Kamide quantifies “something big has gone wrong” at Nintendo remark

Wii sales have been struggling in Japan compared to Europe and USA. I wonder if it will ever change. Will be interesting to see what kind of figures MHTri and DQX wil get.

OMG..

DS is still on top in Japan while Wii is comfortably the best-selling home console, as it is in every other territory. I doubt Nintendo is panicking just yet.

That said, PS3 IS catching up on a weekly basis in Japan.

I think the handheld market is likely to dominate Japan for some time to come, particularly given the steadily-widening gap between western and Japanese tech. In general, Japanese games aren’t getting nearly as much out of the HD consoles as western ones, while the reverse is true of Wii.

To be honest, I haven’t noticed Wii sales slacking off that much in Japan. They’re still selling 30kish per week, even in the quieter times. That’s not ‘bad’, is it? I mean, it’s not DS figures, but what else is?

HoC… I don’t think it’s so much that the PS3 is catching up (It sold less in 2008 than 2007 and so far in 2009 is selling less than in 2008) as much as the Wii is gradually falling down to its level.

The Japanese market as a whole as declined, in the main you can pin the Wii selling less over there to that.

That said I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo do something to buck that trend this year.

In Japan? I agree that Wii sales are falling, but I’m sure PS3 sales have been steadier over the past few months than they were previously. And the 2007 sales undoubtedly were slightly artificially high because consoles always sell well at launch.

PS3 sales got a Christmas bump, but they already seem to be heading back to pretty much where they were before.

Before that sales were steady, but they were ‘steadily terrible’.

HoC: I can get you the figures if you want… but can you just assume I’m right on this sort of thing (as I always am) and save me the work?

Bleh, here they are anyway:

2009 – Week 1: 28,144
2009 – Week 2: 20,690
2009 – Week 3: 17,708

2008 – Week 1: 38,907
2008 – Week 2: 38,117
2008 – Week 3: 34,363

Also, the “selling more in launch year” is a common misconception. Most consoles have their best sales in their 3rd or 4th years (mostly because their prices have dropped and they have a ton of games).

The Wii is a fad.

I’ve just realised that TEA is going to be all over this later because I’m spreading my filthy xbot lies.

i think the wii doesnt need to worry as it has monster hunter 3 coming
i think the ps3 doesnt need to worry as it has yakuza 3 and 2 final fantasys
i think the 360 doesnt need to worry as it has an incredibly low price and already a huge amount of JRPGs