1 in every 5 of the population of Japan own a DS.

oldschool

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#1 Edited By oldschool

1 in 5 Japanese People own a DS!

(from Kotaku)

You may be aware, from hanging around the internet, that Japan loves the Nintendo DS. But it takes a nice little mix of pictures and statistics to really ram the point home.

This chart was released by Nintendo today, and shows the percentage of a market's population that owns a DS. By extension, it also explains succinctly just how bonkers the Japanese population has been for the handheld. I mean, over 20% of the population owning a DS? Crazy. That's one in five Japanese people. Not one in five Japanese gamers. One in five Japanese people.

That is a staggering number and shows how much Japanese people embrace technology. You have to remember that Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, so it isn't about the kids. It also explains why sales growth would be slowing for the DS in Jaoan - the market is effectively saturated.

There is still a lot of growth potential in Europe and the USA though. You haven't got a DS? What the hell is stopping you :-)

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#2 Edited By Meowayne

I don't know, does that factor DSphat, lite and DSi sales? I imagine there are a lot of japanese people who bought all three. 26M units sold doesn't mean 26M people running around with a DS.

14 years ago

Diamond

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#3 Edited By Diamond

oldschool said:

That is a staggering number and shows how much Japanese people embrace technology. You have to remember that Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, so it isn't about the kids. It also explains why sales growth would be slowing for the DS in Jaoan - the market is effectively saturated.

There is still a lot of growth potential in Europe and the USA though. You haven't got a DS? What the hell is stopping you :-)

Japanese have embraced handhelds, but rejected other game systems, which is very disappointing to me.

14 years ago

mike

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#4 Edited By mike

Yeah but...how many versions of the DS do you own, oldschool? I think you account for about 2% of worldwide DS sales just by yourself!

14 years ago

Absurd

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#5 Edited By Absurd

That's quite a bit
:o

14 years ago

oldschool

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#6 Edited By oldschool

Meowayne said:

"I don't know, does that factor DSphat, lite and DSi sales? I imagine there are a lot of japanese people who bought all three. 26M units sold doesn't mean 26M people running around with a DS."

Very true. I was hoping no-one would pick up on that xP

MB said:

"Yeah but...how many versions of the DS do you own, oldschool? I think you account for about 2% of worldwide DS sales just by yourself!"

Yes, I have 4 DS and by Christmas it will be 6 :-)

Serious point though, people like myself have multiple units because we have children. The fact that I have 4 DS relates directly to the fact that I have 4 people in the house. Assuming that in Japan, most of the multiple units would reside in a house of multiple residents means that the number is probably not affected by more than a couple of million.

Even a childless couple probably has 2 units for multiplayer or just to save arguments over who gets to play it xP. The DS has become the television remote of the powerplay in the modern home.

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#7 Edited By AgentJ

I'm more impressed by europes sales. they have sold the most there by sheer amount.

14 years ago

Arkthemaniac

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#8 Edited By Arkthemaniac

Diamond said:

"oldschool said:
That is a staggering number and shows how much Japanese people embrace technology. You have to remember that Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, so it isn't about the kids. It also explains why sales growth would be slowing for the DS in Jaoan - the market is effectively saturated.

There is still a lot of growth potential in Europe and the USA though. You haven't got a DS? What the hell is stopping you :-)
Japanese have embraced handhelds, but rejected other game systems, which is very disappointing to me."

I read somewhere that the reason is that a DS can be just yours, and you can play whenever. However, using a game system means monopolizing the family TV.

14 years ago

oldschool

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#9 Edited By oldschool

Arkthemaniac said:

"Diamond said:
"oldschool said:
That is a staggering number and shows how much Japanese people embrace technology. You have to remember that Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, so it isn't about the kids. It also explains why sales growth would be slowing for the DS in Jaoan - the market is effectively saturated.

There is still a lot of growth potential in Europe and the USA though. You haven't got a DS? What the hell is stopping you :-)
Japanese have embraced handhelds, but rejected other game systems, which is very disappointing to me."
I read somewhere that the reason is that a DS can be just yours, and you can play whenever. However, using a game system means monopolizing the family TV."

Do you think it is something to do with the possibility that Japanese people are time poor. I am just generalising on stereotypes here, but the children school longer, adults work longer and therefore spend less time time at home than an average westerner. The handheld gives them quality gaming on the train (if they actually can with how crammed they appear to be in the pictures I see) and during breaks.

I could be totally wrong though, as I am only guessing.

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#10 Edited By AgentJ

oldschool said:

"Arkthemaniac said:
"Diamond said:
"oldschool said:
That is a staggering number and shows how much Japanese people embrace technology. You have to remember that Japan has one of the oldest populations in the world, so it isn't about the kids. It also explains why sales growth would be slowing for the DS in Jaoan - the market is effectively saturated.

There is still a lot of growth potential in Europe and the USA though. You haven't got a DS? What the hell is stopping you :-)
Japanese have embraced handhelds, but rejected other game systems, which is very disappointing to me."
I read somewhere that the reason is that a DS can be just yours, and you can play whenever. However, using a game system means monopolizing the family TV."
Do you think it is something to do with the possibility that Japanese people are time poor. I am just generalising on stereotypes here, but the children school longer, adults work longer and therefore spend less time time at home than an average westerner. The handheld gives them quality gaming on the train (if they actually can with how crammed they appear to be in the pictures I see) and during breaks.

I could be totally wrong though, as I am only guessing.
"

Yeah, I only rode the train once when it was filled with school kids, but it seemed like a fourth of them broke out their DS' or PSP (far more DS btw)

14 years ago

WickedCobra03

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#11 Edited By WickedCobra03

That is really a sick amount. I think only 1 or 2 of my friends have DS's. And that is from about a group of around 30 or so pretty close friends...

14 years ago

oldschool

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#12 Edited By oldschool

WickedCobra03 said:

"That is really a sick amount. I think only 1 or 2 of my friends have DS's. And that is from about a group of around 30 or so pretty close friends..."

Clearly you need better firends :-)

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#13 Edited By AgentJ

oldschool said:

"WickedCobra03 said:
"That is really a sick amount. I think only 1 or 2 of my friends have DS's. And that is from about a group of around 30 or so pretty close friends..."
Clearly you need better firends :-)"

Or he needs to put his friend code up so we can all friend him : )

14 years ago

talljack

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#14 Edited By talljack

Just imagine using pictochat in Japan...like, there would be a REASON to use it. DICKS EVERYWHERE!

14 years ago

Agnogenic_delete

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#15 Edited By Agnogenic_delete

talljack said:

"Just imagine using pictochat in Japan...like, there would be a REASON to use it. DICKS EVERYWHERE!"

That would be creepy. You get on and all the rooms are full. XD

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#16 Edited By AgentJ

talljack said:

"Just imagine using pictochat in Japan...like, there would be a REASON to use it. DICKS EVERYWHERE!"

Except Japanese nerd culture isn't dominated by dicks... If anything, it'd be boobs

14 years ago

oldschool

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#17 Edited By oldschool

AgentJ said:

"talljack said:
"Just imagine using pictochat in Japan...like, there would be a REASON to use it. DICKS EVERYWHERE!"
Except Japanese nerd culture isn't dominated by dicks... If anything, it'd be boobs"

I prefer boobs :-)

The only time I have ever used the chat rooms was at a busy anime & manga convention. It was fun. There is never enough people around in my sparsely populated neighbourhood to ever use it. At least in Japan you can send bizarre drawings to others for your own amusement and there will be people to receive it.

14 years ago

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Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is a handheld featuring two screens, one of which is a resistive touchscreen. Four different models are available: the original DS, the DS Lite, the DSi, the DSi XL.

1 in every 5 of the population of Japan own a DS.

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