Japanese Next-Gen Interest Gauged In Survey

A new survey of 1,000 Japanese consumers from the ages of 10 to 59 has been conducted by Japanese news service C-News, concerning the next generation of video games consoles. 60 percent of those polled saw the PlayStation 3 as the most appealing of the next generation consoles, with 8 percent picking the Revolution and just 2 percent the Xbox 360, with 30 percent as yet undecided. The most popular reasons given for choosing the PlayStation 3 were that it was thought likely to have the largest range of software, that it is a Sony product, and the PS3's perceived technological superiority – including Blu-ray support. When asked what type of games they would most like to play on any next-generation console, according to the survey translated by German website GameFront, 80 percent of the surveyed consumers asked for existing franchises (with the Dragon Quest and Super Mario series being the most requested), and 60 percent (multiple answers for this question were allowed) demanded original titles, while 35 percent requested remakes of existing titles. In terms of the genre of games desired on next-generation consoles in general, 71.2 percent said they were most interested in role-playing games. 52.8 percent (again, multiple answers were allowed for this question) opted for simulations - in Japanese terminology this includes strategy titles, 47.9 percent preferred general action titles, 41.1 percent adventures and 23.4 percent shoot ‘em-ups. When asked how much they would be willing to pay for the PlayStation 3, under 20 percent said ¥15,000 to ¥20,000 ($134 to $179), under 20 percent also said ¥20,000 to ¥25,000 ($179 to $224) and more than 20 percent said ¥25,000 to ¥30,000 ($224 to $268).