Nintendo continues is lead in Japan

Once again the Japanese powerhouse Nintendo has become the leading console in Japan. Information released about July's sales figure show the Wii outselling its rival, the Sony PS3 by a margin of 4 to 1. Nintendo sold 396,752 in the five weeks comprising July compared to a scant 91,987 units by the PS3.

Even though the PS3 is loaded with superior technology, a Blu-ray player, it has remained behind the Nintendo Wii in sales since each of their respective launches. High pricing and a lackluster library of games can ultimately be blamed for the difference.

In June, the ratio of sales put the Wii on top of the PS3 6 to 1. Nintendo said that its quarterly profit has more than tripled due to outrageous demand for the Wii as well as the DS handheld unit. This in affect raised their annual profit forcast substantially. One obvious selling point is the fact that the Wii sells for less than half of the basic PS3 unit in Japan. A mere 25,000 yen ($209.90) can give you all the motion-sensing action of a Wii.

The battle, however isn't two sided. The third major player in the 30 billion dollar video game market is Microsoft's Xbox 360. This unit has struggled to grip Japanese gamers and comes in a distant third place with a mere 17,970 units sold in July.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 4 Aug 2007 10:52

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29 comments

nobrainer

not surprising as ppl want fun games not just grahicial ability but both would be cool "take head sony/m$"

the margin can only increase again once NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are released!

4.8.2007 11:16 #1

tuure2

Originally posted by nobrainer: not surprising as ppl want fun games not just grahicial ability but both would be cool "take head sony/m$"

the margin can only increase again once NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are released!And decrease when MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII are released!

4.8.2007 11:40 #2

nobrainer

4.8.2007 11:49 #3

tuure2

Quote:Quote:Originally posted by nobrainer: not surprising as ppl want fun games not just grahicial ability but both would be cool "take head sony/m$"

the margin can only increase again once NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are released!And decrease when MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII are released!mgs4 and ff13 will both go multi.You can always dream about it and if they go multi what do you think which one of versions sell in japan. PS3 or X360?

4.8.2007 11:53 #4

nobrainer

obviously the ps3. because America dropping nukes, constant anti asia propaganda, bombing & torturing their countrymen will never bee forgotten.

but if it gets a port to the wii its an open shut book!

4.8.2007 11:58 #5

armorthis

4.8.2007 12:26 #6

limelight

Im glad for Nintendo and applaud their console, but to me it doesnt suit my needs.

Im in the ps3 camp however, solely for a few "exclusives" such as Gran Turismo 5, Ratchet and Clank Future, Heavenly Sword, and eventually, God of War III.

And the hi-def movie player is like a bonus (for now), since its too early to tell who will win the format war.

4.8.2007 14:20 #7

ZippyDSM

Quote:Originally posted by nobrainer: not surprising as ppl want fun games not just grahicial ability but both would be cool "take head sony/m$"

the margin can only increase again once NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are released!And decrease when MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII are released!Well FF is dead they simply cannot make a worth while FF game anymore its more like a B grade RPG or movie than a fing FF,GT still raises the standard for racing games,MGS is a solid series but konami is looking into going multi same for square the games cost 40+ million to make they need that multi console money.

Sony has made as many mistakes with the PS3 and MS has with the 360,in the end asain market penetration will help the PS3 sale but only when it goes under 600USD world wide.

4.8.2007 14:20 #8

21Q

When brawl is launched, you won't be able to find a Wii again, especially because it is being released in December.

4.8.2007 15:28 #9

26r0cK

@ ZippyDSM, i seriously dun think FF is a B rated rpg. When majority of ppl think of RPG, the FF series is the first to come in mind or am i wrong? But i do say however that the best FF games are with Sony while those 'B' rated as you say tend to go on the other consoles. Sony may be losing sum exclusives but they definately will be keeping the best of the FF games. This is just my opinion of course...

Aside from it all, im not big on the wii but good job Nintendo. Everybody appreciates good news regardless.

4.8.2007 16:37 #10

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by 26r0cK: @ ZippyDSM, i seriously dun think FF is a B rated rpg. When majority of ppl think of RPG, the FF series is the first to come in mind or am i wrong? But i do say however that the best FF games are with Sony while those 'B' rated as you say tend to go on the other consoles. Sony may be losing sum exclusives but they definately will be keeping the best of the FF games. This is just my opinion of course...

Aside from it all, im not big on the wii but good job Nintendo. Everybody appreciates good news regardless.
And theres a large majority of pepople who think hollywood can do no wrong with the adaptations and changes they do to stuff on the big screen,sorry FF died years ago,it only sets "film" standards for RPS if that,it has not had great classes,skills or equipment in years its all watered down crap to make the it "look" better when you play it.

You might can put up with the lack luster crap they do but I no longer give any slack to shortsighted half assed games.

AS much as I hate FF8 I see the merit in it,FF9 was really the last ture FF game non of this shallow Jrocker sht they been doing with half the games of late,FF10 while weak and unbalanced had a solid if not odd class system,FF12 is a joke the only improvements I see are with real time fighting and level design however level design uses MMO style loot which I do not care for,weapon types might be expanded upon but the over all equipment system is lacking but whats worse is the most generic mess of a skill system yet,every other game gets worse and worse,its just plain sad I had more fun with the equipment on legai 2 dual saga(a almost C class RPG) than I did on FF12,the design teams need to go to class and review the equipment systems of 1,4,5,6,7 and 9 (dont dis 1 the magic imbued weapons were fing awesome, did 8 even have equipment? LOL 7s equipment was limited due to it using metria but because of the metria is made the system awesome).

Square needs its teams to udnerstand where the games have been and what works and dev from their,without knowing where the series has been and reinventing the wheel you will start making square wheels becuse its cool and hip....who cares if its functions.....

I really hope to see Square go multi console prehaps if they fall short of their goals they will relook at the build quality of the series, nothing forces change like a scare in profits,if FF remains a single console title I see it live off brand power alone and they can dismiss low profits since its only on 1 system...but I fear quality at least the kind I seen during the 90s is gone in gaming today there are to many simple people willing to pay for any game than old farts like me who refuse to pay 50$ for a game thats more shallow than something a decade ago....

4.8.2007 17:04 #11

Adzagam

I had been looking at the games released for the respective consoles, and I could say that right now the Wii has the best games avaiable. Of course, those releases are some Japan only games(or they have been released in Japan for the moment) like the new Gundam fps and Dragon Quest Swords, both excellent games which give the Wii remote a good use. Of course the PS3 has excellent games such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which have amazing graphics compared to the Xbox360 and the Wii. But in this case we all know that the ps3 is in disadvantage because of the price, while with the Xbox360 many of the games are not good... but that depends where you live.

4.8.2007 17:37 #12

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by Adzagam: I had been looking at the games released for the respective consoles, and I could say that right now the Wii has the best games avaiable. Of course, those releases are some Japan only games(or they have been released in Japan for the moment) like the new Gundam fps and Dragon Quest Swords, both excellent games which give the Wii remote a good use. Of course the PS3 has excellent games such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which have amazing graphics compared to the Xbox360 and the Wii. But in this case we all know that the ps3 is in disadvantage because of the price, while with the Xbox360 many of the games are not good... but that depends where you live.Pretty my take on it the 360 has the best looking games right now a great high end selection,despited the fixed units being out alter this year or spring of next year.

The PS3 is just to costly and there are no games on it right now.

The wii is pretty much win you cant go wrong with it unless you need pretty graphics and a over priced system to get a stiffy over.

4.8.2007 17:47 #13

Adzagam

Quote:Originally posted by Adzagam: I had been looking at the games released for the respective consoles, and I could say that right now the Wii has the best games avaiable. Of course, those releases are some Japan only games(or they have been released in Japan for the moment) like the new Gundam fps and Dragon Quest Swords, both excellent games which give the Wii remote a good use. Of course the PS3 has excellent games such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, which have amazing graphics compared to the Xbox360 and the Wii. But in this case we all know that the ps3 is in disadvantage because of the price, while with the Xbox360 many of the games are not good... but that depends where you live.Pretty my take on it the 360 has the best looking games right now a great high end selection,despited the fixed units being out alter this year or spring of next year.

The PS3 is just to costly and there are no games on it right now.

The wii is pretty much win you cant go wrong with it unless you need pretty graphics and a over priced system to get a stiffy over.Forgot to mention that my investigation was in the Japanese market. The Xbox360 does have some good games but theyre practically new and not so well-known. I do believe it does way better here in the US.

4.8.2007 18:26 #14

faqman98

hold on a second...the ps3 is actually beating the 360 in some market

5.8.2007 10:06 #15

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by faqman98: hold on a second...the ps3 is actually beating the 360 in some marketya some markets,its still almost 4 million world wide sales vrs almost 10.27 million of the 360,and the wii has sold almost 10 million units since its been out,the PS3 is lagging badly it should at least double its current 4 million sold units in 08.

5.8.2007 11:20 #16

i1der

Ps3 is selling so bad that it sold almost half of Xbox360 did in 22 months in only 9 months out(4M VS 10M), and thats because the rest of the world (besides USA, Japan)got it in less than 5 months ago. PS will win the Console war again, do you why? Because everyone wants a PS3, why they dont get? Because You cant afford, in 2 years or so when Bluray war will have end, and the cost will be lower, the price for a PS3 will be more attractive and everyone will be able to finally get one. Wii has a temporary lead, until people figure out that they got a last gen console with a new controller, the bandwagon will be gone. I have all three console and in my opinion, Wii is the worse, 360 in 2bd, and PS3 is just amazing with all it offers and all the potential.

5.8.2007 23:07 #17

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by i1der: Ps3 is selling so bad that it sold almost half of Xbox360 did in 22 months in only 9 months out(4M VS 10M), and thats because the rest of the world (besides USA, Japan)got it in less than 5 months ago. PS will win the Console war again, do you why? Because everyone wants a PS3, why they dont get? Because You cant afford, in 2 years or so when Bluray war will have end, and the cost will be lower, the price for a PS3 will be more attractive and everyone will be able to finally get one. Wii has a temporary lead, until people figure out that they got a last gen console with a new controller, the bandwagon will be gone. I have all three console and in my opinion, Wii is the worse, 360 in 2bd, and PS3 is just amazing with all it offers and all the potential.The high price is not helping, also because Japaneses devs will most likely cling to the PS3 thats the main reason why it will slowly out sale everyone else, altho if the WII was at least equal to the 360 the PS3 would be dead why? its a Japaneses console maker.

5.8.2007 23:13 #18

nobrainer

Originally posted by ZIppyDSM : Originally posted by i1der: Ps3 is selling so bad that it sold almost half of Xbox360 did in 22 months in only 9 months out(4M VS 10M), and thats because the rest of the world (besides USA, Japan)got it in less than 5 months ago. PS will win the Console war again, do you why? Because everyone wants a PS3, why they dont get? Because You cant afford, in 2 years or so when Bluray war will have end, and the cost will be lower, the price for a PS3 will be more attractive and everyone will be able to finally get one. Wii has a temporary lead, until people figure out that they got a last gen console with a new controller, the bandwagon will be gone. I have all three console and in my opinion, Wii is the worse, 360 in 2bd, and PS3 is just amazing with all it offers and all the potential.The high price is not helping, also because Japaneses devs will most likely cling to the PS3 thats the main reason why it will slowly out sale everyone else, altho if the WII was at least equal to the 360 the PS3 would be dead why? its a Japaneses console maker.
well they are gonna need some really strong glue to stick devs to the ps3 as the exodus started a long time ago and has not improved since.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/27/japane...ny-to-nintendo/

Quote:Japanese game pubs jumping from Sony to Nintendo

Jun 27th 2007 11:06AM

The biggest third parties in Japan are throwing their support behind Nintendo in a big way. Namco/Bandai, Sega and Capcom are all increasing both the number of distinct titles and the number of units ordered for games on Nintendo systems, according to research done by the Nikkei newspaper and reported by Variety Asia. Namco Bandai alone is planning a ridiculous 115 games for the DS and Wii in fiscal 2007, a 109 percent increase. Sony, meanwhile, can expect a 30 to 40 percent decline in shipment orders from the big three, according to the report.

In more potential bad news for Sony, the Variety article off-handedly mentions that "Square Enix ... has no plans to develop titles for the PS3 until sales improve enough to make the steep development costs financially worthwhile." This seems to confirm earlier reports that the company wouldn't release any PS3 games until the next fiscal year starts on April 1, 2008. Deep breaths, Final Fantasy fans. Just remember, patience is a virtue.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/the-tide/big-ja...endo-271785.php

Quote:Big Japanese Publishers Shift From Sony To Nintendo

cf0629ceb52eee7dc7af6b0232cebf58.jpg

Japanese economic news source Nikkei.Net is reporting what most of us already know: big third party publishers are shifting their focus from Sony Computer Entertainment to Nintendo Co., Ltd. With the DS and the Wii doing major business, this shift should not come as a surprise. The article points out that Bandai Namco and Sega have doubled the amount of Nintendo-geared software during fiscal 2007 compared to the previous year. Likewise, Capcom has slated more games for Nintendo than for Sony. Though, companies haven't ditched the PLAYSTATION 3 by any means and are developing big games for SCE. Lower than expected PS3 sales and high development costs are just a deterrent, but things could change. Eventually, even!

Aside: game nerds who can understand Japanese will appreciate Nikkei.Net's use of gyakuten suru (逆転する), which means "to reverse." Capcom's Ace Attorney games are called Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判) in Japan, and Nikkei just slips in a knowing nod at the popular DS series. Gotta love those Japanese business writers � so witty. Brian Ashcraft

6.8.2007 08:41 #19

ZippyDSM

nobrainer
No kidding,Sony screwed up with the PS3 and some devs have left or are biding their time on the WII,the WII dose use the methods the PS"X" use to use to get devs to them ,a cheap to produce for system.

In the end tho I believe MS will lose its momentum and return to working its new niche (IE US and UK kids who are willing to spend money on multi digi transactions), while the WII wont be able to do any wrong for the next 1-3 years,while sony has to rebuild the PS"X" brand,in 2-3 years during the middle or end of the WIIs rein the 3rd/4rth generation of PS3 games will come, optimized for the PS3 and looking better than ever that plus a price point of 350-400 would do well to guarantee 2+ years of solid profits.

Hell if sony dropped the price of the PS3 to 350-400 they could still guarantee the number 1 spot in a year.

6.8.2007 11:57 #20

borhan9

I think this is great news that the Nintendo Wii is still leading well done. The fact that Nintendo and Sony are Japanese products have no doubt a major fact that Microsoft is struggling. I gather the Japanese market realizes that Bill Gates already has enough ca$h and they would rather support a home grown product.

9.8.2007 04:08 #21

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by borhan9: I think this is great news that the Nintendo Wii is still leading well done. The fact that Nintendo and Sony are Japanese products have no doubt a major fact that Microsoft is struggling. I gather the Japanese market realizes that Bill Gates already has enough ca$h and they would rather support a home grown product.No it comes down to 2 things 1 games with no games they want why would they want it? and the other thign is they like the asain consoles a bit more.

But really if MS stepped into ASain with a full setup to get JP and asain devs to port and make games on the 360 for low publication costs then localize thos games to the US/UK and do basic translation for Europe/international MS could well have a solid foot hold across the world but as they are now they have a solid foundation in the UK and the US and thats abotu it.

9.8.2007 10:02 #22

wetsparks

And in further news, the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.

@Zippy
If you consider FF to be the equivalent of a B movie, then I would hate to see what you think of all the other RPGs out there.
Originally posted by nobrainer (Newbie) 4 August 2007 15:58:
obviously the ps3. because America dropping nukes, constant anti asia propaganda, bombing & torturing their countrymen will never bee forgotten.

but if it gets a port to the wii its an open shut book!Yes because we all know that all those countries in Asia got along so fine for thousands of years before us evil Americans invented the nuclear bomb and leveled Japan. Of course can't forget how they took out most of our western fleet in Pear Harbor in a surprise attack at a time of peace between the two countries.

10.8.2007 20:57 #23

ZippyDSM

Quote:And in further news, the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.

@Zippy
If you consider FF to be the equivalent of a B movie, then I would hate to see what you think of all the other RPGs out there.
Originally posted by nobrainer (Newbie) 4 August 2007 15:58:
obviously the ps3. because America dropping nukes, constant anti asia propaganda, bombing & torturing their countrymen will never bee forgotten.

but if it gets a port to the wii its an open shut book!Yes because we all know that all those countries in Asia got along so fine for thousands of years before us evil Americans invented the nuclear bomb and leveled Japan. Of course can't forget how they took out most of our western fleet in Pear Harbor in a surprise attack at a time of peace between the two countries.For me a "A" class game/moive dose not have gameplay,plot or character issues if it has 2 or 3 flaws or more its B class(which means its not prefect but not a waste either).

I look at the ulitmate FFs,4 and 6 then look at the "new" ones and think 7 is ok,8 is a B romance sci fi moive,9 is good and the last real FF game,X is a B sci fi movie thats a half descent FF game and 12 is a fcking joke due to a broken skill/class and equipment system.

out of the last 5 games 12 is weaker than 5,I like my games to evolved not spin around the drain like a lose turd awaiting its final moments .

And now for everyones entertainment I shall rant on the new ones for a sec

Ok so again like the FF13 trailer FF13vrs looks good,but so did the FF12 stuff and FF12 is a bloody B class RPG,sure the story is nice and they finally updated level design but the equipment and skills are a joke,the license board is the most watered down BS of a grid system yet FFX might have had flaws and was limited but at least it was better deved and polished, I doubt I will see a new FF game as godly as FF4 or FF 6 in my lifetime but still they can do better than the simplified watered down crappy skill/equipment setups they have had in the last few games....

FF13
Ok so it looks nice,but will it deliver....................FF12 is a joke its a B class RPG outside of story and level design is nice but it dose not help the bland feel the skills and equipment bring,the LP board is the worst system in a FF yet and yes I have have played FF2 .........

BTW B movies tend to have a cult of crazy people following them LOL
(lets see system shock,darkwatch,Old unreal,old doom,duke,blood, old FF, oh wait I is not crazy!)
And some B movies are not to bad...but still when I see FF now adays I can only be guaranteed of visual excellence plot/story and charatcers will be 2ndry and gameplay dead last.

In final I think square should not be tryign to cash in so hard on their franchise,a highly polish game will expand their base and bring fans back more than making acouple less than great titles but sadly its the hollywood age of gaming where glamor and spam collide....

10.8.2007 21:57 #24

wetsparks

I do agree with all that you have to say about FF10 but I thought that FF12 was a great game. The real time battles and the story was the best.

In FF7 you didn't really know what the story was unless you played through a few times, FF8 had the love story and it was alright except the main character was an idiot. I didn't play much FF9, the game just bored me. FF10 they tried to go back to the sappy love story turned tragedy, and it might have worked if they didn't screw with Tidus so much. Then in FF12 you get all the political tie ins and that made it more interesting than love stories. They went back to the insurgence stuff from FF7 that people liked except the main character isn't as wacky. In fact there isn't really a main character, the entire group is the lead as they are all connected and wanting it for different reasons, not because they decided to follow someone on a whim.

The weapons system that you seam to hate so much wasn't really that bad. You can make any character whatever you want, personally I didn't like Penello to much, and with the current set up I didn't have to use her, like some games that force you to use certain characters to beat the game.

I do like the less polished look of FF13, not all nice and shiny like FF10, more dark colors like Devil May Cry to give you the feel that there is something seriously wrong and people know it, where in FF10 its like "look at this nice world, all the people know there is a problem, they just want to ignore it as much as possible."

11.8.2007 10:02 #25

ZippyDSM

wetsparks
FF12 only improved level design,the gambit system with the real time combat pretty much only made fights faster it didn't add any more control over battles,at the same time it didn't take a lot away so I see it as adding speed to battles, if I could tell the members where to be on the screen I would have been happy with it but they flail around to much for my tastes,also its damned hard to get them to join a starting attack on 1 target the way they have the ATB setup,first attacks when the party is non in battle should be instant,with 1 charatcer you can play hit and run and do other tricks its imperfect but tis not bad with a party things become more annoying. So in the end the game plays itself more than you do its a bit annoying but you can control it....but if only abit more of streagy was put into it it would have been lots more solid.

The story is ok the charatcers are ok hell on these 2 issues its probably the best FF yet,FF9 was a wonderful game but it had a simplistic story,FF8 was crap X was so so 7 was good but not better than 6 as far as the 3D FFs go in story 12 is probably the best.

The skill system is a joke theres nothing you can do to prove other wise,if they had classes paths you can go on without gaining skills for other stuff if you wanted I would have givien it a be more respect but this uber watered down all for all BS is just that BS.

The equipment is only part of the problem,theres no dual wielding you can only where 1 accessory when you should be able to wear 2-4 and the weapons and equipment that are there while varied are bland non the less,if they compensated with a better accessory's system the equipment issues would have been lessen to the point of enjoyment, in final as FF12 is its a B class slug fest of a RPG that masturbates itself, it suffers from as many small issues as FFX did where X had some polish and a smaller world this has no polish and a large world,maybe they will get the next one right....maybe......

11.8.2007 18:07 #26

ZippyDSM

wetsparks
have you played DQ8?
I found the skill progression on it annoying as heck,I think they could have done more with the pot (mix and match items to create all kinds of equipment FFX style) despite the slugness of the skill progression its a good RPG DW7 was almost to easy even if it was a big ass game.

Bah maybe I am just a old fart whos bitter and hates change >>

11.8.2007 18:35 #27

wetsparks

Yes I have played DQ8, thought that is was a brilliant game and like you think that the weapon progression was bad, no way to correct any mistakes you might have made earlier by not putting points in the right place, but I don't know how that relates to what was being discussed before, unless you mean that DQ8 was your idea of a good RPG.

11.8.2007 18:42 #28

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by wetsparks: Yes I have played DQ8, thought that is was a brilliant game and like you think that the weapon progression was bad, no way to correct any mistakes you might have made earlier by not putting points in the right place, but I don't know how that relates to what was being discussed before, unless you mean that DQ8 was your idea of a good RPG.LOL DQ 8 is slightly better than 12 but I feel the skill progression could be tweaked some,also I think it could have more equipment in it it feels more like DQ1 equipment wise..

FF12 equipment is more limited than bland,without the ability to equip 2 or 3 accseroies it falls on presonal skills to fill the gap and since there are no "personal" skills every one fells the same hell even the mist breaks are all the same only they look different... gaaa take me back to FF6 when charatcers brought their uniquenesses to the battle filed,Edger with his crossbow and tools would way lil balthier anyday.... I had a dream where balthier could use tools but they where FF12 style tools and it and the air ship was tied into his mist breaks..... oh well I will agree 12 has more substance than the past few FF games but at the same time form reins over substance and thus why FF is no longer the great RPG series.

11.8.2007 18:54 #29

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