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[Reaseru]

Once again, the European consumers are banking the japanese prices (and this is not exclusive to Nintendo). Both European and Japanese consoles are made in the same place (many years in China and more recently in Vietnam, from I heard).

The Japanese standalone version will cost 49.980¥, the European 470€ (both with taxes). Remember, right now, there are no tariffs here, unlike the US...

Converting to Yen, the European console will cost 75.402¥. A difference of 25.422¥, or if you prefer 158,48€. More than a third of the final european price.

You can call it inflation, transportation fees, currency ratio, etcetera, whatever you want. Nothing serves as excuse that the european Switch 2 will cost more than a third than a japanese one. Not when both are made and packaged in the same place, with the same materials, by the same people.

 

[Horseganador]

Sony without Japan has sold more than 20 million PS5s in the last 2 years and this one touches GTAVI, they will be fine, and in Japan they will end up around 9-10 million, that is a pretty good result, it is far from disappearing there.

The issue isn't that it's "cheap" in Japan, it's how they want to steal $150 or more from the rest of the world using the same system.

 

[Roman Empire]

Nintendo has complete hegemony in Japan simply for the fact they always aim to attend their home market's needs. They might lose some space for PS and Steam with Switch 2 prices but they will keep being the de facto home console brand.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Heck I'm sure it's going to kill globally. Built in mic with noise cancelling. The last console that had packing mic was the 360 and that blew up xbox and XBL as a brand even during the Red Ring issues.

If the switch 2 has no major hardware faults then this could be a repeat of 360 blowing up amongst the average Joe's.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Even Monster Hunter barely moved the needle for PS in Japan. It's already dead there.

No.

"The release of Monster Hunter Wilds significantly boosted PS5 sales in Japan, particularly during its launch week. According to retail data from Famitsu for the week ending March 2, 2025, the PS5 sold 108,978 units across all its models (base disc model, Digital Edition, and PS5 Pro). This marked a substantial increase compared to typical weekly sales figures for the console in Japan, where it has historically trailed behind the Nintendo Switch. For context, the Nintendo Switch sold 45,189 units during the same week, meaning the PS5 outsold it by more than double, a rare occurrence in the Japanese market.

This spike made it the second-biggest week for PS5 hardware sales in Japan, surpassed only by the console's launch week. The surge is widely attributed to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, 2025, which sold 601,179 physical copies on the PS5 in its debut week, making it the biggest physical launch for any PS5 game in the region. The game's popularity, combined with a special PS5 bundle that included Monster Hunter Wilds pre-downloaded (available in limited quantities starting February 28), likely drove this increase. The bundle was priced competitively—matching the standard PS5's suggested retail price despite including the game—further incentivizing purchases.

Looking at broader trends, VGChartz estimates for February 2025 show the PS5 sold 153,032 units for the month, a notable jump from the previous month's figures, with over 105,000 units of that increase occurring in the launch week of Monster Hunter Wilds. This suggests that the game's release was a key catalyst, boosting monthly sales by roughly 200% compared to a typical month prior (e.g., January 2025 year-to-date sales were 47,808 units before February's surge).

However, the boost appears to have been temporary. Posts on X and later sales data indicate that PS5 sales dropped sharply after the initial launch week, falling to around 28,000 units the following week (ending March 10) and as low as 15,000 units by late March. This suggests that while Monster Hunter Wilds drove a significant short-term spike—adding over 100,000 units to the PS5's lifetime sales in Japan in a single week—its impact tapered off quickly as the initial hype subsided.

In summary, Monster Hunter Wilds boosted PS5 sales in Japan by approximately 105,000 to 108,978 units in its launch week alone, depending on the baseline comparison, pushing lifetime sales to an estimated 6.67 million units by the end of February 2025. The game's release briefly propelled the PS5 to outsell the Switch and marked a rare moment of dominance in a market typically led by Nintendo."

https://x.com/i/grok/share/ongUgZflX9b6cd6fC7dupCOgG

The misinformation on these forums is getting out of control.

 

[GoldenEye98]

Wonder if the Japanese market will be a fan of Switch 2 being a larger handheld.

 

[ReyBrujo]

The misinformation on these forums is getting out of control.

Let me rearrange your numbers. Wilds boosted 110k units when it launched pushing lifetime to 6.67m, which means before that it had sold 6.56m. In other words, Wilds gave it a hump of 1.6%. I think that fits the "barely moved the needle" statement.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

Switch games is consistently selling in the millions in Japan, covering dev cost in that country alone, making it important for them to continue total Nintendo domination in Japan. Its one of the reasons the Switch lasted so long, Japan kept it afloat and successful.

 

[Astray]

Wonder if the Japanese market will be a fan of Switch 2 being a larger handheld.

It's not that much larger tbh.

I think the size of all things won't be a dealbreaker for anyone.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Wait, switch 2 is region locked?!

A portable console, is region locked? In 2025?

This is getting worse and worse.

 

[LRKD]

One of the few times I don't think Nintendo is being in the wrong. I think it's a smart solution to a complex problem, that leaves the consumer with the option of both. Is region lock ass? Yes. Is being unfairly priced due to a weak economy ass? Yes. Well now you have your answer to both. You either give up region lock, which for at least 90% of your average consumers, they don't even know what that means. Or you give up regional pricing, and Nintendo gave Japanese customers the option to pick which they want.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

Wait, switch 2 is region locked?!

A portable console, is region locked? In 2025?

This is getting worse and worse.

Its absolutely genius.

They have 2 Japanese consoles, one expensive region free and one Japan-locked for Japan which is cheaper. It essentially removes international scalpers from the equation in Japan, something the Japanese feared would mean it would be hard to find consoles. It seems the Japanese love it. Smart move.

 

[BennyBlanco]

No.

"The release of Monster Hunter Wilds significantly boosted PS5 sales in Japan, particularly during its launch week. According to retail data from Famitsu for the week ending March 2, 2025, the PS5 sold 108,978 units across all its models (base disc model, Digital Edition, and PS5 Pro). This marked a substantial increase compared to typical weekly sales figures for the console in Japan, where it has historically trailed behind the Nintendo Switch. For context, the Nintendo Switch sold 45,189 units during the same week, meaning the PS5 outsold it by more than double, a rare occurrence in the Japanese market.

This spike made it the second-biggest week for PS5 hardware sales in Japan, surpassed only by the console's launch week. The surge is widely attributed to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, 2025, which sold 601,179 physical copies on the PS5 in its debut week, making it the biggest physical launch for any PS5 game in the region. The game's popularity, combined with a special PS5 bundle that included Monster Hunter Wilds pre-downloaded (available in limited quantities starting February 28), likely drove this increase. The bundle was priced competitively—matching the standard PS5's suggested retail price despite including the game—further incentivizing purchases.

Looking at broader trends, VGChartz estimates for February 2025 show the PS5 sold 153,032 units for the month, a notable jump from the previous month's figures, with over 105,000 units of that increase occurring in the launch week of Monster Hunter Wilds. This suggests that the game's release was a key catalyst, boosting monthly sales by roughly 200% compared to a typical month prior (e.g., January 2025 year-to-date sales were 47,808 units before February's surge).

However, the boost appears to have been temporary. Posts on X and later sales data indicate that PS5 sales dropped sharply after the initial launch week, falling to around 28,000 units the following week (ending March 10) and as low as 15,000 units by late March. This suggests that while Monster Hunter Wilds drove a significant short-term spike—adding over 100,000 units to the PS5's lifetime sales in Japan in a single week—its impact tapered off quickly as the initial hype subsided.

In summary, Monster Hunter Wilds boosted PS5 sales in Japan by approximately 105,000 to 108,978 units in its launch week alone, depending on the baseline comparison, pushing lifetime sales to an estimated 6.67 million units by the end of February 2025. The game's release briefly propelled the PS5 to outsell the Switch and marked a rare moment of dominance in a market typically led by Nintendo."

https://x.com/i/grok/share/ongUgZflX9b6cd6fC7dupCOgG

The misinformation on these forums is getting out of control.

It was back to getting outsold by old and busted Switch in 2 weeks.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

It was back to getting outsold by old and busted Switch in 2 weeks.

Correct, but that wasn't the point. The point was PS5 saw a *major* boost from MHW, get your facts straight and your head right

 

[LordOcidax]

It was back to getting outsold by old and busted Switch in 2 weeks.

Sony fans when it comes about Playstation 5 sales in Japan…

 

[DinoD]

Sony needed to make a decision: abandon a flopping console (Vita) and have all their studios to focus on the PS4 or keep betting on a flopping mobile platform to appeal to a single market (Japan) while having their teams and studios making games for 2 platforms.

Guess which one was the best decision.

Sony saw the one thing lots of users here fail to see: "Japan doesn't align with what we want to do and that's okay. W didn't abandon Japan. Japan abandoned home consoles."

Do you guys want Sony to make hybrid consoles?

My statement is a mere observation. They made the decision to fold in Japan, probably due to not having resources (money bled in PS3 era) to focus on both traditional console and portable device. It was the right decision as PS4 was a success and saved them from going under. Fast forward to today. Gaming landscape has changed. Development costs for both hardware and software are soaring. Sony has money again. Perhaps. It's the right time to consider multiple devices, including portables/hybrids to extend your platform beyond ~100 mil of users.

 

[Woopah]

Let me rearrange your numbers. Wilds boosted 110k units when it launched pushing lifetime to 6.67m, which means before that it had sold 6.56m. In other words, Wilds gave it a hump of 1.6%. I think that fits the "barely moved the needle" statement.

What is a game that you think did move the needle for a platform in Japan? That's a very bad way to measure impact.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Heck I'm sure it's going to kill globally. Built in mic with noise cancelling. The last console that had packing mic was the 360 and that blew up xbox and XBL as a brand even during the Red Ring issues.

If the switch 2 has no major hardware faults then this could be a repeat of 360 blowing up amongst the average Joe's.

...what? Both the PS4 and PS5 had a pack in mic.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Correct, but that wasn't the point. The point was PS5 saw a *major* boost from MHW, get your facts straight and your head right

Idk how you wanna define moving the needle but getting the dog shit kicked out of you week in and week out by a very old system on its last legs besides a 2 week period is not good. These numbers are all publicly available. MH is massive in Japan, and will make or break your system in some instances. MH going to 3DS basically murdered the Vita in Japan. Now? 2 weeks of marginally better sales and huge drop off from MH World in sales. But we know the game sold extremely well.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Idk how you wanna define moving the needle but getting the dog shit kicked out of you week in and week out by a very old system on its last legs besides a 2 week period is not good. These numbers are all publicly available. MH is massive in Japan, and will make or break your system in some instances. MH going to 3DS basically murdered the Vita in Japan. Now? 2 weeks of marginally better sales and huge drop off from MH World in sales. But we know the game sold extremely well.

No one is arguing Nintendo is king in Japan, you're turning this into a different conversation and since I live in Japan I probably have a better idea about just how popular it is here than you do lol. The point, once again, is it had a big impact on sales, nothing more, nothing less. Nothing PlayStation does will ever dethrone Nintendo in this market but it doesn't mean certain releases can't push a surge in sales.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Loving the Customer Sales Representative vibes I'm getting from some of you in this thread.

Just buy your toy, stop defending corporations, nobody cares about your "logical reasons" and we'll see you in a few years when you'll be the one having to take a credit to buy some video games and when you'll be raging about unreasonable prices

I'll be playing videogames in the recovery room after they removed a kidney.

9/10 worth a kidney LITERALLY

 

[YeulEmeralda]

It's crazy to see people get so bent up out of shape over this stuff.

Japan is Nintendos home country. They want to offer their customers a region locked version for cheaper. That's great for them and 0 interest for me. I don't live in Japan.

I'm not getting ripped off. Those customers are stuck to buying Japanese only games and there's negatives. It's a strong business move by Japan.

They could offer a region locked system out of Japan for cheaper but I wouldn't buy it.

The price is not even that crazy considering the costs of gaming related products.

I'm paring 430 with Mario kart. Say a discounted Mario kart code of 50 squids.

That's 379.99 for the brand new Nintendo system. I don't understand the beef.

companies make region specific products for all things and used to for consoles.

Literally 99 percent of westerners won't even sniff this product yet here we are.

2025 and complain about everything.

So does this mean that Japs are forced to play Western videogames dubbed and censored?

Because that's why region locks sucked and if I was a Japanese gamer I would not be happy about it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

No one is arguing Nintendo is king in Japan, you're turning this into a different conversation and since I live in Japan I probably have a better idea about just how popular it is here than you do lol. The point, once again, is it had a big impact on sales, nothing more, nothing less. Nothing PlayStation does will ever dethrone Nintendo in this market but it doesn't mean certain releases can't push a surge in sales.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/famitsu-sales-week-13-2025-mar-24-mar-30.1682557/

It had a spike that amounted to nothing long term, or in other words it didn't move the needle. Last week ps5 sold under 15k units, and was more than doubled by the nearly dead Switch.

We are just arguing semantics at this point but i stand by my original point which is that ps5 is dead in JP and Monster Hunter didn't move the needle.

 

[lachesis]

The way Nintendo sees and acts regarding Japanese market is quite different from Sony's - and I think this just reinforces that line of thought for me.

NIntendo sees the world from Japanese point of view, while Sony sees Japan from global market leader's point of view... and of course Nintendo is going tooth and nail to keep its home turf. Sony, on the other hand is looking to lead the world, and Japan is just another region and they won't pull any favors for Japan only. (Multiple PS5 price hikes are the prime example)

Region locking to prevent the foreign scalpers is a bit extreme - but as far as I can tell, a lot of Japanese people are happy that they are getting a deal. I'm interested if that will stop the Chinese scalpers from retail.

 

[Bernoulli]

Consoles are dead in Japan. Nintendo is just less dead.

everyone uses their phones to play and their houses are so tiny they barely have space for a console or desktop PC

 

[nick776]

Wait, I thought Sony was the most anti-consumer when yall raised a big stink about the Ps5 Pro.

It's hard to keep track of it week over week.

I did notice how everyone supported AC Shadows and was wiling to buy it at full price but now shits on real games. I saw the thread where everyone said that their pinnacle of gaming multithousand dollar gaming PC was best represented with games like AC Shadows.

GTAVI will be priced sky high too. Nintendo is normalizing this and everyone will jump on board. All we can do is sull up. I'm choosing to be happy since the console itself is cheap, and I'll just wait for 10 bucks off on the games. The original pro controller is of course also super expensive and always has been and nobody is making you buy the manual game, so I think those complaints aren't relevant and were just used to flesh out your weak argument.

Here's a tip. Save up 70 dollars. Now you can afford 7 Nintendo games that you could not afford before the price increase. It's just 10 dollars my man. Do you know about game sales? Also you didn't give the credit for keeping the price on the console low. $449.99 was what every smart on this forum guessed, so we all knew that already. I assume you did too.

I don't get the backlash over game prices and Switch 2 prices. Are people REALLY that broke that such small amounts matter to them?

 

[ArtHands]

No.

"The release of Monster Hunter Wilds significantly boosted PS5 sales in Japan, particularly during its launch week. According to retail data from Famitsu for the week ending March 2, 2025, the PS5 sold 108,978 units across all its models (base disc model, Digital Edition, and PS5 Pro). This marked a substantial increase compared to typical weekly sales figures for the console in Japan, where it has historically trailed behind the Nintendo Switch. For context, the Nintendo Switch sold 45,189 units during the same week, meaning the PS5 outsold it by more than double, a rare occurrence in the Japanese market.

This spike made it the second-biggest week for PS5 hardware sales in Japan, surpassed only by the console's launch week. The surge is widely attributed to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, 2025, which sold 601,179 physical copies on the PS5 in its debut week, making it the biggest physical launch for any PS5 game in the region. The game's popularity, combined with a special PS5 bundle that included Monster Hunter Wilds pre-downloaded (available in limited quantities starting February 28), likely drove this increase. The bundle was priced competitively—matching the standard PS5's suggested retail price despite including the game—further incentivizing purchases.

Looking at broader trends, VGChartz estimates for February 2025 show the PS5 sold 153,032 units for the month, a notable jump from the previous month's figures, with over 105,000 units of that increase occurring in the launch week of Monster Hunter Wilds. This suggests that the game's release was a key catalyst, boosting monthly sales by roughly 200% compared to a typical month prior (e.g., January 2025 year-to-date sales were 47,808 units before February's surge).

However, the boost appears to have been temporary. Posts on X and later sales data indicate that PS5 sales dropped sharply after the initial launch week, falling to around 28,000 units the following week (ending March 10) and as low as 15,000 units by late March. This suggests that while Monster Hunter Wilds drove a significant short-term spike—adding over 100,000 units to the PS5's lifetime sales in Japan in a single week—its impact tapered off quickly as the initial hype subsided.

In summary, Monster Hunter Wilds boosted PS5 sales in Japan by approximately 105,000 to 108,978 units in its launch week alone, depending on the baseline comparison, pushing lifetime sales to an estimated 6.67 million units by the end of February 2025. The game's release briefly propelled the PS5 to outsell the Switch and marked a rare moment of dominance in a market typically led by Nintendo."

https://x.com/i/grok/share/ongUgZflX9b6cd6fC7dupCOgG

The misinformation on these forums is getting out of control.

MH Wild selling 600k+ physical copies in its debut week on PS5 in Japan, is a substantial drop from what MH Rise and MH World did.

MH World sold 1.3m physical copies in its debut week on PS4 in Japan

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/media-create-sales-week-4-2018-jan-22-jan-28.1460870/

Same for MH Rise on Nintendo Switch (in Japan, physical of course)

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/famitsu-sales-week-13-monster-hunter-rise-launch-week.1598999/

It is not misinformation just because you don't like it. Selling less than half of the previous titles is a flop

 

[awwr999999]

They are currently ahead of PS4 and PS3 there.

PS2's Japan's best selling non-Nintendo console and Sony could easily bring it back with DualSense and the ability to buy new PS2/1 games via PSN.
Being a PS2 it would add to the existing 160million PS2 consoles already sold and extend PS2's position as the world's best selling console.
It would work as a secondary platform focused on single player offline games that make up the bulk of PS's game sales.

 

[Buggy Loop]

 

[Games Bookstore]

In the rest of the world, the Switch 2 is comparatively priced to the PS5 – but Nintendo knows where its bread is buttered.

The Mario maker has come up with a fascinating solution to the weakening yen and the threat of exports: a Japanese language-only system which will retail for ¥49,980 (~$338).

That's significantly less than the $450 the system will sell for in the US, and it's almost half the price of the PS5, which currently retails for ¥79,980 (~$542).

Interestingly, Nintendo will also sell a multi-language version of the Switch 2 for ¥69,980 (~$474) in Japan, but it clearly expects most domestic consumers to cough up for the cheaper option.

Switch 2 Goes for the Kill in Japan By Massively Undercutting PS5's Price

Nintendo plots Japanese language-only option

www.pushsquare.com

The price solution isn't new, quite often you will see those practices in Japan. For example back in 2007 I bought a digital camera at Yodobashi Camera.

The sales clerk was trying to get my to buy the international model which included English and other languages for around $600AUD (can't remember the yen price), however there was no way I was paying double the price and bought the Japanese only version for around $300AUD.

If the games are playable in English and it's only the OS that is in Japanese I'd seriously consider buying the Japanese Switch 2, but I suspect that won't be the case.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Sony without Japan has sold more than 20 million PS5s in the last 2 years and this one touches GTAVI, they will be fine, and in Japan they will end up around 9-10 million, that is a pretty good result, it is far from disappearing there.

The issue isn't that it's "cheap" in Japan, it's how they want to steal $150 or more from the rest of the world using the same system.

 

[Tacrovy]

And yet you will need a paid subscription to use the revolutionary....VOICE CHAT

 

[Buggy Loop]

And yet you will need a paid subscription to use the revolutionary....VOICE CHAT

Sooo, online subscription?

 

[cartman414]

Their Series S.

 

[Windle Poons]

and I'll just wait for 10 bucks off on the games.

Imagine buying a Switch 2 and then never being able to buy a Nintendo first party game due to waiting for them to take £10 off the price of one.

You may aswell leave your S2 in its box.

/s

 

[L*][*N*K]

This is just proof that the "high" pricing of Switch in Western countries is a result of the tariffs and economic environment.

Don't say that, Trump supporting Sony fanboys will shoot you in broad daylight for that

 

[ArtHands]

Exactly. Can't kill what is dead.

 

[Sephiran]

It's about complete global saturation.

Japan on its own is an insignificant market. People cheer when a game sells 100k units in Japan. What the hell are we even talking about here?

You do realize that some Nintendo games have sold around 10 million copies, just in Japan on Switch? That is what Sony first party games sell in every market combined. Lol. That is what Nintendo cares about. The fact Sony games sell nothing in Japan doesn't matter to Nintendo. But if they grow a big user base in Japan, they sell 5 million copies or so for their first party games there.

 

[Hector Hall]

Sony fans when it comes about Playstation 5 sales in Japan…

Yet it's ahead launches aligned of both PS3 and PS4 and 2023 was best PlayStation year since the PS2 years with some 2.5 million consoles sold, and 2024 was doing great until the price hike.
There's a good demand for the PS5 in Japan. But in Japan there are like 40 million households and there's no more market that 10-12 million for a home console right now. Portable, with many family members having one for themselves, is another story. And at the current price it's struggling, but with a price cut it will move again some 25/30k units, healthy number's.

As for software, Ahmad said some weeks ago that digital is totally underestimated for PS in Japan, and that most games are above (well above in some releases with legs and no further phisical restocks) 50% digital there. If you for example duplicate the numbers we are getting in Famitsu by two they are in line with what we saw in prior generations. There's no 6.8 million consoles bought for nothing but deadweight. F2P games have also strongly surged.

 

[cireza]

No wonder Nintendo destroyed Sony in Japan. After all, they are a Japanese company, unlike Sony who basically became American.

 

[Boogybro]

Everyone keeps saying it's region locked.

Is it actually region locked? As in, you can't put a European cartridge in it and expect it to work? Or is it just locked to the Japanese language?

 

[Woopah]

Everyone keeps saying it's region locked.

Is it actually region locked? As in, you can't put a European cartridge in it and expect it to work? Or is it just locked to the Japanese language?

The weakness of the yen means hardware is significantly cheaper in Japan than elsewhere, leading to lots of Switches and PS5s being exported from Japan to the rest of the world (this is why Sony raised the price of all PS products in Japan).

Nintendo's solution is to offer two options:

1. An internaitonal version which has a price in yen similar to the price in the West
2. A domestic version that is 20,000 yen cheaper, but region locked to prevent exports

 

[nial]

They will probably outsell the PS5 in Japan within a year.

Absolute no chance of this happening before PS6 comes out.