It's officially a two-horse race now

[Zeus]

For years the DS has Ished the PSP but with the release of the second Monster Hunter game in Japan, the PSP is very much catching up to it and has surpassed it pretty much solidly since February and is now well ahead for 2008 (from Magic Box):

Here are the latest console hardware sales in Japan for the week of April 28 - May 4:

PSP - 100,870 [1,516,270]
Wii - 71,518 [1,236,368]
NDS Lite - 52,542 [1,212,654]
PlayStation 3 - 10,177 [358,484]
PlayStation 2 - 8,802 [195,444]
Xbox 360 - 1,725 [49,433]

(note the PS3 sales in Japan, 2008 total isn't even equal to 2 months in the US; that's fucking sad)

The DS looks like it's peaked while the PSP is starting to catch up. Most of that 300k lead has come in the last month. The DS is still pounding it overall but the PSP is picking up steam.

In the US the DS is still ahead a lot and hasn't slowed down yet. But the PSP is still doing 250-300k units monthly. It's really the only non-Nintendo system that has done very well in the handheld market in my memory. The Game Gear did OK for a couple of years but really died out. The PSP in year 4 is picking up.

[SineSwiper]

Like I said, damn xenophobic Japanese don't want to play our FPSs.

[Julius Seeker]

The PSP is at 9 million and the DS is at 22 million in Japan. The PSP is selling better now because the market is saturated on the DS side and it is no longer selling 200-400,000 per week.

As far as Japanese not liking FPS, some of them do. Most don't, but that's because their culture is fairly uniform compared to here. I don't think being xenophobic has anything to do with it.

[RentCavalier]

I always thought it was because the Japanese get Motion Sickness really easily.

That's why they loved Gears of War (all twelve that actually bought a 360), because it wasn't an FPS--it was a third-person shooter in the STYLE of FPSes.

[SineSwiper]

I always thought it was because the Japanese get Motion Sickness really easily.

Explain games like Katamari, E4, oh, and one of the biggest 360 sellers in Japan, Ace Combat 6.

[RentCavalier]

It's different. The first person shooter is a relatively sporadic kind of game--it looks like it's from YOUR perspective, so the Japanese...I dunno, they see things through their eyes...

Ah fuck it. I actually don't care why they don't like FPSes.

[Julius Seeker]

It's different. The first person shooter is a relatively sporadic kind of game--it looks like it's from YOUR perspective, so the Japanese...I dunno, they see things through their eyes...

Ah fuck it. I actually don't care why they don't like FPSes.

You've argued your point effectively. It's definitely race related. You know how Japo eyes are. And their driving.... Piloting skills are worse, recall all the accidents with their fighters during World War 2?

[RentCavalier]

It's different. The first person shooter is a relatively sporadic kind of game--it looks like it's from YOUR perspective, so the Japanese...I dunno, they see things through their eyes...

Ah fuck it. I actually don't care why they don't like FPSes.

You've argued your point effectively. It's definitely race related. You know how Japo eyes are. And their driving.... Piloting skills are worse, recall all the accidents with their fighters during World War 2?

Oh, totally. I mean, come ON. How many times did they fly their planes RIGHT INTO things? I mean, it was like they were trying to kill themselves or something.

Silly Japanese.