Japanese Gaming Market Is Dwindiling

Apparently, the Rockman franchise isn't the only one getting hit with declining sales as of late; according to Japanese newspaper, Nikkei Shimbun, video games sales in general are slowly suffering. Why? Japan use to be the place where the market thrived, what went wrong?

Courtesy of AltJapan:

"Interesting article in yesterday's Nikkei Shimbun, Japan's equivalent of the Wall Street Journal. Entitled "Kuuru Jyapan no Yuuutsu" ("The Melancholy of Cool Japan"), it paints a bleak portrait of the domestic video game industry, noting that the top two video game companies worldwide (EA and Activision-Blizzard) are now foreign. Even more to the point is the domestic market's sluggish growth in spite of a near doubling of the size of the market abroad.

Once Japanese-made games ruled arcades and television screens. What happened?

One reason: the ever-declining birthrate and resulting lack of children. But another factor is more intriguing: the thirtysomethings that currently represent the core audience for games in Japan are increasingly wrapped up in their work and child-rearing duties, resulting in a drop-off of interest in games. In other words, Japan's man-children are finally growing up, and there are fewer and fewer young'uns left to take over their places."

Be sure to read the rest of the article at AltJapan.