Why Did Xbox 360 Fail in Japan?

The Xbox 360 has been a failure in Japan, which is strange when you consider how much it dominates the North American market, as well as parts of Europe. The console is unlikely to cross the two million sold mark in Japan (which is how much the original Xbox sold there), and has been soundly outsold by its competitors in the form of Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3. It continues to see terrible sales, and many stores in Japan carry neither the console or games for the console today in 2013.

[iGAM3R-VIII]

simply because Sony and Nintendo got in their way, you can't handle the top consoles

[iGAM3R-VIII]

especially since they are sold in their own territory

[black911]

this video explains why?

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Insomnia_84]

Because japanese people are not dumb and like good quality products. That simple.

[ShinMaster]

And not everyone cares enough about Halo, Gears or having to pay to play online.

Sometimes it's just not worth the extra purchase when most of your gaming needs are already met with a PlayStation and Nintendo system.

[Gaming101]

It isn't "strange that Xbox was successful on NA but not Japan", not if you understand world cultures and how they differ. The PS3's messaging was much strong in Japan and Europe, however the UK and US were extremely put off by some of the messaging which didn't translate properly from Japanese with the translators, and of course they sought out to destroy Sony at every turn upon release of the PS3.

The 360, on the other hand, had nothing Japanese people were interested in, and much of Europe found the overly testosterone fueled target market to be off-putting, so of course the 360 didn't fare as well. It's all about your messaging and your target markets. It's extremely difficult to be all things to all people, especially when you have fierce competition, and it's what has plagued both the PS3 and 360 this generation.

[nukeitall]

Keiji put it right on the spot, nationalism!

Does american cars sell well in Japan? Short answer, NO!

How does american cars sell in China? Yes, very well! That is because the chinese are still upset at the japanese occupation.

Simply put, if there is no competitor then the Japanese will pick american product, see Windows and iPhone. If there are, then they will generally choose their own stuff, unless it has significant brand name value attach to it i.e. prestigious.

Apple iPhones are like that, they commend a certain oh, ah and cost a bundle.

Yes, Japanese people are shallow too and do buy overpriced, low quality products as well as long as it has a brand name on it.

They often flood the US, mostly the factory outlets scouring for deals on brand name emblazoned products too.

See, we humans aren't that different in different parts of the world!

[darthv72]

it sold more than the 1st xbox so does that still count as a fail?

Whatever the speculative reason may be, the overall growth of the xbox brand is significant. Before xbox, I would always see PS referenced in movies and tv but then again, those shoes/movies were most likely produced by sony pictures. Nothing wrong with a little free advertising.

But since xbox and most importantly, the 360, I have been seeing the 360 in tv shows and movies. Could it be MS paid the studios to use their product or could it just be a sign of the times in popular culture? I mean that is what "popular" culture is about. What is popular at the time.

One thing is certain though, from a collectors POV the obscurity of JP only titles for the 360 make them more $$ and sought after. I just recently picked up DoDonPachi Resurrection for the 360. That game was never released domestically in the US but it was in EU and JP and it is a very good game that plays on US systems. I recommend it for any serious SHMUP fan.

[Dir_en_grey]

Here's the same report on a Japanese game site which people can use google translate if they want to read what real Japanese gamers have to say in the comment section below the report:
http://jin115.com/archives/...

Basically disagreeing with Inafune on the patriotic claim, and listed why they just simply didn't buy a worse product.

Most of them listed things such as:

Issue of trust due to Microsoft's lack of and how fast it stopped support for Japan on the original Xbox;
Failure rate, RROD added to the untrustworthiness of the already bad Xbox brand;
360 was also known for scratching up disks and bad support;
Having to constantly pay for online for something that is free on PS3, yet support on content is lacking compared to the west;
Constantly paying for online does not suit the majority of the gaming audience in Japan ie students;
Having to over pay for expensive proprietary add-ons like harddrives and HD-DVD drive;
Lack of games of interest;
A few RPG's were good but the support soon stopped just like the original Xbox, as predicted;
Bonus of Blu-ray and future proofing;
All the exclusives eventually went to PS3 and had more content;
Kinect doesn't work in 90% of Japanese homes;
Don't blame this on patriotism at a country full of iphones and foreign products, you simply made a worse product;

etc...

Over 300 comments there and going

[iGAM3R-VIII]

"360 was also known for scratching up disks"

LOOL I remember I was in GameStop and this guy in line in front of me had his COD MW3 disc and the was a hugely engraved ring around the disc, and I laughed :P

[dcbronco]

Having to pay for expensive proprietary add-ons like harddrives.

Have you seen the add-ons for Vita?

That reason is a joke.

The reality is that the Japanese people are supportive of Sony because of the support Sony gave the nation after WWII. It's wasn't selling long before Kinect. It had a bunch of JRPGs. And the PS3 was not future proof. Future proof, one of the dumbest notions ever applied to a consoles. That's why there won't be a PS4 right?

[LordHiggens]

You are right on all those merits, the Japanese tend to buy the superior product...

...I'm still confused why they went with the 3DS but that's another point.

Also, love your name, Dir en Grey is amazing...Vulgar is a great album.

[Anon1974]

I think the fallout from rrod really hurt the 360's reputation in Europe and Japan, and rightly so. It still amazes me that the unit sold as well as it did in the US despite the high failure rates. Whatever happened to all those lawsuits over rrod? When people sued Sony for removing Linux support, that was all over the news. I remember there were a number of lawsuits worldwide regarding rrod and disk scratching issues, but I have no idea if these were settled, tossed out or still ongoing. Anyone know?

[rainslacker]

@dc

As I recall the Vita didn't have great sales in Japan until the recent price cut, which bundled a memory card into the package. So yeah, that excuse is perfectly valid, and one used here in the states as well for the Vita and Xbox, at least when the Xbox first released it was a big deal, no one mentions it anymore though.

[Tito08]

I agree with all points except with the first because the original Xbox made it only a little more than half a million. 360 passed it, but only reached less than 2 million after all this years.

Well, I believe Microsoft did the right thing in stopping Japanese support, because Japan wasn't buying their consoles, very few games sold well, but still didn't help them to keep up, even Kinect flopped there. So they focused all their marketing muscle on the U.S. & EU, and succeeded.

I believe the problem has nothing to do with them being an American company by looking at the success Apple achieve there. I think it has more to do with Microsoft as a whole, could be wrong, who knows, just my 2 cents.

[AWBrawler]

I agree. Japan has no interest in xbox for the same reasons i barely have interest in them. And those are the reasons

[ShinMaster]

Actually, Xbox 360 did ok in the beginning because of JRPGs and whatnot, but support was quickly dropped.
And not everyone cares enough about Halo, Gears or paying for online to buy an extra systems when all, if not most, of your gaming needs are already met with a PlayStation and Nintendo system.

PS3 was future proof because it received and continues to receive support throughout. Blu-ray also helped.

[dcbronco]

@ShinMaster

Future proof implies that it will always be on the leading edge. It was behind PCs a year later just like the 360. Unless you have a case that will be upgradable, it isn't future proof. If formats come out that it can't play, it's not future proof. No technology is future proof. The PS3 can't play 8k video. There's another thing that makes it not future proof.

[ShinMaster]

In comparison with the Xbox 360 ya moron. Not PC.

[xHeavYx]

Because they are smarter than most Americans? Lol

[showtimefolks]

japan is a home market for other 2
they are big into handheld
they are still big into arcades

they don't like to buy products that have issues like xbox360 had for first few years with RROD

paying for online

same 3-4 game franchises as exclusives throughout the console cycle

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Because The Xbox 360, its games, and its tastes, are simply built around American culture.

[Hicken]

Which is odd, because as American as I am, the 360 is actually last on my list of consoles.

Given how Sony and Nintendo have had amazingly strong showings in prior generations- despite not being very "American"- I'd say that has very little to do with it.

Instead, it's build quality, game variety, and support factor that determined why the other consoles were so successful elsewhere, and why the 360 WASN'T. To be honest, I'm amazed and rather saddened by just how willing my fellow Americans are/were to eat up the 360. They didn't put up much of a fight when it came to holding Microsoft accountable.

[Godmars290]

It didn't address the market. MS put out piles of cash to lure JP devs to the system, tried to get them to make games for it, but they didn't actually do anything to identify the brand towards the Japanese gamer.

[Mustang300C2012]

Japanese simply don't care for an American console and it isn't like the PS3 did better. It is clear the Japanese as a whole have transitioned to handheld games so I don't expect any console that isn't a 3DS to do well

[sinncross]

People need to seriously get over this notion that Japan hates 'american item'.

Japanese people love American things, especially when American clothing companies open up (and iPods/ iPhones are really popular here too).

MS just failed to aggressively address the market with expectations high for both Sony and Nintendo.

[knifefight]

Adding to your examples, whenever I ask any of my students (I'm a teacher in Japan) to name their favorite restaurant, McDonald's is far and away the most common answer.

The American flag and British Union Jack are huge fashion points over here. You'll see them on shirts, hats, handbags...it's as if you were in the US or Europe.

Every country has a touch of xenophobia and nationalism here and there, but really, this notion that Japan stays away from foreign products is simply not true.

[Aceman18]

i come to expect that way of thinking from most of my fellow americans, and that's really sad imo. majority of us just need to get over ourselves.

japan didnt buy 360 because it have interesting games that were gear towards their market. did microsoft really think shooters were going to be real big in japan?

what happened to support it with rpgs they like, after LO i really can't think of one other rpg after FF13 that was released on the console over there.

[Aceman18]

@knife

since you live and teach there, get to witness first hand how the culture is what do you make of majority of these comments here mostly from our American fellows stating otherwise?

the way the keep spouting incorrect facts is simply mind boggling. its pretty clear that Microsoft hasn't done the right things to actually do better in Japan.

if Japanese people only buy Japanese products why didn't they buy the Vita from the off? did people believe they would simply buy it because its from Sony?

[Mustang300C2012]

I said an American console not American products. MS did provide games that cator to the market it just didn't penetrate the first time because of alot of issues. The machine was too big for the first Xbox in small homes. The second was the controller itself was too big and then they came out with the S controller. Hell MS has a Japan devision that is run by a Japanese CEO for that devision and the games that are their are the same ones released for the PS3. They simply choose the Wii and PS3 over the 360 as they chose the PS2 and Gamecube over the Xbox.

Still Japan is not as big as it was years ago for consoles and proof is how the industry in that country has moved on to handhelds to where even the native consoles are struggling which we see on a weekly basis. So arguing over the weakness of Japan for Xbox really doesn't change the fact that this company saw success with those Japan studios outside the country so it was still important to get relations with developers established.

[Tito08]

I think it has nothing to do with it being an American product, since Apple is doing very good in the country. I think it has to do with Microsoft as a whole. The weak sales of the Surface, & both failed attempts with both game consoles, Kinect & Zune is pretty evident the Japanese doesn't like Microsoft.

They proved with the 360 they can be successful outside of Japan, but problem is Japan is a market that it's too hard to ignore despite having a small population compared to Europe & America, time will tell thought, but I'm not expecting Microsoft to support Japan much after 2 failed attempts in the gaming business.

[neoandrew]

It is simple, ps3 is better.

[mandf]

lack of Japanese style games.

[from the beach]

Xbox 360 utterly dominated the STG and RPG genres this gen, as well as having loads of Japanese exclusives - so no.

[CGI-Quality]

You're saying it had more than PS3.....in Japan?

[from the beach]

I didn't say that, however it could well be the case - would be interesting to see a study produced.

[Inception]

X360 dominated RPG genre this gen and having loads of japanese exclusive? Really?
Than why it doesn't have Disgaea, Valkyria Chronicles, Tales of Graces & Xillia, Persona, Kingdom Hearts, Yakuza, Ni no Kuni, or Atelier series?

Even some 360 exclusive such as Tales of Vesperia, Star Ocean 4, or Steins;Gate are not exclusive anymore.

[from the beach]

Yup, there's a list for Xbox 360 too, as I'm sure you well know.

Are you saying it didn't have loads of Japanese exclusives? I mentioned STGs as well. Fighting games.. action games.. got lists?

[Inception]

If you asking me about the list, i already provide them in my 1st post. Butttt, i DON'T see your exclusive list to proved your post that "360 utterly dominated RPG genre this gen, as well as having load of japanese exclusive".

And i donno about exclusive action games for 360 in japan. But if fighting games, 360 sure don't get Jojo's Bizzare Adventure All Star and BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma in japan (and US).

Btw, what is STG? You mean Real Time Strategic game such as Starcraft or Shogun Total War?
If Yes, i've never heard that 360 got Starcraft / Shogun Total War game in japan...

[from the beach]

You don't see my list because I haven't sat and compiled one! As I say, it would make an interesting study. Your RPG one looks a little strange, though. Kingdom Hearts? Persona?

It's bizarre to me that people think the Xbox 360 didn't have loads of Japanese exclusives, that's really all I can say.

STG means shootemups, by the way. Lookemup!

[Transporter47]

i think it's called games, no exclusives can only take you so far.

[dcbronco]

Exclusives that don't sell can only take you so far too. Look at Sony's credit rating. It's junk bond for a reason. Wasted money on some of those exclusives is part of it.

[roshi1987]

Because one of the only two profitable divisions at Sony are the reason it is junk. The other is cell phones.

Go read the news and stop feeding us garbage.

[dcbronco]

Yes, gaming is profitable again. But it wasn't for a long time. So remember the news. And the losses on those exclusives hasn't stopped. I'm sure Battle Royale and Twisted Metal lost money. Just because other things in gaming made a profit doesn't mean everything did. And things that lose money don't help Sony in their current situation. Which I'm sure you know because you read the news.

[insomnium2]

@dcbronco

WTH? These exclusives that "don't sell" has taken Sony so far to fund yet 2 another new exclusive IPs so what the hell should I (or anyone) care if they sell according to YOUR personal expectations as long as Sony sees the value in them?

[dcbronco]

Sony runs a for profit business. You can disagree all you want. But Sony is a financially struggling company that is selling assets and making cuts throughout the company. If you believe they can afford to take unnecessary losses you and the other disagreers are kidding yourselves.

That is why Zipper was closed. Kaz and Howard Stringer have said they need to change and they are making those changes. Like dropping the Cell and going with a x86 processor. Losing millions on exclusives that only a handful of fans will buy is terrible business sense. Only a fool could support it. Sony has barely avoided bankruptcy. And junk bond status is not the as easy as some of you seem to think it is.

It means Sony will basically be treated like a broke-ass poor person when they need money. High interest rates if they can even get a loan or credit line. And Sony needs those things. Everything they do needs to work. Every game that goes out of the door needs to create a profit. They can't afford to make anymore mistakes. If they continue to do so this argument will be moot because they will be in bankruptcy and you will see it really hit the fan. There will be no doubt how bad off Sony is.

Many agree with Roshi, but his comment says it all. Only two of five divisions made a profit. And neither made a huge profit. People need to wake up to reality, Sony is an extremely bad off company. I do believe the PS4 will go a long way in making major profits in gaming again, but overall, the company could still go through major changes in the near future.

[first1NFANTRY]

Because the Japanese are a very proud race who only buy quality hardware.

Also games games and more games.

[xXBlondieVanHarlowXx]

You mean they wouldn't buy a $249.99 machine so that they can stand directly in front of a camera for the soul purpose of punching fruit? :0

[BitbyDeath]

Why pick just Japan when the rest of the world neglected it too?

Wouldn't the better question be why did America support it?

[LordHiggens]

Because it's America...

The Xbox is cheaper...

America likes cheap things...it also has name brand recognition...after being out for a year early.

Cheap and Recognizable...and it plays first and third person shooters...Americans can't ask for more.

[LordHiggens]

@ Mustang....

There's a reason why the Wii outsold this generation...

Actually there's 2.

1. Old people...family men and women
2. Children

Take away those...and see how many units would have been sold...I'm sure it would be drastically different.

[Oh_Yeah]

Because its murican!...Nah truth is, people bought it because it came out first and yes alot of my fellow Americans are impatient..Then they don't take into account much other than the lower initial price point it had vs the ps3.

[Mustang300C2012]

People didn't simply buy it because it came out first. Please see the history of Dreamcast and tell me again how simply first guarantees success.
Or how after a year the Wii and PS3 release and the Wii still outsells both consoles when it wasn't released first. Come on people.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

now, no one enjoys a story of microsofts failures more than myself, but i have to give them a small amount of credit and admit that there was very little they could ever have done in order to gain ground on the JP market. Japanese culture is just a lot different from regions like EU and the US. were a lot alike in the sense that we prefer "quality before brand name". we adopt whatever comes out if we think its best for us: thats why some people in those regions bought PS3s, and some bought 360.
but in japan....the culture is just so ethnocentric. theyre mentality is a lot more stubborn than ours. theyre a lot slower to adopt things based on the name the product has on it. there is no way in a million years that an american game console was going to see success in japan. not because that console was any better or worse than its Japanese counterparts. but because the people in japan just dont want anything to do with what isnt japanese.
there was a short time during this gen where microsoft had a stronghold on some solid jrpgs. they definitely did make an effort at some point to make a small dent in the JP market, but it just didnt pay off. though i do think the ps3 is the better of the two consoles overall, microsofts struggles did not come from the fact that they built an inferior machine. they were simply dealing with a culture thats a lot more stubborn to adopt.

[glennco]

Don't talk sense around here, no one wants to know.

[Dir_en_grey]

@XXDubStepXX
In reply to your "but because the people in japan just dont want anything to do with what isnt japanese. ":

Apple's ipod (American product) dominates over Sony's walkman there in Japan. Even though the walkman have better sound quality, longer battery life and shorter charge time, it also costs about $50 more for the equivalent model and the service loses to the easy accessibility of mp3 on i-tunes and Amazon for ipods.

Amazon is another American company that is beating Japan's Rakuten for an online retail store.

There are tons and tons of examples of non-Japanese products out selling the Japanese counter parts there, and pretty much debunks your prejudiced statement.

Even you admit you think PS3 is the better of the two products, so why would you think you are the only one who can fairly judge a product, but not so just because they are Japanese?

Sounds like you are prejudiced towards them more then anything else.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

Wow, youre an idiot. theyre people you moron. not nationalist robots. of course there are several examples of products from all around the world that have infiltrated japanese culture. but to deny that japanese culture is an EXTREMELY difficult one to influence and introduce foreign goods to is really naive.

im honestly not even interested in addressing your finger pointing argument beyond that. Take an anthropology course.

[SOULJER]

Because there are alot of lollipop mother fuckers here. That's why.

[clintagious650]

In all honesty ms doesnt really know their own identity in the game industry because they just focus on whatever brings in the most money. The only thing that I can kind of credit them with is making online console gaming where it is today but other then that they arent a great company when it comes to creating their own franchise games like sony & nintendo. They just have the money to do all the talking for them which really is the only reason they are still around or they wouldve been gone after the 1st xbox.

[Trago1337]

No games of interest, as well as other things

[Max-Zorin]

This again? Really. We get it. Japan didn't care about the original Xbox, they didn't care about the 360, and they won't care about the third Xbox. No point of going through this again.

[headblackman]

all these fake reasons are so silly. let's stop dancing around the truth. the Microsoft Xbox didn't do anything in Japan because the Japanese understands that supporting foreign products deports Japanese dollars to that foreign country instead of keeping it home (unlike my simple minded American brothers and sisters) they never gave the Xbox 1 a chance and the excuses they gave for why not is because the console was black, too bulky, and it didn't fit or match anything in their Japanese living rooms which was all bull. do I say this? because the ps3 just mimicked everything that the xbox1 was (minus the the ease of development) and then the Xbox 360 was clearly better than the ps3 on most if not every level. it had the games, perfect online support,and the hardware to back it. the ps3 had an extremely slow start with the games and the Xbox was hitting the world with a phenomenal list of games. the Xbox 360 gave us first person shooters, a bunch of rpg's, sports, racers and much more. the American Xbox brand will never have a chance in japan because its not a Japanese product. now that's the real reason. I just wish to Japanese would stop lying about the reason for not supporting the American console. and the sad part about it is the way Americans actually believe these bs lies (I guess that makes them right when they call us stupid and inferior)

[T2]

Bill , Mr gates is that you ? You can drop the charadenow ... Wow lol at your prpoganda .. 360 was and is a piece of shit how many did you buy? I own one but im afraid to use it 2 years old and sounds like a hamster wheel ... Also iphone says hi ... Japanese people will buy anything thats proven quality ... You think they all have Sony tvs and phones too ill bet lol .

[headblackman]

you are so clueless. the system had its issues but every system has issues. the Xbox 360 has the rrod, the ps3 had the yrd, and the Nintendo Wii DCD drive stopped working. now granted, I'll admit the the rrod was the worst of them all because of how long the issue went on, but everyone has to admit that it truly was the complete console for games as well as social connectivity and till this day its the closest to PC's and arcades we will ever have. Microsoft gives the gamers hits after hits, unlike the ps3. the ps3 has a buttload of exclusive games and less than a hand full of good ones that actually sale. drakes uncharted and maybe little big planet. everything else bombs. that's why I honestly can't understand why they keep making the kill zone games. its like they are trying to make it something that it will never be (a halo and a call of duty). but they miss the mark every time. not because its a really bad game ,but because whenever a kill zone game releases, everything that it can or will ever do ,will have already have been done which in turn makes the game seem stale and not important (kind of like a kid that tries too hard to be like the cool kids). and when it comes to 3rd party titles the Xbox 360 always out sales the ps3 2 or 3 copies to the ps3's 1. plus the Xbox 360 will always get exclusive doc for all of the top games. so for a person with eyes and a brain to say that the Xbox 360 was a failure is either a PlayStation fanboy or crazy (which is normally the same in the world of PlayStation). and as for the iPhone, by Japan supporting the iPhone they in turn was still supporting japan, because the majority of the parts in the iPhone was all made by Japanese developers and also made in Japan (can you say Samsung???) so make no mistake aboutthis situation. the Japanese only support what will keep money in Japan. Americans are the only idiots that don't do this. this is just one of the many reasons why america is in the financial troubles that its in.

[livealie25]

Not to sound like an ass but thanks for making us Americans look bad... You do realize Japan buys plenty of products from the U.S. right? (We obviously buy more from them though) It's just their own opinion of which console they want to buy and they prefer the PS3 man. I prefer both consoles plus PC because I enjoy playing whatever I like, even though most people on this website will say it's because I'm American and like to spend money haha

[headblackman]

no they don't. where did you get a joke like thwt? the only thing American the Japanese will support without hesitation is our music. and as far as making Americans look bad, they do that all by themselves without me shinning the spotlight on the flaws. the truth always hurts, so don't blame me for mentioning the elephant in the room. you may dance around the truth and the clear obvious, but I don't and never will. I'm a realist and I call a duck a duck and a spade a spade. Japan had no reason to not support weather of the Xbox consoles at all. especially the Xbox 360. Microsoft did everything right while bending over backwards to please and cater to the japanese market. they had a killer line of rpg's, they made the system white (which they claim that the black was intimidating), they game them ungodly amounts of price cuts (something that the strong supporting Americas didn't even get), they even in listed a lot of help and support of most if not all of the Japanese developers for their help. so Microsoft did everything right, but still got the bad end of the deal. but only in Japan. there is no real excuse for that but the one I stated earlier which is 100% accurate. Its an american made product which will take money from the country and the Japanese are smart enough to support their own unless its something that their own doesn't or cannot supply. the PlayStation 3 is doing everything that the Xbox is doing but the PlayStation 3 sales for doing the something. not something better, but the same exact thing. hmmmm??? where is this not questionable? PlayStation has been copying Microsoft this whole generation and have underachieved at every duplicate, but in Japan is being praised for the very something that they disregarded Microsoft for doing. wow.

[Bhuahahaha]

another reason is japanese people hate it when you have to pay twice just playing online heck most of the global consumer does too. only in america that the consumer is more forgiving for letting them rob of their hard earn cash more than twice and still praising the said company/publisher

[livealie25]

I'm not forgiving and i definitely do not "praise" a company, but thanks for the stereotype. Just making yourself look like a douche along with the people who agree with you.