Oscar, to answer your question at who will PS4 bring that PS3 didn't bring in? I'd say some of the PSP/DS/3DS gamers who were content with their handhelds for core games instead of buying a PS3 because it was too expensive and didn't have enough games to play on it. As handheld market moves to mobile, the upper tier of the handheld core games will probably move to consoles. I don't think FF is going to save anything despite you're jab there, I don't think any one game will save the PS4, just like a single game didn't save the 3DS or PS3.
It's all about letting a couple of years pass with big hit blips becoming more regular (starting at once a year, then every 6 months, then every 3 months, then every month) and eventually 3 years in when you have a steady stream of titles people want appearing on a monthly or quarterly basis, then the system has value to the Japanese consumer and the sales will stabilize.
People who bought a PS3 will give up gaming and not bother with the PS4 this generation and new teenagers and kids will pick one up. Yeah the low birthrate will make this be lopsided, but if Sony can pull some of the handheld marketshare back, they'll overall do better this gen.
Way too early to even guess. I think it'll do better than the PS3 in the long run in every region, so at least 10 million lifetime in Japan I guess.
Ps4 will do fine in Japan. It will be the only console there that will play the next Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Grand Theft Auto.
Holy crap. I had no idea just how little Third actually knows, and now I feel bad for pointing and laughing at him.
Wait, what's wrong with that statement? PS4 will do ok, it'll be like most systems these days and bob along at low sales and then have big spikes at FF, KH, GTA, etc... until there's finally enough of those types of games that it stabilizes at an ok amount. GTA does 700k+ right now, that's like 2nd tier major seller in Japan (1st tier being DQ/MH/FF/Pokemon/Animal Crossing/Other Nintendo 1st party hits; 2nd tier being Tales of/MGS/SRW/etc...)
I don't know what "2nd tier" means. "KH, which ain't what it used to be in Japan," and I suspect neither is FF. 700K units of GTA in japan probably doesn't pay for its localization, PR, and advert budget. Nothing is going to save PS4 in Japan. I wish something would though, because this version of the hardware seems more fiscally responsible and the publishing environment more in tune with the current market. It's exciting; if only more of them would be sold...
Oh come on. GTAV's sold 10x more than most games that get localized in Japan. At 700k+ it's one of the top20-30 selling games
of the last 10 years across all platforms in the country of Japan. The game is a huge success in Japan and I'm sure Take Two is very happy with the sales. In an industry where breaking a 100k units is "selling decent" and 200k+ is "good sales", 700k+ is a sales hit, especially for a game that's already recouped it's development costs elsewhere and is just paying for localization and marketing in Japan. Don't even try to say that GTA as a brand doesn't matter in Japan. GTA matters as much as Tales of, Kingdom Hearts, Ryu Ga Gotoku, Metal Gear Solid, etc... they're titles that sell well and when you have enough of them on a console it becomes appealing to a Japanese gamer.