Japan's long-running love affair with the DS is well-documented, with the handheld comfortably outselling all other gaming hardware in the region since its December 2004 launch. The PSP, despite making more inroads into the handheld market than any previous challenger to Nintendo's throne, lies a distant second.Which is why a new survey, conducted by Cross Marketing Inc. and presented to us in the form of pretty pie charts, comes as something of a surprise. When asked which portable games machine they most craved, 23% of Japanese consumers revealed they fancied the DS Lite, while 22% opted for the PSP. Even taking into account the 7% who would choose the original DS, that's not a big lead for Ninty in the popularity stakes.
We can't really fault how the poll was carried out, either. Of the 300 individuals who completed Cross Marketing Inc.'s questionnaire, there was a 50:50 male and female split, while 20% of the respondents were in their teens, 20% in their twenties, 20% in their thirties, 20% in their forties, and 20% in their fifties.
In fact, the only beef we have with the survey is that the number of individuals polled is a tad low. 300 is a small enough figure, but when almost half of those express no interest whatsoever in gaming on the go, it suddenly makes the entire exercise a heck of a lot less representative.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-04-2007 @ 12:59PM
moo083 said...
My question is how many of those polled already had a DS and who had a PSP already? I mean, the portable system I crave most is the PSP, but thats because its harder to crave something I already have. I would rather have a DS than a PSP, but I would rather have a DS AND a PSP than just a DS. And considering the vast number of DS Lites in Japan, this has got to have some effect on the survey.
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12-04-2007 @ 1:01PM
moo083 said...
Now that I'm not dumb and RTFA, it does say what they have. And I have to say, it makes the results make a lot more sense. 35.3% have a DS while only 12.7% have PSPs. This puts things into perspective.
12-04-2007 @ 1:36PM
Joshua said...
Yep, makes sense now.
12-04-2007 @ 4:27PM
Matdredalia said...
That was my question as soon as I saw the poll, too. We all know how the DS Lite is basically the holy grail in Japan and how limited the supplies are because *so many people* are buying them. The question is, what if 150 of those 300 people already have one? (Which isn't a far fetched idea considering how many people in Japan own DS Lites or DS Phat's, at least).
That's the problem with surveys. They give you a very limited idea of what's going on behind the scenes.
12-04-2007 @ 1:53PM
Jacob said...
Indeed, once you take into account the fact that the DS is more owned, and the rather small selection of individuals, there's really nothing news worthy here. In fact, the title itself is a bit misleading anyway. 300 people is hardly a representation of Japan.
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12-04-2007 @ 1:58PM
troy said...
moo083, exactly!
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12-04-2007 @ 4:10PM
Xian B. said...
I'm more shocked that 46% wanted neither. I didn't realize those 300 people polled were mental patients.
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12-04-2007 @ 4:27PM
hvnlysoldr said...
The only thing 300 can represent is Spartans. Otherwise it's instant fail.
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12-04-2007 @ 6:06PM
Cyantre said...
300 might be suitable for surveying a college campus, but certainly not an entire country.
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12-04-2007 @ 6:27PM
NeoteriX said...
"300 might be suitable for surveying a college campus, but certainly not an entire country"
For those of you commenting on the sampling size of "300" you should know that for a properly conducted simple random sample survey (where everyone in a given population has an equal and random chance of being selected), how accurate a reflection of the population the results are have nothing to do with the total size of the population.
Nothing.
A simple random sample of 1,000 would have the same predictive effect of a population of 1 million people as it does 100 million.
I'm not arguing that this particular study is not flawed--it appears to be some kind of "internet survey" so I'm not sure what their procedure is. Nonetheless, a sampling of 384 people would be enough to give us an answer (at a 95% confidence level) with a range of +- 5 points.
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