Visualizing the Evolving Popularity of Game Genres in Japan (UPDATE: new threadmark showing the RPG boom in the 1980s)

[PillFencer]

Data compiled from Chris' Famitsu / Media Create data base and archived threads;
For a better depiction of the sales trends and dynamics between genres, the main graphs in this thread represent each genre's software sales in proportion to all software sales [in the same period]. I've still made graphs based on absolute units for reference which you can view by clicking the spoiler tag at the bottom of this post.

<ACT>
examples: Monster Hunter 4, Splatoon, Super Mario Odyssey., Call of Duty: Black Ops, Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!, Devil May Cry 4

<RPG>
examples: Pokémon Black 2, Tales of Arise, Skyrim, Dragon Quest IX, Dark Souls III

<ADV>
examples: Minecraft, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Breath of the Wild, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resident Evil Village, Yakuza 2, Tsukihime

<SPT>
examples: Wii Sports, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, FIFA 18

<SLG>
examples: Fire Emblem Echoes, Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, Cities: Skylines, Densha de Go!!

<FTG>
examples: Super Smash Bros. Brawl, The King of Fighters XIII, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, ARMS

<RCE>
examples: Gran Turismo 5, Mario Kart DS, Assetto Corsa

<HOB>
examples: Fitness Boxing, Brain Age, Pokémon Art Academy

<TBL>
examples: Momotaro Dentetsu, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Itadaki Street

<EDU>
examples: Nintendo Labo, Weak English Adult DS Training

<PZL>
examples: Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, Picross 3D, Human: Fall Flat

<STG>
examples: Ace Combat 7, Star Fox 64 3D, Gradius V, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

<ETC>
examples: Mario Party DS, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Dreams

Spoiler: Same graphs, but in absolute units

You can check any Media Create thread to find more examples of titles in each genre, for instance try using Ctrl F <ADV> on this thread.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Very interesting data. Fighting and racing games have gone up though it feels like there's a contraction in total games. The big marquees are pulling extra weight

 

[Lelouch0612]

Great idea for a thread. I'll try to dive into the figure deeper later.

 

[Blue Monty]

Very interesting data. Fighting and racing games have gone up though it feels like there's a contraction in total games. The big marquees are pulling extra weight

It is basically in both cases Smash/MK carrying almost all the genre sales. I expect the same to happen to shooters, two Splatoon games together probably will sell more than all shooters together of the other two eras

 

[PillFencer]

It is basically in both cases Smash/MK carrying almost all the genre sales. I expect the same to happen to shooters, two Splatoon games together probably will sell more than all shooters together of the other two eras

Just to be 100% clear, games like Splatoon and CoD are not counted towards STG but ACT instead. STG is mostly the arcadey stuff and Ace Combat is the only big one still alive.

 

[StardustTraveler]

What caused the spike in shooters in 2019?

 

[PillFencer]

What caused the spike in shooters in 2019?

Only this

023./000. [PS4] Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown # <STG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2019.01.17} (¥7.600) - 267.302 / NEW (202.379 <92,23%>)
242./000. [NSW] Darius Cozmic Collection <Darius \ Darius II \ Darius α \ Darius Twin \ Darius Force \ Darius Gaiden> # <STG> (Taito) {2019.02.28} (¥5.200) - 13.032 / NEW (9.495 <72,01%>)
285./000. [NSW] Starlink: Battle for Atlas - Starter Pack <STG> (Ubisoft) {2019.04.25} (¥7.800) - 9.582 / NEW (4.711 <29,48%>)
405./000. [NSW] Psikyo Shooting Library Vol.1 <Strikers 1945 \ Strikers 1945 II \ Strikers 1945 III \ Sol Divide \ Dragon Blaze \ Zero Gunner 2> # <STG> (City Connection) {2019.07.25} (¥3.800) - 4.749 / NEW (2.728 <53,10%>)
414./000. [NSW] Psikyo Shooting Library Vol.2 <Samurai Aces \ Tengai \ Sengoku Cannon \ Gunbird \ Gunbird 2 \ Gunbarich> # <STG> (City Connection) {2019.08.29} (¥3.800) - 4.569 / NEW (3.164 <58,81%>)
458./000. [PS4] Esp Ra.De. Ψ # <STG> (M2) {2019.12.19} (¥6.800) - 3.846 / NEW (3.628 <75,60%>)

It's definitely unfortunate that we can't see the golden age of arcade-like shooters in these graphs, available top 500s only start when they were already well on their way to irrelevancy.

 

[ILikeFeet]

It's definitely unfortunate that we can't see the golden age of arcade-like shooters in these graphs, available top 500s only start when they were already well on their way to irrelevancy.

arcade games are a hard sell without meat. and adding that meat takes a lot of money, to the point where the studio is better off making a game in a more healthy genre. quite the negative feedback loop

 

[J-Cat]

Why are shooters like COD grouped together with action games?

 

[fiendcode]

Fantastic data!

 

[SilverACREQ]

I honestly feel like Action shouldnt have so many titles without separating them in Action-subCategory its too wide a net and does not really indicate the appeal of the genre.

 

[Astrogamer]

It feels like these genres were decided in the 90s and not updated since then. Also kind of weird how Animal Crossing is considered ETC when it's not too far off from Story of Seasons.

 

[BTB123]

Isn't Animal Crossing simulation?

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

What genre is Nintendo?

 

[Torie]

Excellent graphics, I wonder if there will ever again be a year where RPGs dominate as much as they did in 2016.

Spoiler

I hope there will be a day when genres in video games will stop being a shambles.

 

[Dalthien]

Interesting - and very cool! - idea for a thread. Thanks!

 

[Blue Monty]

Excellent graphics, I wonder if there will ever again be a year where RPGs dominate as much as they did in 2016.

Spoiler

I hope there will be a day when genres in video games will stop being a shambles.

Maybe this year? Two mainline Pokémon games, two DQ games (one remaster and one spin-off), Xenoblade 3, FF Crisis Core remaster and multiple mid RPGs like SO6 and Valkyrie.

 

[PillFencer]

Sorry @StardustTraveler my earlier reply was partly incorrect: AC7 was the only STG in the top 200 but there were definitely others in the top 500: Darius Collection, Starlink, Psikyo Shooting Library and Esp Ra.De. Ψ. Not sure why I said AC7 was the only one that charted.

Also kind of weird how Animal Crossing is considered ETC when it's not too far off from Story of Seasons.

Isn't Animal Crossing simulation?

It's known as a communication game in Japan. This article may help: https://jp.ign.com/animal-crossing-switch/46632/feature/

 

[Celine]

Old article appeared in The Super Famicom magazine issue 22 which talks about the boom of the RPG genre in Japan, showing the annual number of RPG games released compared to the total number of titles (yellow-red: Famicom; green-dark green: PC Engine; blue light blue: Mega Drive; red-dark red: Super Famicom):

(above are depicted significant RPG games: Zelda 1, Dragon Quest 1, Final Fantasy 1, Mother, Tengai Makyou, Shining inthe Darkness, Zelda 3, Final Fantasy IV, Drakkhen (?), Dungeon Master, Dragon Quest V)

 

[Tokuiten]

Very nice thread, lots of work must have went into this.

Of course, there's the issue of genres becoming more and more less defined, different genres merging into each other and so on. For example, what is the different between role-playing game and adventure here? We're not talking about traditional point and click-adventures, I guess ^^

 

[meatbag]

Very interesting data. Fighting and racing games have gone up though it feels like there's a contraction in total games. The big marquees are pulling extra weight

I’m gonna guess the contraction is due to third parties being less successful at capturing audiences.

Of course, there's the issue of genres becoming more and more less defined, different genres merging into each other and so on.

Yup, some of these genres kind of feel too loosely defined, but still the data is nice to see.