Post by Segaman on Jun 30, 2004 15:30:12 GMT -5
Japanese gaming trades body CESA confirms this week that the shrinkage of the industry in Japan now means that it is now worth just half that of its 1997 peak. Partly of course, this is a result of the ever-aging Japanese population, but the likes of Nintendo might also point a finger Sony's way stating that a lack of innovation on the gameplay front has meant that games simply aren't matching the tastes of their potential audience (Nintendo usually go on at this juncture to suggest how hardware like the DS will rectify this problem).
Software sales dropped 11% on last year's figure to 446.3 billion Yen ($4.14 billion), whilst hardware dropped 16.7% to 137.2 billion Yen ($1.3 billion). PS2 sales were in the main responsible for the decrease, whilst GBA and GameCube improvements couldn't make up the short fall. Regardless of this third annual consecutive recession, the business is still one of the world's most significant, the figures involved still dwarfing most domestic games markets.
Software sales dropped 11% on last year's figure to 446.3 billion Yen ($4.14 billion), whilst hardware dropped 16.7% to 137.2 billion Yen ($1.3 billion). PS2 sales were in the main responsible for the decrease, whilst GBA and GameCube improvements couldn't make up the short fall. Regardless of this third annual consecutive recession, the business is still one of the world's most significant, the figures involved still dwarfing most domestic games markets.
