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Famitsu Week 38: Dragon Quest X, Switch above 125k, Xbox Series above PS5

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
No, it's not the "perfect Japanese" console. What is that even based on? A stereotype that Japanese like smaller electronics? Anything that requires a TV to use is not a "perfect Japanese" console, as is evident by sales trend of the last 2 generations or so.

PS5 is by far the most sought after next gen system in Japan. Anytime an Xbox series console outsells the PS5, it's 100% due to shipment shortages. PS5 in general tends to ship less frequently, but in larger shipments whereas series consoles are shipped more consistently. This is why you have some weeks in which the Series consoles outsell PS5: It's because the PS5 shipment happened the week before.

The current boost is actually very simple: MS offers a 5000 yen coupon on every Series S console sold. that's about 35$. That was announced a while ago, so everyone interested in a Series S waited until this deal became active. It's an artificial bump, not an increase in demand.

I would love to have Xbox be more popular here, but most people don't understand what the situation for Xbox is really like. The vast majority of Gaming/Electronic stores outside large cities do not carry the Xbox brand. Like, at all. You either have to order online or travel to a major city where you'll find a very small section dedicated to Xbox. A not insignificant amount of these consoles sold go to either American Military Staff stationed in Japan or scalped up by Chinese to be sold for massive profits in China. The idea that Xbox is "Growing" by any significant amount here in Japan is a complete myth as far as I'm concerned.

How did the Japanese that wanted a series s know there would be a voucher.

My brother has lived in Japan for over 10 years with his wife and kids and the Japanese do prefer smaller electronic items. It's just a fact, they don't have huge houses and are often in smaller apartments.

The series S is doing better than basically any other xbox ever has, especially when you rake in the collapse of home console gaming.

So, you're telling me that the xbox could perform even better if it was on a level playing field and available to purchase in more shops.

Yes, the ps5 would outsell it but the xbox is performing well and is gaining fans there. Good for them, may it continue as Sony needs a firm lesson after the price they put the ps5 up there. A ridiculous increase.
 

jm89

Member
Oh yeah, because every company would LOVE to just ignore the second biggest country for videogame sales.

The denial is strong within you.
Smh Its like talking to a brick wall with you. For Sony it's not the biggest countey in sales, they are probably making more off the uk market alone then they have ever in japan.

They will have hardware sent their when they have software to sell, or stock has stabilized where they don't have to prioritise nor important markets.
 
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Porcile

Member
Nice thing about Xbox S is if you buy from a big retail store like Yodobashi you can get yourself 10% of the value in in redeemable points. So often you can get a game for half price to go with it. It's one reason Japanese retail stores stay competitive with online marketplaces.
 
Practice makes perfect. Let those ambassador cheques and phil blow up dolls motivate you.
200.gif
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Yeah, they simply decided to essentially leave the 2nd largest console market on the planet, a market that they absolutely dominated not that long ago. Big brain time.
Most of the Japanese gamers are into mobile and portable console like switch.
Console software sales is not really as profitable as people thought.
Subscription may work i guess, but thats not Sony main goal.
I dont see any Playstation domination in Japan tbh, they have been falling behind long ago since the demise of Vita and PSP.

And lets not forget the decline of Japanese population, its very risky to invest in gaming business, especially console games.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Dumb question, Famitsu tracking are retail copies right?

I ask because it says Splatoon 3 is at 2.4 million copies, but Nintendo said it sold 3.5 million in Japan.
 
Most of the Japanese gamers are into mobile and portable console like switch.
Maybe, but that's not a good argument when we know how badly the Vita bombed.
Console software sales is not really as profitable as people thought.
It can be, Nintendo is drowning in profits after all.
Subscription may work i guess, but thats not Sony main goal.
True, for now at least.
I dont see any Playstation domination in Japan tbh, they have been falling behind long ago since the demise of Vita and PSP.
PSP did pretty damn well, no? Anyway, the main reason is the games imo. Japan has a specific game taste, and Sony hasn't really been delivering on that front.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
PSP did pretty damn well, no? Anyway, the main reason is the games imo. Japan has a specific game taste, and Sony hasn't really been delivering on that front.
Aside from Nintendo whose first party games resonate with every region of the world, I think Sony's failure in Japan is also boosted by third party devs also trending to western games. That's where the money is. Even if it's a franchise that's still Japanese at heart, the fact games on Xbox and Sony systems trend to grittier and more realistic visuals (muscle flex in power) doesn't help. Japanese gamers love anime, bright colours, pointy hair and kiddie kinds of aesthetics. Although oddly, out of all the games Japanese gamers play some reason RE and Gran Turismo games I think are still good sellers there. Ok, you got two franchises they dont mind grittier realistic visuals.
 

Rykan

Member
Is there an online retailer bigger than Amazon in japan that only Famitsu tracks? That would explain why their numbers are always so high for Xbox.
Rakuten possibly, but that's also made up out of a lot of different sellers. From what it's worth, the Japanese gaming industry analysts I follow on twitter all say that Media Create is the one that is most accurate. So it could very well be that Famitsu's numbers are off.
How did the Japanese that wanted a series s know there would be a voucher.
Because it's on advertisements.
My brother has lived in Japan for over 10 years with his wife and kids and the Japanese do prefer smaller electronic items. It's just a fact, they don't have huge houses and are often in smaller apartments.
That's great. I live here too and I've not noticed any preference for smaller electronics outside of TV's. Nobody in Japan is going to look at the Series S and be like "Oh I'm buying that one because I have no room for a PS5." Come on now.
The series S is doing better than basically any other xbox ever has, especially when you rake in the collapse of home console gaming.
Huh? It's not doing better than any Xbox ever. It's not even close to the Xbox 360's numbers.
So, you're telling me that the xbox could perform even better if it was on a level playing field and available to purchase in more shops.
Well naturally being available in shops vs not being available in shops is always going to be a plus. In fact, I do think that this is actually one of MS's biggest challenges in the territory: convincing stores to actually carry the brand. Right now, most electronic stores and gaming stores don't seem to think that carrying the brand is worth it.
Yes, the ps5 would outsell it but the xbox is performing well and is gaining fans there. Good for them, may it continue as Sony needs a firm lesson after the price they put the ps5 up there. A ridiculous increase.
It depends on what you consider doing well. It's outperforming the Xbox One, but it's lacking behind the Xbox 360. The simple fact of the matter is that any kind of growth is going to be negligible in the grand scheme of things.
 

Nautilus

Banned
Smh Its like talking to a brick wall with you. For Sony it's not the biggest countey in sales, they are probably making more off the uk market alone then they have ever in japan.

They will have hardware sent their when they have software to sell, or stock has stabilized where they don't have to prioritise nor important markets.
the naked gun facepalm GIF
 
Imagine a japanese company losing to Xbox in their own country...
PS5 has outsold Xbox series by like 9 to 1. What are you talking about? lmao
Also...Xbox, the american company is losing to BOTH japanese consoles in their home country. Imagine that.
 
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Nautilus

Banned
mqdefault.jpg

To help you cope with your nonsense.
Should have been Miyamotto there, given that Nintendo's the one kicking Sony ass in a market they once dominated lol

This denial is simply hilarious.Losing to both Nintendo AND MS, but noooooo, Japan being the 2nd biggest country for videogame is irrelevant. Fucking hilarious LOL
 
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Nautilus

Banned
PS5 - 1.925.681
XBS - 338.248
I would love to lose like this.
You forgot Nintendo numbers, which are almost 15 times higher than PS5's total.

Funny how you guys always have to focus on MS(which is doing better and better on a territory that historically had zero presence in) to make yourselves feel goos, when nintendo is selling 10:1. Sony being completely dominated in japan is a fact that its impossible to argue against. Sony is doing well worldwide, but they simply lost the second biggest market to Nintendo, and even is struggling against MS in some weeks.

If that's not a fall from grace, I don't know what it is.
 

Mr Moose

Member
You forgot Nintendo numbers, which are almost 15 times higher than PS5's total.

Funny how you guys always have to focus on MS(which is doing better and better on a territory that historically had zero presence in) to make yourselves feel goos, when nintendo is selling 10:1. Sony being completely dominated in japan is a fact that its impossible to argue against. Sony is doing well worldwide, but they simply lost the second biggest market to Nintendo, and even is struggling against MS in some weeks.

If that's not a fall from grace, I don't know what it is.
No I didn't, look what I highlighted in your comment. You said they are losing to MS, are they?
It came down to stock + that 5,000 yen helped, that's all. Series S in Japan is £169 (roughly 27,000 yen with that 5,000 yen offer), that's a damn good price.

I don't feel goos at all.
 

Nautilus

Banned
No I didn't, look what I highlighted in your comment. You said they are losing to MS, are they?
It came down to stock + that 5,000 yen helped, that's all. Series S in Japan is £169 (roughly 27,000 yen with that 5,000 yen offer), that's a damn good price.

I don't feel goos at all.
Now you have to attack my grammar in order to have some sort of argument against me. Great job dude.


Yeah, you highlighted the tiny part in which makes Sony look slightly well. What about the 125k Switchs that Nintendo sold? Sony is doing horribly not goos at all.

I don't even get why people are being so defensive about it. Its a FACT that Sony is killing worldwide!PS5 is doing really well out there. But its also a FACT that Sony is doing shit in japan. And no, they do care to sell well in the second biggest market in the world. They just don't ship more because they can't sell that much more.

That's not even a shitpost.That's just a frank analysis of the market right now. Maybe it will change in 2 years time?Maybe. But nothing indicates that right now.
 
I don't even get why people are being so defensive about it. Its a FACT that Sony is killing worldwide!PS5 is doing really well out there. But its also a FACT that Sony is doing shit in japan. And no, they do care to sell well in the second biggest market in the world. They just don't ship more because they can't sell that much more.
The hardware sales aren't even that bad (compared to PS4). Software sales is the real story. Last year was utterly horrible for PS5 in that regard. The entirety of PS5 software combined (1st and 3rd party) sold as much as... Minecraft on Switch. Sony can't be happy with that.
 

Mr Moose

Member
Now you have to attack my grammar in order to have some sort of argument against me. Great job dude.


Yeah, you highlighted the tiny part in which makes Sony look slightly well. What about the 125k Switchs that Nintendo sold? Sony is doing horribly not goos at all.

I don't even get why people are being so defensive about it. Its a FACT that Sony is killing worldwide!PS5 is doing really well out there. But its also a FACT that Sony is doing shit in japan. And no, they do care to sell well in the second biggest market in the world. They just don't ship more because they can't sell that much more.

That's not even a shitpost.That's just a frank analysis of the market right now. Maybe it will change in 2 years time?Maybe. But nothing indicates that right now.
I'm not being defensive, your statement about them losing to MS is just a little off. Weekly sales? Yes they lost to a £169 Series S and the more popular Switch. Stock is kinda shit, has been for the last two weeks but it got a little better for PS5/Series S from last week. Series X didn't seem to get very many. It's a supply issue for both of the next gen consoles.
 

Orbital2060

Member
As usual, people are arguing over hardware numbers when the problem for Sony in Japan are the software sales. They are close to non-existant vs Nintendo software sales at this point. How many units Sony sell in Japan has not changed this now or in the past few years. Its been a steady decline into the situation they find themselves in now.

I dont know if you can bring Minecraft on Switch into the argumentation and say something about Xbox 1p software selling better than any Sony 1p software in Japan but that game is about to hit 3 million retail copies sold soon and is one of the evergreen titles that hover around the top5 games, depending on what else new is released in a given week.

Im looking forward to the updated yearly sales breakdown between Nintendo and Sony for FY22 whenever those are done. For all the arguing back and forth over hardware sales, that will show whether or not Sony can break the trend of the last three years and turn what looks like a course for total obscurity in Japan. If it goes on like this, at one point their software sales are going to hit the proverbial rock bottom, or how you want to spell the number zero.

837665ba-2e71-4311-ai4is5.jpeg

Graph from hiska-kun/installbase
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
You forgot Nintendo numbers, which are almost 15 times higher than PS5's total.

Funny how you guys always have to focus on MS(which is doing better and better on a territory that historically had zero presence in) to make yourselves feel goos, when nintendo is selling 10:1. Sony being completely dominated in japan is a fact that its impossible to argue against. Sony is doing well worldwide, but they simply lost the second biggest market to Nintendo, and even is struggling against MS in some weeks.

If that's not a fall from grace, I don't know what it is.

Sony is losing 10:1 in Japan against an underclocked Nvidia Tegra tablet. Sony and Microsoft are ants compared to Nintendo in Japan.
 

jm89

Member
I just love it when Xbox fans are cheerleading Nintendo. I get it bros you need something to root for.

I love it even more when they pretend they are long term fans of some of the franchises on the switch. You can tell they are trying their best. Don't get me wrong their are genuine people who are fans, but you can tell the frauds from a mile a way and they know who they are.
 

Nautilus

Banned
Nintendo are beating the shit out of Sony in Japan! Its pure domination!

will you stfu now?
Why would I when the point of this thread is to talk about sales of hardware and software?Nintendo dominating Japan is what the numbers are saying.

Or are the numbers that famitsu posted offensive too?
 

Kiraly

Member
I just love it when Xbox fans are cheerleading Nintendo. I get it bros you need something to root for.

I love it even more when they pretend they are long term fans of some of the franchises on the switch. You can tell they are trying their best. Don't get me wrong their are genuine people who are fans, but you can tell the frauds from a mile a way and they know who they are.
All you've done in this thread after your position and arguments turned out to be bullshit is attack others for being Microsoft shills and whine about fanboys. It's fucking pathetic but I get that this is your coping mechanism.
 

Lognor

Banned
Xbox winning a week in Japan really brings out the salt. I hope they keep winning weeks more often, people apparently need to get used to (small) Xbox successes.
Yeah, this is pretty amazing. It's one week and people are losing their fucking minds and trying to say numbers are wrong or it only sold well because retailers were "giving it away".

Some weird takes here. All because xbox outsold ps5 for one week...
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
I just love it when Xbox fans are cheerleading Nintendo. I get it bros you need something to root for.

I love it even more when they pretend they are long term fans of some of the franchises on the switch. You can tell they are trying their best. Don't get me wrong their are genuine people who are fans, but you can tell the frauds from a mile a way and they know who they are.
I own four Switches (two launch: grey and colored JoyCons), a Switch Lite, and an OLED. 38 physical games, and tons of digital. Both my Switch Lite and OLED have 512GB cards in them.
 

Nautilus

Banned
I'm not being defensive, your statement about them losing to MS is just a little off. Weekly sales? Yes they lost to a £169 Series S and the more popular Switch. Stock is kinda shit, has been for the last two weeks but it got a little better for PS5/Series S from last week. Series X didn't seem to get very many. It's a supply issue for both of the next gen consoles.
It has been "supply constrained" for almost two years. The rest of the world has had the supply problem much improved, but not japan? That tells me there is more to this story, as I have been pointing.

But fine, I guess time will tell.
 

jm89

Member
All you've done in this thread after your position and arguments turned out to be bullshit is attack others for being Microsoft shills and whine about fanboys. It's fucking pathetic but I get that this is your coping mechanism.
Did i hit a nerve?

Nope you really didn't show anything against what i was arguing for.
 

Lognor

Banned
I just love it when Xbox fans are cheerleading Nintendo. I get it bros you need something to root for.

I love it even more when they pretend they are long term fans of some of the franchises on the switch. You can tell they are trying their best. Don't get me wrong their are genuine people who are fans, but you can tell the frauds from a mile a way and they know who they are.
More copium here. Holy shit some of you are salty af

You do know people can own more than one console, right? You need to buy an Xbox Series X. You won't regret it. Might help with your copium too.
 
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