Tue, Nov 25, 2008 | 09:07 GMT
Japanese financial rag says gaming market is “melancholy”
In an article titled The Melancholy of Cool Japan, the Nikkei Shimbun’s argued that the decreasing relevance of the Japanese games industry on the world stage can be partially blamed on the American nationality of gaming’s biggest publishers, EA and Activision.
Adding to the general malaise, says the piece, is that 30-something gamers are too busy with jobs and families to play games.
If that weren’t enough, Japan’s declining birth rate is hitting gaming hard, said the paper.
Japanese publishers will navigate the marshes, though, says the piece, specifically naming Square Enix, Tecmo and Konami.
The Japanese industry has noticeably suffered of late, seeing a 20 percent decline in sales in the past year alone.
Both platform holders and Japanese developers have openly admitted gaming power has shifted significantly to the West over this generation.
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Posted in: Activision Blizzard, Development, EA, Japan
Tags: nikkei shimbun
5 comments
#1
Blerk
25/11/08, 9:16 am
I’d like to offer my services to the Japanese if they need any assistance combating their declining birth rate.
#2
Smartypants
25/11/08, 9:48 am
I blame the Wii.
#3
morriss
25/11/08, 9:50 am
…and the DS.
#4
Esha
25/11/08, 1:21 pm
Remember a while ago when I said that the Japanese market was really too flaccid for sales to matter? It’s nice to see that cited by what would likely be considered a reliable source.
That’s why I can’t see why anyone would get excited over sales, Sony or Microsoft, and I think that Sony are wasting their time by concentrating so much of their efforts there. This is the evolution of the market, things are going to continue this way and in greater magnitudes, I can’t really see anything that would turn that around.
The only real successes in Japan, the only thing that seems to make any worthwhile amount of money there, are hand-helds. It seems both the PSP and the DS are healthy there, and I’m glad because I like both of ‘em. To be hones though, I think that hand-helds in Japan are the only forms of console gaming entertainment that have a future.
I wouldn’t be surprised if arcades undergo a renaissance there, to be honest. That’d fit the way things are going nicely.
#5
Blerk
25/11/08, 1:27 pm
Since when were Sony concentrating any effort on Japan? Most of its first-party releases for the PS3 have been very, very Westernised. Microsoft’s put more effort into Japanese-style games this generation – and that could well be the nub of Sony’s problems in their own region.