Famitsu Polls Japanese Retail, Says Wii Wins Xmas

Cash-for-game-reviews sham Famitsu asked Japanese retailers how they thought the next generation of consoles would fare this holiday season.

1. Which next gen console will, in your opinion, sell better during Christmas?
88% - Wii
11% - PS3

2. With all hardware considered, which console do you expect to sell best after Christmas?
60.7% - Nintendo DS
32.8% - Wii
3.3% - PS2
1.6% - PS3
1.6% - Xbox 360

[T-Rac]

lol...hmm I wonder why PS3 Fan voted lame :D

[dbug360]

Lol……..and I often wonder why xbox 360 fans are always in the ps3 section

[Lionel Hutz]

It is such a shocker to me too! lol

Anyway, does anyone know what the poll sample size was? The link to GameFront (in German I think) did not have the information right there. I used Google page translator, but I still could not find information on the poll at GameFront.

Thanks for the help :)

[Boink]

wii is gonna take over japan...at least until the novelty wears out, and everyone's arms are sore:)

[dbug360]

Yeah that’s so true! The wii is very well suited for Japan people and like you said I think the novelty will wear off, probably quickly to

[Lionel Hutz]

"at least until the novelty wears out"

I agree completely, but would also add "until the PS3 and 360 price drops."

It is because the Wii has two things going for it:

1. The "novelty" you described
2. The low price

The console war is not going to be decided for a few years. The Wii will sell out early, but once PS3 prices and 360 prices drop, many people will have a harder time justifying getting a Wii over the 360 or PS3.

As for MS's huge lead, I think that it will continue for some time but will be not nearly as big in say 3 years from now. By that time, the PS3 price will have dropped and Sony will be putting out greater sales. Granted, people will say the 360 will have a price drop as well at that time and will sell more systems too (And right they are!). Yet as true as that may be true, do you remember how the PS2 took off after its price drop? If Sony can ever get the price down close to the 360's, then I think that they will have a very good chance of taking over the other 2 formats (but not by nearly as much as they did last generation).

[TheXgamerLive]

The XBOX 360 will release "Blue Dragon and Lost oddesey", both have already sent Japanese gamers into a frenzy, now I'm not saying they'll all bite right away but they will soon after. They'll drooling over the games. My guess is they'll love Wii hands down but and this is a big butt, lol, the XBOX 360 will take a good share of that revenue after it's first full qtr. of those releases and a couple others in the works come out. There doing "all" the right things for the Japanese gamer.

[TheXgamerLive]

well we havent seen it in action really yet, it may or may not be good, but the ps3 we have seen and it's been less than underwhelming hasn't it. The ps3 had/has a very bad internal flaw if you will, the machine seems to bottleneck and freeze up on frames on most every game it's demo'd, so unless this flaw among a few others as well are repaired, the ps3 will never have a good reputation among any gamers in any country and wont be a "huge" success that many think it will.

[Lionel Hutz]

why you think that they will bite eventually? Where do you get the idea that they are drooling? History has shown that MS does not do well in Japan, and I do not think that they are about to change a generation of loyalty to Japanese made consoles just because of a few games. I mean, japan purchased just a little over 600,000 xbox1 and xbox 360 consoles combined. 20 million Sony PS2 consoles were sold there. You cannot outsell another system by that much based on game loyalty. It is obvious that country/brand loyalty is the reason the PS2 sold so well there, and there is not much reason to think that it will stop. Sony and Nintendo have dominated the Japanese market in the past, and a few games at TGS and X06 will not overturn such "homers."

"The ps3 had/has a very bad internal flaw if you will, the machine seems to bottleneck and freeze up on frames on most every game it's demo'd"

You really have to be kidding. There was news posted of this happening one time on (RR7 I believe) at TGS. It was 1 console running an unfinished game at 1080p. How many 360 consoles have gone bad? Give me a break. Stop bashing a system and saying that ALL BOTTLENECK because ONE system froze up. All electronics have a fail rate, and the PS3 is no exception. I dare you to try and find one electronic piece of hardware (much less something as complicated as the PS3) that has never failed.

iPod? The battery
Computers? Obviously have problems
WINDOWS? Ha
360? Overheating.

You cannot fault the PS3 for 1 overheating the same way I cannot fault the 4% or so 360's that fail for overheating as all electronics have such a fail rate. If you're going to be a fanboy, please at least do it with some sense.

[TheXgamerLive]

Not speaking on overheating was I? No, I'm talking on "EVERY" game demo'd that's had released video shows either freeze frame or bottlenecking, also there more much more, the bottlenecking was first seen during sony's march show as MGS4 was shown and all Konomi did was show some ingame engine stuff and It still bottlenecked and froze up every few seconds, this is a game that's been in development for over 2 years, and it's still bottlenecking on even sonic type games, so yes, that's a major console flaw and not just 1 machine, that in itself is enough. The RSX is way underpowered for 7 + 1 cores.
Why will they bite as you say.....Didn't you read the posting from the show, over three (3) hour long lines by the Japanese to play those games. Longer lines for any other game or gaming system. They were dying to play them and they loved them. So, as I keep having to say, they love it and will "bite" soon.
So will you.

[co_ray]

no wonder you only have one speech bubble....and from the look of the poll PS3 isnt number 1 in japan, stop posting useless comments, people dont care what you say....anyways, i agree with most of you, wii will be the number 1 for maybe a year, and then ps3 will start catching up, (360 is pretty much finished in japan), the only things that can help 360, Lost Odyssey and Blue Planet, but those wont be enough....

[co_ray]

i voted lame by accident..i meant to vote cool...

[THAMMER1]

In the US we know what will really happen. (360’s every where) To the people who base arguments on Japans opinion polls. * YOUR PATHETIC for trying to make the PS3 out to be better than it is being offered. But you know what? If I get one and you don’t I’ll sell it to you for $2000.00.

[PS3 Ultimate]

The truth is. The X Box 360 is done in Japan. X Box 360 is almost done in Europe. There is still a few in the U.S. Then, The Wii will be #1 in Japan for awhiled DUE to only 100k units of PS3s. There will be a clear winner. The PS3 will easily overcome the 360 in Japan. Then it might or might not beat the Wii in Japan. But then, you got the U.S. which The PS3 will be #1 in just 2-3 years. And then you got Europe, Austrilia,Asia,Mexican,D.R.,P. R. and all other countries which the PS3 will win. It is clear who the winner will be.

[Aramis001]

How do you think the ps3 will win in the poorer countries, with a price point like that. The only way I could see people justifying that cost is if they have an HD TV, which most people do NOT have.

The 360 is not "almost done" in Europe, they're just getting started. Unlike another major console manufacturer...(cough**sony**c ough)

The US is still undicided territory, though it will obviously be a very close competition, where price and brand recognition will clash. As this poll shows, it seems that Nintendo has a lock on Japan (once again perfectly suited for the market). It does not seem like sony can win this time around without a miracle.

[xrobbanx]

Thats the worst thing i ever heard nobody even wants the PS3 now when we got to wait another year. When i talk to my Sony fanboys friends they are all getting a 360 this holiday ! And when i talk to store owners they are selling 360s as hell and i live in europe so wake up you smuck

[Daewoodrow]

you moron, I live in the UK, I know Europe better than you do. Over here 360s are more popular than the xbox ever was. And they just keep getting more popular, recently in the UK charts three out of the top five spots were 360 games, including 1 and 2.

[Aramis001]

Usually I wouldn't trust polls like this, but this is famitsu. Also, is anyone suprised by this? I have been saying for quite a while now that the wii will win Japan, it, like the DS, is perfectly suited for Japanese gamers. Though I am a bit suprised by the percentages. Only 11 percent during christmas? And 1.6% after that? I really am surprised.

[Stone Cold SA]

I just can't wait untill Sony finially releases there console and we don't have to listen to all the Xbots crying about how Sony is done, please somebody explain this, 90% of PS2 owners will not even look at the Xbox 360, this is true, why on earth did PS1 sell over 100M machines, yet PS2 sales are blammed on machine faults, i must say PS2 must be very popular amoung the fans if they managed to get people to keep buying them, which brings me to my next fact, PS1 cost £400 when it was first released in the UK just like the sega Saturn, i bet a lot of people didin't know that, now please PS3 is only £25 dearer than the PS1 launch price in the UK, please try to justify why it is Sony is gonna fail before you post!

[Lionel Hutz]

"PS3 is only £25 dearer than the PS1 launch price in the UK"

Now on top of that, take inflation into account a decade later. I think many people are just either ignorant or naive when it comes to seeing the VALUE of the PS3. Some may complain about the price, but it is unquestionably a good deal considering the capabilities of the machine.

[Stone Cold SA]

Considering the money Sony is going to lose on 1 console i'd have to say it's a brilliant deal and if you can buy a PC at $1000 plus then PS3 is surely a great deal

[Daewoodrow]

When the PS1 was released it was competing with the Nintendo 64. And it had a new more adult image going for it. Plus need I remind you it didn't immediately start selling well until the competition was truly dead.

I'd like you to explain to a mother at christmas that she should spend several months wages on a PS3 games console because people bought another popular console for around the same price a decade ago. See how well that goes down.

[Lionel Hutz]

1. "The RSX is way underpowered for 7 + 1 cores."

How do you figure considering that the specs of the RSX have not yet been announced?

2. "Didn't you read the posting from the show, over three (3) hour long lines by the Japanese to play those games."

Perhaps that's because it's at a game show :) Do you really think that it is accurate to take a poll of gamers and then assume that for the rest of the population? That is like polling a bunch of republicans on their thoughts of Bill Clinton and then assuming that everyone hates him.

Also about the line, if the attendees had only those games left to look at, of course they will line up. Japanese at TGS are both gamers and homers. When they cannot get both at once (as in a PS3 and Nintendo) then they will look at other systems to appeal to the gamer part of them. But as long as they can get the best of both worlds, they will choose such a route.

3. "also there more much more, the bottlenecking was first seen during sony's march show as MGS4 was shown and all Konomi did was show some ingame engine stuff and It still bottlenecked and froze up every few seconds"

Sony's MARCH show! Since then they have a lot of time (half a year) to fix problems in the hardware. Also, the systems that will be used by consumers are being manufacturing staring at the end of this month. So, that means production of the consoles to be used by the people is being done 6 months later than those prototype units seen in March. There's obviously a reason for why the PS3 is not being manufactured until now...there were problems with the hardware before. If there were no problems with the units in March, then conceivably they could have started manufacturing in March! They very need for the delay shows that they knew they had problems and took the time to solve them.

Lastly, if such a problem existed with the consoles, then Sony obviously knows about the problem. Then, one would have to ask why they would even bother launching in November. Sony obviously knows that another delay would not be as nearly as devastating to the company as a complete console failure (and complete failure by your standards of the PS3 seems to be EVERY system) of the few 500,000 that will be available on launch. As much as you hate Sony (either for their lies or your need to justify your 360 purchase), you cannot deny that Sony has a history of delivering on their promise of quality.

[Stone Cold SA]

It's not proper next gen console, gamers are really looking for the next gen, wii will be a second choice console or a kids machine, not to bash it, but seriously it's only gonna look good as long as Sony and MS let it, when people get bored of playing last gen surely wii is gonna be dated!

[zonetrooper5]

"11 - Does anybody really believe the wii will actually come out on top!
The Rock - 5 Minutes ago | Let him/her speak
It's not proper next gen console, gamers are really looking for the next gen, wii will be a second choice console or a kids machine, not to bash it, but seriously it's only gonna look good as long as Sony and MS let it, when people get bored of playing last gen surely wii is gonna be dated!"

If your saying the Wii is not next generation then so is the PS3 and Xbox 360. At least with the nintendo Wii, they are trying to make the gaming industry fresh and exciting. MS have added to the gaming industy by introducing the hard drive and a good online network, even though dreamcast brought online to the world first it was too early as many people did not have a fast enough internet connection. Sony did bring many good games by having a good relationship with many games studios. They have brought something new to the industry but consoles and companys need to find new ways to freshen the gaming industy up. That is why nintendo are still in the console biz for a lot time.

[Stone Cold SA]

I don't want to play Mario 102, i used to love playing that on the snes and stuff but i played Mario on the Ds and thought to myself what are they doing here this is just the same thing we had 10 years ago, but mabye i'm wrong, mabye the console versions are better, but that wii controller looks daft, worse than a keyboard for playing games!

[kmis87]

This was a forgone conclusion. The Wii and ps3 will both sell out but the Wii will sell more because they have more available. Anyone with a brain knew this ever since the launch numbers were announced. I would rather see a nice poll of consumers about which console they would most like to get this Christmas.