Awful, afwul sales figures for Japan during Golden Week

[Cthulhu]

I just noticed this over on Games Biz:

According to Media Create, total sales for the top 100 titles stood at 603,927 units. This is 60.88% of last week's total and 72.65% of the weekly average. Although this week represented the first half of Golden Week rush, not many units were sold, and figures were considerably less than last week and the weekly average. Incidentally, the number of titles sold during the same time (week of the first half of Golden Week) for both 2003 and 2004 was around 800,000 units. This highlights the slump seen in this year's sales.

603,927 games over the Golden Week holidays here is PATHETIC. Game sales in Japan just keep slipping... no wonder Japanese companies are so concerned with overseas markets. Bleh.

[AMG]

Yeah, this has been a trend for some time now. It seems the video game market in Japan is getting weaker all the time.

[AB Positive]

anyone have a decent theory why, considering japan was the gaming cornerstone for upwards of twenty years? What happen?

-AG

[AMG]

anyone have a decent theory why, considering japan was the gaming cornerstone for upwards of twenty years? What happen?

-AG

I either read about it, or saw it on TV (can't remember). But a lot of the gaming public in Japan has either moved on from games, are too busy with work or just lost interest.

Those are the key points I remember.

[Ed Oscuro]

I blame this on the death of the Neo Geo MVS/AES! Unless we bring it back, soon a black hole will emerge...a black hole populated by PACHINKO MACHINES. Aruze...will own SNK properties once more.

If these shadows remain unchanged...you will die. You operations have been watched!

[SoulBlazer]

We've talked about this in some other threads, but the main reasons seem to be: lack of intrest in gaming, poor choice of games for Japanese to play, the poor economy, less 'interesting' or big selling games, and Japanese companies focusing more on overseas markets.

Golden Week is that huge shopping week in Japan where they bunched up several holidays, right? Is'nt it susposed to be as big over there as Christmas is over here?

[poopnes]

Maybe everyone's too preoccupied playing Nintendogs on their new Nintendo DS's they bought a week ago?

[Richter Belmount]

woo hoo! more for us!

[Bluteg]

I blame it on the bastardization of the video game market... many Japanese game componies are making games that are explicitly marketed towards to US consumers who make Joe Dirt an icon and love teh implants and gore.

[Cthulhu]

Golden Week is that huge shopping week in Japan where they bunched up several holidays, right? Is'nt it susposed to be as big over there as Christmas is over here?

Golden week is a series of holidays in early May that generally line up together, creating nearly a week long break. The actual length of the "week" varies per year, depending on what days the actual holidays land (this year it was really, really long - many people got over a week off of work).

Only one of the holidays (boy's day, now called children's day) is actually traditional - the others are just there for the sake of having extra time off . It's mostly a week for travel, (as opposed to shopping) but since school kids have a lot of time off and their very own holiday, there is quite a bit of gift giving. Years ago, game sales on Golden Week were really high, but (like many other things) it's cooled down a lot over the last few years.