In this months article I will discuss the reasons be hide Dreamcasts ongoing success in Japan. There are many differences between how the Dreamcast was marketed and what games and accessories it saw from the Japan and the US. This is most important when you see how they are still making games in Japan and still have a ever growing release list schedule with date's set now as far as late 2004, the Dreamcast is clearly not dead. But support for it in the world is limited to Japan why? Geography may be one of the biggest factors people don't consider.
Japan is much smaller than the USA and it is far cheaper to release a game there then in the USA or Europe. Also with its size it made it possible to release limited numbers or games and still make money. While in the US thousands of copies are made as almost a standard in Japan its common place to see a newly released Dreamcast game limited to a 10,000 copy printing. If that�s not enough a reprint will take place in the months or years that follow. A equally key factor is the Dreamcast was released there one year before it was to the rest of the world.
This created a bigger penetration in the market and a longer lasting one. While in the US it was only released a year before the hype and release of the PS2 hit. But the Dreamcast was still going but in late 2000 it began their sad decline. The reasons may be many but if it wasn't for these geographical and timing differences the Dreamcast may not be getting releases for the Dreamcast in Japan or might have been still be sold today on store shelves in the US. One thing is for sure Japanese gamers clearly got a better Dreamcast experience then US Dreamcast gamers. |
