Back in the 8 and 16 bit days, when Nintendo and Sega dominated the console market, Japanese game developers also came out on top. In fact, it was through those video games that Japanese culture has been able to have such a huge impact on the west. The rise in popularity of anime, manga, and hilariously inept English translations (“I feel asleep!!”) can be directly linked back to Americans and Europeans seeing all those big-eyed, tiny-nosed characters in their games.
But the numbers are in on this generation of console gaming, and it looks like Japan is losing ground. The market share of western-developed games (the percentage of those games sitting comfortably in homes, in other words) doubled in their native territories between 2004 and 2007. The percentage of Japanese games, on the other hand, has declined.
There are a few hypotheses about what might be going on here. The Japanese have a particular taste in games that doesn’t directly translate to other markets. Turn-based RPGs are much more popular in Japan than the west. Also, it’s an established fact that Japanese people prefer hunting and collecting virtual monsters to eating, sleeping, or tending to their loved ones. (Okay, that last one isn’t true. Yet…)
Also, the rise of the Xbox 360, a western console, has allowed for more non-Japanese developers to penetrate the playing field.
But it’s not all bad news for our friends in the Land of the Rising Sun. Despite the fact that their market share is down, revenues from Japanese game sales are actually up. True, there may be a smaller percentage of people playing Japanese games, but there are also many more gamers today than in previous years. With the rabid popularity of Nintendo’s Wii and DS and the huge number of Japanese games developed for both of those consoles, that means sales figures are actually up.
Personally, I think more competition from western developers can only mean good things for gamers. With a wider selection, we have more choices. And with a larger market, creators can experiment with new kinds of games. Of course, my opinion could be biased since I’m a dirty capitalist who sleeps on a bed stuffed with raw money. What do you think?
Source: DailyTech
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