PC Engine popularity in Japan

[Black Tiger]

What Japan Thinks did a console-themed poll. When it came to "which older consoles do you still play", the PC Engine actually scored pretty well all things considered.

Q2: Which of the following older consoles do you still play with? (Sample size=1,040, multiple answer)

     Votes    Percentage
Playstation 2    414    39.8%
Playstation    164    15.8%
Super Famicon (SNES)    157    15.1%
Nintendo 64    117    11.3%
Famicon (NES)    95    9.1%
Nintendo Gamecube    66    6.3%
PC Engine    49    4.7%
Sega Saturn    46    4.4%
Dreamcast    36    3.5%
Xbox    16    1.5%
Sega Megadrive    15    1.4%
Other    53    5.1%
None at all    464    44.6%

If polls accurately reflected society as a whole, then it would look like the PC Engine is more popular in Japan than any Sega console.

[Necromancer]

That's pretty interesting, though the small sample calls its accuracy into question.  Still, it's nice to see the ol' Engine doing so well and it's surprising as hell to see the N64 in fourth place.  Sheesh!  That disappointment outnumbers the 'cube by nearly two to one!

[nectarsis]

Yea the 64, and Gamecube above the PCE is a travesty.

[Tatsujin]

yeah, it's no secret that the PCE in japan had a bigger market share than a Sega console ever could have.

[esteban]

It would be awesome if some researcher in Japan completed a scientifically-valid survey like this!

Until that unlikely day, though, is a neat peek at the interests of our fellow PCE fans.

[termis]

Statistically speaking, sample size of 1040 is actually quite sizable. 

As long each samples were independent variables, these figures probably wouldn't be too far from the truth.

[esteban]

Statistically speaking, sample size of 1040 is actually quite sizable. 

As long each samples were independent variables, these figures probably wouldn't be too far from the truth.

The results are not meaningful if the sample isn't representative. Size alone isn't enough.

For example, imagine if 100,000 subscribers to Nintendo Power magazine completed this survey.

[termis]

Yeah, I guess that's what I was trying to say with the bit about samples being independent variables -- that is, each person in the survey is not connected to any other person in the survey in any observable fashion (other than what they stated it was for population -- Japanese males, teenagers & up). 

edit: wait, upon thinking back, dependent & independent variables mean something slightly different in stats -- but I guess I was trying to say what you were saying. 

[SignOfZeta]

I'd say the big problem with that survey is that the PS2 is on it. The PS2 is still being supported pretty well in Japan so its not like a PCE or something that has been dead for 15 years. A couple of PS2 games have sold over 100,000 copies in the past year. Obviously someone is playing it.

[termis]

From what I see, users can choose multiple consoles, so the inclusion of PS2 doesn't change answers for what proportion of the population which said that they still play the PCE.

If I actually crunch numbers...let's see.
- From wikipedia, there's about 50,000,000 Japanese males ages 14+
- Of the sample pool of 1040, and 4.7% (~49 people) said that they play the PCE.

95% Confidence interval for this figure is 1.29.  That is, one can be 95% confident that the true portion of the Japanese male population that still play the PCE lies between 4.7% +/- 1.29% (between 3.41%~5.99%).

Once again, in order for those numbers to hold up, the only caveat is that the 1040 people that took the survey was *completely* random.

[Black Tiger]

I'd say the big problem with that survey is that the PS2 is on it. The PS2 is still being supported pretty well in Japan so its not like a PCE or something that has been dead for 15 years. A couple of PS2 games have sold over 100,000 copies in the past year. Obviously someone is playing it.

Also, PS2, PS1 and Gamecube games are supported by current hardware. If the DS accepted PCE HuCards and CD games, I'm sure that it would've scored higher.

[Otaking]

Interesting poll results, but I find them hard to believe, I'm a Super Famicom fan boy but there's no way it was more popular than the Famicom was in Japan.

[Black Tiger]

Interesting poll results, but I find them hard to believe, I'm a Super Famicom fan boy but there's no way it was more popular than the Famicom was in Japan.

Maybe, but the poll isn't how popular the consoles are/were, it's "which ones do you still play?"

[Otaking]

Interesting poll results, but I find them hard to believe, I'm a Super Famicom fan boy but there's no way it was more popular than the Famicom was in Japan.

Maybe, but the poll isn't how popular the consoles are/were, it's "which ones do you still play?"

ahha ok that makes more sense