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[C- Warrior]

Things such as culture, unity, association come up. Or so I think.

But games in the US sell strong 1st month. Obviously drop off drastically in it's 2nd month. (as it does in Japan as well.)

But the difference lies in that in Japan, it's 5th or so month is usually insignificant. For practically all titles.

While in NA, a game sells strong 1st month, much less 2nd month, and then slightly less 3rd month, and from 4th month on to like, a year later it'll always consitantly get 10,000-30,000 units of sales, even at full retail price.

Also, 1st day sales in Japan are crazy! They usually account for 1/3rd to 1/2 of all sales.

So, is there a difference in store policies? In the culture. As in the Japanese have a "social" tie to a game and must go and out and support it on the 1st day like a clan or something?

Do Japanese stores value shelf space much more and thus games past the 4th month period are totally taken off?

example:

I look at Ninja Gaiden for example, it's selling 4,000 a month at 39.99. How many copies did NG sell in Japan this month? 2....used....for 9 yen?

 

[djtiesto]

The used games industry is huge in Japan, and game rentals are illegal... so the majority of Japanese early adopters buy games on the first day, then when they're done with them, they sell them back.

 

[Sathsquatch]

I think its because of the used game market in Japan. Most gamers can sell a recently used game for nearly the same price as it would take to buy another used game. As a result, most of the new copies are sold all at once while everyone else that plays the games will just pick up used copies.

What I want to know is why the Japanese game market is on decline as a whole. Why are western markets continuing to expand while Japan withers away?

 

[monchi-kun]

I think its because of the used game market in Japan. Most gamers can sell a recently used game for nearly the same price as it would take to buy another used game. As a result, most of the new copies are sold all at once while everyone else that plays the games will just pick up used copies.

What I want to know is why the Japanese game market is on decline as a whole. Why are western markets continuing to expand while Japan withers away?

the overall economy hasn't recovered yet for most middle class japanese citizens. available time to play games is also on a decline so japanese consumers end up favoring portable gaming over traditional console except for a few key franchises

 

[C- Warrior]

Well, couldn't THAT be the very reason?

So you're saying people rush out and buy a game on 1st day in hopes to beat it quickly and get good trade back values in...

That fits together and makes sense.

I heard that the Japanese industry tried to get the used sales services to become illegal like rentals are over there.

In anycase, you'd figure it balance. There is about 5x's as more (number pulled out of my ass, but yo get the picture) piracy in NA than there is in Japan. Hm.

I hope the Japanese industry doesn't collapse, I love my Konami and Capcom ^_^