So does Japan, for years.
3DS has surpassed PS3 lifetime sales in Japan
- Thread starter dmr87
- Start date
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
That is great for those that live in Japan I suppose, until NoA gets serious about localizing titles for the west it has very little impact on everyone else. Just means more games will be made that won't get localized.
Though they can set a lot of things right by localizing Bravery Default.
Though they can set a lot of things right by localizing Bravery Default.
DragonSworne
Banned
It never seemed like it was on it's deathbed.
Smartphone gaming is arguably more popular in Japan than it is in western countries.
MagicWithEarvin
Member
Yeah, but I wanted to list the two most popular, best-selling annual series in the US for consoles.
Sure, there are other reasons for console gaming.
Aquamarine
Member
It's also passed GameCube lifetime worldwide sales in not even two years of being out.
Mostly from the smaller/independant developers. Sure as hell isn't coming from the big pubs beyond pawning off licensed crap that's no better than the vast majority of the 99 cent mobile apps..
Actually, this is the real reason why the 3DS turns me off. The inclusion of region coding in a portable system is despicable. For that reason alone I'm disappointed at how much the Vita has struggled in comparison.
Maybe not on its deathbed, but things were fucking grim last year. The 3DS was pretty much a joke for a while...but that changed rather quickly.
Maybe, but the thing is smartphone gaming is the only portable gaming in west. This generation (3DS and Vita) are doing shit.
timetokill
Banned
:lol no, Not really. Just a GAF overreaction. It was never in any life-threatening trouble, especially in Japan.
Unfortunately the 0.5% of consumers who care about region locking aren't going to have much of an impact, much as it dismays me
Tallshortman
Member
We drive to work or to wherever else we're going. Public transportation is only popular in some cities and even then most people still drive (except NYC). I have handhelds but it's obvious why they've never been as big here as in Japan.
Oh, so Nintendo's emergency price drop was just for the hell of it?
This isn't a console, though. It's a device that people carry with them as they travel around the world.
I'm particularly annoyed by this as I'm leaving the US in March/April next year and will wind up having to purchase new hardware if I want to buy games locally for it. It's a load of shit and something they had never previously engaged in on their portables (outside of DSi specific software).
This other chart caught my eye in the MC thread.
Which 3DS title will hit 2 million first?
Animal Crossing shot up like a goddamn rocket. :lol
meltingparappa
Member
And to think this system hasn't even had:
Pokemon
Smash Brothers
An equivalent of Brain Training
An equivalent of Layton (since Layton doesn't count anymore due to sequel decay)
a mainline DQ game
DQ ports
Pokemon
Smash Brothers
An equivalent of Brain Training
An equivalent of Layton (since Layton doesn't count anymore due to sequel decay)
a mainline DQ game
DQ ports
I just want to make sure you're aware, MrHicks, that this is a fantastic example of being unable to understand other people's perspective.
You feel that handhelds are "ghetto" compared to home consoles. And that's fine. But your inability to reasonably imagine that someone else might feel different is not so fine.
Let's take another example: I would never play "ghetto" home consoles because the PC is a far superior gaming platform to me. And yet, I can perfectly understand why other people would feel differently and can even enumerate the strengths of consoles for those who need detail.
Opus Angelorum
Member
Amusing that some people (quire recently) have been stating how bad 3DS sales have been
Sony have an uphill battle next generation.
Sony have an uphill battle next generation.
So the price drop never happened?
Electivirus
Member
Impressive.
Japan's shift to handhelds is just fine with me, considering most of my favorite franchises are on them. Portability is a big plus, too.
Japan's shift to handhelds is just fine with me, considering most of my favorite franchises are on them. Portability is a big plus, too.
Well the thing is, the 3DS price drop was more like a pre-emptive measure to prevent sales from dwindling further. After all, they hadn't even waited for their first holiday season and big titles. They were poor but never as poor as Vita's sales.
Really it's just a testament to how terrible the PS3 did in Japan overall.
I hope you're ready to import.
TimeEffect
Member
Amazing. Why is the PS3 not as popular as PS2 in Japan? Lack of Japanese games as a whole, I presume, and the success of JRPGs/Japanese games on handhelds?
I miss Japanese console games, but the VITA ought to be fulfilling that void. It's too bad Sony has focused on titles like Resistance, Uncharted, and Killzone because I feel they should be working on Japanese-oriented games, as American audiences more willingly eat that up than vice versa.
I miss Japanese console games, but the VITA ought to be fulfilling that void. It's too bad Sony has focused on titles like Resistance, Uncharted, and Killzone because I feel they should be working on Japanese-oriented games, as American audiences more willingly eat that up than vice versa.
...both hardware and software, of course.
timetokill
Banned
The price-drop was a very early, aggressive move by Nintendo well before the platform was ever near "deathbed" status. They wanted to show developers they were absolutely serious to the platform becoming a huge success. And that was effective.
But to term that point in its life as "on its deathbed" is absurd.
It was struggling in the marketplace, then, not on its deathbed. Success certainly didn't appear to be a given at that point.
I'm happy that the handheld market can continue in the face of smartphones, but I'm disappointed the 3DS was the one to do it.
I agree, people are now underplaying the 3DS' early troubles since it has recovered.
However, we can say that Nintendo had the foresight to leave themselves some wiggle room in anticipation of unforeseen problems. The system having clear wiggle room on the price is one of the chief examples of this. So I suppose the way I'd put it is that the 3DS' first bullet clearly misfired, but Nintendo was careful and prudent and prepared enough to have several back ups loaded in a way that Sony clearly did not with the Vita.
I think Nintendo has less backup loaded for the Wii U, however. If it struggles out of the gate, I don't feel it has nearly as much wiggle room as did the 3DS.
You say that like the PSP wasn't a healthy platform in Japan. Not all games get localized and not all games appeal evenly across markets.
Electivirus
Member
I don't import. If something doesn't make it over, then I won't cry over it. Mostly referring to Nintendo's first-party efforts, anyhow.
DragonSworne
Banned
The price drop was in reaction to the 3DS not selling as well as the DS, not that it wasn't selling at all.
I do think both the Vita and Wii U cost their respective companies much more to manufacture and their price points were difficult to hit. It was pretty clear from the beginning that Nintendo was overpricing the 3DS hardware and that definitely was the case.
Live Free or Die
Banned
apples and oranges.
Isn't the PSP on track to outsell basically every home console other than the PS2? If not it will be pretty close. I don't remember anything other than the PS2, GB/GBC and NDS getting past 20M units sold.
Bananas and kiwis?
I agree that the 3DS was overpriced, but probably not for the reasons you mean. "Correct" price is determined by market demand, not by the literal cost of components.
The 3DS was overpriced at launch, and is still overpriced in the US. The Vita is horribly overpriced (from a consumer perspective) and a terrible product (From a designer's perspective).
timetokill
Banned
I'm not underplaying it. I would agree with saying it was struggling, as darkx revised his statement to later. It absolutely was, and everyone was surprised at its poor performance. But to say it was "on its deathbed" is laughable and that's what I was responding to.
It had Monster Hunter, Mario, and Pokemon locked up. It had Animal Crossing on the way (a huge seller in Japan now). It was never going to simply die off with those titles. But Nintendo was very aggressive in making sure that it wouldn't just drag along, and certainly the success they're seeing now is a result of those aggressive measures.
RSLAEV
Member
Nightstick11
Banned
Yeah, no. 3DS has never looked grim. 21 million in two years? Any hardware maker would kill to have those kind of numbers.
Isn't the Vita one of the easiest Sony platforms to develop for? Or is this because it's caught in a strange, Monster Hunter-less limbo between consoles and handhelds, not quite satisfying the demographics for either?
I also wouldn't be surprised if the 3DS would've been $150 now were it not for the exchange rate. It IS 15,000 yen in Japan, right?
Well, I believe that it's SUPPOSED to be doing a bit better than the DS did at this point rather than maintaining status quo, but that's also why I couldn't consider it a full blown failure (though I guess to investors it may as well have tanked like the Vita).
This is a semantic argument that I don't have much interest in. If the 3DS was "in trouble" but not "in desperate need of help," if it was "struggling" but not "on it's deathbed" is simply not worth arguing about.
It was in trouble. Let's just all agree on that and move on.
This I agree with. And as previously stated, I think the Wii U is not similarly positioned; it does not have a killer lineup that the PS4/720 cannot possibly match, the way 3DS was crowned king before it even launched. I think the Wii U is likely to win Japan; beyond that I would presently bet against it.
But all of this is speculation without a great deal of evidence yet. My point is, again: yes, I agree that a reasonable person at 3DS launch should have been able to look to the future and see that some success was inevitable. I do not feel that the Wii U has lined itself up nearly as well.