Survey finds Japan uninterested in Wii U, Vita
A worrying sign for Sony's PSP stronghold.
Japan doesn't appear to be bowled over by PlayStation Vita and Wii U.
Just 10 per cent of 1083 people surveyed do want to buy either machine, according to goo Research data reported by IndustryGamers.
Alarmingly, more than half the participants weren't at all interested in either PlayStation Vita or Wii U.
A third don't want to buy Wii U or Vita, but at least have some interest in them.
The survey was conducted in October and consisted of a roughly equal male-female split, and of participants spread relatively evenly across five age brackets: teen, twenties, thirties, forties and fifties.
Just under two thirds of participants had a games console. Most owned DS (62 per cent), followed by PS2 (53 per cent), PSP (34 per cent), PS3 (28 per cent) and Wii (6 per cent).
Wii U apathy could be attributed to the device carrying an 'after April 2012' release date, which probably means Christmas 2012 at best. Plus, there are still a lot of questions unanswered about the device.
But the indifference to PlayStation Vita is worrying. The handheld launches in Japan on 17th December - under six weeks away. And if any region could be expected to be excited about PS Vita, it should be Japan - Sony's most lucrative PSP market.
Has the lack of a true Vita Monster Hunter game, besides the adapted PSP game Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, hurt Vita's early Japanese chances?