Posts with tag japan
by Scott Jon Siegel Feb 7th 2008 7:55PM
Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Nintendo Wii, Business
Though the arcade scene in America has been dead for quite some time, Japan has still been a home to many popular arcades. At least, it has up until now. Arcade firm Namco Bandai has
announced plans to close between 50 and 60 of its arcade locations across the country, citing the expanding home console market as a big part of the problem.
Specifically, company spokesman Yuji Machida blames the Nintendo Wii, stating that strong holiday sales for the console mean a lot of kids have spent their time at home playing, and spent their money on more Wii software and hardware, such as the popular
Wii Fit package.
Of course, home consoles certainly aren't the only cause. Machida also cites rising gas prices as a concern, as families become less willing to travel back and forth from shopping malls, where arcades are normally located. The 50-60 arcades closing account for one-fifth of Namco Bandai's arcades in Japan. A big loss, to be sure.
[Via
Wii Fanboy]
by Kyle Orland Feb 6th 2008 3:05PM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Business
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20080211164027im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/02/downchart.jpg)
Seems the money-market-fueled
stock dip Nintendo suffered last week isn't over yet. Bloomberg is
reporting that the company's stock tumbled down 5.9 percent today to its lowest point since early July '07.
The reason for the precipitous fall isn't so much Nintendo's recent performance -- the company is still more
profitable than a solid-gold hippopotamus that periodically spits out smaller golden hippopatami. According to Bloomberg, the stock sell-off for Nintendo and other export-based Japanese companies seems to be based on the recently reported
rapid contraction of the U.S. service industry, which has also caused problems for the U.S. stock market. Traders are reading the contraction as a strong sign of a
long-predicted U.S. recession, which means less money to go around for non-essentials like video games.
Will less discretionary spending mean tougher times ahead for the games industry, or is
huge growth last year indicative of a somewhat recession-proof sector? We'll see, but in the meantime we'd recommend stuffing your mattress with small bills and loading up on canned goods. You know, just in case.
by Ludwig Kietzmann Feb 5th 2008 7:00AM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3
Never one to cast judgment upon any potential customers, Sony has announced a
new PlayStation 3 color aimed at Japanese kids in service of Satin. Packing a 40GB hard drive and a matching SIXAXIS wireless controller, the "Satin Silver" model is scheduled for release on March 6th at the price of ¥39,980, or approximately
$666 $376.
Those hoping to feel Satin's rumblings in their idle hands can also pick up a similarly colored
Dual Shock 3, which releases on the same day for ¥5,500 ($52). If you were foolish enough to pledge your allegiance to that
Ceramic White model, consider this your chance to repaint.
[Via
Engadget]
by Ludwig Kietzmann Feb 4th 2008 1:25PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20080211164027im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/02/gundam-target-in-sight-bg.jpg)
Savior of stingy spenders and
bane of box art,
the budget lineup, is set to incorporate several PlayStation 3 titles in Japan next month.
IGN reports that the official "PlayStation 3 the Best" branding will highlight familiar titles at friendlier prices, with
Resistance: Fall of Man,
FolksSoul (aka
Folklore),
Ninja Gaiden Sigma,
Gundam: Target in Sight, and
Ridge Racer 7 pinching the first pennies -- or, uh, yanking the first yen. The "Best" games will sell for ¥3,800 ($36), which represents a saving of roughly ¥2,200 ($21) for Sony-published games and ¥3,200 ($30) for third-party titles.
On the other side of the ocean, Sony told
GamesIndustry.biz that a similar "Platinum" range of budget games would likely arrive in Europe. "We have introduced a Platinum range of best-selling titles for all of our platforms to date, and it is likely that we will do so in the future for PS3," said a spokesman, noting that the timing and lineup had yet to be finalized.
We'll let you know what Sony America has to say about a budget lineup as soon as they accept our collect call.
Read -- "PlayStation 3 the Best" for Japan
Read -- "Platinum" for Europe
by Scott Jon Siegel Feb 4th 2008 11:55AM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Fighting
Though many of Japan's Wii owners may now be in possession of
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, not all of them can necessarily play it.
IGN reports that a number of users are reporting that the
Brawl discs will not run properly on their consoles, a problem which actually stems from dirt build-up in the Wii itself.
Brawl is uniquely affected by this problem due to the game's size, which makes it the first title on the Wii to be pressed on a dual-layer DVD. The special disc requires a more fine-tuned read from the optical sensor, which is causing problems in systems clogged with dirt and tobacco smoke. Rather than suggesting they "blow," Nintendo has set up a cleaning service for players affected. Japanese owners who send their Wii consoles, copies of
Brawl and warranty cards to a service center in Kyoto will have their systems repaired within one week, and Nintendo will cover all cleaning and shipping costs.
While we're happy Nintendo is taking responsibility for the problem, we're also personally hoping that those affected kept their consoles in squalid conditions. If even small amounts of dust can affect the playability of the
Brawl discs, then we're looking at a lot of impatient, unhappy customers in the States come March 9th.
[Via
Eurogamer]
by Alexander Sliwinski Feb 4th 2008 11:25AM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business
It's been revealed that Japan is due to receive an
Xbox 360 Arcade equivalent on March 6, giving consumers an entry level option. Actually, the Japanese are getting a
pretty good deal with the ¥27,800 ($260) model -- it's $20 less than the model in the States and that's before including respective state sales taxes.
To say that the Xbox 360 has struggled in Japan is an obvious understatement. Microsoft sold a mere
quarter million units last year in Japan, compared to the PS3's 1.2 million and the Wii's 3.6 million. The Arcade model may not be Microsoft's great hope to make the Xbox 360 big in the Japanese market, but the company certainly gets an E for effort.
[Via
Engadget]
by Kyle Orland Feb 1st 2008 12:30PM
Filed under: Retro, Nintendo Wii, Fighting
Already this week we've run leaked
trailers,
information and
gameplay videos of
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ... so why not add leaked sales numbers to that list? Cubed3 has a
translation of a
Japanese blog post referencing a purportedly leaked Famitsu sales report that says the highly-anticipated game sold 500,000 copies, or 80 percent of available stock, on its first day of Japanese release.
The sourcing is admittedly not very concrete, but the number does seem plausible given
reports of retail shortages and the game's
strong showing on the Amazon Japan charts. Then again,
Super Mario Galaxy only sold 250,000 copies (edit: fixed typo) in it's entire first week of release, and that was during the highly-charged holiday season. Has
Smash Bros. Brawl shattered Japanese sales expectations, or is something getting lost in translation here? You'll know as soon as we do.
by James Ransom-Wiley Jan 29th 2008 7:00PM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business
Japan is poised to suffer significant
Super Smash Bros. Brawl shortages when the game is officially released on Thursday, reports
Game|Life. Nintendo has failed to supply as much as 75% of pre-order units to retailers; likely due to production delays and oversights. Though the shortage would seem to pale in comparison to Wii hardware scarcity, a meager
Brawl launch would underscore Nintendo's continued struggle to operate a functional supply chain.
Game|Life theorizes that Japan's expected shortages explain
Brawl's delay in North America, as it will take until March for Nintendo to manufacture an ample shipment of units for the territory – not to mention, fulfill the rest of Japan's demand. Others speculate that Nintendo is intentionally withholding supply to give its WiFi Connection service a chance to adapt to the inescapable surge of online
Brawl players. This isn't the first time Nintendo has been
accused of such tactics, and –
if someone don't fix that damn supply chain – it won't be the last.
by Kyle Orland Jan 24th 2008 6:25PM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii, Fighting
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20080211164027im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/01/wiikiosk.jpg)
Remember way back when
Wal-mart was concerned about playable Wii kiosks causing kids to break their arms or knock over expensive electronics (or both)? Apparently Japanese retailers never got over these fears, because up to this point there hasn't been an official, playable Nintendo kiosk to be found in the country. This is about to change, though, as
IGN reports that 30 shops nationwide will roll out
Smash Bros. Brawl-infused kiosks on Jan. 26, three days before the game's Japanese release.
Despite having about a
bazillion control schemes,
Smash Bros. is notable for not requiring the Wii's trademark waggle in any way shape or form, presumably making it safe for Japanese in-store play. Whether the kiosks will last past the relatively sedentary game (and whether the
Smash Bros. demo will come to U.S. Wii kiosks) is still unknown.
by Ross Miller Jan 23rd 2008 11:15AM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business
Japanese publication
Famitsu (via
MCV) is reporting that the Nintendo Wii has surpassed the 5 million mark for
hardware sales. As of January 20, Nintendo sold 5,019,337 units in just less than 14 months since the console's launch. Total sales for the Wii in the United States were 7.38 million as of the end of 2007, according to
NPD data released last week.
The top five best-selling games in Japan are, perhaps unsurprisingly, all from Nintendo -- two
Mario games and three titles geared towards the casual market. If the list is accurate, then the Wii only has four platinum-selling titles and
Mario Galaxy hasn't yet passed the 900,000 threshold. Check out the list after the break.
[Via
GameDaily]
Continue reading Wii sales surpass 5 million in Japan
by Ross Miller Jan 16th 2008 10:00PM
Filed under: PC, Fighting, Online
Japanese publisher Daletto, owned by Capcom and Games Arena, have announced (via
IGN)
Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation. The PC title will have you control your characters completely via the mouse: sliding left and right moves the character, slide up jumps and left- and right-clicks give different attacks. Special moves, as you may guess, come via making combinations of slides and clicks. There will be community features based around fighting online.
What also makes the game unique and bizarre (aside from the random cat in the above picture - perhaps it's
omnipotent) is the ability to interchange body parts on your character. The game is reportedly about fighting Revoltech toys, which is a line of actual toys planned to be sold alongside the game. As IGN predicts, you could have the head and torso of Chun-Li, the arms of Zangief and the legs of Ryu (the gender identity issues are plentiful).
The game is expected to go into beta February or March, with full service coming in April. No word on a version for non-Japanese gamers.
by Ludwig Kietzmann Jan 9th 2008 5:00PM
Filed under: Sony PSP
On
February 28th, the Japanese PSP-2000 is set to arrive in yet another fresh new color:
Mint Green. This subtle and unnervingly attractive addition to the rainbow riot going on over there will cost ¥19,800, or roughly $181. Its qualities can likely be analyzed for several more sentences, but we don't want to make it too obvious that this simple news story is in desperate need of filler text. Best we end it off quickly with another play on the "Mint Green" name.
Will this PSP color become available in America? Don't hold your breath.
[Via
PSP Fanboy]
by Griffin McElroy Dec 30th 2007 5:55PM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20080211164027im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/12/queendslite_225.jpg)
It's probably news to nobody at this point that during this past year, Nintendo fever swept through Japan like the Great Chicago Fire. Just by looking at a
handful of
recent hardware sales charts, the Big N's dominance over the land of the rising sun is explicitly clear -- the Wii always sold like hotcakes, and the DS Lite consistently took the top spot on the list. Over the holiday sales season, however, the DS earned its most notable bragging right to date,
breaking the PS2 Japanese lifetime sales record by the skin of its teeth.
According to recent Media Create sales numbers (as
crunched and compiled by NeoGAF), the DS has sold 20,954,157 units to date in Japan, compared to the PS2's 20,901,468. Though Nintendo's touchable handheld hasn't yet approached the
worldwide console sales record (an honor which the PS2 still holds by a considerable margin), being the highest selling console in one of the most-gaming centric nations in the world is still a pretty sizable victory. Grats, little guy.
[Via
DS Fanboy]
by Christopher Grant Dec 27th 2007 11:26AM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360
Like a Nero to the PlayStation 3's Dante, the Xbox may be
the new console to the
Devil May Cry scene but it's not looking to play second fiddle. Just
like the PS3, the Xbox 360 is getting a
Devil May Cry 4 bundle in Japan when it's released this January. ¥37,800 (or about $330) nets you an HDMI-equipped console along with a copy of the game which, we're sure, is the one thing Japanese gamers have been waiting on before taking the Xbox plunge.
[Via
Engadget]
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