Another thing I would like to explain is the home console market. Perhaps, the Japanese market is the least robust market in the world today with regard to home console systems. In the U.S., the home console market is very robust. If the U.S. sold two or three times as much as Japan, it would be tolerable. Yet, I feel that something is wrong when the U.S. is selling ten times as much as Japan on a weekly basis. So, I do not believe Nintendo should be content with the current situation in the Japanese market and believe that we have other methods to confront this.
One thing I can tell you about this is that, compared to the past when home consoles were selling better in Japan, all the Japanese are getting busier for a number of reasons, so we are seeing an overall lifestyle shift where many forms of entertainment are enjoyed while on the go or during spare time. In these times, we need to provide the Japanese market with entertainment that only a home console can realize.
At the end of last year, Nintendo launched two Wii titles, Animal Crossing and Wii Music, in hopes that the Japanese consumers would appreciate them and revitalize the Wii market in Japan. Our efforts have not lived up to our expectation. While Wii had very strong momentum in the overseas markets, the Wii market in Japan (during the year-end sales season) showed a slow start, did not show sharp trajectory in sales, and ended up moving back to the sales level of non-sales-season level quickly.
Nintendo has always tried many unprecedented things. As we offer new proposals one after another, sometimes they are accepted just as we had expected, sometimes it falls below our expectations, and sometimes it explodes far beyond our expectations. After all, in the video game market, I believe that a company which successfully creates just one product with astonishing sales.
I shudder at the thought of what if Nintendo DS had not had Brain Training or Nintendogs, and if Wii had not had Wii Sports and Wii Fit. For each of these products, we create them hoping for a winner, but it is impossible to hit a bulls eye every time.
So, what happened at the end of last year in Japan was simply that it did not go as we had planned. To generate strong sales, we need to effectively communicate Nintendos messages to our consumers. Of course, the level of sales of Wii Music and Animal Crossing are nowhere near that of failing software. However, because there is a software that clicks with everyone, you get one consumer after another who want to play with it by purchasing the hardware. As these people invite those around them to have the same positive experience, a product spreads. We have observed what they call DS phenomenon and Wii phenomenon precisely because such a cycle was in place, and we need to make an effort to create yet another one.
This is not a structural issue which can happen on home console alone. Rather, what matters here is whether or not we can periodically deliver such a product and/or service. Of course, we will offer new proposals and try to live up to peoples expectations this year again.
