gen" buzzword hype, DudeBros. I'll be busy enjoying my Wii U exclusives and full-res/frames-per-second multiplats on a PC, kthx.
 
Megalith said:
They probably think the PlayStation brand has been white-washed and refuse to support it. Japanese people are racist as hell, so this might actually be true.
Click to expand...
I doubt it, but not because they aren't racist.

They aren't really racist against whites. Most I have met just think of themselves as master race of Asian sphere, and respect whites as the master race of theirs, which I think harks back to WW2 with the Germany and Japan alliance where Hitler publically praised the Japanese for their racial purity and called them the highest race of asians, and then later there was a deep respect for MacArthur as supreme commander. Went on plenty of diving trips with Japanese teens when I lived in Singapore, but the Filipinos and Malaysians and what not, yeah, massive superiority complex.
 
I remember all these reports coming from Sony about this huge PS4 shortage that was expected around that time (when it launched in Japan.) From that time it was never out of stock again. Sony was surely expecting much more.
 
I've ben to Japan a few times and it seems the people their are gaming crazy, so I'm surprised the PS4 isn't selling well.
 
The reason is because there is no compelling japanese software to go with the PS4 for the Japanese to care about.

Monster Hunter would be a start over there. Or a new Dragon Quest.
 
refraxion said:
The reason is because there is no compelling japanese software to go with the PS4 for the Japanese to care about.

Monster Hunter would be a start over there. Or a new Dragon Quest.
Click to expand...
Or anything involving childlike sex robots that can only utter monosylabic responses.
 
Ducman69 said:
I doubt it, but not because they aren't racist.

They aren't really racist against whites. Most I have met just think of themselves as master race of Asian sphere, and respect whites as the master race of theirs, which I think harks back to WW2 with the Germany and Japan alliance where Hitler publically praised the Japanese for their racial purity and called them the highest race of asians, and then later there was a deep respect for MacArthur as supreme commander. Went on plenty of diving trips with Japanese teens when I lived in Singapore, but the Filipinos and Malaysians and what not, yeah, massive superiority complex.
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised to hear about the superiority complex against other asians, but I AM surprised to hear that they're pro-white. My foreign exchange friends told me (granted, about a decade ago) flat out that if I went to Japan, gals would flock to me. They also said that there wasn't a chance in hell that they'd marry me. Having a white boyfriend/girlfriend is a status symbol apparently, not a serious thing. They're very anti-mixed-breeding, apparently.
 
TeeJayHoward said:
They also said that there wasn't a chance in hell that they'd marry me. Having a white boyfriend/girlfriend is a status symbol apparently, not a serious thing. They're very anti-mixed-breeding, apparently.
Click to expand...
My neighbor just got divorced, was going to Japan on short assignment and joked that he'd get him some Japanese women, and sure enough he came back with a Japanese bride (hot but bad teeth). *shrugs* Can't be that hard to find one that wants a US visa at least, heh.
 
Ducman69 said:
My neighbor just got divorced, was going to Japan on short assignment and joked that he'd get him some Japanese women, and sure enough he came back with a Japanese bride (hot but bad teeth). *shrugs* Can't be that hard to find one that wants a US visa at least, heh.
Click to expand...

Ah, white guys and their yellow fever, gotta love it. :cool:

2012-10-05-mjg-29-04-2002.png
 
TeeJayHoward said:
I'm not surprised to hear about the superiority complex against other asians, but I AM surprised to hear that they're pro-white. My foreign exchange friends told me (granted, about a decade ago) flat out that if I went to Japan, gals would flock to me. They also said that there wasn't a chance in hell that they'd marry me. Having a white boyfriend/girlfriend is a status symbol apparently, not a serious thing. They're very anti-mixed-breeding, apparently.
Click to expand...

The number of white male - asian female couples and half asian-white kids keeps rising. But to even things out, I'd like to see more asian male - white female couples too. :(
 
Xinmosni said:
Love it how everyone says it's just "the market" and 5-million other excuses now with the gaming drought on both XBone and PS4, whereas when Wii U came out it was all doom and gloom and Nintendo needed to leave the hardware industry.
Click to expand...

Everyone was a little concerned that the market had contracted because of the Wii U, 3DS and Vita sales. It was bad and the previous generation was seeing declining numbers on hardware and software.

But two things happened last year that made all worries go away. GTA V and PS4/Xbox One. So it was not so much that the market as a whole was contracting, it was just that the market rejected those products. They wanted something new that worked for what they needed and the PS4 and Xbox One (now anyway) sales show that.

I'm not seeing a gaming drought on either platform unless you mean AAA exclusives (as oppose to plenty AAA third party titles). If that is what you are trying to say then when we put the Wii U in historical context given time on market the drought certainly was bad with the Wii U and it's still not good.

By this time next year the PS4 and Xbox One will likely have more titles in their library than the Wii U will have for the rest of its sales life.
 
Xinmosni said:
Enjoy your "Next Gen" buzzword hype, DudeBros. I'll be busy enjoying my Wii U exclusives and full-res/frames-per-second multiplats on a PC, kthx.
Click to expand...

you and the other 3 wii u owners are living the dream, so jealous
 
FoBZY said:
you and the other 3 wii u owners are living the dream, so jealous
Click to expand...

At least the Wii U does have some decent games on it.
So far, I haven't seen squat on the PS4 or Xbone worth a damn, and especially no titles that the PC haven't already done better.
 
Red Falcon said:
At least the Wii U does have some decent games on it.
So far, I haven't seen squat on the PS4 or Xbone worth a damn, and especially no titles that the PC haven't already done better.
Click to expand...

Yea now, how will things look 6-12 months? What we are seeing is that even with poor exclusives at the moment and some PC multiplatform games people are buying the PS4/Xbox One.

People know that the platforms will be supported and they will have a steady stream of content monthly and larger releases quarterly. That's not the expectations you get with Nintendo. You are going to be buying it for one thing only and that is Nintendos awesome first party games. The only problem there is that many people don't want to put that much money down on just that and that alone.
 
next-Jin said:
Yea now, how will things look 6-12 months? What we are seeing is that even with poor exclusives at the moment and some PC multiplatform games people are buying the PS4/Xbox One.
Click to expand...

I can't even remember how many people on here said that exact same thing back in January this year... and yet here we are, still waiting.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but the video game market is over-saturated.

Individuals who want fun/original games are going to go with the 3DS or Wii/Wii U.
Individuals who want high-end graphics with eye-candy are going to go with PC.

These new consoles are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, with nothing new/exclusive/innovative, and the graphics severely lacking.
I can't deny that the consoles do sell, but how many games have been released that are actually fun, or even exclusive for that matter? (less than a hand-full)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top