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Thread: Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

                  
   
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    Nightmaren Shrygue's Avatar
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    General games Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

    via Kotaku


    We know that Nintendo dominated 2007, with a constant, reliable stream of good news and strong sales. But how did the rest of the competition stack up? We've decided to look back at a full year of sales data from Japanese analyst outlet Media Create, whose sales data we regularly feature in the Simple 2000 Japanese Sales Chart series.

    With a license to seemingly print money, Nintendo took 2007 by storm, establishing console and handheld dominance with its two casual friendly game devices. Nintendo DS and Wii dominated software and hardware charts, seeing a steady flow of week to week sales for both platforms, appearing to only weaken when supply was constrained.

    Sony's offerings, the PSP, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, had a solid (if not spectacular) year. The PS3 didn't make any waves, but the PSP did. The PS2, now seven years long in the tooth, still had a bit of life in it.

    The Xbox 360? Well, we don't have nice things to say about its Japanese performance, so we'll just let the charts do the talking.



    When units of each platform are presented side by side, the stranglehold the Nintendo DS has on the Japanese market becomes apparent. Its weekly sales outpaced every other console's and handheld's performance for nearly the entirety of the year. The only platform to outperform the DS at any point was Sony's PlayStation Portable, aided by a pair of marquee releases (plus a hardware redesign) in the first and third quarters of 2007.

    The Nintendo DS saw its largest weekly period sales alongside a few high-profile software releases and in time with holidays, but was less dependent on individual software releases to pull in big numbers. Media Create software sales charts were regularly heavy on DS software, and it wasn't uncommon to see weekly charts feature nothing but DS and Wii software in the top ten—see Dragon Quest Swords and Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings launch weeks and this past week for examples.

    In general, however, Nintendo DS sales trends tended not to spike as severely as other platforms did, with sales of older titles such as New Super Mario Bros. and Animal Crossing Wild World still doing solid business for Nintendo, many months after their respective release dates.



    When we look at year-to-date sales in handy bar graph form, we get a much better perspective on the share of the Japanese market that Nintendo carved out for itself in 2007. This was the year that Nintendo DS hardware sales surpassed those of the PlayStation 2, with each at about 21 million consoles sold in the nation, lifetime to date. It's an impressive feat for the handheld, as it surpassed that figure in almost exactly 3 years, compared to a 7 year shelf life for Sony's console.

    The DS pushed some 7 million-plus units into the hands of Japanese consumers, a third of its total sales. Not a bad year for the platform widely considered a gimmick before its launch.

    On Sony's side, 2007 saw the PlayStation 3 outsell the PlayStation 2 in its first full year on the market, with the PSP achieving just shy of one-half of the DS's sales, a similarly impressive feat for a non-Nintendo portable device.

    The Xbox 360, despite seeing a handful of video game releases that sold admirably over the year, continued to be a non-factor in the console war overseas. Its annual sales were about a quarter-million, something the Nintendo DS accomplished on a weekly basis multiple times in 2007. Sure, it's a bit apples to oranges, considering the price differences in hardware and software, but its illustrative of consumer tastes in Japan. Microsoft's efforts to appeal to Eastern gaming tastes with a pair of Mistwalker games, hardware bundles and a few exclusives from Namco Bandai were met with flat sales in the nation.


    More charts, trends and figures here

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    DS is doing excellent, even a lot more than the Wii


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    DCEmu Rookie Steely's Avatar
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    Wow... I wonder which one is doing the best...?

    Nintendo DS is truly dominating.

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    Those are some impressive sales. I could only assume that sales are so much higher on hand held systems due to the fact that they break so much easier? Resulting in people repurchasing it more then once unlike with a console since its mostly out of harms way. I mean pretty much any parent that has kids has probably ended up repurchasing a DS at least once.

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    Haha, it doesn't surprise me that Nintendo is dominating the market. It's because everything is mostly aimed at a low-age level. Generally because it requires minimal intelligence to play.

    Just look how shamefully Sony (PS3) and Microsoft are doing. XD


    Quote Originally Posted by VFerg View Post
    Those are some impressive sales. I could only assume that sales are so much higher on hand held systems due to the fact that they break so much easier? Resulting in people repurchasing it more then once unlike with a console since its mostly out of harms way. I mean pretty much any parent that has kids has probably ended up repurchasing a DS at least once.
    I disagree with you.

    Nintendo's products are built very well. Mainly because all of their games require more "physical" input. Such as the DS' touch screen and the Wii's motion sensing gameplay. I've had my DS ever since the week it first came out and it's been through alot since that time; dropped down a flight of stairs, water spilled on, dropped on the floor millions of times, etc. It still works perfectly!

    So I would think that it would be sturdier than the PlayStation 3, PSP, or whatever. :P
    Last edited by Mini Moose; January 18th, 2008 at 05:08. Reason: spelling

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    let the fanboys roll in

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    Nice. Im glad Nintendo made it. And $ony's PS3 ... waha, they deserved it.

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    Nintendo's products are built very well. Mainly because all of their games require more "physical" input. Such as the DS' touch screen and the Wii's motion sensing gameplay. I've had my DS ever since the week it first came out and it's been through alot since that time; dropped down a flight of stairs, water spilled on, dropped on the floor millions of times, etc. It still works perfectly!

    So I would think that it would be sturdier than the PlayStation 3, PSP, or whatever. :P
    Well, although definitely sturdier than the PSP, the DS can break easily compared to previous Nintendo handhelds. You can drop it countless times on cement floors, drop it down stairs, etc.. However, there are a few ways that if you drop it the hinge will definitely crack(The Phat DS, I mean), or if you fall on it the top screen has a good chance of getting broken(DS Phat again). The DS lite doesn't really break from dropping or anything, but once your analog buttons mess up, the whole thing starts to crack.

    And boy, Japan really doesn't like the 360 too much.
    Last edited by Steely; January 18th, 2008 at 23:28.

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