Survey says: Japanese developers rate the next-gen consoles

We all know what fanboys think about the consoles of their choice (as well as their thoughts about the others). The question is what do Japanese game developers think about  the next-gen consoles? Famitsu Mag took it upon themselves to ask 58 game developers (directors, programmers and designers) from 19 game companies about next-gen consoles and here are the results.

Which next-gen console will send cash registers ringing:

• Wii (60%)
• PS3 (37%)
• Xbox 360’s (3%)

Which system they prefer for game development:

• Wii (63%)
• PS3 (32%)
• Xbox 360’s (5%)

Which next-gen console they want for Christmas:

• Wii (49%)
• PS3 (42%)
• Xbox 360 (9%)

The rest of the survey results await after the jump.

We all know what fanboys think about the consoles of their choice (as well as their thoughts about the others). The question is what do Japanese game developers think about  the next-gen consoles? Famitsu Mag took it upon themselves to ask 58 game developers (directors, programmers and designers) from 19 game companies about next-gen consoles and here are the results.

Which next-gen console will send cash registers ringing:

• Wii (60%)
• PS3 (37%)
• Xbox 360’s (3%)

Which system they prefer for game development:

• Wii (63%)
• PS3 (32%)
• Xbox 360s (5%)

Which next-gen console they want for Christmas:

• Wii (49%)
• PS3 (42%)
• Xbox 360 (9%)

Most anticipated PS3’s games:

• Metal Gear Solid 4 (12 votes)
• Final Fantasy XIII (10 votes)
• The Eye of Judgment (7 votes)
• Afrika (6 votes)
• Heavenly Sword (4 votes).
• Runners up: Bladestorm, Gran Turismo HD, Lair and Resistance: Fall of Man

Most anticipated Xbox360 games:

• Blue Dragon (18 votes)
• Lost Odyssey (14 votes)
• Culdecept Saga (8 votes)
• Dead Rising (4 votes)
• Gundam Operation Troy (4 votes).
• Runners up: Lost Planet, Gears of War, Riot Act and Idol Master

 Most anticipated Wii games:

• The Legend of Zelda (26 votes)
• Super Mario Galaxy (8 votes)
• Wii Sports (5 votes)
• Animal Crossing (3 votes)
• Smash Brothers X (3 votes)
• Runners up: WarioWare, Fire Emblem, Sonic and the Secret Rings and Elebits

What they expect from PS3:

•  Extremely high expectations (48%)
•  High expectations (32%)
•  Don’t expect much (18%)

What they expect from Xbox 360:

• Not expecting much (45%)
• High expectations (40%)
• Extremely high expectations (13%)

What they expect from Wii:

•  Extremely high expectations (63%)
•  High expectations (36%)
•  Not expecting much (1%) 

Favorite PS3 part:

• Visual power (19 votes)
• Overall hardware specs (10 votes)
• Cell’s computation abilities (9 votes)
• Built-in hard disk (3 votes)
• Blu-Ray (3 votes).
• Also mentioned: PSP connectivity, online functionality, the 6-axis control system and brand power associated with PlayStation and Blu-Ray.

Favorite Xbox 360 part:

• Xbox Live (18 votes)
• System’s ease of development (13 votes)
• Connectivity with Windows Vista (12 votes)
• Visual power (6 votes)
• Overall hardware balance (4 votes).
• Also mentioned: the system’s demo download service, ranking system and strength of sales in the North American market

Favorite Wii part:

• Wiimote (34 votes)
• Wii Connect 24 (9 votes)
• Virtual Console (6 votes)
• Ease of development (4 votes)
• Console price (3 votes)
• Also mentioned: hardware size, the concept of moving your body, and the focus on light users

There you have it. It shouldn’t come as a Taser-like shock to Xbox 360 fanboys that their console didn’t score very well. MS has been struggling with getting the Xbox 360 off the ground in the Japanese market. The company, however, is doubling its efforts to keep up with its upcoming Japanese counterparts. But as far as the Japanese game developers are concerned, the next-gen console wars is shaping up to be a duke-fest between Wii and PS3, with Nintendo’s console having the upperhand.