A few Japanese game developers have expressed their dismay over the state of Japan's gaming industry as of lately. Capcom's Keiji Inafune stated at the Tokyo Game Show that "Our game industry is finished." Japan's gaming industry has been in a state of decline for several years now, but sharp declines in the Japanese gaming market may indicate that Inafune's words shouldn't be taken as mere hyperbole. As for the console race in the Far East, the PS3 outsold the Wii in the month of September. There is no doubt that Sony's decision to cut the price on the PS3 has contributed significantly to hardware sales. As for the PSP Go, the reviews are in, and none of them are really a surprise (although Joystiq's video review is pretty good). The PSP Go is a bad deal for current PSP owners with large UMD libraries, but holds some promise for digital-only buffs and early adopters willing to pay the high price point. And remember when I mentioned my local Game Crazy closing in my last Treasure Hunter column? Well, mine was only one of 200 locations closing in October. If you happen to live near a soon to be shuttered Game Crazy now may be the time to take advantage of a liquidation sale.
In August the government sponsored "Cash for Clunkers" automobile trade-in program was wildly popular. In fact, the program ran out of money sooner than expected, causing Congress to appropriate more funds. As expected when the program ended auto sales crashed in the month of September. The obvious reason would be the ending of cash for clunkers, but an unexpected problem also explained the lack of sales, many dealerships didn't (and still don't) have enough cars on their lots to satisfy demand. It looks as if the program was a little too successful.
The seemingly perpetual state of decline continues in the anime industry. Last Monday Kadokawa Pictures confirmed that its subsidiary, Kadokawa Pictures USA closed down on August 31. While Kadokawa Pictures USA licensed anime in the US, it let other companies handle the release and distribution aspects. Well known series include Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Spice and Wolf, and Lucky Star. Even after the passing of Yoshito Usui, Japan's TV Asahi network will continue to broadcast new episodes of Crayon Shin-chan later this month. Additionally, the last two installments of the manga will be published by Futabasha in October and November. In other manga news, Gantz is finally entering its final arc after the creator, Hiroya Oku took a three-month hiatus from the series. Gantz is currently licensed for publication in the US by Dark Horse Comics. Some anime fans may remember the anime adaptation of the series a few years back which was licensed domestically by the now defunct ADV Films.
September may have been a look back at the Dreamcast's ten year anniversary, but how about a look back at Sega's first game console, the SG-1000?
In August the government sponsored "Cash for Clunkers" automobile trade-in program was wildly popular. In fact, the program ran out of money sooner than expected, causing Congress to appropriate more funds. As expected when the program ended auto sales crashed in the month of September. The obvious reason would be the ending of cash for clunkers, but an unexpected problem also explained the lack of sales, many dealerships didn't (and still don't) have enough cars on their lots to satisfy demand. It looks as if the program was a little too successful.
The seemingly perpetual state of decline continues in the anime industry. Last Monday Kadokawa Pictures confirmed that its subsidiary, Kadokawa Pictures USA closed down on August 31. While Kadokawa Pictures USA licensed anime in the US, it let other companies handle the release and distribution aspects. Well known series include Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Spice and Wolf, and Lucky Star. Even after the passing of Yoshito Usui, Japan's TV Asahi network will continue to broadcast new episodes of Crayon Shin-chan later this month. Additionally, the last two installments of the manga will be published by Futabasha in October and November. In other manga news, Gantz is finally entering its final arc after the creator, Hiroya Oku took a three-month hiatus from the series. Gantz is currently licensed for publication in the US by Dark Horse Comics. Some anime fans may remember the anime adaptation of the series a few years back which was licensed domestically by the now defunct ADV Films.
September may have been a look back at the Dreamcast's ten year anniversary, but how about a look back at Sega's first game console, the SG-1000?
It's no surprise Game Crazy is cutting stores; that writing's been on the wall ever since Movie Gallery declared bankruptcy after buying out Hollywood Video (Sister store of GC).
It's a shame too. Ever since that kick in the teeth to consumers that was the EB/GameStop merger, Game Crazy was the only nationally positioned specialty video gaming store left to compete with. And Movie Gallery's callous "I bet we'll make more money if we shove a few games in the corner" marketing strategy pulled Game Crazy's teeth one by one until it was identical to Movie Galley's inert gaming brand, Game Zone (Never heard of it? It's not like they care).
Even if those locations weren't closing, the reasons why anybody went to them were shrinking by the day. Game Crazy probably would have been rebranded already, but the management couldn't be bothered to actually make decisions about it. After all, Movie Gallery is the company who forgot to ever issue a price-drop on Call of Duty 3 until after CoD 4 was retailing for $40.
Absolutely no inside information whatsoever was not never used in not writing this comment, which doesn't exist.