Gaming Sample Vita section of a game shop in Japan

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

I usually post in the homebrew and hacking forum just because I do translation but on more than a few occasions random topics of Japan gaming habits come up in the chat and I found it interesting that Japan feels like the only place the Vita is really doing well and some didn't even believe there was a space larger than say...a shelf in a Japanese game shop.

Anyways, enjoy. (Click for a larger image. Sorry a few of these are a bit blurry; technically you are not allowed to take photos in shops like this so I just snuck a few shots. It was also a weekday morning when not many people were there and the staff were staring at me most of the time)

 

[BORTZ]

More proof I need to move to Japan. Thats really cool dude, I wish the Vita was doing that well here.

 

[Foxi4]

More proof I need to move to Japan. Thats really cool dude, I wish the Vita was doing that well here.

Maybe it would be doing well if someone gave two s*its about advertising it and localizing games for it. You know what they say, the system ain't gonna sell itself.

 

[Arras]

well it IS pretty much known as the weeaboo machine by now.

 

[AceWarhead]

PS Vita isn't doing too bad in Japan. I only wished that the success could be ported over seas.
Makes me sad that the Vita lacks support, even from the creators themselves.

 

[BORTZ]

well it IS pretty much known as the weeaboo machine by now.

Somehow I am ok with that.

 

[loganino]

You mind if I show these to guys on reddit?

 

[Deleted member 333767]

*Sigh* I really love my PS Vita but it is receiving no love in the west. My local gameshop has a PSV section of around about a quarter of ONE SIDE of that display.

So much potential on this thing. But iDevices and Androids are the cool thing at the moment apparently.....

 

[AndreTrek]

I wish the game shops around here even had a PS Vita section at all.

 

[trumpet-205]

*Sigh* I really love my PS Vita but it is receiving no love in the west. My local gameshop has a PSV section of around about a quarter of ONE SIDE of that display.

So much potential on this thing. But iDevices and Androids are the cool thing at the moment apparently.....

Here in US, that's much better than what Wii U is getting.

My local Gamestop didn't even have a section dedictaed to Wii U. All it has is a box in the middle of the isle labeled Wii U games.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

I still love playing around on my Vita as I still have games I have yet to beat (God Eater 2, Ys Celeta, that Velocity 2x thing I got from PSPlus) My only real gripe is that I find the buttons too clicky, but I'm finicky that way.

loganimo> I don't mind, I mean I've had photos of mine all over the web anyway but that exact game shop shouldn't represent all game stores in Japan. The GEO (video rental/game store) around me has a good two full shelves of Vita which is pretty good in comparison to the rest of their stock. Honestly, I don't "get" reddit anyway. Then again, I don't "get" MS OneNote, either.

It's a bit sad that some of the local shops to my house stopped carrying things like Xbox One altogether. Put them on clearance sale, I picked them up (and shipped them overseas since the price was so much cheaper even with shipping), so I guess their loss is my gain, but anyway, erm, I guess all I have to say is 3DS is still ruling the roost. Especially with the new units and Monster Hunter 4G (and Smash Brothers sometime before that I guess).

There is a Monster Hunter coming to Vita next months here but it's the Frontier series I hear :/ Oh well, I still have a long way to go in God Eater 2 anyway.

 

[migles]

Maybe it would be doing well if someone gave two s*its about advertising it and localizing games for it. You know what they say, the system ain't gonna sell itself.

don't want to start a thing but...

a playstation (ps2 and ps3, not sure about ps4) sells by itself in here...

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

The PS2 sold itself partly because it was also (at the time) a cheap DVD player. The PS3 less so because it was a Blu-Ray player. But in any case, overall the games sell the system. No advertising at all (or crap advertising) was a cause of death of the old Amiga computers, the TurboGrafx-16 (licensing and Nintendo's questionably-legal stranglehold on developers at the time didn't help, though), etc.

But I'm rambling...

 

[BORTZ]

At least everything on the Vita is downloadable. Now if we could get better prices on memory cards.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

Oh god, the memory cards... Yeah, that's a massive rip off. At least it isn't as bad as those M2 cards the PSPGO used, but still... I'd be all over the free content on PSPlus regularly if I had a bigger memory card but price is deterring me...

 

[Skelletonike]

I'm pretty jealous, it's hard to get neat accessories, covers and games for my Vita over here. z.z
Heck, the 3DS is doing well but they still don't give it a big shelf in stores over here. >.>

don't want to start a thing but...

a playstation (ps2 and ps3, not sure about ps4) sells by itself in here...

It's true that Playstation systems tend to sell well by themselves, however they do get lots of advertisings on TV. As for the Vita it only had a few when it came out, after that, not a single one.

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

It's just a different atmosphere here. Japan went mostly to handhelds and as a result the handhelds like the 3DS/DS, Vita and even PSP get a lot of space devoted to them in shops. On the flip side, the home console market isn't so great these days here. There are collectors, though, especially of the old retro consoles.

I actually collect handheld gaming consoles myself, but I try to play them all from time to time. I do my own personal "A-Z" game challenges where I pick a random game on a random system and beat it, then do it again until I blow through the alphabet, and then do it all again. For handhelds like my PSP I tend to use them as emulation stations for the old retro consoles as well, though I actually do have a sizable retro game collection in storage as well (no more room in the house with the kids taking up more and more space each year now)

And yeah, even here the Vita didn't get *that* many ads on TV. I did see a few from time to time, but I would see 3DS ads a bit more than that and cell phone game companies and services like Mobage and Dwango are on as well.

 

[Skelletonike]

I didn't even know Mobage existed in Japan. =O

My Japanese friends are always telling me how they have fun playing games using local multiplayer at cafes and even at their friends home.
Over here, people just look at you funny if you're at a coffee shop playing video games on a handheld. >.>

 

[Aaron Chmielowiec]

Yeah, I usually have to take my daughter out on the weekends when my wife is cleaning up the house or such but when my little one conks out I sometimes stop by a local coffee shop and break out one of my handhelds. No second thoughts given. I regularly play them on the trains and buses to/from my Client's places.

I still lol at the reddit comments. Probably why I don't even bother with that place. Typical people saying book off is cheap when Theta and even Monotaro (or local shops) are much cheaper.

 

[lytro]

well it IS pretty much known as the weeaboo machine by now.

I was recently asked what kind of device I was playing Persona on. People didn't know what I was talking about when I told them that I was using a PS Vita.

So yeah, it isn't known at ALL here...