Supply Constrained PS5 Sold Almost 1 Million Units in Japan in 2021

Pretty sure this is due to Japan being massively handheld leaning and Sony doing an incredible job of not supporting their last portable. Then Switch is obviously a handheld if you want it to be or entirely. So there should be no surprise from anyone.

@Uncharted2007 Sony's not going to make or support a handheld console that only sells in Japan. I don't think the current situation has anything to do with the supposed failures of the Vita.

@ShogunRok I think there's a distrust of Sony from the handheld consumer market that lingers from how Vita was handled. There's also the fact that Sony doesn't have a handheld in the race.

Not sure why Japan is so infatuated with the Switch or any other country for that matter. To be fair, I was a day one switch owner and for the last 3ish years it has mainly just sat there. I hope it gets better but it doesn’t look that way. They just quit making games I enjoy. Even XB has done a better job lately.

When games release that actually appeal to the broader Japanese market, there'll likely be an uptick in software sales. Assuming most of those PS5s that sold in Japan weren't snapped up by re-sellers and shipped out to Western territories, of course.

@Uncharted2007 I don't think it would matter. Sony would need a new Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest every other month to compete with Switch, even on a handheld.

Handhelds alone aren't enough to conquer Japan. Nintendo's shown that you need evergreen sellers like Mario Kart, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing. It's a completely different market with a completely different perception.

It's also never going to make you as much profit as dominating Western markets, where digital sales, much larger install bases, DLC, subscriptions, and microtransactions amount to an absolute fortune. Lest we forget PSN alone made more money than the entirety of Nintendo a couple of years back.

As much as some won't want to admit it, losing out on Japan isn't a huge deal to Sony. There's much more money to be made elsewhere, and Sony's adapted its business structure to take advantage of this.

@Rural-Bandit You're welcome to be a Nintendo fan as you obviously are. Saying Sony should stay out of that market though is saying they should just not bother selling their hardware in Japan. That's how handheld centric Japan is.

@ShogunRok So you're saying Sony would need more casual oriented games to go with a handheld?

@Uncharted2007 I don't really know — I suppose so. Nintendo just has such a grip on the market that I'm not sure how you could break it. Games like Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest obviously sell like crazy in Japan, but even then I think you'd struggle against a Nintendo handheld.

I think you'd need a handheld that's specifically built to satisfy a Japanese audience and the country's gaming trends, and again, a company like Sony is never going to think that's an idea worth pursuing at this point.

That's not to say Japan's market will never change, though. Might take a while, but maybe in a future where PlayStation is a service and not necessarily a console, it'll be able to have a bigger impact.

@Rural-Bandit Especially in hindsight the Switch is a genius move — even if it was a pretty obvious move for Nintendo to make. Nintendo's always made incredibly high quality games (many of which were released on home consoles that didn't do very well), and it's always made handhelds that have sold gangbusters.

A hybrid Nintendo console like the Switch combines all of the company's strengths.

The Playstation 4 outsold the next gen Xbox Series consoles? Lolololololololololololololololololololol
That's hilarious.

@Rural-Bandit People like u are why Nintendo refuses to put out high powered hardware. They’re just like Apple, barely makes any upgrade and people still flock to it. I hope I’m wrong and they put out something that is amazing but I seriously doubt it. Dread was really good and it was the only game last year worth playing from them. The games u mentioned for this year also only has one worth playing and I bet it slips into 2023. If u enjoy the crap they put out, good for u. I just don’t bow down to them anymore. I want better not just passable. They do the bare minimum.

@JAMes-BroWWWn What’s funny?

@Medic_Alert I expected it'd be successful (all Nintendo handhelds are successful; it's their bread and butter), but I'm still a little shocked that the thing is on the verge of outselling the Wii and still hasn't lost sales momentum.

The crazy thing is that if it keeps selling this well through 2024, it'll be on the verge of overtaking the NDS and PS2 as well.

Sony don’t cater towards the Japanese market specifically because it isn’t worth their effort to do so.

Japan is still 80% physical sales, and they don’t play the big money making western Micro transaction games because they have their own mobile games.

Physical sales represented 5.27% of PlayStation division yearly revenue in the last financial year.

Sony wants gamers that buy Digital games, the big 10m+ first party games, subscribe to PS plus or spend big on micro transactions. Those are the money makers, and that’s not Japan on any front.

Japan might have represented something like 8% of global PS4 hardware sales but it was probably like 2-3% of total global revenue attributable to Japan.

Also people don’t understand that Japan no longer buys “Japanese games” in significant numbers. JRPGs, visual novels, anime style games now sell considerably more in the west than in Japan.

Take something like Code Vein, that game is as anime as it comes yet it sold around 150k in Japan and broke 2M worldwide. Astral chain did less than 100k yet hit 1M worldwide in like 2 months.

If you want to understand the Japanese market then I always give this example:
Momataru Dentetsu sold more copies in 3 months than Breath of the wild did in 3 years. That’s a board game style video game about riding trains around a map.

Don't forget switch is in its peak years whereas ps5 released during a pandemic with chip supply issues. I fully expect ps to gain ground if not surpass nintendo's sales in the next years especially when the switch gets old and the next nintendo comes out

@Rural-Bandit PS4 sold 1.5 billion Software units and the Switch is around 600M.

Selling Super high levels of a smaller number of games is not better.

The switch successor is absolutely not guaranteed to be successful. Nintendo’s Hardware success fluctuates wildly from generation to generation because the more casual userbase is harder to re-engage.

I love the idea that the issue is about outselling the best... If that was the case why would Microsoft make a console. Oh wait because it still makes money. Sony could bring out a handheld and it be a success financially just not compared to the switch. If any recent news stories are to go by Sony is not in it to just make money but want quality as part of the brand. (Days gone/Gof Tsushima)

@Rural-Bandit As an Apple user I can assure u they do the bare minimum. Do I still like them over android, yes. Can I be a realist and still see that each year their phones jump just so much, yes! I bought the M1 iPad this year and it’s great doesn’t mean they left things off the table so they could release a new one with that feature next year! That’s what Apple does. THE BARE MINIMUM! Just like Nintendo. The difference is, I need the iPhone and iPad. They are the best but could be better. I don’t need Nintendo and have stopped giving them my money until they start putting out better hardware that can play 3rd party games without compromising the game. I’m sorry if you don’t see that. Good for u that the bare minimum is enough for u and ur family. U will argue that u have the other systems for 3rd party but that’s a cop out. They need a system that can keep up with current systems. Doesn’t have to be the most powerful but needs to compete. It does not!

I added 2 Switches to my household this Christmas. Granddaughter got a Switch light and I got a Switch OLED just after Christmas. Thought about Xbox but Switch won over it. Last Nintendo in our house was a Wii. I have always seen the best console it the one that best for you personally! As a single player gamer PlayStation is king in my book. Nintendo is second but still the best at simply fun joy of gaming. I feel Xbox is still looking for its path in gaming. I think its new studios will really bring them up once they get rolling with single player content.

I live in Japan and in my opinion Switch just suits the Japanese market more. Most households don’t have more than one TV, an extra small portable if any. Switch is much more convenient for kids to play by themselves and on the main TV when possible. Switch is also good for daily train commutes which a lot of city dwellers make.
Then there is the love affair with Nintendo. There was a huge poll on TV recently about the greatest games of all time (Breath of the Wild is number one). It was filled with Nintendo staples, as well as JRPGs. Japanese love tradition, and these games will continue to sell well no matter what the quality was - Momotarou Dentetsu a perfect example.
Finally Switch has been marketed really well to the casual crowd.

@Rural-Bandit u make some really good points but the point u made that is completely wrong is the one about making amazing games. They use to but they haven’t made more than 1 a year for over 3 years. I’m glad u and ur fam plays a 8 (yes I said 8) year old game with enjoyment. If that’s ur bar for greatness…………👍👍👍! Nintendo has put out rerelease after rerelease and charging $50/$60 for it! As u said, good for me for voting with my wallet. Hopefully more people will follow suit so we can get great games again. Cause it’s been bleak no matter what u say! XB has been better and that’s saying something. Maybe it’s just me and the games they put out aren't for me anymore. Considering I’ve been gaming for 44 yrs and grew up a Nintendo kid, I would say their greatness has lost the shine!

@Culjoseth Are you slow? I already wrote it!

Think it’s more that ur not funny!

@Rural-Bandit U know it really sounds like in the end, u kinda agreed with me on the whole thing.😂😂 Really looking forward to what Sony and XB is putting out this year. Hopefully Starfield is an epic masterpiece!

Redfall has piqued my interest but need to see gameplay. Elden Ring will be my devotion for awhile I believe. I think the biggest things this year will be the things we don’t know about yet. Hopefully BOTW2 comes out this year but I kinda doubt it. Unfortunately that’s the only game Nintendo has that interests me. Several from both Sony and Ms do. With Horizon and GOW🤞🏻 this year, seems hard to beat what Sony got goin on. Also, if PSVR2 comes out this year, 🤯🤯🤯! Good time to be a gamer!!!