The End of Console Gaming In Japan

An article from Gamerant, with comments from Final Fantasy XV's co-director on how he feels console-based gaming is dying:

I've never liked mobile gaming, ever since a spin-off to one of my favorite franchises was ported exclusively to mobile. There are far too many popular franchises for consoles to just die off, even if life in Japan does involve a lot more moving about than in other places.

And as much as I like Final Fantasy, statements like these sound egotistical.

edited 20th Sep '14 7:40:41 AM by FOFD

Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).

I sure hope that console gaming doesn't come to an end, I enjoy it way too much to want it to end. Besides, I only have a smartphone because I can use certain apps on it that I can't use on a regular phone, I hate using it for gaming.

“I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I’m glad it exists; I just don’t ever want to get stuck in it."

Console gaming in Japan is dying, yes. Japan gravitates toward mobil and handhelds because there simply isn't the space to get a group of friends in front of a console anymore.

Go read about why Monster Hunter is so popular in Japan if you want to understand how the culture is moving away from home systems.

And I don't think it's necessarily egotistical to say that Final Fantasy XV may be the last hope for the Japanese console market. Japan's console numbers have been terrible for a few years. There's basically three major Japanese games left that might reignite the console flames.

Persona 5 is out this year, on PS 3. There was a PS 4 version announced recently, but that's catering more to western fans who want it on the newest machine. Japan hasn't embraced the eighth generation home systems like other regions have, and Persona 5 likely won't convince them to upgrade if they can still play on what they already have.

The next one is Final Fantasy XV, which is only on PS 4 and Xbox One (so, as far as Japan is concerned, only on PS 4). If FFXV tanks at home, then console gaming in Japan is basically finished. Kingdom Hearts III would be the swansong of the platform.

There would still be Japanese games made for console, I'm sure, but they'd be aimed more specifically at western fans.

Weren't they saying the same thing about console and PC gaming in the West owing to the same devices?

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

Said everything I was going to say but better.

Honestly, I would say this would have more effect on smaller devs like Atlus and Nippon Ichi versus bigger ones. Games like Final Fantasy and Mario are going to sell perfectly fine in the rest of the world, so they'll always have their place on consoles.

So basically Japan needs a 1-2-3 punch with Persona, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts, possibly with Metal Gear thrown in as well. Too bad Square still can't get a release date for their games out, which lowers any momentum the PS 4 may get. Then there's stuff like Bloodborne, which helps certainly, but won't drive people in droves to next-gen. Are there any other console IP's that Japan would really like?

Or Nintendo could pull something brilliant out of their ass again. Too bad they've shown no signs of being able to do that the last few years.

Your preferences are not everyone else's preferences.

Tales. It's much bigger than Persona in Japan.

But it's been consistently going downhill, so that doesn't look too good either.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Am I the only one who prefers on-the-go gaming, then? I find I rarely ever turn my consoles on (unless I just got a game for it I've been hype about for a while) and mostly stick to my 3DS (and, prior, my DS and Game Boy consoles). I'm not often home or around the consoles, and I also find it a hassle to plug and unplug things and to wait for stuff to load when I turn it on and etc. Mobile gaming is just so much more convenient, and there are more than enough good portable games to keep me satisfied.

It should probably say something that one of my favorite series (Kirby) started out as a handheld game.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Sadly there's a difference between mobile (phone) gaming and handhelds.

Only outside of Japan.

No you're not the only one. I'm the same way.

...almost every home console game I've played either has online multiplayer or is a single-player game...

I like handhelds but feel that anything which intends to be walkthrough heavy should be either a PC game or on a home console. I would also like more Vita titles...

One thing I'm not getting that I might have otherwise is the new SSB game on the 3DS, because I don't have a Wii U and because it looks terrible on the 3DS, relatively speaking. I mean I know there would be a graphics downgrade, but I can't see myself playing a fighting game with such puny 3D models. Also because Charizard is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.

MMORPGs are serious business.

I pretty much only have a Vita and a 3DS. I'm pretty good with both and this year, there hasn't been too much I even been really intersted in the console/PC games that I feel like I'm missing out on. (Infamous: Second Son and Dragon Age...also Persona games but they are a given)

Which makes me think that they might have done a 3DS version in part because Japan loves the 3DS...alongside the world for the most part, judging by Wii U sales.

edited 20th Sep '14 9:34:44 AM by phoenixdaughterAM

Persona 3 Portable Liveblog

People forget that Japan is a very on the go / mobile country.

So it makes sense that mobile gaming is going to take over.

Puzzle And Dragons is almost a religion now with how popular it is in Japan.

edited 20th Sep '14 9:40:30 AM by Thorn14

That the Japanese don't have space for a console and their friends is a bit of an exaggeration in both directions. They have plenty of room in the less populous areas, but good luck finding anyone to play with. In Tokyo? I doubt they have space for the consoles to begin with, since the majority live in small apartments. That is, of course, ignoring the extreme end of things◊.

As a result, unless Japanese living space somehow inflates in size soon, good luck reviving the console market over there.

edited 20th Sep '14 10:33:52 AM by burnpsy

Well, at least they still have arcades .

Fear the cinnamon sugar swirl. By the Gods, fear it, Laurence.

For some perspective: here is Japan's top 20 software sales chart for the week ending on Sept. 14:

Even if we combine Destiny's PS 3 & PS 4 sales, thats still 140,780 vs Smash's 944,644. Mario Kart 8, since release on May 29th, has sold 665,918, ~70% of what Smash sold in two days.

Furthermore, here is the hardware sales chart for the same week (unfortunately, it provides the previous week's sales instead of lifetime sales):

edited 20th Sep '14 12:27:23 PM by TheAirman

PSN ID: FateSeraph Congratulations! She/They

"Sadly there's a difference between mobile (phone) gaming and handhelds."

Context, man. I'm very clearly referring to the latter.

---

I think another part of people seeming to prefer console games here...well, let's be honest, do a lot of them really leave their houses that often?

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I don't leave my room when I play handhelds! Wait...

Persona 3 Portable Liveblog

That was my point. Japan's more dense in mobile games than handheld console games.

I seriously don't understand how people can stand to play smartphone games.

The controls suck, they eat batteries like nothing else, and they are usually not made with much effort or budget(in comparison to console games, handheld or not), their only real advantage is their typically low cost(and even then I don't feel like it's worth my money or time for most of the popular ones) and that if you have a smartphone you don't need to get a more specialized machine for it, but smartphones themselves are only really worth it because of their social value(I'm not referring to the phone or camera function.)

I can understand the card games popular in Japan on smartphones, but those have never really been on consoles unless it's a game based on an existing card game, and even then potentially annoying controls can get in the way.

MMORPGs are serious business.

This leads me to think that Nintendo may be trying to create a combined console/handheld system (or a console and handheld which are so thoroughly integrated they may as well be one system) and has been integrating Wii U and 3DS systems, and why Sony is attempting to attach the Vita to the PS 4.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."

^^In my experience, they work surprisingly well. Sure, an action game suffers, but it's damn perfect for puzzle-type games, it's given rise to platformer-style "make a running guy jump" games, and other kinds of games like that.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

I can barely consistently type on a smartphone, I can't see it doing well with puzzle games unless there's no time limit and an undo function.

But then, of course, I suppose this all has a lot more to do with me hating on touchscreens. (I can bear with the 3DS touchscreen because of the pen or whatever it's called, but otherwise ughhhh.)

MMORPGs are serious business.

I'm so proud to never have owned a smartphone. I only use my regular old cellphone for, you know, talking.