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Japanese Gaming Rises Once More
June 29 2012 by Dylan James
The Japanese gaming industry’s been taking it rough lately. From decreasing sales to calls about the entire Japanese gaming industry’s inability to make good games (sometimes from Japanese developers themselves), it hasn’t been looking too good for the land of the rising sun.Fortunately, a new report has come to save the day - Japanese game sales saw their first rise year-over-year in over two years. Thanks to the strength of the 3DS and an abundance of massive software (ranging from Mario Kart 7 to Pokémon Black/White Versions 2), Japanese sales are taking a definitive upward turn.
Couple this with the renewed interest in exciting new Japanese games from a large number of Western players (this is the first time in quite a few years I’ve personally seen so much excitement for Japanese titles), and you have what’s looking to be a forthcoming strong return of Japanese power.
The numbers break down like this:
- Hardware sales are down 11.5% (a decrease, but not as much as past years).
- Software sales have risen 9.4% (a significant increase).
- The Nintendo 3DS is easily the key contributor to this rise, having sold over 6.3 million units since launch in Japan alone.
- The highest selling game so far is th DS title(s) Pokémon Black/White Versions 2 with 1.6 million copies sold.
- The second-highest selling game is the 3DS game Monster Hunter 3G with 1.4 million copies moved.
The easiest way to sum this up would simply be to say the 3DS is one hell of a winner. With both highest-selling games (well, three if you count both versions of Pokémon) being for the DS and 3DS and the system itself crossing the 6 million mark a little over a year into its run, Nintendo’s utterly locked the handheld gaming market in Japan (Vita sales have been poor) - and in fact spurred it to a real rise.
We can only wait and see what will happen with the Wii U - if it succeeds as much as companies like Ubisoft believes it will, then we could very well see a totally solid return of Japanese powerhouses in gaming. Only time will tell.
What do you think of this potential rise to power? Do you think the land of the rising sun will retake the throne of gaming? Comment away!
Source: GameTrailers
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