"Vinnk's Village" Anecdotal Report
Sorry for the lack of reports the last few weeks. I was on Vacation in the United States and couldnt really keep track of what was going on in Japan.
For those who recently joined the sales age fun, 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)
Yamada Denki, a new electronics store just opened last month.
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, DS lite, FF12:RW, Panel de Pon, One Piece, Big Brain Academy and GS4. I went Thursday May 10th, 2007:
Jusco
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: 1
FF12: RW: 5
Panel de Pon: 1
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 3
GS4: 2
Youme Town
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: Sold Out
FF12: RW: 4
Panel de Pon: Sold Out
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 5
GS4: 1
Mr. Max
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: Sold out
FF12: RW: 3
Panel de Pon: Sold Out
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 1
GS4: Sold Out
Book-Net
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: Sold Out
FF12: RW: 3
Panel de Pon: Sold Out
One Piece: 3
BBA: 4
GS4: 2
Goody
Wii: Has never had a Wii
DS Lite: Sold out
FF12: RW: 1
Panel de Pon: Sold Out
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 1
GS4: Sold Out
Best Denki
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: 3
FF12: RW: 4
Panel de Pon: 3
One Piece: 4
BBA: 8
GS4: 4
Wanpaku
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: 2
FF12: RW: 6
Panel de Pon: 2
One Piece: 7
BBA: 11
GS4: 3
Famicom Dojo
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: 3 (1 is the RW bundle)
FF12: RW: 2
Panel de Pon: Sold Out
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 1
GS4: 1
Yamada Denki
Wii: Sold out
DS Lite: Sold Out
FF12: RW: 6
Panel de Pon: at least 2 (spotted in the back)
One Piece: Sold Out
BBA: 6
GS4: 5
TOTALS:
Wii: Sold Out
DS Lite: 9
FF12: RW: 34
Panel de Pon: 8
One Piece: 14
BBA: 40
GS4: 18
NOTES:
1. There is not a single Wii system to be found in my town.
2. DS lite is still hard to find, but nowhere near impossible.
3. One Piece is odd because some stores are sold out and others have a bunch of copies, my guess is that there is a restock happening and it hasnt hit all stores yet. But had I not read of the sellout, I would be led to believe that this time is not supply constrained.
4. Of the remaining games, the only one that might possibly still be supply constrained is Panel de Pon, but it is also possible that stores just didnt order as many of this game.
5. FF12:RW and GS4 already have used copies on shelves so I doubt there will be any supply issues concerning either of these titles. And in the case of FF12:RW there seems to be quite a surplus.
6. Old Reliable (The PS3 at Famicom Dojo) has been there since 5 weeks after launch. It is sitting next to a sign that says Reserve your PS3 now. This sigh seems to serve no purpose other than to mock this poor machine.
7. The PS3 kiosk at Wanpaku has been retrofitted into another PS2 kiosk. I suppose with no new games this month (other than Madden) it doesnt pay to keep it up until there is something new.
8. Its good to be home.
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