Why Do Japanese Gamers Hate Xbox So Much?

The author wonders why it has always been so difficult to sell an Xbox console in the Land of the Rising Sun. National loyalty, perhaps?

[ritsuka666]

Consoles are in decline in japan a longgg time ago. Nothing new here.

[MrSwankSinatra]

Consoles may be in decline, but the fact of the matter is that console software sales are still healthy.

[xHeavYx]

I think hate is a strong word, I'd just say they don't care for it

[dirkdady]

Well I think like the person below said they just don't care for it. To an extent that's the same case in Europe and even here in the states where it's been selling lower than the Xbox 360 month over month.

[Army_of_Darkness]

isn't it obvious?? MS was the direct competition to Apple and you know how most Asians love their apple products ;-)
... Except me, I'm with Samysunnnn..

[badz149]

@xHeavYx

Just what I came here to say. I think it's kinda childish to even think that if your product doesn't sell, it must be because the people there hate you.

The PS3 have like half the 360's install base in the USA. Does that mean the people of USA hate the PS3? Not just because they prefer the 360 more?

[ShinMaster]

@ article

Not caring is not the same thing as "hate".
____

@ MrSwankSinatra

Not true. Each console generation has sold more than the previous one:

SNES + Genesis = 80mil
N64 + PSX + Saturn = 147mil
GC + PS2 + Xbox + DC = 212mil
Wii + PS3 + X360 = 266mil

Console sales are not on the decline.

[Dir_en_grey]

They don't hate it, they just don't care for it.
This is due to MS's bad track record for the XBox brand.

For the original XBox period, everybody had a PS2 and plenty of software kept coming for PS2 but not so much for XBox. Then MS quickly cut support even before they announced 360 in Japan.

People learned that MS doesn't really support their products til the end from the original XBox, so 360 started slow. Plus there are some niche games but not enough. It's fine just like any other system when it starts, but the news of RRoD struck and that made less faith in MS.
Again MS quickly dropped support for 360 in Japan even way before the XBone announcement.

So you have the short support period for 2 generations, and that RRoD product distrust still lingering in people's minds. Even the most faithful are gonna stop believing in MS.

They pushed for Kinect, which most Japanese small homes can't even use, and now no games for XBone and no future support announced. While the competition is promising and actually showing better quality for their products.

I ask you who in their right mind would choose an XBone over the competition over there. They are not even picking XBone over the comp in the West.

Stupid people need to stop blaming Japanese culture or whatnot because that is their own prejudice and xenophobia for not wanting to admit the obvious.

So that is 100% why Japanese don't buy Xbox's. Because they want to buy a better product that gives them more money for their buck, just like everybody else in the world, and that is the truth.

[Gamer1982]

previous generations Sony and Nintendo had better games aimed at Japanese audience. So people go to what they know. Xbox no long has the price advantage in the land of the rising sun either like last generation nor are they paying for a bunch of exclusives like blue dragon etc in a bid to try to push Japanese sales. I think MS are finding its harder than it seems to build a "brand". You cannot just invest a crap load into timed exclusives the generation before and then hope people come back out of loyalty the next generation.

[UltraNova]

@shin

The only people who say/believe (need to believe)consoles are dying are PC elitists and people invested in other gaming mediums ex, mobile gaming ...indeed console sales increase gen after gen with no signs of stopping.

[PONTIAC08G8GT]

Because it's American...

LOL jk, but who knows. Personally I don't care.

[gangsta_red]

I think one of the main reasons is PS and Nintendo are such established brands in Japan and Xbox really doesn't have the games that appeal to the Japanese gamer.

Not to mention their console designs are aesthetically unpleasing to the eye. There always this huge box like contraption that just seems clunky. Especially the first 360 which sounded like a jet engine when you turned it on.

MS should have went with a different design and focused on getting better and more exclusive Japanese games for their system if they wanted any type of success in Japan.

[URNightmare]

It's not the console, but the people in charge of the console. If I don't own an Xbox console is purely because of the way Microsoft handles product and the way they do business and think that making a game like Tomb Raider is going to make me go buy an Xbox One is plain stupid. It's moves like that one that makes me stay away from anything Microsoft related.

They have a very militant way of doing business and I won't support crap like that.

[darthv72]

to each their own.

[Kemo_Spear]

Well said and a bubble up for you good gamer.

[IVanSpinal]

too much drama freddy

[tinynuggins]

I feel the same way about sony. I know exactly what you mean. But yeah, to each his own.

[morganfell]

Here is more proof that gameskinny is staffed by dullards. They remind me of these Social Justice Warriors that attack people for not supporting their latest cause. They don't just attack people that oppose them but they also go after those that are indifferent. That is the case with Japanese gamers and the Xbox. Indifference.

Like those in the SJW world, gameskinny fails to see that not supporting something is a far cry from hating something.

[Macdaddy71]

Please info US of the bad business MS has done that stop you from buying X1?" So Sony telling all there lies are good business??? Guess you was the one that hated MS for online only, n went bought ps4 and now Sony pushing online more then MS has ever had!!!! Or maybe your one that thinks the ps4 has this so called more power!!!
I bet one of mine if not both ps4 n X1 I Own!!! That you Can Not give ONE good reason you don't like MS other then what you have read or been told!!!! Nothing you claim have you had to deal with first hand!!!!

[Prime157]

@macdaddy,

Examples why you might hate EITHER COMPANY:

-Microsoft's PR is great: and it's usually nothing better than industry standard.
-Sony's great products and putting other's down. They did this with ps1 and cds (what brought Sony into consoles) and they did it with blu-ray.
-which leads into the arrogance of Sony... comments from Ken, especially, and boyes and house.
-Microsoft's inability to pledge to a studio by buying it's talent, see also, "buying exclusivity" from third parties.
-Sony's buying of first party studios that created "exclusive buyings."

Eh, let's add to the list... to each their own, AS USUALLY it's just opposite sides of the spectrum of views.

Screw it, let's just create a massive list of dislikes of either.

[VforVideogames]

Easy there cowboy.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Has more to do with what has MS done to gaming in Japan that one can only find on a MS system?

Timed games don't mean crap to them...

For them to win Japan, they needed YEARS AGO to have studios ONLY catering to Japan to the highest level. The trash I saw coming from MS Japan was just a sad mess.

Mistwalker is the closest thing to "good" that one can get from what they did in Japan and MS doesn't own the damn team nor many of its IPs.

ie They own the Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey IP yet still released a damn DS version of Blue Dragon...I mean good lord at least make a damn stand and TRY to get them over to you, instead they got greedy and merely ported it to them.

Thus...you don't need to own a 360 to play Blue Dragon, a DS version exist. They didn't even buy the damn team.

MS seems to want to have their cake and eat it too.

They don't want to keep it on 360, they don't want to have to buy a well known team...yet they want PS and Wii type sales in Japan. Dear lord give me a break.

MS is doing bad in Japan, because they've yet to really sacrifice to make an effort to really OWN Japan.

Example....what long running Japanese IP do you buy a MS system to get EVERY GEN?

[headblackman]

that crap of logic is the dumbest thing ive ever heard. what a load of crap. you not like microsoft and the xbox brand has nothing to do with any of their business practices at all. you're just a slave to brand called the playstation. it's ok to just say that instead of reaching for false b.s reasons to hate on the xbox brand. we already see right through you guys that do this crap. you hold on to crap that never happened and you spend all day reading articles and twisting words to make them sound has horrible as you possibly can and only your fellow followers of the same brand leach onto this load of crap.

cut that bull out and get back to gaming and stop worrying about a system that you have never had any plans to ever care about. it makes you all of these other loyalists look very sad and pathetic

[breakpad]

it is very simple in JApan they can tell the difference between quality and shit(Japan companies still respect the consumer) ...if halo CE didnt exist the whole Xbox brand would be dead by now, but that first game had so much potential and it was so good that managed to sell MS consoles for 3 generations....in JApan the FPS genre generally are not their favor even the good ones so dont wont wonder that all off their consoles were failures there

[morganfell]

headblackman,

Stop, just stop. Your post history is replete with your beating the Microsoft drum. One post after another. There is nothing wrong with that but at least have the character to admit you are doing something for which you denigrate others.

Pot, meet kettle.

[maniacmayhem]

@UR

I'll never understand this way of thinking especially when MS is going out of their way to provide their Xbox users games for this gen.

What does the way MS does business have anything to do with the games they have available?

[mark3214uk]

its Microsoft they dont like not the console

[mrpsychoticstalker]

They don't like America

[Magicite]

they dont hate on xbox, they simply dont care, as do europeans.

[Gravity_DoGG]

wtf?

[aceitman]

that gaming tax kick some serious gamers butt, that was when the decline hit bad.

[ajax17]

They're too busy playing their 3DS'

[user7402931]

its not just the japanese, its a huge chunk of all of the gaming community.

[matrixman92]

Do you troll on every article you post to? Seeing your one bubble and recent comments makes me believe so

[Starbucks_Fan]

They like Playstation and Nintendo more

[Gardenia]

Japanese like different kind of games which are on the Nintendo and Sony systems. They don't need anything else

[BrandanT]

The Xbox 360 was unreliable. It broke often; a lot of experienced the "Red Ring of Death." It didn't have many games that appealed to the RPG loving Japanese.
The Xbox One is self explanatory.

[Majin-vegeta]

Simple MS really has no games that interest them.

[Gravity_DoGG]

Xbox has no games ^^

[All_Consoles]

Scalebound, d4, a few other Japanese games and graphic novels

[Gravity_DoGG]

I see you didn't get it..

[SegaGamer]

This is exactly what it is. It's no secret that Xbox consoles have always been aimed at the west. It's probably why i have never been the biggest fan of Microsoft's consoles.

I love my JRPG's, and i love Japanese games, the other consoles have a lot of them, Microsoft consoles not so much.

I hated the original Xbox, to me it's the worst console i have ever played on, and it's because of the games. They just didn't appeal to me. My favourite game on the Xbox wasn't even originally an Xbox game and that game was Shenmue 2. I love the Xbox 360 though, it doesn't have as many JRPG's as i would like but it's still a very very good console.

[annoyedgamer]

They don't they just gravitate to homemade items. And even then Sony isn't doing so well at the moment even considering they are a Japanese company. Nintendo seems to be faring the best out of the 3.

[LightDiego]

Again, IOS it's huge in Japan, this argument that "japanese just like homemade items" is not true.

[Evilsnuggle]

North America and Europe where console starving . Sony and Microsoft took to long to release a new console. Some console gamers moved on to pc . Most console gamers don't buy handheld. 3DS in the North American is marketed as children's toy .

But in Japan handheld and mobile has always been popular. The Japanese gamers buy hardware that has the games they want to play be it console or handheld. When PS4 and Wiiu get a big library of games. Console hardware sell will increase.

[Eonjay]

Hate is always too strong of a word. Some are just unaware it exists. They probably are objective when choosing their consoles. The check out the specs, and also the games. It is also fair to say that Sony completely sabotaged them with their pre TGS conference. Sony unveiled a pure Japanese centric lineup just days before and the Xbox One just can't match that.

Instead of blaming the gamer, blame the platform.

Also, the one gamer, who was interviewed by half a dozen journalists said that he believes the 360 had reliability issues and that turned off a lot of Japanese gamers.

[Concertoine]

True to an extent. Even if the Xbox is behind in power and games, that shouldn't give it sales THIS bad. There is a deep-rooted problem with the Xbox name over there, and one that is likely irreversible.

It comes down to a stigma that has existed since the brand made it's debut there: Microsoft fails to provide for the Japanese audience. They focus on the other markets a lot, they make a ton of shooters and racers and stuff like that. In Japan they buy a few perfunctory exclusives with big names like Shin Megami Tensei and Monster Hunter, then throw up their hands when they fail to sell on a name alone. Then they charge an extremely small licensing fee and the console is flooded with visual novels and bullet hell shooters.

The original Xbox had the potential to succeed there. Sega tried to negotiate a deal to include BC with the Dreamcast which would've been huge. Hell, they almost bought Sega which also would've given them a direct link to the Japanese market, a name they could recognize. But it wasn't to be, and one failed Xbox in Japan led to another, and likely another. "Fool me once..." is the mentality.

[darthv72]

when people look at the original xbox, it failed to catch on in the JP market due to Ms pushing forward ahead of the competition with a successor rather soon. How is a consumer to have confidence in a product if the parent company is releasing a followup that makes the first one obsolete in just a few years? And im talking about the game platform not products in general.

The 360 was superior to the original in so many ways and the sales of the system and its games proved it was a better investment than the original. it was the Genesis to the Master system so to speak.

Regardless of the system catering to the culture...the stigma was basically, if Ms abandonded the original so soon, then they would likely do it to the 360. but that didnt happen in the same sense but yet the JP consumer was still apprehensive in spite of the system getting some really good games over there.

So if anything, you would think the Jp consumer would look at the xb1 and give it a 2nd chance since they saw how long the 360 remained on the market in relation to the original. but you cant fault an entire territory for having their own belief system when it comes to consumer electronics.

personally i see it as, if they buy they will find something to enjoy and be entertained. if they dont well that's their choice. it wont stop others from buying and enjoying it in other territories. What works in one region is not the same for another and there is no rule that says it must.

to each their own.

[TFJWM]

@darthv72 "Ms abandonded the original so soon, then they would likely do it to the 360. but that didnt happen in the same sense"

The did abandon the 360 thou, what exclusives have come out for it that any Japanese gamer would want in the last 4-5 years?

[MeliMel]

Hallelujah man....

[BitbyDeath]

Sony launched with games like -

Natural Doctrine
Tottemo E Mah-Jong
Dynasty Warriors 8
Final Fantasy XIV
Yakuza: Ishin
Dream Club
Nikori no Sudoku

Xbox had nothing of value, just western stuff which is mostly all available on PS4 too.

[Loktai]

Well I Could see forza being a good title its just that because so few 360s sold nobody trusts that franchise so its overlooked.

[DigitalRaptor]

There is no simple answer. It's one of many things:

1) Xbox is primarily a western console, made for the most western of households i.e. America, UK, Europe. The history and culture of both Sony and Nintendo consoles has been shaped by strong and memorable Japanese games like Mario, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Shadow of the Colossus and Smash Bros. An absolute crap ton of them over the years.

Microsoft's history in the console market is shaped by western franchises, and they've barely ever made an effort to go global from the offset.

2) Microsoft doesn't provide enough compelling content for that demographic. They need to produce more than just a small selection on in-house Japanese exclusives, if they even do that already. I'm not so sure.

3) Microsoft's style of marketing will NEVER, EVER work for the Japanese market, and it will be a while before Microsoft sees the need to invest into understanding that market. And since Xbone is an absolute flop there they won't be shifting their resources into that, for sure.

4) The appeal is the all-in-one box with Kinect functionality. It wasn't optimised for the Japanese market or the majority of a Japanese households.

5) Microsoft's attitude and decisions this gen have caused a massive PR disaster for their brand even within their home market, and the Japanese consumers and gamers that are switched on to the industry, will know how they have behaved towards consumers for the past year and a half. And to them, that is not a pretty prospect to invest into, especially when there is a 100% better option for them waiting in PS4 or even Wii U.

I could probably go on, but it doesn't come down to "HATE" as the primary factor. In this case that's just a really primitive argument.

[4logpc]

I dont think they hate it. Its simply not for them. I don't hate the PLaystation Vita, there just isn't any software that appeals to me, therefor I dont buy it. Its the same thing with Xbox One in Japan. If there's no software, there's no reason to buy it.

[Loktai]

Well said, and thats coming from someone who loves the unfortunately named VITA. I still maintain if it were named PSP2 It would have sold twice as many by now.... people have no idea what a VITA even is half the time. Great RPGs etc though.

[Godmars290]

How about they just don't care about it?

[DigitalRaptor]

Microsoft needs to gain some good will by showing the people who represent the brand actually care about the Japanese market by creating in-house Japanese content like Sony and Nintendo did from the very start of their console ventures. And buying Japanese games isn't enough, because we all know how that ends and how the market responds to it.

Sure, if they put up the money for a revered franchise like SHENMUE then that would be a good start, but Microsoft - time and time again - has shown they are not ready to commit to this industry in the same way that demands respect from a global audience. With the money they have compared to the competition, they could provide the best and most diverse library of first-party exclusive games. I don't get it.

That would (naturally) gain them fans worldwide and at least be an attempt to gain an unbeatable global fanbase. Instead, they buy short-term exclusives and don't invest to show the people they expect to buy their consoles that they are serious. Microsoft are not serious about Japan, they don't provide the kind of diverse content that they enjoy, and that is why Japanese gamers are APATHETIC towards the brand and likely always will.

[MasterCornholio]

Microsoft doesn't give them the gaming experience that they are looking for. It has nothing to do with Xenophobia like some people are saying.

[cyclindk]

Hating something and not having reason to LIKE something are different things

[Max-Zorin]

They just like Apple more.

[incendy35]

Kind of surprised they don't eat up Kinect, probably due to their room sizes being so small because normally that is the type of product that does extremely well in japan.

[Spotie]

And what are you basing that asinine comment off of?

[incendy35]

Based off of visiting Japan. They love games that involve moving around, arcades are still huge there especially Dancing games. And yes, in their culture they typically have very tiny rooms. Even worse than apartments in New York haha

[jnemesh]

It's not just Japan...

[gano]

thank you.
More articles to attack a whole nother culture they dont understand.
New age american gamers are so whiney/stupid they got fbi involved in gaming.
Over something as dumb and stupid as online bullying, and
wonder why they dont wanna be invovled with that.

Talking bout drm locks and so forth, and think they wanna be invovled
in that.
The biggest game talked about is destiny, pftft lol!? really.
Hell, the jaguar is better then the box.

[DanielGearSolid]

I think they just dont like MS....

If Nintendo made an Xbox with the same exact specs, etc... They'd love it

[ColonelRex]

Maybe they would..... If it had Nintendo's games and Nintendo's reputation.

[Loktai]

Apathy does not equal HATE.

[Ark_]

... indifferent, not hatefull.

[HanzoHattori]

It has nothing to do with Japanese people buying only Japanese products. Apple products are doing just fine. There are several problems with the Xbox brand.

1. They lack quality games
Both Nintendo and Sony have a history of having large, diverse libraries of games.

2.Xbox has never tried to create games that Japanese gamers would be interested in. Instead, they try to sell the same mediocre games that flopped in the west. Crappy games are still crappy games in any language.

3.No marketing strategy. The marketing strategy or lack of one is symptomatic of problems 1 and 2.

Xenophobia is hardly the problem with Xbox. The problem lies in an unwillingness to deal with the reasons why Xbox One isn't as successful as other consoles.

[mochachino]

I read an interview the other day with a japanese person who bought an xone. When asked why he thinks the system isn't more popular he responded that it had a bad reputation for poor quality hardware.

One theory is that RROD was kind of seen as unforgivable in Japan.

[Patrick_pk44]

Xbox only has Western games.

[Miacosa]

It's not hate but rather that it does not provide much value to them and the available titles are not very attractive to the Japanese public.

[qwerty676]

lol an article like this pops up like everytime the new xbox launches in japan.

and the same things get said year after year after year.

[G20WLY]

...and yet they don't launch an xbox in Japan every year... ;^/

[aerisbueller]

The US and Japan are united in their hatred of XBox One.

But in all seriousness, if anyone wasn't convinced XBox One wasn't worth having by the time it dropped in the US, imagine watching from Japan as failure after failure, and backtrack after backtrack, 180 after 180 this entire past year. Giving the world a year to let most gamers' negative opinions of X1 fester and really sink in.

I'd assume that any fence sitters long ago decided to get a PS4 since it's a trusted brand for gamers with japanese sensibilities, and XBox camp has been a full time bad news factory this past year.

And before any XBox fans attack about the bad news comment - no, I don't think reversing unpopular policies after a year of customer complaints is the type of good news that sells systems.

[gamer4lifeyo]

Same reason they didn't like xbox original and the 360

[hkgamer]

tehy dont hate the xbone. they just have no interest in it.

maybe if they sold it around $100 less than the ps4 then it may sell over there. xbone and ps4 games are going to be very similar so why would they bother with xbone when ps4 has all the japanese games?

would like to add that the 360 was sold at a ridiculously cheap price in japan. think it was cheapest there than most other places which is strange since japan normally charges a lot for gaming.

[DivineHand125]

IMO the reason why the xbox one or consoles in general are not doing well in Japan is because:

1) They are too expensive and there are too many cheaper options on the market.

2) Not enough games are being released on consoles that appeal to them. If there are more games that appeal to them on other cheaper platforms then the decision is easy.

[coolcal]

The east are not stupid like we our in the west. They have sense enough not to let a western console Dominate in there territory. This is one of the small reasons why I will always support a western console. Xbox represents the west to the fullest!! Gaming started here and it will end here…in the Westside.

[ShaunCameron]

Explain Apple's success there then. Not a game company but still!

[Adolph Fitler]

They know a hunk of sh1t when they see ONE... They have superior taste, & are smarter.

[ShaunCameron]

Try indifference. Maybe they see Microsoft's consoles as pointless with whatever exclusives they have as "whatever!"

[sAVAge_bEaST]

Japan, = birth place of Video Games.\\\

Micro$oft, = done. son.. xboxdone.

[quenomamen]

Hate, Hate ? I hate Broccoli, people hate terrorism, most people hate Hitler for WW2.
Japanese don't hate the X1, they just don't like what it offers. This guy needs to look up the meaning of the word Hate.

[sebzhd]

inferior xbox one stay inferior everywhere, US, UK, Europe Japan or world.
PS4 is the intelligent choice.

[rigo8582]

Must be the cultures have shifted over the years. When I was younger during I liked JRPGs and most of the good games were always from Japan. Before the xbox came console games were dominated by Japanese centric games. I remember when software and hardware was released first in japan then localized months or years later in the US.

As I've gotten older I my taste has changed quite a bit. Now I would rather play Halo instead of Final Fantasy. Also for me I've disliked many of the games from the Japanese IPs as of late.

Microsoft never really had a chance in Japan. I think if they sell a million or so consoles and be profitable it good for them.

[mhunterjr]

I think it's more indifference than it is hatred. They don't care for consoles in general, and The xbox brand isn't known for securing the content that Japanese people want to consume

[madjedi]

The newest systems from both nintendo and sony aren't even hitting 10k a week in japan, it isn't just a slight against the xbox brand.

As a potential market for consoles japan is essentially irrelevant to both ms and sony vs the global market, it's either handheld gaming(which is shrinking) or mobile games.

The only relevancy from japan are games and developers, hence why sony basically released the ps4 to most of the world and then japan.

[RosweeSon]

I love all this when an argument isn't going people's way it must be the website to blame because the websites views are biased even tho your actually referring to individual peoples comments ie their opinions, of course you don't have to take these on board but if you don't even look into them read and see what people are saying you've only got yourself to blame when you realise 3 months later that youve bought the wrong console. Hey ho ;) if this many people are saying it sort of goes you an idea.

[rousseau88]

Actualy japan hate the new generation here stats according to survey made by dualshockers

PS4
- 7.9% plans to buy one
- 21% don't wish to have one but are interested
- 71% will never buy one

ONE
- 3.5% plans to buy one
- 11.5% are interested
- 85% will never buy it

For MS nothing to be suprised but for Sony in its owns country is something to be worried.

[Nilla_Nate]

Japan is really getting away from consoles and is way more into mobile gaming.

[Gore-Content]

gameskinny, my favorite a******

[bligmerk]

The Japanese don't hate XBO because it is beautiful. They hate it because it is an obsolete piece of junk, plus way too big and ugly for their smaller spaces.

[CorndogBurglar]

They just don't like the Gaijinbox. Thats all. They didn't like Gainjinbox 360. Now they don't like Gaijinbox One.

Japan is notorious for not liking "outsiders".

[MaximusPrime_]

they don't hate it, they just not interested

[Nilla_Nate]

Pretty disappointing to see American gamers accept Japanese consoles with open arms but Japanese gamers don't share the same hospitality. PS4 isn't THAT much better of a system. Kinda reminds me of how America opens their arms to other cultures but other cultures don't welcome Americans into theirs.

[TransientDreamer]

Hate is such a strong word.