360 Relaunching in Japan this Summer...?!

[VictimOfScience]

Story.

My question is: Why? There still won't be many games in genres in which Japanese audiences have demonstrated interest in the past and the pricepoint probably isn't going to change much (if any) for the relaunch, so it seems to me like this is an exercise in futility. I know that many of you EU and N. America and Australia folks are enjoying yours (you guys typically like the FPS/shooters--the best games on the system right now), but MS consoles have done notoriously poorly in Japan because of poor game selection and publisher support. They may have better publisher support now, but the games still aren't there and won't be by this Summer either. Why bother relaunch in late June? The very fact that you have to "relaunch" your system due to poor sales just reminds people of how poorly it did in the first place. What do you all think this will accomplish?

 

[CptStern]

dumb move ..they cant give away the 360 in japan ..it performed so badly in fact that they sold 1/4 less this gen compared to the first xbox (which was a dismal failure)...they've even had sales where you get the 360 for about $175 US so long as you buy 2 games ..I think the grand total for the bundle was $250 US and they STILL dont sell well

 

[VictimOfScience]

they've even had sales where you get the 360 for about $175 US so long as you buy 2 games ..I think the grand total for the bundle was $250 US and they STILL dont sell well

Man! Maybe even I would have bought one early if they had deals like that in the US!

Wow. Just goes to show that they STILL don't know their market. I think throwing money at a dead horse could still qualify as beating it in some jurisdictions, right?

 

[CptStern]

I think japanese gamers will never buy into the xbox ..it doesnt matter what they offer. japanese gamers attach a stigma to microsoft and the xbox ..to them it will always be a western style fps platform which doesnt interest them ..it's time for M$ to pack it up and admit their loss in that market

 

[destrukt]

..it's time for M$ to pack it up and admit their loss in that market

i would say it's the gamers of japan's loss, not microsoft's.

 

[CptStern]

I dont agree ..how is it a loss when none of the games appeal to them?

it's like selling the ps3 in north america but only offering japanese style games

 

[VictimOfScience]

i would say it's the gamers of japan's loss, not microsoft's.

Ha! Yeah, they're missing out on FFXI!!! Oh wait...

You just aren't going to find any of the RPG (not shooter-style) goodness or the seriously quirky Japanese weirdness titles on a Microsoft platform and that is their hugest mistake. They are trying to offer Japan what they offer the rest of the world and I can't believe that they haven't figured out what a piss-poor plan that is.

 

[Kangy]

If Microsoft were sensible, they'd focus on getting North America and Europe before considering Japan. Even then it'll take a while, but then at least they can use those markets to support the Japanese one.

 

[ChiChi]

The 360 has three games going for it in Japan

N3
Lost Oddesy
Blue Dragon

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Xbox will always fail in Japan, which is the largest console gaming market in the world. But not with microsoft. Work it out, Sony is a japanese company. The playstation was born and bred there, and thats where their heart lies. Sony will always have that portion of the market and control console gaming globally, its just how it is.

 

[Sainku]

They should wait till some of the japanese style rpgs microsoft goes on about come out. Maybe sell them in a pack with system. I really doubt microsoft will ever break into the japanese market though.

 

[CptStern]

yet it's a complete failure. The sold half as much xbox360s on launch day then they did the first xbox which itself was a dismal failure

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360-japan-launch-guide/index.php

 

[Venmoch]

dumb move ..they cant give away the 360 in japan ..it performed so badly in fact that they sold 1/4 less this gen compared to the first xbox (which was a dismal failure)...they've even had sales where you get the 360 for about $175 US so long as you buy 2 games ..I think the grand total for the bundle was $250 US and they STILL dont sell well

Thats mainly due to a largely anti-westen look at consumer electronics though.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Thats mainly due to a largely anti-westen look at consumer electronics though.

If Microsoft would spend more of its money figuring out what games sell in that territory rather than trying to push the games that are popular in the West on them, then they might be able to actually make a dent in the Japanese market. Its not just anti-western electronic--its anti-western games. They want weirdo mosquito dating sims and games that let you play the fast food soda jerk, not sci-fi shooters and (Western) sports titles ad nauseum.

It comes down to games and MS has never had them over there and seemingly never will. They are too stubborn to change their tried and false formula. Of course, MS has never been known for their hardware either which doesn't help. As I have said before, they should (IMHO) stick to what they know best: software and let others take the losses for the hardware while they sell sell sell to everybody! (That of course goes against the ideology of getting a Windows device in every living room on the planet though, so that will never happen.)

 

[OCybrManO]

Have any of the people using the "anti-Western culture" excuse (not just on this forum) for the Xbox selling poorly ever actually been to Japan? They seem to be fascinated with just about everything but our electronics (with some exceptions, like the iPod) and video games. So, that's not the issue. The problem would be equivalent to Sony trying to sell the PS3 in America with a game lineup composed almost entirely of Hello Kitty, anime, etc... with no racing games, no football games, and only one semi-realistic FPS to be released a few months later. Would you expect the American audience to camp outside stores for an entire day to get their hands on that? No. Microsoft is trying to use a fork to eat soup. They don't have the right tools to sell the Xbox in Japan.

 

[destrukt]

Have any of the people using the "anti-Western culture" excuse (not just on this forum) for the Xbox selling poorly ever actually been to Japan? They seem to be fascinated with just about everything but our electronics (with some exceptions, like the iPod) and video games. So, that's not the issue.

lol, anyone else amused by these few lines ?

you say that they do like the western culture, then you say that they don't like our electronics but what we're discussing are electronics [x360], so those who are saying that they are anti-western or whatever are right, as i'm fairly certain they're talking about the x360 and not about clothes, cars, food or whatever.

 

[OCybrManO]

Why don't they like our products? Have you seen their stuff? If not, you have no idea. American electronics tend to lag behind the Japanese/Korean/etc market.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Guys, its not even that they're anti-Western (I should clarify) in the sense that they hate Western culture because we all know that is far from the truth. The real issue is that they just don't give a crap about most Western games. Pretty simple really. Unless you have spent any significant amount of time in japan, you have NO IDEA what sort of games they have there that are completely fun and exciting for that audience whereas we would laugh and shake our heads in utter confusion at the seeming ridiculousness of them. Most of them never see the light of day beyond those borders.

I am just glad that some developers are bringing games that are distinctly unique and original and very different from the typical Western videogame stereotype to these shores like Okami and Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari Damacy such. These titles demonstrate that creative thinking and art can make a game infinitely more engrossing than any amount of gibbing aliens hordes could. What the West needs is more of that same free-thinking. The East, however, doesn't need recycled sports titles and mindless bump-mapped fps fragging. <--MS's mistake.

 

[Direwolf]

I wouldn't over-sell Japanese game makers. For every average FPS on the American market, theres another Japanese horse-racing game, or something equally unattractive to us.

 

[VictimOfScience]

I wouldn't over-sell Japanese game makers. For every average FPS on the American market, theres another Japanese horse-racing game, or something equally unattractive to us.

At least its something different (if unappealing) to us. There doesn't seem to be anything they won't think of. Publishers and developers alike over there have no problem when it comes to strange subject matter that might be outlandish. Over here its really different with the bottom line being the most important factor most of the time and innovation going the way of the dodo. Thank goodness for Nintendo (Hmm...a Japanese company :O)!

 

[Lt. Drebin]

dumb move ..they cant give away the 360 in japan ..it performed so badly in fact that they sold 1/4 less this gen compared to the first xbox (which was a dismal failure)...they've even had sales where you get the 360 for about $175 US so long as you buy 2 games ..I think the grand total for the bundle was $250 US and they STILL dont sell well

Assuming your data is accurate, I wouldn't be surprised to see MS pull out of the Japanese market. When the Rev and PS3 arrive, providing the type of gaming that they crave, things will only get worse for the 360. These numbers prove that MS does not provide the Japanese market with what it wants.

It's incredible how different our tastes in gaming truely are. To them, it's all about gameplay and just having a good time playing the game. There's so much emphasis on the technology over here.....not saying that we don't like great games here, but aside from technological achievements where else does the 360 push the gameplay envelope beyond the original XBox? We had the XBox Live before....granted it's been revamped, but the basic online gameplay was there. And, don't get me wrong, XBox Live is second to none. It's the best at what it does for now. But what else? For the most part, it's been games we've already played before in some form or another. My guess, is that's how they view the 360......without the proper support in the Japanese market, it's a been there-done that console to them. Further...the approach may even be insulting to a degree as MS and it's developers insinuate that what works over here will undoubtedly work there. Not so.

I'm not saying that the PS3 isn't going to essentially be the same thing, but it will sell better....no doubt. That's a strange contradiction, but clearly the difference is in the Japanese market's exclusive developers/games. 360 does not have that and the original didn't develope it much either. I have a feeling that the Rev is going to be in a different stratosphere in Japan.

 

[CptStern]

the thing is that the japanese market has never been interested in western gaming ..we're too hung up on shooting games and that's just not their thing. Japan doesnt need western gaming, they do well with their own