31st August 2006, 1:02 PM
Casual game focused, with exceptions for major franchises, that is. (note that the DS has all of the top 10 -- with six casual games, Mario, Mario Basketball, Final Fantasy, and a new RPG.
I know that these "DS is winning Japan" things are not new at all, but still, all 10 for the DS, with casual games so obviously pushing the market... could this happen here? I'm not sure... similarly aren't cell phone games a lot more popular there than here? Though that's in part because cell phones in Japan all use one system while here there are a bunch of incompatible ones... anyway, while the DS's success is nice, it's happening in a way that doesn't really encourage the development of games for hardcore gamers -- which is why despite the far smaller userbase those titles seem to be perhaps more likely to be released on the PSP (third party games, I mean)... maybe that will change but the DS market really is dominated by nongame products, casual games, and franchises, more so than any other console I know of. Is this a good thing? For Nintendo yes, unquestionably. For hardcore gamers? Well, maybe, just because of all the good games on the DS, but ... well, the PC continues to have fine success as a casual gaming platform, but isn't exactly doing well for hardcore gamers these days...
The real question is, are the people who buy a DS for Brain Training or Tamagochi going to start buying more traditional games too?
Quote:Media Create Sales: 21 -27 August
01 NDS FF3 - 503.051 / NEW
02 NDS NEW SMB - 65.556 / 2.901.264
03 NDS Rune Factory - 42.210 / NEW
04 NDS Brain Age 2 - 41.784 / 3.073.195
05 NDS Cooking Navi - 37.326 / 384.045
06 NDS Tamagotchi 2 - 30.504 /430.933
07 NDS Mario Basketball 3on3 - 30.355
08 NDS Animal Crossing WW - 30.023 / 3.149.131
09 NDS Brain Age - 22.866 / 2.736.150
10 NDS English Training - 17.465
1. Nintendo DS Lite 163.274
2. PlayStation Portable 29.945
3. PlayStation 2 21.829
4. GameBoy Advance SP 2.719
5. GameBoy Micro 1819
6. Xbox 360 1197
7. Nintendo GameCube 837
8. Nintendo DS 410
9. GameBoy Advance 14
10. Xbox 12
I know that these "DS is winning Japan" things are not new at all, but still, all 10 for the DS, with casual games so obviously pushing the market... could this happen here? I'm not sure... similarly aren't cell phone games a lot more popular there than here? Though that's in part because cell phones in Japan all use one system while here there are a bunch of incompatible ones... anyway, while the DS's success is nice, it's happening in a way that doesn't really encourage the development of games for hardcore gamers -- which is why despite the far smaller userbase those titles seem to be perhaps more likely to be released on the PSP (third party games, I mean)... maybe that will change but the DS market really is dominated by nongame products, casual games, and franchises, more so than any other console I know of. Is this a good thing? For Nintendo yes, unquestionably. For hardcore gamers? Well, maybe, just because of all the good games on the DS, but ... well, the PC continues to have fine success as a casual gaming platform, but isn't exactly doing well for hardcore gamers these days...
The real question is, are the people who buy a DS for Brain Training or Tamagochi going to start buying more traditional games too?
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