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The story
Even though the PS5 (Digital Edition) has been discounted to ¥55,000, some say it still isn’t selling as well as expected — sparking a lively debate on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board about why. Posters pointed to the console’s large size, the fact that it isn’t portable, comparisons with the Nintendo Switch 2, and the lingering impression from the 2020–2021 scalping frenzy that “you can’t buy a PS5 anyway” due to shortages. Many argued that the real obstacle isn’t the price itself, but low public awareness and the lack of places to actually try it out.
What people said
iPhone duo: ¥400,000
Gaming PC: ¥400,000
・Switch 2 is enough
Just the other day on X, people thought the PS5 cost ¥110,000
No wonder real gamers just go with PC instead
Sad, grown adults playing GTA on the censored Japanese version
It draws a ton of power too, which is bad for the environment
A conscientious adult goes with the Switch 2
It's not exactly cheap either; given the size of the game library, ¥29,800 would be more like it, lol
Same as the Reiwa rice-shortage panic (Japan's 2024 rice-buying frenzy) — once that memory sets in, people won't buy even after a price cut
Everyone's been rescued from the penalty game (Japanese slang for a raw deal you're stuck enduring) 😭
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No reason it wouldn't sell
Re: #17
Normal people just kind of… all hate it somehow
put out a backward-compatible unit that runs PS1 through PS5 games
Dead on arrival — the PS3's Cell architecture alone makes that impossible
In my circle I never hear anyone actually say they own one.
Most people's reaction is more like "oh, they're already up to PS5?"
Meanwhile with the Switch 2, I constantly hear things like "gave it to my son" or "played it on a business trip."
That's the size of the gap
Yeah, basically a giant smartphone.
Meanwhile the black Xbox Series X fits easily into a wooden TV rack and blends right into a living room.
There's probably no room in existence that actually suits the PS5 — it just sticks out.
Not releasing a black model seemed like a dumb move to me.
Though they seem to have finally figured that out with the Pro
One guy who tried biking it home even got stopped by the police for questioning
That's the original launch model.
The one on sale now is smaller than a PS4 Pro
¥30,000 would be about right.
Manufacturing cost is just the company's excuse — consumers don't care about that, which is exactly why people call it overpriced
PS5 actually has more Japanese games AND more Western games, and third-party sales are higher on PS5 too.
What are you talking about? Get your facts straight before posting
Who buys one after being out of the loop that long?
It's basically a fossil at this point.
Why would a 6-year-old console still count as the latest and greatest? The hardware hasn't advanced at all.
If someone said a 6-year-old smartphone was the newest, top-performing model, you'd think they were crazy, right?
Would anyone claim a 6-year-old iPhone 12 is on par with or better than the iPhone 18 announced yesterday?
That would be 100% insane.
Same logic here.
What's the point of buying old, low-performance hardware?
Given how much prices have shot up everywhere else these days, it's actually exceptionally cheap by comparison
But nearly ¥70,000 once you add the disc drive — who's buying that?
Buy an SD card for the Switch and you're already at ¥90,000
Add a Pro Controller and it's ¥100,000
🐷 not buying it either
God of War — the lead is now a middle-aged woman
That bald guy in space….
Political correctness in overdrive….
Honestly, that's exactly the combo that makes casual gamers and regular people recoil the hardest.
And since they don't know the industry reasons behind why it ended up this way, it puts them off even more
That Wolverine character is drawn as a middle-aged woman in the comics anyway — the movie version was just unrealistically gorgeous
Background and key points of this discussion
Since its 2020 launch, the PS5’s price in Japan has been revised several times due to the chip shortage and a weak yen, and ¥55,000 counts as one of the lower price points in the console’s history. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch 2, released in 2025, has been rapidly gaining market share thanks to its hybrid handheld/console design and major hit titles, and it repeatedly came up as a point of comparison in the thread. Posters also noted that the severe shortages and scalping problems of 2020–2021 left a lasting impression that “you just can’t buy a PS5,” and that this memory still seems to be affecting purchasing behavior even after the price cut. That said, it’s worth keeping in mind that the thread reflects anonymous-forum impressions and opinions, not actual sales data.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) thread “Japan-only PS5 Digital Edition at ¥55,000 — here’s why it’s not selling.”
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