Japanese Game Sales and Demographics

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Japanese Game Sales and Demographics
A study of the influence of culture on the video
game market
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1989-2005
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Prior to 2005 Games

• Many of the top selling games are based on
  popular television series and established video
  game franchises, despite some being rated poorly
• 1996 DBZ (ultimate battle 22) sells in the top
  100 with a Metacritic rating of 25/100
• 1997 DBZ Final Bout sells in the top 100 Despite
  Metacritc rating of 30/100
• 2001 Gundam Zeonic Front sells in the top 100
  with an IGN rating of 6.5/10
• 2002 Unlimited Saga sells in the top 50 with a
  Metacritic rating of 45/100

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Prior to 2005 Games contd

• Nintendo is Japans Top Selling Publisher
• Since 1989 Nintendo has sold more titles every
  year then any other publisher in Japan
• Pokemon hits critical mass
• 1996 Pocket Monsters is introduced, selling over
  2.5 million copies in Japan alone. The series as
  a whole has sold over 30 million copies in Japan
  alone since its inception
• Through 1996 SNES games dominate sales
• Through 1996 SNES leads the way in software sales
  followed in a distant second by the Gameboy.
• Shift in Focus?
• In 1997 Gameboy software sales more then double
  from 4.3 million units to 10 million units

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Prior to 2005 Games Contd

• By 2005 Combined sales of GBA and DS Games tops
  PS2 game sales
• 2005 is the first year where portable systems
  sell more games then home console games in Japan.
  Led by more traditional girl games such as
  Nintendogs, Tamagotchi, and Brain Age.
  Coincidentally a massive expansion of the
  Japanese rail system occurs in March of 2004 with
  the opening of the Kagoshima to Yatsushiro line
  which cut the travel time between the cities from
  130 to just 35 minutes.
• Top selling categories
• Prior to 2005 the top selling video game
  categories included RPGs, Fighting Games, and
  Racing Games

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Top Chart Software Sales in 1996 Bottom Chart
Software Sales in 2005
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2005 - Present
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2005 Present Games

• Nintendo Revolutionizes the Market
• With the release of the Nintendo Wii in 2006
  Nintendo looked to capitalize on game play
  innovations instead of graphical enhancements.
  Having sold over 24 million titles thus far
• No Xbox or Xbox 360 titles crack the top 100 in
  sales
• Being outsold by PS2 consoles at a 2 to 1 ratio
  and just barely topping sales of Dreamcast,
  Microsoft has yet to publish a game that cracks
  the top 100 sales list in Japan. A feat which
  would be difficult considering only 760,000 Xbox
  360 consoles have been sold in Japan.

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2005 Present Games Contd

• Portable Games Becoming Dominant
• With the release of the Playstation Portable and
  Nintendo DS, coupled with the busy lifestyles of
  Japanese gamers, the portable systems have begun
  to outsell the major consoles.
• As of August 2008 the Nintendo DS has sold over
  108 million games, while Sonys PSP has sold over
  20 million titles. Compare this to the combined
  total of all next gen systems tallying up to
  roughly 35 million units.
• Top selling categories
• The top selling game categories include, Role
  Playing Games, Brain Training games, Fighting
  games and the new Active Games Genre (including
  wii play, wii fit, wii music)?

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Demographic Information
There is very little information about Japanese
gamer demographics. The little that is known is
based on game sales and supported with cultural
influences
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What Can Be Determined?

• Females, both young and old play video games.
• According to a recent study involving women over
  the age of 50 showed that 41 of those asked had
  a game machine in their house. Of that 41, 68
  used it occasionally or more frequently.
• Games like Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, Animal
  Crossing, and Wii Fit are very popular among
  Japanese Women and Girls. It then may surprise
  you that they are also some of the top selling
  games in Japan.

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What Can Be Determined? Contd

• The typical Japanese gamer enjoys story over
  action.
• With Role Playing Games consistently selling at
  the top of the Japanese charts, and Games like
  Halo and Gears of War not cracking 1 million
  sales overall, its pretty clear that Japanese
  gamers prefer a good story.
• Brand Loyalty is very strong
• Japanese gamers purchase games based on their
  favorite television series, regardless of the
  apparent quality of the title. Thats certainly
  a strong sense of loyalty.
• This can also be seen with the lack of Xbox
  sales, brand loyalty to Sony and Nintendo is very
  strong.

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What Can Be Determined? Contd

• Japanese Gamers Purchase Portable Games
• Its been shown time and time again, Japanese
  consumers have purchased portable games at a
  ratio of over 3 to 1 since 2005.

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United States Game Sales and Demographics
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2006 Game Sales

• Sports and Shooter games high on best-selling
  charts
• Madden NFL 07 sells 3.1 mill units on PS2 and 1.3
  mill on Xbox360
• Gears of War sells 2.0 mill units on Xbox360
• Also a mixture of other genres within top ten
• Role-playing, puzzle, musical, simulation,
  platform

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2006 Game Sales Top Ten
Numbers from VGChartz.com
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2007 Game Sales

• Wii games becomes more popular and frequent on
  best-selling charts
• Wii Sports sells 7.3 mill units
• Wii Play sells 4.3 mill units
• Super Mario Galaxy sells 2.5 mill units
• Other noteworthy titles
• Halo 3 sold over 170 million on its first day of
  release
• Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare has sold over 7
  million copies worldwide

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2007 Game Sales Top Ten
Numbers from VGChartz.com
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2007 ESA Report Best-Selling Genres
Top 4 Action, Family Entertainment, Sport Games,
Shooter
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2008 Game Sales

• Wii begins to dominate top-selling charts
• Wii Sports sells 6.4 mill units
• Super Smash Bros Brawl sells 4.1 mill units
• Mario Kart Wii sells 3.4 mill units
• Wii Play sells 3.2 mill units
• Wii Fit sells 2.7 mill units
• Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock sells 1.3 mill
  units

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2008 Game Sales

• Popular Action and Shooter games ranked high
• Grand Theft Auto IV sells 3.9 mill units and
  takes in over 500 million in its first week
• Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare sells 1.8 mill
  units
• Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots sells
  1.3 mill units

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2008 Game Sales Top Ten
Numbers from VGChartz.com
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Demographics - Overall

• Consumer Level
• 65 of American households invested in computer
  or video games
• 38 of homes own a video game console
• Player Profiles
• Average age of players is 35
• Adult gamers have been playing games for an
  average of 13 years
• 26 of gamers are age 50 or older

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Games Arent Only for Kids!
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Demographics - Gender

• 40 of players are female
• 60 of players are male
• Percentage of women has increased from 33 to 38
  over last 5 years
• Frequent adult male players average 15 years of
  gaming, and females average 12
• 33 of the playing population is female gamers
  age 18 or over
• 18 of the playing population is male gamers age
  17 or under

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Compare And Contrast

• Why are we different?

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Top-selling Games

• Culture influences game sales more than anything

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Culture

• The U.S. Was founded on freedom and independence
• Grand Theft Auto, Mercenaries, Saints Row
• Player is not forced to experience the game
  through the designers eyes
• players can develop their own emergent play

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Culture - Freedom

• Metal Gear Solid 3 Camera system
• Original had fixed camera
• Critics complained, Subsistence was released with
  free camera.

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Culture - freedom

• For most but not all..
• Japanese Gamers prefer experiencing the designers
  creation
• American gamers prefer creating their own
  experiences

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Culture

• Character Archetypes
• Marcus Phoenix vs. Cloud

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Similar Top-Selling Games

• What do we agree on?
• Everyone Loves Nintendo in some way
• They Suite Hard-Core and Casual Gamers alike
• Final Fantasy I XII
• Metal Gear Solid

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Niche Gamers

• Fact Not all Japanese think Microsoft is the
  devil and exists solely for the purpose of
  delivering bad games.
• There are Japanese gamers who love certain
  American games just as we love Japanese games