The new Media Create charts reveal the full picture of
the Japanese gaming market last week, and it's a Dragon Quest XI triumph.
When the futuristic Wipeout Fury was released in 2008, it was a rage both in the American and
Japanese gaming market.
Let's face it: Nintendo is pretty much Godzilla in
the Japanese gaming market.
The Japanese gaming market may be smaller than those in North America or Europe, but it still matters, as a lot of Japanese publishers continue to base most of their decisions on how consoles sell in their home country.
In 1981, toymaker Nintendo had barely dipped its toe into the emerging
Japanese gaming market, but was ready to head to America.
As noted: «For
the Japanese gaming market, the amalgamation of Gundam and Musou is a no brainer.
When asked if there's a chance Tales of Innocence R could get a Western release as well, Baba said the game was only meant for
the Japanese gaming market.
The last time
the Japanese gaming market saw an uptick was in 2006, when the Nintendo DS Lite, the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 launched.
The Japanese gaming market may be smaller than those in North America or Europe, but it still matters, as a lot of Japanese publishers continue to base decisions on how consoles sell in their home country.
With the 360 creating a cozy nest of mediocrity at the bottom of the Japanese sales charts week in and week out, you'd think there would be little to celebrate about Microsoft's position in
the Japanese gaming market.
First off,
the Japanese gaming market is not nearly as big as it used to be, and only takes up a limited amount of worldwide marketshare at this point.
Not exact matches
Nintendo is a
Japanese company, so they focus a lot of their stuff with the
Japanese market, but the
Japanese market is dying in terms of
gaming.
Originally dubbed the «Mega Drive»» on the
Japanese market, the 16 - bit
gaming console after receiving a new moniker stateside, triumphed above other systems with sharper graphics, higher resolution, industry - best animation and a slew of unparalleled
gaming titles.
Japanese culture, mostly in the form of Anime has seen a boom in the West in recent years, so there is clearly a
market for people who want games that feel
Japanese, but
gaming will not be such an obvious gateway drug for a passion for
Japanese culture like it was for me and so many others of my generation.
It might feel like console
gaming started with the NES and the Master System, but that would be omitting a major part of
gaming history and the reason that
Japanese developers gained so much dominance of the home console
market.
At the very least, it helps illustrate just how in tune Galvez is with the
Japanese gaming scene — enough to take a huge risk in starting a company that specializes in localizing relatively unknown doujin
Japanese games for a Western
market.
Visual novel games have a mixed reputation in the
gaming industry, as they're mostly considered
Japanese games for
Japanese gamers, although quite a few have managed to find success in Western
markets, depending on their themes or content.
According to Disney, the biggest gains are attributed to higher performance in social
gaming in the
Japanese markets, where new expanded licensing benefited Disney's brand of hardware and software.
Fans of anime, in particular
Japanese fighting games will remember the old good Soul Calibur, which this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of the return of a new part to the
gaming market.
The
japanese gaming giant is yet to share a release window, but it is pretty safe to say that Nintendo NX is hitting the
market in the next 12 months.
Previously, the
Japanese company's decision to enter the mobile
gaming market was seen by analysts as a risky move.
Whether newcomers will enjoy it as much will depend on how open they are to
Japanese culture and traditional JRPG design, both of which are becoming ever more niche in the current
gaming market.
Metal Gear Solid luminary Kideo Kojima has spoken out about the current state of the
Japanese gaming industry while revealing he is currently actively working on four games; one that will attempt to utilise the Western approach to «rule-less»
gaming in order to crack the lucrative English - speaking
market.
Back in 2015, the
Japanese gaming firm made an official announcement that it was about to make its presence felt in the mobile
gaming market.
Founded in late 2012, BitSummit is a pioneering and innovative
gaming event unlike any other, paving the way for global exposure of
Japanese independent developers, resulting in greater distribution and success in Western
markets than ever before.
But the last few years have seen the country roaring back to prominence in console
gaming, thanks in part to the
market domination of PlayStation and Nintendo, and seen major
Japanese third parties begin to make inroads with disillusioned fans again.
China's Android games
market has seen a sudden surge of popular
Japanese anime, comics, and
gaming franchises (ACG).
Previously, the
Japanese company's decision to enter the mobile
gaming market was seen by analysts as a risky move.
As console platforms drop to the third largest
gaming market worldwide, it is clear the big
Japanese companies are starting to take smartphone
gaming seriously.
Back in 2015, the
Japanese gaming firm made an official announcement that it was about to make its presence felt in the mobile
gaming market.