"Vinnk's Village" Anecdotal Report
Here is my 4th report and I am stating to kind of get a system down. It still takes me about 3 hours to check all the stores but it is getting much faster to get the report ready.
For those who missed the last two, here is some background:
My town is in Oita Prefecture (in the Kyushu Region) the population is 80,000 (or 60,000 before it merged with 4 surrounding small villages), which is quite small by Japanese standards.
I will track sales from all the stores that sell video games. They are:
2 department stores that sell games (Jusco and Youme Town)
1 discount store with a very small game section. (Mr.Max)
1 manga/anime/game store (Book-net)
1 porn store that tries to look legitimate buy having a small game/DVD section in the front and a massive porn section behind a curtain. (Goody)
1 electronics chain store with a game section (Best Denki)
2 dedicated game stores (Wanpaku and Famicom Dojo)
**NEW** Yamada Denki, a new electronics store just opened this week.
Most anecdotal reports come from big cities like Tokyo and Osaka and in those places people will line up for new games and things sell out all the time. It doesnt always paint a very accurate picture of Japan outside of metropolitan areas. My numbers are not supposed to represent Japan, but are just my observations based on the town I happen to live in.
This week I was asked to look for: Wii hardware, PS3, DS lite, and Layton,Yoshis Island DS. I went Thursday April 5th, 2007:
Jusco
Wii: Sold out
PS3: 10 (6 60gig, 3 Gundam Specials)
DS Lite: Sold Out
Layton: 4 copies
DQM:J 3 copies
Yoshis Island: 3 copies
Youme Town
Wii: Sold Out
PS3: At least 3 (3 on the floor, unknown in the back)
DS lite: Sold Out
Layton: 4 copies
DQM:J 1 copy
Yoshis Island: 2 copies
Mr. Max
Wii: Sold Out
PS3: At least 1 60gig and one Gundam Musou Special (there is a display box out front and the tag on it says, they will bring you one from the back. No idea how many are there)
DS lite: sold out
Layton: 1 copy
DQM:J 2 copies
Yoshis Island: Sold out
Book-Net
Wii: Sold out
PS3: 5 (1 new, 3 used)
DS lite: sold out
Layton: 2 copies
DQM:J 1 new, 1 used
Yoshis Island: 1 copy
Goody
Wii: Never had any to begin with
PS3: 2 used (1 20gig, 1 60gig)
DS lite: 1
Layton: 1
DQM:J Sold out
Yoshis Island: Sold Out? (they may never have had any to begin with)
Best Denki
Wii: 2
DS lite: Sold Out
PS3: Several rows behind the counter. More than 15 for sure. Not sure if they are used or new but the store says both are available.
Layton: 2
DQM:J 3
Yoshis Island: 1
Wanpaku
Wii: Sold out
DS lite: 3
PS3: At least 1 60gig and 1 Gundam Musou Edition (unknown how many are in the back)
Layton: Sold out
DQM:J 6
Yoshis Island: Sold Out
Famicom Dojo
Wii: 2!
PS3: Old Reliable is still there.
DS lite: Sold Out
Layton: Sold out
DQM:J 1
Yoshis Island: Sold Out
Yamada Denki
Wii: Sold out
PS3: at least 5
DS lite: 2
Layton: 12
DQM:J 10
Yoshis Island: 9
TOTALS:
Wii: 4 (all new)
PS3: A lot (at least 40 could be seen, but probably much higher)
DS lite: 6
Layton: 26
DQM:J 28
Yoshis Island: 16
NOTES:
1. Yamada Denki just opened this week and its shelves were fully stocked with every game. I went just after the grand opening so they had everything I was tracking except Wii.
2. At Wanpaku they had a demo of Pro Baseball Spirits 4 (the only new PS3 game this week) but it was running on the PS2. I asked why they were not using the superior looking PS3 version and they said, We expect to sell a lot more of this one.
3. Old Reliable (The PS3 at Famicom Dojo) has been there since 5 weeks after launch.
4. Yamada Denki is selling new copies of Love and Berry for only 2000 yen. Seems they are trying to get rid of them. I wonder if it will hit the million mark now.
5. It is my opinion that DQM:J, Layton and Yoshis Island are no longer supply constrained. Also since used copies of DQM:J are now in the market it will continue to be easily available. I will remove DQM:J from the list of games I am looking for. Layton and Yoshi will likely be removed next week.
6. The PS3 is not worth tracking. It is available in every store in large numbers and my report for each week on it could be simplified as ditto. Unless there is a major sales push or a new killer app driving system sales. I am going to stop checking for it.
7. I need new games to look for. OR questions you would like answered, such as How much does a new copy of Tales of the Tempest sell for these days? (Answer: 1500 yen)
8. Wii is still really hard to find. DS lite is rare but attainable with a bit of searching.
