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Nikkei Asia: Japanese gamers hunger for PS5 as Sony feeds US market
- Thread starter brokenswiftie
- Start date
We know this. But you don't find it strange that the 2nd biggest market (Ryan's words) has got so little?
It may be the case Sony is sidelining Japan to an extent but given the current situation of things going out of stock as soon as they in it's hard to get a complete picture. My bet is if we look at the other countries you would see similar dips.
Am not saying Sony's words "incredibly important to us" should be taken completely at face value but given the current landscape Japan's situation isn't an isolated case. Plus as Rikimaru mentioned PS4 had more time to build up stock before launch.
10k units are being shipped to a country of 126 million. It doesn't matter if it's sold out or not. The sidelining is very real.
The software sales are abysmal too.
Also, Nikkei should know better than to use Chartzzzz. Might as well have thrown the article in the trash.
Yes, and when all is said and done I expect PS4 to have outsold PS5 given the downward trajectory of Sony hardware in the region.
The software sales are abysmal too.
Also, Nikkei should know better than to use Chartzzzz. Might as well have thrown the article in the trash.
Yes, and when all is said and done I expect PS4 to have outsold PS5 given the downward trajectory of Sony hardware in the region.
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What are you talking about?
I have been dying to get one over here (Norway). PS4 meanwhile was way way easier to find.
yes
The PS4 is done in Japan and it can't reach the PS3.
They didn't even the PS4 at the same time as others, at least there is an improvement.
Yeah pretty much this. All my friends and I had no chance to get a PS5 so far here in Europe. So this headline is kind of weird to me, it sounds like only japanese players are waiting for a PS5 while the rest of the world is swimming in those.
Console warz meta commentary I think, seeing it a lot this gen.
It's definitely sarcastic though.
At the rate they are going in Japan, PS4 day 1 in Japan will have outsold the cumulative sales of PS5 since its release.
I personally know exactly one person here who has the console other than myself, and he works for SIE Japan.
The prolonged lack of stock might kill any "boom"-driven interest in the console here--can't remember the last time I saw a PS5 ad either--but it'll be fine in the long run. Feels like we've had this conversation at the start of every Sony gen since the PS3.
Bet Demon's Souls would have posted considerably better numbers if the hardcore base was able to get their hands on a unit instead of scalpers.
The prolonged lack of stock might kill any "boom"-driven interest in the console here--can't remember the last time I saw a PS5 ad either--but it'll be fine in the long run. Feels like we've had this conversation at the start of every Sony gen since the PS3.
Bet Demon's Souls would have posted considerably better numbers if the hardcore base was able to get their hands on a unit instead of scalpers.
This is also Sony's fault. The PS4 (The slim version) here cost around $320, why in the world would anyone want to buy the PS4 for that price when you know the PS5 was right around the corner.
UK ain't much better. Even now the only place to get a ps5 is on eBay for £600 or so minimum (rrp is £450)
I got a PS4 day 1 and seen them in stores a month after release with no issue.
Scalpers need to be ended, whether through SONY or retailers by having a better ordering system or the law. Disgusting. That would make a big difference.
Some people have hundreds of ps5s sitting to be sold for £600 or more, affecting SONY at the end of the day, through software sales.
I got a PS4 day 1 and seen them in stores a month after release with no issue.
Scalpers need to be ended, whether through SONY or retailers by having a better ordering system or the law. Disgusting. That would make a big difference.
Some people have hundreds of ps5s sitting to be sold for £600 or more, affecting SONY at the end of the day, through software sales.
Not to mention they also didn't send more stocks once PS5 was announced.
I fear it's also yet again one of those Sony Self Fulfilling Prophecies where they botch a service or product, which makes it underperform and they go "See, they don't care. Now let's focus more on the US market". It's a thing they've been doing for years. They create obtuse problems through stocking, pricing or sidelining that people don't want to deal with, and then get surrprised when they underperform (may it be the ps5, or lots of their previous hardware experiments)
May it be Japan or Europe this time tho, the stock is absolutely abysmal. In Switzerland for instance there hasn't been a peep of new stock since early December. Retailers here have no idea what's happening.
May it be Japan or Europe this time tho, the stock is absolutely abysmal. In Switzerland for instance there hasn't been a peep of new stock since early December. Retailers here have no idea what's happening.
Never said the opposite. Keeping launching simultaneously in so many countries wasn't a good decision.
PS5 are hard to find everywhere, especially here in Japan I guess. I will ad though, the PS5 did get a limited resupply for the New Years sale season here in Japan as it was all over twitter and local news outlets. Nothing major but its only been two months since launch, everyone is waiting if they did not get one yet.
I bought a PS5 in December. During that time I purchased roughly 4-5 PS4 games and 0 PS5 games. One, they are too expensive when buying them new. $70 for Demons Souls? Lol no thanks. I'll wait.
I never had a PS4 Pro, so it's enjoyable playing or replaying PS4 games with higher frames or better graphics.
You aren't getting a gaming capable PC either unless you already had one. Nvidia and AMD have completely screwed up their graphics card launches worldwide.
I mean it makes total sense for Sony to prioritize regions where MS offers bigger competiton. They know they've got Japan no matter what.
Well yes if Nintendo isn't competition. I'm pretty certain Sony do not judge the success of the Playstation brand in Japan on just selling more consoles than MS do.
Compared to Xbox, yeah they "have Japan" but they have been trending on a huge decline in Japan and they're doing next to nothing to try to correct that, which is why you see a bunch of threads about Sony sidelining Japan lately. Their current success in Japan is very poor compared to previous generations for them.
What does Sony care about more, that they are a huge sales success in Japan, or that they can still rope big Japanese developers into exclusive deals to serve a mostly western market? I bet it's the latter.
I'm less frustrated [as a gamer located currently in Japan] by the lack of overall stock, and more about how the limited stock has been handled so far - sudden lottery or over counter selling, compounded by or anti-consumer behaviour [you need our credit card to buy the product]. Conversely, experiences in the UK or Europe have been far more favourable - where at least the window for buying was greater [even 2mins window to buy on an online commerce platform is a godsend vs what it's like out here].
Personally, I've resigned myself to paying scalper tax, but even after securing multiple 3080's out here [and seeing a healthy amount of stock for 3080/3090 now], I'm surprised that Sony hasn't injected more stock. Maybe reports on yields are true?
Compound this behaviour with years of re-sellers buying pre-allocations of stock, and I can understand why the local market is getting exhausted with companies that can't seemingly deliver products during release, and are not interested in paying for [possibly up to a year] resellers profits.
If anyone located out here in Japan has advise or places I can follow to get a better chance at grabbing a PS5 in the future, I'd much appreciate it!
Personally, I've resigned myself to paying scalper tax, but even after securing multiple 3080's out here [and seeing a healthy amount of stock for 3080/3090 now], I'm surprised that Sony hasn't injected more stock. Maybe reports on yields are true?
Compound this behaviour with years of re-sellers buying pre-allocations of stock, and I can understand why the local market is getting exhausted with companies that can't seemingly deliver products during release, and are not interested in paying for [possibly up to a year] resellers profits.
If anyone located out here in Japan has advise or places I can follow to get a better chance at grabbing a PS5 in the future, I'd much appreciate it!
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Pretending Nintendo isn't serious competition, especially in Japan, is a bit of a mistake.
Sorry to be a downer, but I hope people try to refrain from going about lots of places to try and find stock. It's really irresponsible to not have scheduled/advertised re-stockings and an online raffle system right now. People should be avoiding unnecessary trips for shopping.
Sorry to be a downer, but I hope people try to refrain from going about lots of places to try and find stock. It's really irresponsible to not have scheduled/advertised re-stockings and an online raffle system right now. People should be avoiding unnecessary trips for shopping.
Both Nintendo and MS are competition. There is competition launch on the same month and it makes sense
Switch is on mature phase , they won't be able to compete with a console on peak year with launch year
I think that December sales in both UK and US have simply proved that they're not even prioritizing other markets that much, there simply aren't enough units to meet demand in any country. This article is valid for all countries in the world including most european markets.
I guess that when they announce their financial results in early february we'll find out how many units were shipped in Nov+Dec and if they'll be able to ramp up production significantly during Q1 based on their full year forecast.
That is unless they start hiding datas themselves lol.
I guess that when they announce their financial results in early february we'll find out how many units were shipped in Nov+Dec and if they'll be able to ramp up production significantly during Q1 based on their full year forecast.
That is unless they start hiding datas themselves lol.
The PS4 was already sliding down quicker than the PS3 comparatively. It was ahead of PS3 for a while but it primarily due to the boosts DQXI and MHW gave the system, it basically started losing ground as soon as the MHW boost ran out.
The New Years stock basically amounted to nothing unfortunately. The PS4 actually sold more than the PS5 over the New Years period in Japan.
In Japan it was the Switch. They had lotteries(like the PS5 does) for pretty much all of 2017, and funnily enough Switch was back to only being available through lotteries during last summer.
But the point still stands. Even if you remove Nintendo from the equation just selling more than MS isn't the barometer for success when that market MS doesn't sell many consoles.
So maybe there are yield issues as that report suggested. The way that was shot down on here was ridiculous and may just prove to be on point.
Imagine Apple manufacturing lesser phone than a small no-name China Android phone maker. In this case Sony is the Apple.
Yeah... have to say I was not that impressed about the sales data we got so far...
In Japan? Doubt it. PS4 games dont chart that highly in the Top 10 nowadays.
In Mexico, I've seen a bunch of Series S in stores, but I haven't seen any version of the PS5 (or Series X) console anywhere. I have seen a few places carry the PS5 controller & one store had a small selection of PS5 games, but no consoles.
We are repeating loops of over the same arguments over and over.
Legs might be an issue. Charting on top 10JP isn't. The last big release was ryza 2 and cyberpunk , nothing big has been released since then
Legs might be an issue. Charting on top 10JP isn't. The last big release was ryza 2 and cyberpunk , nothing big has been released since then
The situation is probably worse than most people on this forum are imagining?
I have been in Japan for over 20 years now and did all console launches since the Gamecube. Every single time, I could get my hands on an SKU within launch month simply by waking up a little early.
PS5 is another story. Even religiously watching sale windows for all major online retailers and F5'ing the crap out of myself on and on for 30 minutes before sales started everyday for a full month, the farthest I ever could get to was seeing a "buy" button on Amazon and Rakuten.
Clicking on it never resulted in anything but errors.
The thing is, consoles are being sniped by scalpers who resale in China.
It is understandable of course: the main gateway to China from Japan, Rudeya, buys for around 70~90K yen and resales for 100~120K.
MSRP being 45~55K. (Please do conversions in your own currency).
Scalpers are organized and use bots. There is literally no fighting them.
The fact consoles are being resold abroad is easily verifiable: software attachment rates are at an all-time low.
I'd be curious to see actual PS5 connection figures to PSN from IP adresses located in Japan.
Living outside of Tokyo, I can't even try my luck along scalper Yodozombies who are sent in droves by their groups to grab as many consoles as possible every time a brick and mortar business does a lottery. Because no shop around these parts has ever had stock to even start a lottery in the first place.
But then again, even if I could, I would have to fight stupidly skewed odds anyways.
This is beyond ridiculous.
At this point, I've given up. All novety and excitement for the PS5 are gone.
On a positive note: contrarily to what most Japanese fans are saying, Jim Ryan didn't lie.
Sony isn't sidelining Japan.
It is sacrificing the country altogether.
I have been in Japan for over 20 years now and did all console launches since the Gamecube. Every single time, I could get my hands on an SKU within launch month simply by waking up a little early.
PS5 is another story. Even religiously watching sale windows for all major online retailers and F5'ing the crap out of myself on and on for 30 minutes before sales started everyday for a full month, the farthest I ever could get to was seeing a "buy" button on Amazon and Rakuten.
Clicking on it never resulted in anything but errors.
The thing is, consoles are being sniped by scalpers who resale in China.
It is understandable of course: the main gateway to China from Japan, Rudeya, buys for around 70~90K yen and resales for 100~120K.
MSRP being 45~55K. (Please do conversions in your own currency).
Scalpers are organized and use bots. There is literally no fighting them.
The fact consoles are being resold abroad is easily verifiable: software attachment rates are at an all-time low.
I'd be curious to see actual PS5 connection figures to PSN from IP adresses located in Japan.
Living outside of Tokyo, I can't even try my luck along scalper Yodozombies who are sent in droves by their groups to grab as many consoles as possible every time a brick and mortar business does a lottery. Because no shop around these parts has ever had stock to even start a lottery in the first place.
But then again, even if I could, I would have to fight stupidly skewed odds anyways.
This is beyond ridiculous.
At this point, I've given up. All novety and excitement for the PS5 are gone.
On a positive note: contrarily to what most Japanese fans are saying, Jim Ryan didn't lie.
Sony isn't sidelining Japan.
It is sacrificing the country altogether.
From what I understand, most PC gamers in Japan buy pre-builds, and Nvidia has been excellent in ensuring OEMs has a ready supply of RTX 3000 GPUs for said pre-builds.
I've seen about million posts how PS owners prefer the platform because there are a lot of those indie to mid-size Japanese only games available. Fighting games, JRPGs, visual novels etc. often get mentioned.
You wanna know what happens to those projects when PS market share on Japan shrinks to meaningless numbers?
Sony should have good sales at holidays, but they don't give crap. It wouldn't surprise me if the hardcore PS audience at Japan is not happy with this.