It's still the second largest country. The mere fact you compared an entire continent to it means even you know this. It's just a bad arguement devoid of any salient point or insight.
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Famitsu Sales: CY 2018 (2018 Jan 01 - 2018 Dec 30)
- Thread starter Chris1964
- Start date
There was nothing else on the PS4 that could have or would have sustained any kind of rise that we saw with MHW, and even that was rather short lived. Unless FF7r miraculously manifests itself this year, I don't believe PS4 has anything left to help console sales in Japan.
Why are you comparing combined total worldwide numbers to the numbers in a single country?
:/
Japan use to be one of the biggest markets and still is one of the biggest markets. I don't get what you're getting at. Since the PS1 it has never been bigger than Europe combined. In fact, if you consider the west to be Europe + NA it even more so highlights Japan has never ever competed like that.
To recap. Combining Europe and comparing it to Japan is stupid and will always be stupid.
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To all the people answering my post, consider how there's a substantial overlap in terms of titles and releases in all worldwide countries EXCEPT Japan.
Germany, Italy, the UK, heck even the US get the same games. They're individual markets in fiscal terms, but one market in terms of products. Western developers develop for the world.
Japan is a completely different landscape. The vast majority of japanese releases never reach the west. A lot of Japan-centric games that do are assumed to make most of the money in the domestic market (things ranging from Yokai Watch to portable MH to AA Jrpgs).
The relative shrinking in commercial importance of the japanese market is extremely relevant to how games are developed. Anyone was gaming in the 90s will notice how the number and nature of japanese games reaching the west has massively changed (for the worse) and how even in the domestic market the type of titles has changed. Japan has, to a point, sustain japanese developers on its own. That's why you compare it to everything else as a whole. Because HZD sold over 10 millions worldwide, despite doing so so in Japan. Which means western games can be massive AAA projects despite not appeasing to the Japanese market. The opposite is not true, and that has a very tangible impact on the japanese videogame market, and it will be something that will become more and more noticeable.
Germany, Italy, the UK, heck even the US get the same games. They're individual markets in fiscal terms, but one market in terms of products. Western developers develop for the world.
Japan is a completely different landscape. The vast majority of japanese releases never reach the west. A lot of Japan-centric games that do are assumed to make most of the money in the domestic market (things ranging from Yokai Watch to portable MH to AA Jrpgs).
The relative shrinking in commercial importance of the japanese market is extremely relevant to how games are developed. Anyone was gaming in the 90s will notice how the number and nature of japanese games reaching the west has massively changed (for the worse) and how even in the domestic market the type of titles has changed. Japan has, to a point, sustain japanese developers on its own. That's why you compare it to everything else as a whole. Because HZD sold over 10 millions worldwide, despite doing so so in Japan. Which means western games can be massive AAA projects despite not appeasing to the Japanese market. The opposite is not true, and that has a very tangible impact on the japanese videogame market, and it will be something that will become more and more noticeable.
That may be true 15 years ago, but most Japanese release nowadays are localised in English.
I can hardly think of an example of high profile Japanese release without English version from the last 5 years.
Even niche ero VN are mostly localised now ...
On your 2nd point, western developed project has always survived without the need to appease to Japanese audience.
Baldur's Gate, WoW, Neverwinter Night, etc. None of them are ever big in Japan, yet they are successful commercially worldwide.
I also don't think the increase in localisation project for Japanese game is for the worse.
How is it worse to expand audience of a game series?
It's true Japanese developers are increasingly less reliant on domestic market, but that is actually good thing.
Having a bigger fanbase makes investment less risky and more stable.
Also have to add, video game console market itself has sales that is heavily concentrated in few markets.
US, UK, Germany and France is a big big chunk of home console video game market.
It's a bit difficult to say western developers develop for the world, when video game is pretty much "niche" in a lot of countries.
In country like China, it is a much bigger market, but the audience there likes different kind of video games, mainly mobile game and F2P PC game (MOBA, MMORPG).