Famitsu is public and Media Create went private/needs a subscription I believe is the thing.
And I am of the opinion the number is closer to Famitsu’s than MC’s, because I like to believe
Before Famitsu, the sales community used Media Create, when they were public too. And honestly since Xbox is carried only by select stores in Japan I think it’s impossible to determine whether Famitsu or Media Create are more reliable in this case. Maybe MC is underestimating and Famitsu is overestimating. And I’m not even sure if either of them have access to online Microsoft Store purchases which is probably a somewhat decent number of sales (anecdotal but it’s where I got my Series X lol).
I’d like for their TGS showcase to give at least a vague hint (I know MS pulled out of sales reports forever).
And remember the Xbox console is not the sole method MS is using to push the brand in Japan. When Microsoft does the Hololive collabs they use it to push PC Game Pass. PC is growing quite rapidly there and it’s another way MS is using to push the Xbox ecosystem there. I also remember the TGS showcases talking about Cloud gaming a lot.
Their shit sells like crack and yet virtually every game iv ever attempted to play from them over the last 20 years has either bored me or just felt aggressively mediocre
Japanese console market is somewhat dead if you look at Xbox and especially PlayStation compared to what it once was.
Switch is somewhat different imo as to me it feels more like a continuation of Nintendo’s handhelds than a true home console, which is probably why it’s still doing huge numbers worldwide and especially in Japan as they are mostly into portable/mobile gaming.
Almost all of the people in my gaming circle that own a switch do as their secondary platform and use it on lunch breaks at work and stuff like that.
The first two games were great, I am planning to get 3 in a few months. Nintendo’s 1st party library on the Switch is excellent and the best thing is that they are doing great sales wise too, Splatoon 3’s sales are absolutely crazy.
The Lite is too much of a downgrade in my opinion. A model that basically cuts off access to Joy con games like Switch Sports would never be the leading model.
But it is cheaper and if folks just want to play on the go, then why not. If Series S can sell itself for being cheap yet play games of the future, then Lite is cheap and on the go only audience can work. That said I do agree on the downgrade. Luckily, there’s an audience for everyone.
It’s not like TV mode on Switch is unpopular in Japan. It’s used quite often. I also even doubt most of these Splatoon players are playing in handheld, it’s ultra competitive (especially with the Japanese players) and the best way to play is with gyro controls which would basically require you to play on TV for optimal play.
There’s other factors besides being a stationary console that “shunned” PS in Japan.
PS5 stock allocation to Japan is terrible
No exclusive software JP audiences want to play. They aren’t really fans of Sony’s blockbuster type games. Hopefully Sony reinvesting into Asian exclusives like Eve and Ronin change this?
Most of the multiplats they want are on Switch
PS marketing in Japan dwindled until very, very recently
PC Gaming is actually growing pretty good in Japan, and that’s even more “stationary” than PS or Xbox.
