New console from Ninty ?

[Mango Chimes]

Whilst in the East, there's basically no console market.

That's balls.  http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/  I've done some noodling because it's late and I am not tired enough...

If you group together the broad 'generations', ([PS4, XBone, Wii U], [PS3, X360, Wii], etc.) you see Japan's stayed pretty consistent for decades.  North America and Europe continued increasing each generation up to the last, whereas Japan stayed more level.

But the numbers in Japan didn't tank.  Across the board the current gen has sold less than a fifth of the last, and the ratio in Japan is in line with the ratio everywhere else.

On the handheld side of things, in the West they're a niche product and in the East, although there's a definite market, it's getting smaller.

That's balls too.  The numbers for handhelds stack up very well next to their contemporary home consoles in both Europe and North America.  And whilst this generation is faring much better relative to the last in Japan, the decrease in Europe and North America is less than it is for home consoles in those territories (granted, the handhelds are couple years more mature, but still.)

[Ignatius_S]

That's balls.  http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/  I've done some noodling because it's late and I am not tired enough...

If you group together the broad 'generations', ([PS4, XBone, Wii U], [PS3, X360, Wii], etc.) you see Japan's stayed pretty consistent for decades.  North America and Europe continued increasing each generation up to the last, whereas Japan stayed more level.

But the numbers in Japan didn't tank.  Across the board the current gen has sold less than a fifth of the last, and the ratio in Japan is in line with the ratio everywhere else.

That's balls too.  The numbers for handhelds stack up very well next to their contemporary home consoles in both Europe and North America.  And whilst this generation is faring much better relative to the last in Japan, the decrease in Europe and North America is less than it is for home consoles in those territories (granted, the handhelds are couple years more mature, but still.)

With respect, Vgchargtz is not a reliable source at all - there are very good reasons why it's banned over at Neogaf and it has a lousy reputation on other forums.

If you want Japan numbers, the Media Create ones are best - there's a weekly round-up at Neogaf (should be about 2 today, I think) and Gamesutra has some good articles about how the market has changed.

There's plenty of discussions about the handheld market - but recently, Nintendo has reduced sales forecast for this (which it's already done previously) and Andrew House described the Vita as a legacy device; although Sony have back-pedalled on the latter remark, there's no first-party support and third-party is increasingly reliant on indies.  This is not a market that is growing.

[Mango Chimes]

Isn't Neogaf a bunch of cunts[nb]I'm joking; I've genuinely no idea.[/nb]?  I'm not looking at the weekly guesses, just the overall forever totals – I'd assume these are reliable enough to see broad trends, no?

I'm just saying the reports of death are exaggerated, usually coming from the irksome analyst view that exponential growth is sustainable and that if it falters it's the end of time, rather than the calmer idea that maybe things can fluctuate.  Nintendo specifically: they're doing alright.

[Ignatius_S]

Isn't Neogaf a bunch of cunts[nb]I'm joking; I've genuinely no idea.[/nb]?  I'm not looking at the weekly guesses, just the overall forever totals – I'd assume these are reliable enough to see broad trends, no?

I'm just saying the reports of death are exaggerated, usually coming from the irksome analyst view that exponential growth is sustainable and that if it falters it's the end of time, rather than the calmer idea that maybe things can fluctuate.  Nintendo specifically: they're doing alright.

One reason Media Create figures collated on Neogaf are so good – and I should have mentioned this - is that they show sales for the week, sales for the previous week, sales for the same week in the last year, total sales for the year, total sales for the same period last year and lifetime sales. Neogaf also collates the figures for Famitsu – and for both, they link to previous weeks. These figures also included overall hardware and software sales and it's an excellent way of seeing trends.

The Media Create and Famitsu figures aren't guesses, but industry standards based on actual sales.

Earlier in the year, there was a lot of media coverage about the state of sales in Japan, which was based on Famitsu figures and I can't recall any one disputing the accuracy.

In a nutshell, hardware sales (measured in revenue) is the lowest it's been in 24 years and combined revenue for software and hardware is the lowest it's been for 20 years. I suspect these figures haven't been adjusted for inflation, so in real terms, the picture is worse. Since 2007, hardware revenue has fallen each consecutive year; software sales have also seen a marked decline.

This thread has a handy visual representation: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=965933

Couple of news stories about this and one about how big developers are moving from handhelds to mobile:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-01-08-japanese-console-sales-continued-to-slide-in-2014
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-01-07-japans-console-and-handheld-physical-game-sales-at-lowest-point-for-24-years
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/240621/As_the_market_grows_more_big_Japanese_game_franchises_go_mobile.php