PS3, Wii sales slow in Japan

"joe_elwick there is only one way to witness the ultimate in gaming!!! and that is to buy a pc and play the games they were meant to be played, with a mouse and keyboard.....in very high resolutions and high spec graphics!!!! I had an xbox360 for 8 months and sold it, i now have a nintendo wii and hardly play with it!!" Well this may be true however not everyone can buy a $2000 computer every 3 years to keep up with all of the changes in technology, at least with a console games on them are garunteed to run until the next generation comes along. We're talking 5 years minimum this time, thats more play time than an aging computer can offer.

Funny, the Japanese can't get enough of European high fashion, go to Milan, they buy Gucci etc by the crate. They also adore the UK's Paul Smith clothing. joe_eldwick, thats a very biased and arrogant thing to say. Its you're personal choice !

This is because the Japanese people take pride in the products made in their country; I find it sad we don't see more of this in the U.S. What ever happened to” Buy American"? I drive an American van and own an American console.

It would be interesting how much the 360 would sell in Japan if it was a Japanese owned brand ! Personally, I really like the 360, I think its a good console. The PS3 is expensive, kids can't afford it, parents on low incomes can't buy them it. I can afford the PS3 but not everyone can justify the purchase, Its simple economics ! In the UK we always get shafted in terms of release dates/prices etc. The same problems will take root here though once the initial launch hype dies down and you can readily purchase both the Wii and PS3 in store. Again, simple economics !

there is only one way to witness the ultimate in gaming!!! and that is to buy a pc and play the games they were meant to be played, with a mouse and keyboard.....in very high resolutions and high spec graphics!!!! I had an xbox360 for 8 months and sold it, i now have a nintendo wii and hardly play with it!! no contest!!!!!!!!

the reason the xbox 360 is a distant 3rd is because it was launched well over a year ago, its bound to be slowing down now!!!! the wii is far the better option as the ps3 will be the same as the 360 but more than twice the price....but i guess there are alot of people brainwashed by sony , since the days of the playstation 1 was out and selling very well even though the nintendo machine was far superior to it?? i will always wonder about the shear lack of knowledge of people when it comes to games consoles, i think alot of people are very mislead!!!

oh dear .. nothing will shift the 360 in japan .... being outsold 10 to 1 is bad news ... or if you want to put against the PS3 2.5 to 1 .... i think MS have to basically push the 360 through the US and Europe and hope that the buzz happens through ozmosis

I still don't get why the japanese won't play x360.............

I saw PS3's sitting in my local Target's display case. I was like "Wow" and stuff. It was only two but then noone was fighting grandma over them. I still can't get a Wii controller from there.......or a console. Sold out citywide in Philly.

lol why dont we just face the fact that consoles dont sell well in japan... they said the same thing about 360

--Well send the extra Wii's to California and watch them vanish faster than warm chocolate chip cookies at a day care center.

Boy. You spend a year in Japan after a lifetime spent in America, and what do you become? You become a lover of all things Japanese. I grew up in Europe, spending my first 10 years there, but have lived in America for the last 30 years, was born an American citizen and remain one. Just because I don't like Sony or think that Japanese consumers are biased against American goods (especially electronic consumer goods) does not make me a racist or an ignorant, uncultured ignoramus. I feel embarassed by Americans who spend a year abroad and now feel like they know more about the world than Marco Polo or Christopher Columbus ever did. It betrays, in reality, the exact opposite: their profound ignorance of how the world actually works. For example, try as you might to extinguish any trace of prejudice or nationalism from your psyche. You won't succeed because such feelings are only natural (to some extent). In fact, they are actually healthy. They keep you rooted to something stable and solid amidst all the novlety and variety around you. If anything, those who have lived a large part of their lives overseas develop an even stronger attachment to their own country. Therefore, those left with a weaker attachment to their own country after having spent only a year overseas betray merely a suuperficial acquaintance with the culture of their newly adopted countries, such as Japan, not a truly deep one.

jknight5422 Wow. You really take note of your feedback. Good for you and nice post.

smart people on both sides of the pond....ps3 owners can spout "blu ray" all they want its all about the games and ps3 only having one game too own right now.....no one wants one....but then again...why would anyone want too buy a 600 dollar console when the 400 dollar one has the same games,graphics...when people say the reason isnt the price of the ps3 i say it is....being a parent i would rather get the cheaper console then buying something thats a special dvd player and yes i have a hd tv too play so there goes that argument

IMO I think Japanese gamers won't support the Xbox 360. Now the Xbox 360 has a lot going for it in Japan, but somehow I don't think the Japanese would be satisfied with an American gaming machine in their tiny Japanese living rooms. The 360 has a lot of good games going for it, not to mention some gems that look to gain the attention of the Japanese. One good one is Blue Dragon. I'm even excited about that RPG. First no random battles, and second, it has the Godfathers of RPG greatness, Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy), Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball Z, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest), and Nobuo Uematsu (Composer of the Final Fantasy Music). It all sounds good on paper, but no matter what the 360 will fail in Japan. And I think it's because Japanese gamers would rather perform a Seppuko than play anything good that's American made. I still love the Japanese. God bless anime.

Bathyj 15 years but I've got to say, if youve never owned a console since the early 90's til now you've missed out on some great games. ........ PS, I hope X360 lasts longer than another 3 years, if they adbandon this one like they did the last I may not get another one. OK i will if it has games I want but I wont like it. I'm just interested, do you keep your PC up to date with the latest stuff? ......................... Yeah, back in the 90's, I was in my 20s & I knew no one who played console games. Everyone I knew played PC games & viewed consoles as a waste. So my geographic location shutdown the thought of using consoles. It would've been nice to try some of those games out. As usual though, it's too hard to go back & play the oldies due to time constraints. I don't keep my PC updated with the latest & greatest. I do keep abreast of the technology, but it's kind of out of my budget to have the Truthfully, I never would've got an Xbox if they didn't create an Xbox room at work & put Halo 2 games in there. Once I started playing that & had the desire to obliterate my co-workers & talk trash to them while doing it, I was hooked. :-) ultimate PC gear, although I'm envious of it. I wouldn't mind having an HD flatscreen monitor & dual graphics cards & so on. But for the PC games I do play, the machines I have are quite fast & satisfactory for their purpose. HD Flatscreen PC monitors are cheaper than the HDTVs, I think. -------------------------- AHDOAH People said RPGs takes a long time???Yes that is true. And JKknight you said RPGs can not be put down for 3 weeks, for me yes, that is why saving is kind of point so return where you last played??? And I do not think people would play only 15 minutes. Plus you do not have to go with the story there is something called side quests, exploring, leveling up??? And I agree with that Oblivion is great choice for RPGs because you do not know where you are.... --------------------------- Ahdoah, perhaps you are not understanding me. I said that FPS games, you can play the multiplayer in 15 minutes time against 8 to 20 people, as in Halo 2. These games are short, competitive & require fast reflexes against online players. We do this at work. We have an Xbox room, we go in there for breaks & kill each other in 20-40 minute battles in Halo 2! Would I be able to use the Xbox room (or PS3 room) to play an RPG in 40 minutes time per day? HELL NO. With RPGs, you probably want to put in a few hours a day for side quests, exploring & so on. That kind of stuff is a time sink. You know, you could just get World of Warcraft on a PC if you want that kind of detail in an RPG. Oblivion has a save feature I'm sure, but the point is that RPGs are very involved & long..requiring hundreds of hours to play through. Not all of us have that kind of time. I can always use my PC for rpg games such as Neverwinter Nights 2 or World of Warcraft, GuildWars, etc. Just a few thoughts for you. --------------------------- Eclipse83Lives So dual we have to give short meaningless games like RESITANCE and Gears Huge scores. I tell you one thing Gears and RESISTANCE were no FF12 or Zelda TP. When you really look at those two games. And compare them to the other two. They were not much to talk about. Good games but not epic. I have yet!!! To see a epic game on any Next Gen system. And when we do see one. Ill be the first to tell you. --------------------------- No need to wait, I can tell you now. Gears of War has sold 3 million copies, that rates to about 1 million copies sold per month since release in November. It's fun & it's interesting, although a bit short in single player. The fact is, it has great content & was pure pleasure to play. It has a great story, great graphics, great dialogue & big guns & held by really big dudes & an interesting FPS strategy. I hope they can produce a sequel in a short period of time. Here's hoping...There is nothing meaningless about Gears. I can't say the same for Resistance since I haven't played it. It seems the PS3 crowd doesn't say much about how good their own first FPS is... --------------------------- jackfatal I completely agree. For $100 more than X360 premium you get: Blu-ray (worth the $100 all by itself, espescially when standalone bluray players are $600-$1000+) HDMI Bluetooth USB Devices/Drive support -- X360 doesn't support USB drives, you have to buy their ridiculously overpriced 20gb proprietary drive and 20gb is max. Cell processor User upgradable harddrive Sony style and build quality-- No drive tray, Internal Power supply, near silent operation, Touch sensitive power/eject buttons, looks awesome (these don't make a difference for the games, but I would've paid $100 for the extra quality differences anyway) Controllers that are rechargeable right out of the box (no extra batteries or after thought recharge kit needed) Free internet play (over the life of the console this will almost make the PS3 pay for itself) Access to PS2 library of games For games: Lair (looking unbelievable), Final Fantasy, MGS 4, Devil May Cry, Motorstorm and Heavenly Sword --------------------- You're willing to call usb drives ridiculously over priced & say that buying a PS3 isn't in the same paragraph?? Those drive prices for the 360 will come down. I wouldn't be surprised if a do-it-yourself kit comes out allowing you to put in your own. Sony's network really doesn't exist yet, even if they offer it for free. There's not much there. In fact, I recall Sony getting upset when Mr. Softy decided to offer movies from their online system, something PS3 can't do. Although I hope Softy is working on a browser for the 360, that would be useful. The games you mentioned are interesting, but it's starting to seem like a war of Coke vs Pepsi. One kind of person likes one type of soda & not the other all that much. I will only have so much time to play games so I probably will have to pass on the PS3 experience. I was thinking I could buy another one, but I'm guessing there is going to be a major exclusive game war between the two platforms, producing a gamut of high quality games that there simply won't be enough time for me to go through it all. Poor me. ------------------------- Eagles5 I duno why M$ keeps fighting a loseing battle in Japan. They know and we all know M$ has no chance whats so ever to win this war. I believe M$ should just pull out of JP and try tehre best at the American and Euro Market. ------------------------- Obviously you haven't been reading all the comments from before!! Let me repeat: M$ has $35 BILLION in reserve & Sony has had 5 YEARS of failure in its electronics department. If anything, M$ will stay in the Japanese markets for as long as they want. It's their new plaything. Here's another question for you? Where does an 800lb Gorilla sit? Anywhere it wants! Don't take my word for it. Wired magazine has a recent article about Sony in its archives from back in october of last year I believe. You can view M$ market cap from its stock ticker. Ipso facto. Asking M$ to get out of Japan is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. There is money to be made there. So what might seem like a preposterous, crazy idea to you, might actually be the best thing to happen to Japan. They can learn to love Mr. Softy, provided they keep up with the degree of quality I've seen in the 360 product. And obviously when the price of the PS3 drops it'll increase in demand in America! I agree with you that the PS3 has come out without enough games making it semi-ridiculous to own one at this time. However, Gears of War came out + $100 rebate on the 360 during the Xmas season at Microcenter, makes it pretty much a no-brainer to go with the flow. Will I suffer later? I don't know, but I'm seeing good games here & a bright outlook for the 360 for the next few years. It's what somebody just mentioned & in the Wired article, it's about the software & the content, not hardware gadgets. 360 uses a Cell also. Other notes: I like the comments being posted lately. Blazer88 pointed out the PS3 as 3rd in the world market, or overall market. They clearly have an uphill battle.

"cjnwo4life-- So that leaves motorstorm and maybe MGS since I have never played the series I hope i can get into it. we will see." Well, Motorstorm, admittedly, is pretty but is it really anything more than an offroad racing game? A Next gen Excite truck more like it, complete with the motion steering. MGS4 you can wait until it comes to the 360. You'll know when, it'll be when 500 PS3 supporters go on the "MGS4 to 360" thread screaming about how overrated MGS4 is.

And some of those exclusive ps3 games I have zero interest in. Warhawk no, tekken, I do not like fighting games, and FF, I have never played and never will. So that leaves motorstorm and maybe MGS since I have never played the series I hope i can get into it. we will see.

Could it be the gaming crash that that dude talked about on pointlesswasteoftime :o

"wizo59mt al i have to say is so what.....ps3 is still very much so in the game, all they need to do is start getting software flowing out. Once you figure how many ggod games xbox 360 has launched since release is like what....oblivion, gears of war, lost planet, maybe chrome hounds and call of duty 2, but what else? not much..." Yeah, right. That's why if you go to the home page scroll down and click on "highest rated" you'll see that 4 of the top 7 games are 360 games. LOL.

al i have to say is so what.....ps3 is still very much so in the game, all they need to do is start getting software flowing out. Once you figure how many ggod games xbox 360 has launched since release is like what....oblivion, gears of war, lost planet, maybe chrome hounds and call of duty 2, but what else? not much...wii has game franchises but how knows how long it will be till you see em all. Sony has big hits lined up for the system though out the year. motorstorm, warhawk, tekken 6, final fantasy 13, final fantasy 13 versus, metal gear 4, white knight and probably even more than that...so keep dreaming fanboys on the other end of the spectrum....lol

It isn't the 360 not having games..its something else and I think EVERY ONE knows exactly why it isn't selling in Japan. Next to the Wii the 360 is the best out there so its pretty obvious.

360 just can't get a break in Japan, Oh well, more for us.

Sales are always going to dip, no matter what the product. From Terrenius: "But, I forget the creed of the mainstream American: "Anyone who disagrees with me is crazy/stupid/mindless drone. They should either be dismissed entirely or brought around by force." You are an imbecile and a hypocrite.

cjnwo4life, Preach brother....Amen.

First off again this article was about the sales decline of the ps3 and the wii with the ps3 with the biggest decline. 20,000 consoles on their home ground? That's a joke. Now the biggest joke here is how some of you turn it around and make it about an American company on foreign ground and some of you get happy. Why? If you're American it's even extra sad. The 360 is doing well worldwide, and keeping it real, in other markets that are not as financially well of as other markets, well they will stay away from the ps3 because of its cost and will look to the wii and the 360 first due to its lower cost. And once the price cut hits both consoles, Sony will be left behind in those markets because they would've priced themselves out of it. Simple as that. So get off the 360 doing poorly there and realize that even there their own people think it cost too much (even with a price cut) I mean 500,000 units still available over there. Get with the real picture folks!

What can I say...Its your opinion I have nothing against it and nothing to say about it... PS I WANT A WII$_$

"AHDOAH Xbox360 need more types of games A LOT MORE Please no more SHOOTERS it will only sell for the AMERICANs." Wow, imagine that. Trying to sell games that appeal to the biggest market. Crazy. Maybe they need more turn based slow JRPG's or cooking games that are the rage in Japan. Or those animated porn games that sell so well there. No, wait those games sell about as well as diet pills to Rosie O'Donnell here....

Xbox360 need more types of games A LOT MORE Please no more SHOOTERS it will only sell for the AMERICANs. PS... I remember a year back then Xbox360 was not that hot of a system the games do not display it\s full potential..and there were a lot of problems with the console. if I don't remember it wrong

"AHDOAH People keep on forgetting that even though the PS3 does not have good games now (most of them are crappy) but it has a huge library of PS2 games WHICH ARE AWESOME... and PS2 is still SELLING STRONG!!(better than Xbox360)" Actually it's not selling better than the 360 anymore, but I could be wrong. But what YOU should be more worried about is that people would rather buy the last gen PS2 over your next gen PS3 so Sony hasn't even convinced their own fanbase. Especially since the PS3 is backwards compatible and easily found. "Second In My opinion the PS3 is at a good price. Blu Ray player cost a lot right now.. at least $600+ so it is a pretty good deal. Sooner or later people have to get better TVs So TIME WILL TELL!!!" Most Bogus Argument...Ever. By the time BluRay becomes the standard, and that's doubtful (laserdisc, minidisc or betamax anyone?) the price of a player will be well under $200. So why pay $600 for a technology that may or may not succeed? Especially if when it does the price would have plummeted? Especially when Howard Stringer is pinning his hopes on Apple making BluRay standard on their PC's and Laptops. Really Howard? Apple controls like 12% of the home computer market, AT MOST. Great plan.

People keep on forgetting that even though the PS3 does not have good games now (most of them are crappy) but it has a huge library of PS2 games WHICH ARE AWESOME... and PS2 is still SELLING STRONG!!(better than Xbox360) Second In My opinion the PS3 is at a good price. Blu Ray player cost a lot right now.. at least $600+ so it is a pretty good deal. Sooner or later people have to get better TVs So TIME WILL TELL!!! Knight-of-God I WANT A WII TOO > _"

I want a WII.

I'm not surprised,all their fanboys got what they wanted.

so far 360 has the edge but only because it has that extra year head start which means the software/games are amazing.. ps3 and wii will undoubtedly be the same around q3 and q4 when it starts releasing the more developed games..

I can't help but marvel at the ethnocentrism of the mainstream forums commentator. The Japanese don't buy X360's because MS isn't making games for a Japanese audience. MS is making games for the mainstream American gamer (ex-frat boy b-school graduates) as EXPLICITLY STATED IN AN INTERVIEW. All the games are shooters and sports games. Japan couldn't care less about those kinds of games. Even when Sony makes a shooter it doesn't sell well (Resistance). Japan likes weird/novel/strange games (Wii) and RPGs (PS3). It'll take more than one token RPG from Sakaguchi to make them purchase a whole new system. They know that even if the games aren't out now, Sony and Nintendo will cater to their tastes by the boatload. Sony's strength in Japan has always been built on a solid base of RPGs and simulators. Nintendo has fun games to play WITH PEOPLE IN THE SAME ROOM. But, I forget the creed of the mainstream American: "Anyone who disagrees with me is crazy/stupid/mindless drone. They should either be dismissed entirely or brought around by force." People have different tastes. The "console war" is between the execs at the companies. All you should care about is playing games you want to play. Who cares what system it's on? I don't understand this animosity.

Eclipse83Lives And also, if the PS3 does have greatness. Its going to take long time to create the huge games they plan to have latter. So with them we have to wait. Its that simple. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree with you. But I don't think you can expand the market with Sony's way of thinking. Imagine this scenario: 4 yrs down the line PS3 is pumping out awesome graphics, but then Microsoft brings out its next Next Gen Machine that trumps PS3 in the graphics department. Only the machine is 300 dollars because the technology is cheaper. I would have paid the same price as a PS3 owner to game over the same length of time but in the end I make out with better graphics on my machine. (Sony’s 10 yr PS3 plan) That is why LIVE is so important because the next evolution for games are online. Survival of the fittest. Sony has to adapt.

uh

"Bathyj Stop acting like this story is a big deal. January sales are slower than December sales. Thats not news. Its common sense. Same with M$ in Japan. XB's dont sell in Japan. They never have and they never will. Japan is so against Xbox to the point where if M$ had bought Capcom, it wouldn't have boosted Xbox, it would have hurt Capcom." That just shows that japan sales aren't an indicator of anything. They don't care what the best system with the best games is, just what country the company that makes it is from. Good job Japan, way to go. As for the story not being a big deal, if the story was" PS3, Wii sales explode in Japan" I bet it would be a big deal. that a console that supposedly is God's gift to gaming and that was soooo anticipated shouldn't be slowing down 1-1/2 months after launch. Especially on it's home country. By the way, all of you that spent thousands on Ebay for the PS3, how do you feel? Especially now that it's so easily found on shelves?

I still can't get a Wii!!!

no big deal... people are less apt to lay down hundreds of dollars after the holiday season.

Stop acting like this story is a big deal. January sales are slower than December sales. Thats not news. Its common sense. Same with M$ in Japan. XB's dont sell in Japan. They never have and they never will. Japan is so against Xbox to the point where if M$ had bought Capcom, it wouldn't have boosted Xbox, it would have hurt Capcom. The only way would be if they bought all the good Japanese developers and then Japan had no choice, but I think even XB fanboys would agree then would be ameggedon for the games industry. We need competition afterall. They should just worry about the rest of the world, and give up Japan IMO. XB has released in India. They're a poor country but imagine if games took off there, how many units would that sell? This is the kind of thinking they need. Accept the obvious and leave Japan to the Japanese.

Everyone knows that Microsoft doesnt do aswell as ps3 or nintendo in japan so this is nothing new. But the fact is the 360 is a good machine, it has great graphics great games with some really good ones coming out this year. XBOX LIVE! is better than sony's stupid online service. I know alot of people that i see day in day out being a sales person that they are more interested in the wii and 360 than the ps3. I would even agree with alot of game developers they are even saying the 360 is better to code games for, sony fans will reply to this with Xbox fanboy, so i will reply to you now. Your all nubs. I was a sony fan, Nintendo and microsoft are the consoles to own.

MS lied and we all know. 90% of x360s owners were xbox owners. i waited 1 year for the ps3.........i would have never bought the x360. why would i buy x360 when ps3 has CELL/BD PLAYER/ is multiple times more powerful than x360/has Wifi/ HDMI and above all free online

lesliestandifer wrote: "90% of people who used to to lvoe the ps2 now own a Xbox " Well I do not know what the real stat is but I do fall into that catagory. FF12 was the last game that I bought for my PS2 and after I finished it I went out and bought a 360. Until Sony drops the price of the PS3 they will NEVER sell as many units as the 360 or the Wii.

Doesn't make any sense no one ever though m$ would make it this far in the U.S. market now look at them. 90% of people who used to to lvoe the ps2 now own a Xbox and its b/c of 2 words "Xbox Live" something that Sony has no answer for......

ccputgat2m too bad nobody is buying the xbox360 in japan to even warrent that statement. But i can tell you this the second the ps3 price drops to a reasonaable price injapan sony will see a big jump in sales for the consoles. Same with North America. I have a PS3 and i think rite now there is no game outside of Fall of Man to warrent the 600. I just hae it ecause i wanted to get it. I gues im one of those "Hardcore" gamers but my ps3 now just collects dust because no real good games out. But When the good games start ot trikle out and the prices drops to arond 400-300 in america then you wil ldsee a big increase in demand.

Blazer88 Do you have a Brain? Sony Already Passed M$ in toal consoles sold back in december. Number 2 is the fact duh M$ has more cnsoles sold overall ecause its been out since november 2005. So before you make commetns get ur facts together...1

I duno why M$ keeps fighting a loseing battle in Japan. They know and we all know M$ has no chance whats so ever to win this war. I believe M$ should just pull out of JP and try tehre best at the American and Euro Market.

i expect that ps3 wont sell like hotcakes untill europian launch and untill good games comes out in late spring and summer, and by the end year where the biggest games will come out and maybe price cut-down then the begining of the ps2 history will begin with ps3!!