Shenmue's Popularity in Japan

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

This is a thread calling on all the Japanese users of the dojo. I am curious to know how popular the Shenmue franchise is in Japan. Also if you've spoken to any Japanese gamers as to why its popular, unpopular, or in between. While this is purely anctedotal, and won't reflect the entirety of Japan as a whole, it would be nice to get some idea of Shenmue's potential in Japan.

 

[Shenmue]

I'm not japanese but I can imagine it's not a lost cause there at least. There's a video of Arino (of GCCX fame) talking briefly with Yu Suzuki: "I've been ready and waiting to play all 13 chapters...". There's probably some people who are thinking the same thing right now in the land of the rising sun lol.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

I'm not Japanese but I can imagine it's not a lost cause there at least. There's a video of Arino (of GCCX fame) talking briefly with Yu Suzuki: "I've been ready and waiting to play all 13 chapters...". There are probably some people who are thinking the same thing right now in the land of the rising sun lol.

My apologies I guess I didn't make myself clear. When I said "Japanese users" I meant anyone whose currently in Japan and uses the Shenmue Dojo. You don't have to be 100% Japanese to participate, I just want people who are in Japan right now to give me some idea of how Shenmue fairs in Japan.

Thanks for the video though, it tells me that there's a niche base in Japan. Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong.

 

[WuyingRen]

Most gamers over here seem to prefer smart phone games as they suit the on the move lifestyle a lot more than console games. There is a relatively healthy console market in spite of this, but people seem to favor the Nintendo Switch over the PS4 (I expect because of its portability). I don’t think I’ve ever met an Xbox One owner in more than two years of being over here.

I’ve spoken with people about the Yakuza series and mentioned Shenmue as an aside during these conversations but most people have never heard of it. Worth noting that I tend to speak with younger people about gaming and so it makes sense that they have never heard of a game that is almost as old as them.

I wouldn’t put too much stock into the sales of Shenmue HD over here as it released 3 months later than in the rest of the world and so has been available for less than 3/4 of the time that it has been in North America and Europe. A friend of my fiancé who played the original games as a child also made up her mind not to buy the game after reading how buggy the western release was - so I think it would be fair to say that the delayed release in Japan hurt sales.

I really wouldn’t want to guess how Shenmue 3 will sell in Japan. On the one hand, the original Dreamcast release sold pretty well over here and pre-sales of three seem to be looking good. On the other hand, I think the potential market for the game is a lot smaller in Japan due to there being significantly fewer PS4 owners and PC gamers than in other territories. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[9dragons]

I would say it has a Chance at least. It is in the Famitsu most wanted Charts for many month now.

I think it is more consistant than the most wanted Charts in the western world. In the western world I have not seen the game on many most wanted Charts. The publicy Shenmue 3 gets in westen world is almost never about the game itself, just other unfortunate matters I won't mention again.

We have to wait and see in the end of Course how well the game will sell. But seeing the game in the most wanted Charts of japan's most famous gaming publication for some month now is quite postive I would say.