Sony didn't really have a very good show. The only good news as far as I'm concerned is that they are adding HDMI port to the base version of PS3 as well. And they dropped the price of the base version by $80 in Japan. It's Japan only though. Because accroding to Sony, both Europe and US gamers were very accepting of the pricing point, it was only Japanese gamers that complaint about the price. So they are responding to it by dropping the price for the base model.
As far as I'm concerned, I really hope HDMI and both Blu-Ray/HD-DVD fail. They are trying to solve a problem that doesn't yet exist. It benefit the studio more than the consumers. So they can control how you watch the content you bought with your own money. But that's another discussion.
Microsoft will be releasing two Xbox 360 bundles in Japan this holiday season. For $250, you either get Xbox 360 core, PGR3 and 99 nights. Or you get a limited edition Blue Dragon themed Xbox 360 core, and Blue Dragon the game. Both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will also be released this holiday season in Japan. They are trying in Japan, but honestly, if this doesn't do it. It's over for Xbox 360 in Japan.
One of the thoughts I had after TGS is. What if the next-gen war happens in Japan, but no one came to the party? We already know Xbox 360 is doing very poorly in Japan. People are still feeling rather negative toward PS3 as well. My feeling toward Wii is mixed. I think the type of causal gamers they are going after, either already have a DS, or are dying to get one. It's way easier to convert causal gamers by handing them a DS and a game. Wii requires you to actaully set it up on the TV. I've always felt that the biggest compeition for Wii isn't PS3 or 360, but DS. DS is selling like hot cakes. They've sold 10 million units in 19 month, making it the fastest selling console in Japanese history. Yes, even faster than SNES or Gameboy. Japanese market is shrinking, but in the middle of all that, DS is constantly selling out and games are selling well too. I think the fact that DS games are way cheaper and have longer replayability has a lot to do with it. So, what if the next-gen war happens, but most Japanese gamers basically go "That's nice, I'll keep my DS and buy the 3,800 yen games, instead of the PS3/360/Wii and those 8,800 yen games that only last 5-10 hours."?
2 comments:
That was confusing. I was going to try and post an intelligent i-know-what-i'm-talking-about comment, but failed miserably. So am posting this rambling-ness instead.
hehe, sorry, I was just wondering where the game market is going in Japan.
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