DMM’s battleship moe mega-blockbuster Kantai Collection is reputedly the (only) reason Microsoft’s Windows tablets enjoy a 15% market share in Japan where elsewhere they languish under Google’s boot with a pathetic 2%.
Despite (or perhaps because of) Japan’s reputation as a “Galapagos” IT eco-system and nation of Apple fanciers, it is the one nation in the world Microsoft’s much loathed foray into the tablet market seems to have borne fruit.
Market research in fact suggests the market share enjoyed by Windows tablets stands at 15% as of February, up from a more typical 3% only a year ago (Gartner has the current share in the US is a risible 2%, a poor return for the complete sacrifice of Windows 8).
Nowhere else have Microsoft’s tablets enjoyed such a boost in popularity – and with the same hardware, apps and marketing as elsewhere experts consider there to be only one distinctive characteristic Japan possesses which could explain this otherwise disturbingly inexplicable (or just plain disturbing) rise – improbably, the existence of Kantai Collection in the Japanese market, released about the time tablet sales took off and heralded as the ideal platform for leveling Shimakaze and friends.
Kantai Collection, with 1.7 million Japanese players and Windows as the officially recommended platform, may be a plausible driver for these sales, not least when notebooks are regarded as too inconvenient for play on the move and the models regarded as the “go-to” tablets for KanKore players have all enjoyed mysteriously strong sales, with the preferred Miix2 8 considered the best and the top selling Windows tablet for the last 3 months, vastly exceeding Lenovo’s sales estimates.
Neither Microsoft nor DMM for their part have commented, but it is easy to imagine Microsoft being less than thrilled that the only reason their tablets are hot items anywhere is due to a thong-clad destroyer’s appearance in a browser game.
Entire Sony PS franchise was launched by FF7 even PS was a shittier system than SS at the time.
I think it’s because Gatchaman used Surface
There’s only one problem with Windows tablets: controls. If someone makes a good touch interface for desktop games to be played with, these things will absolutely dominate the market, because there’s absolutely crazy amount of good games on good ol’ Windows, plus thousands of emus.
I have a Surface Pro, and it’s fabulous.
Wouldnt mind trying Kancolle but then Im too lazy to deal with all the proxy stuff.. I would just play it on pc though since I dont use portible gaming stations, just cheap phones and mp3 players.
I game enough without bringing a tool to play games while I am out..
Proxy is really easy to set up when you know how to. If I can get to your computer, I can set it up within 3 minutes, and you will take less than 20 seconds everyday to start up your game (or 0 second, if you save the link).
The biggest problem is the lottery to get a game account.
That’s funny, didn’t the assholes at DMM prohibit playing the game through the use of tablets or cell phones?
No, I think it’s because the game might not support some tablets and cellphones since you need a lot of cache space to play it.
they should get rid flash and switch to HTML5/native app route with Unity engine or something
This is Japan we are talking about. Chance of that happening is pretty much none.
Uhhh, yes it does:
http://kancolle.wikia.com/wiki/File:PSA-Phone.jpg