The UK is now the #2 game market

[j_factor]

linky (http://kotaku.com/5150243/britain-overtakes-japan-to-become-worlds-second+biggest-market)

The UK is now a larger market for games than Japan. Will this have an impact on game development, and where games are released? Discuss.

[tom]

I'd say during the 80s this was also the case.

[sidnotcrazy]

Well, not being from the UK, and not knowing what really sells, I have no idea.

Does anyone know what games sell well? I know in the 80's Turrican and Rock&Roll racing were hot properties, and so was games by Codemasters, and Rare, like and I hope I spell this right, Saburwulf. Oh, and I almost forgot DIZZY...where is my mind?

But really how does the market shape up compared to the US, and Japan?

[Nebagram]

Alas most of the games sold by major UK stores are the type of cruft that's getting shovelled out week on week for the Wii and the DS.

That said though, the usual AAA titles do fly off the shelves quite readily and everyone I know seems to own a 360 or a Wii, but still, Japan has twice the population of our fair island... it is a mystery.

[FantasiaWHT]

Two thoughts:

1) Does it include PC software? Brits are much much huger PC gamers than the Japanese
2) More certainly, since the 360 is nearly ignored in Japan, nobody's buying games for it, where they are in Britain. I realize that situation is changing some, but I imagine the install base for 360 in Britain is drastically larger than than of Japan.

[Mayhem]

We buy many of the things that sell in the US. Just far less US sports titles and more soccer titles instead ;)

[Steve W]

The UK has always had a hell of a lot of good developers there. I hope they start edging Japanese games out. Then you won't have to worry about translations.

And hopefully Europe won't be treated like they're second class when it comes to game and console releases. They always tend to get games far later than Japan and the US, which doesn't seem right.

[j_factor]

The UK has always had a hell of a lot of good developers there.

I dunno about that. I think there used to be, but not as much nowadays.

[The 1 2 P]

More certainly, since the 360 is nearly ignored in Japan, nobody's buying games for it, where they are in Britain.

We have been discussing this very same thing in the 3DO import forum. My feeling is that Japan simply refuses to support any US consoles. I realize that over the years most US companies have made very little attempts at cracking the Japanese game market. Enter the 360. They have made a valiant effort getting exclusive Japanese rpgs made by prominent Japanese developers, being super competively priced(the arcade is cheaper than the Wii and the Pro is cheaper than the Wii), getting the lions share of third party exclusives(while it lasted) and of course have a superior online advantage. But still the Japanese ignore it like a plague. So they've basically buying games for all the major systems except for the 360, while the US and UK support all major systems and that leads to more money spent. Well, I suppose thats part of the reason they are number 2 now.

[j_factor]

Other American products are popular in Japan, though... why should it be any different for consoles? I think it's more that American-style games, which is where 360 excels, aren't too popular there. They hate first-person shooters. A couple of RPGs isn't enough. I remember reading Famitsu's top 100 games of all time list a few years ago, and at least 90 of them were developed in Japan. You're not going to see Half-Life, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, or Civilization on anyone's list over there.

To blame 360's lack of success in Japan on it being made by an American company is just a lazy explanation. It's not as though every Japanese-made console was a success. Look at the Mega Drive. It had just as many RPGs as 360 if not more, and it was made by a Japanese company, and it still wasn't very popular.

[ianoid]

That would be unbelievable or amazing considering the UK has half the people and is not the motherland of Video Games.

[poloplayr]

I dunno about that. I think there used to be, but not as much nowadays.

There is an interesting little overview/round-up of key UK developers of old in the latest issue of Retro Gamer magazine, just fyi.

[The 1 2 P]

It's not as though every Japanese-made console was a success.

This is obviously true(every system can't be number one over there) but the Japanese market is always dominated by Japanese games and consoles whereas in the US and UK that isn't always the case anymore. Different strokes for different folks.

[j_factor]

This is obviously true(every system can't be number one over there) but the Japanese market is always dominated by Japanese games and consoles whereas in the US and UK that isn't always the case anymore. Different strokes for different folks.

But the majority of consoles ever made have been Japanese. The Xbox and 360 are really the only American consoles that could have possibly had any remote chance of succeeding in Japan at all. Atari never made a serious attempt at penetrating the Japanese market. I don't believe Colecovision or Intellivision were sold there at all. 3DO is the only other American console of any significance, and I believe it actually did better in Japan than it did in the US.

[The 1 2 P]

3DO is the only other American console of any significance, and I believe it actually did better in Japan than it did in the US.

I actually like the 3DO but it's a pretty sucky console when compared to other systems of it's time. However, it does has several decent Japan-only games but I really don't think they liked that system much more than we did.

And you are correct that the majority of systems have been Japanese made. That probably won't change for atleast another 10-20 years, meaning that more American companies(but never more than Japan) may try to take a shot at the console market. As for games, Japan will always be prominant in this catergory as well, but theres been a power shift for the last decade or so. Western game developers have finally carved out their own place of importance. The overabundance of shooters and sand box games is more than enough proof of that.

[FantasiaWHT]

There is an interesting little overview/round-up of key UK developers of old in the latest issue of Retro Gamer magazine, just fyi.

Offhand, do you know if Firefly was on the list?

[BHvrd]

All I have to say is all you rich videogamers in the US need to bone up and start buying some of the new stuff to support the market, since this is an industry that makes your favorite hobby possible!

Save some of those bargain bin deals and used games for us poor folk and start buying more new games :p. Us poor gamers can only go without pants for so long!

I can hear it now, the why does UK and Japan get blah, blah, and we get jack? Just remember $ is the reason. I would support the market more if I had more $.

Oh yeah they have had better TV like forever also, what's up with that?!