Japanese Show Waning Interest in Video Games
LA Times / January 21, 2003
Preliminary industry figures show that combined hardware and software sales fell for the second consecutive year in 2002 to $4 billion, down 2.4%.
"Of course the market won't shrink to zero," said Shunji Yamashina, analyst with Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo. "But video games just aren't cutting edge anymore. Kids have a lot more options now."
Arguably, the biggest factor contributing to the industry's slump in Japan is a demographic transformation that is creating one of the most rapidly aging populations on the planet. In other words, there is a steady decline in the number of young people here.