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[Cornbread78]

Switch will do well in Japan.....

 

[SneakersSO]

For the last twenty years, Sony has dominated the mindshare of Japanese third parties. PS1 and PS2 were enormous, which led to strong support for PS3 also.

You're wrong in your very first paragraph. You're completely ignoring the fact that the Wii basically stripped Sony & the PS3 of its Japanese support. That, as well as the DS/3DS line becoming as big as they were, on top of JP developers prioritizing mobile efforts, basically meant that developers were basically supporting whichever Nintendo machine was selling well at the time. SE moved Kingdom Hearts to a handheld series during the PS3 gen, with all titles in the series during that generation releasing on those platforms (PSP, DS/3DS). Capcom moved Monster Hunter to 3DS exclusively. Dragon Quest jumped ship to DS then Wii.

The only people that continued to support the PS3 & Sony were the biggest of Japanese AAA (Capcom, Konami, SE), and even still, they were giving a ton of their support to Nintendo during those years. But unlike the current generation, Sony had to share its JP support with the 360, which is something that isn't happening in the current generation.

 

[Guymelef]

Is there any reason the Switch won't dominate Japan?

Come for this.

 

[gtj1092]

Didn't see any where in the article the where sony should be worried. Also seems odd to compare LTD of past consoles to the 3 year total of ps4. He states if the ps4 sat along the Wii at its current sales it would be considered irrelevant but the ps3 sat in that position and got plenty of games.

Also if I'm not mistaken PS4 has already passed 3DS in total software sales so I don't know why developers would give up the ps4 market for switch when they can target both platforms.

 

[Raylan]

[Japan] As Switch comes after PS4, Sony should be worried

If anybody needs to be worried, it should be Nintendo. If the Switch flops too, it's over for them, regarding home-console thingies (or whatever the fuck the Switch is).

 

[Busaiku]

Why do people still view Switch as Wii U's successor instead of 3DS.

 

[Dragon Puncher]

The japanese marked is minuscule for Sony compared to NA og Europe. As long as they sell great there I doubt Sony will care very much if Switch outsells them in Japan.

 

[AGoodODST]

People were saying that before the Wii U launched due to DQ and MH.

Let's wait and see.

 

[moltonasty]

I agree OP. Switch is the smartest move Nintendo could be making right now, especially in the Japanese market.

World wide though we'll see how it pans out, it will definitely depend a lot on western third party support.

 

[Principate]

Yeah how about we wait a bit longer to see the switches actual support before we make a thread that eerily resembles one made for the Wii U and will likely also be rightly mocked if the console bombs again

 

[Phediuk]

Really?

damn lol

 

[sense]

Sony is fine, Nintendo should be more concerned with expanding their user base after the Wii U fiasco.

Sony are quaking in their boots.

.

 

[muteki]

Sony has it's priorities set to the West for a while now. Japan-targeted games on Sony's platforms come from 3rd parties.

 

[AmFreak]

Even if the Switch is a success in Japan and grabs sales from the PS4 what is the consequence?
How much does it matter if the PS4 sells 2-3 million less ww in the end?

 

[Solid SOAP]

Switch won't touch PS4 sales, but I think with the right 3rd party support it might get close or even eclipse Xbone sales. Microsoft are the ones who should be worried.

 

[BrainZEROX]

Is there any reason the Switch won't dominate Japan?

Something called mobiles maybe...

 

[BadWolf]

You're in for a rude awakening imo.
The Switch is far from being a japanese friendly product.
As a handheld it is too big and without the exclusive features that previous Nintendo dedicated handhelds enjoyed like dual screens and 3D.
As a home console it has weak hardware without major third party support.
Switch won't save anything, it will be lucky to be more successful than Wii U and reach a GC level success IMO.

The Switch is basically a WiiU you can take outside.

It all depends on if people care about that or if they would rather just keep carrying their phone and maybe 3DS, both being much more portable than a Switch.

 

[Zhao_Yun]

I think we might see more Multiplatgames on PS4 and Switch, but I doubt that devs will suddenly exclusively develop for the Switch. And this can go both ways imo (PS 3rd party IPs also coming to Switch and 3rd party Nintendo IPs also coming to PS4).

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Is there any reason the Switch won't dominate Japan?

Also, this.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Sony still has the rest of the world.

 

[Kintaro]

Is there any reason the Switch won't dominate Japan?

It's not a cell phone.
It is potentially too big as a portable.
Japan doesn't care about home consoles.
Nintendo's sales continue to slip generation after generation?

Yeah, plenty.

What exactly would be "dominating" Japan anyway? That's like being the big fish in a thimble.

Developers may put some games on the system of course, but they will also do PS4 versions. So, Sony loses nothing.

 

[leatherhat]

Japan dedicated market is dead. Switch wont compete globally. I'm sure sony has little need to worry.

 

[hichanbis]

Sony after the Switch release:

 

[Ivan 3414]

What's with these posters coming in to a topic about the Japanese market, saying "Japan doesn't matter," and leaving? What purpose does that serve for this particular discussion?

 

[Pennywise]

Don't you just love Sony vs Nintendo topics? Switch will definitely do great no mater what Sony does.

And vice versa.

Japan as whole should be a topic everyone should be worried about.
In general some developers are luckily trying to appeal to a bigger audience with PC releases, simultaniously releases WW and proper localisation.

People should really stop creating those topics with the mindset that the Switch will be the revival of the japanese console market, just because their handhelds did incredible well.
It's a different product and we will see how it will actually do.

We can surely agree that we all hope, that they do well. The market could certainly need it.
However, it's just such a small fraction of the big pie and there is more Nintendo needs to focus on.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

I think we might see more Multiplatgames on PS4 and Switch, but I doubt that devs will suddenly exclusively develop for the Switch. And this can go both ways imo (PS 3rd party IPs also coming to Switch and 3rd party Nintendo IPs also coming to PS4).

Yep, that is exactly what I said on the last page.

 

[HeartlessNobody213]

You're in for a rude awakening imo.
The Switch is far from being a japanese friendly product.
As a handheld it is too big and without the exclusive features that previous Nintendo dedicated handhelds enjoyed like dual screens and 3D.
As a home console it has weak hardware without major third party support.
Switch won't save anything, it will be lucky to be more successful than Wii U and reach a GC level success IMO.

I'm having similar thoughts as well. I definitely think it will outsell the Wii U and maybe a bit better than the GC.

I do hope the Switch succeeds and proves me wrong though.

 

[aBarreras]

i mean the ps4 took a long time to take over the already pathetic wii u sales, so...

yeah, i think the switch will do better than ps4 on japan

 

[Tadaima]

Really?

This thread is discussing the Japanese market. That graph shows worldwide numbers. Though it has not performed as well overseas, 3DS sits at over 21mm units in Japan. (Plus, those DS numbers are absolutely insane.)

Waning FY16 sales is why I claimed "3DS desperately needs its successor."

 

[Mass_Pincup]

Sony doesn't have to be worried.

The third party support that they are getting now is still going to show up after the Switch launched.

Those developers have decades of built up fanbase and have often tried to cater to Nintendo's userbase but failed to do so (I'm thinking of Bandai Namco with Tales of, Sega with Yakuza, Koei Tecmo with the Atelier series,Capcom with Resident Evil and several others I can't think off right now.).

And as the market in Japan continue to divert from the market in the West, they'll have to either make a choice between worldwide appeal or release their games on both platforms.

 

[georly]

Even if the Switch is a success in Japan and grabs sales from the PS4 what is the consequence?
How much does it matter if the PS4 sells 2-3 million less ww in the end?

The consequence is the japanese games market does better overall as the install base of traditional game systems increases so the demand for more games geared toward the japanese audience increases. As it stands, we have 3DS and PS4. One is 5 years old, one has a small install base. There's a reason tons of PS4 games in japan are still getting PS3 ports.

 

[leatherhat]

What's with these posters coming in to a topic about the Japanese market, saying "Japan doesn't matter," and leaving? What purpose does that serve for this particular discussion?

Even within Japan consoles and dedicated devices increasingly don't matter. It's all about mobile.

 

[Vinc]

I'd say they should be happy. A strong Nintendo that reminds people of the richness of console games is good for Sony.

 

[Arc Christelle]

Man I need to go visit Castle Vid-Cons it's been a while.

 

[cheesekao]

This thread is discussing the Japanese market. That graph shows worldwide numbers. Though it has not performed as well overseas, 3DS sits at over 21mm units in Japan.

It's still not considered unprecedented like OP claimed since the DS exists.

 

[orioto]

Good OP and i would add that it's a little more than that. Sucha dynamic in Japan, and no Vita successor, means some big japanese Sony partners can shift to Switch. i'm not saying it will happen but it can. Some are niche, like Nipon Ichi, Vanilla ware etc.. But what about Bandai-Namco ? How many big ip title came to Vita-PS3/4 and will maybe find the Switch a better fit for that demographic. What about Tales of ? What about From Software (those one would certainly stay faithful to Sony but they can release their games on Switch to, like the rumoured Dark Souls3). Some big rpgs like Ni No Kumi already had a Nintendo version but it was a smaller scale i guess, now it will be the same game. Same for DQ XI.

There is some type of demographic that would be .. japanese game lovers who are not on Nintendo consoles, that is, i think.. at least in the balance here when talking about the Switch potential new grounds.

I don't know if that demographic is so important for Sony, in the world, but it's certainly significative.

So that japanese dynamic, of some of the PS4/Vita demographic going to the Switch, could snowball in the end.

 

[Iced Arcade]

I think the switch will be a more attractive platform in japan but I still think cellphone/mobile gaming is the monster there. you carry around a cell phone anyway for calls, txts, fb, email and games etc so why add another device when you already have one in your pocket.

 

[The Last One]

I really don't get why people focus so much on Japan. The problem with Nintendo is far greater, they need to get marketshare in the west.

WiiU was a failure almost selling less than the Dreamcast. It's not a surprise the Switch's reveal was much more western centric.

 

[Astral Dog]

Remember when the Wii U was going to dominate Japan

 

[JetSetRadio]

Nintendo should be worried about Sony's mobile announcements.

 

[phanphare]

What's with these posters coming in to a topic about the Japanese market, saying "Japan doesn't matter," and leaving? What purpose does that serve for this particular discussion?

I think it's to show that sony's priorities in the console space lie elsewhere

 

[humansarehorses]

Doubt it.

No third party and I mean no third party is going to make a full-blown Switch game and not port it over to other systems.

 

[dEvAnGeL]

With every new Nintendo console is the same thing, for once let the damn thing come out and see if it's not a commercial failure like the Wii U, it better not be, Nintendo can't afford another flop

 

[Blak_Status]

Just curious... does Japan have the biggest market share for gaming consumers?


Also, is public transportation bigger than private transportation there?

 

[georly]

Doubt it.

No third party and I mean no third party is going to make a full-blown Switch game and not port it over to other systems.

I mean, you obviously would because of the western market and western PS4 install base, but I wouldn't be surprised if switch was the target platform in japan for a lot of games.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I think the switch will be a more attractive platform in japan but I still think cellphone/mobile gaming is the monster there. you carry around a cell phone anyway for calls, txts, fb, email and games etc so why add another device when you already have one in your pocket.

For sure. And this is why it's been good for Nintendo to expand into this market, particularly in their homeland.

 

[superchunk]

You're in for a rude awakening imo.
The Switch is far from being a japanese friendly product.
As a handheld it is too big and without the exclusive features that previous Nintendo dedicated handhelds enjoyed like dual screens and 3D.
As a home console it has weak hardware without major third party support.
Switch won't save anything, it will be lucky to be more successful than Wii U and reach a GC level success IMO.

Lot of guessing in this post.

1) Being portable and not much bigger than many tablets is still just as likely as Japanese friendly as 3DSXL was. Certainly more friendly than any other home console.

2) Dual screens that were sort of useful in many games and much of the time could have been dropped. But NS addition of console level power, better controls and likelihood of mobile-esque functionality means it has features well beyond DS line.

3) You assume it has no 3rd party support when in reality no games have been announced. Basically, you cannot quantify this statement at all right now. There is no technical reason it won't have great 3rd party support unlike Wii/WiiU.

4) NS is guaranteed to blow away WiiU. January announcement with actual game support will demonstrate how well it will do. Personally, I think it has potential to be another Wii but more realistically somewhere around 3DS levels. Especially if $250 base price is true.

Lastly, OP is dead on. There is no reason in the world NS won't dominate Japan. (assuming content is there)

 

[Asd202]

This thread is discussing the Japanese market. That graph shows worldwide numbers. Though it has not performed as well overseas, 3DS sits at over 21mm units in Japan. (Plus, those DS numbers are absolutely insane.)

Waning FY16 sales is why I claimed "3DS desperately needs its successor."

There almost no such thing left like a third party developer aiming just for Japanese audience. Sony will be fine with the position PS4 is WW.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

What's with these posters coming in to a topic about the Japanese market, saying "Japan doesn't matter," and leaving? What purpose does that serve for this particular discussion?

Because Sony won't be worried about the Switch taking the Japanese market from under them. For all intents and purposes the console market is already dead in Japan, which has nothing to do with the Switch. Japan doesn't matter, because the PS4 doesn't matter in Japan.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Maybe if you guys weren't in such a hurry to shitpost, you'd see the part where the 3DS is sitting at over 21 million sales in Japan, on track to outsell the PS2. It's also barely down year over year, showing good late life legs. If the PS4 had those sales, we'd have a thread about how it's at 65 million sold through instead of 50. The market is declining, but it's still an important market for most Japanese publishers. Not everyone has the resources to adopt a global strategy like Square Enix. Most companies that are based in Japan are going to be heavily reliant on a platform with solid sales year after year. That's the 3DS right now. Hopefully it will be the Switch going forward.