Although previously extremely large, the market for home consoles in Japan is declining on a yearly basis. Conversely, the mobile and social network game space has been growing at a surprising rate. The market, which in 2009 was a 33.8 billion yen business ($413M USD) has grown in 2011 to 257 billion ($3.1B USD). With the recent popularity increase in smart phone usage in Japan, it is now estimated that the SNS market will see a marked decline, replaced by smart phone games and entertainment applications from 2012 onward.
The session aims to give a detailed overview of the currently tumultuous Japanese games market and the greater Japanese demographics that inform this change in regards to both home consoles and the social/casual game space. Additionally, it aims to offer insight into the key to appealing to this market and its evolving needs.
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