Japan’s Handheld Market

In Japan the handheld is king. Week after week PSP and DS battle it out at the top to the hardware charts. Recently of course sales of both have been rejuvenated by the PSP-3000 and the DSi with many buying yet another version of their favorite system.

Many factors effecting Japans market mirror the West’s. It’s perfect for commuters. The lower price is attractive, especially as the feeling of recession in Japan has been present since the mid-nineties. And now systems are not exclusively game machines the target audience is expanded.

More specific to Japan is co-operative element. With gamers often unable monopolize the family television to play with friends, handhelds become the solution. Hence when you see someone playing a portable system often someone will be playing along side.

The combination of all these factors explain the overall trend but in the links below more specific elements are discussed.