160°

Xbox Japan Head On Painful Past, Brighter Future

Nowadays, the Xbox 360 is finally beginning to fill out the (admittedly low) expectations Microsoft had for it in Japan. The company shifted its millionth console in the region last month, and hardware sales have continually expanded year-over-year since the 2005 launch. "I really feel like we're expanding now," says Sensui.

GiantEnemyCrab5468d ago (Edited 5468d ago )

This guy shouldn't even have a job! Mr. Bright Future has been talking that jive since 2001. That 360vsPS3 guide they released was pure cheeze and should of been the last straw with this failure along with the marketing and PR staff in Japan.

Shadow Flare5468d ago

Every month of sales for japan since 2005 has shown the 360 not compete with the ps3, no, not compete with the wii, oh no, but compete with the ps2. It fights to outsell the ps2 for crying out loud. That's all that needs to be said concerning the 360 in japan

MisterNiwa5468d ago

Well, to have a bright future for the 360 in Japan, you need a good RPG every week for the 360.
Thats the only way to sell more than 5000 360's.

And this, ladies and gentlemens, is not possible.

Shadow Flare5468d ago

If microsoft took all the discs in the 360 version of FF13 and sold one a week, then it would work.

IdleLeeSiuLung5468d ago

Why so much hate?

I'm happy MS is not giving up on Japan because we would loose a lot of great games from the Japanese market. However, it is kind of sad that they are finally shipped their millionth console there after three and a half years.

Come on Japan, give the Xbox some love too. It is a great system.

Tony P5467d ago

Not hating. Just telling it like it is.

MS has had such a "bright outlook" in Japan for years now but can't seem to achieve lasting success. PR only goes so far. At some point you've got to meet the burden of proof.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5467d ago
Bnet3435468d ago

Well I do see the future brighter for them in Japan. They need to keep grabbing those JRPGs.

DrRobotnik5468d ago (Edited 5468d ago )

I could say that microsoft should just give up on the Japanese market, but instead, I commend them on persevering in a software market that is locally dominating. They won't give up, even if the odds are bad. PS3 had the same kind of problem here in the US. And yet this little engine is still chugging away. Never give up never surrender. Or you will end up like sega. The prostitute of the gaming industry. I still cry a little inside every time I see sonic dancing for food, on the corner of nintendo and suicide.

siyrobbo5468d ago

microsoft dont know when to give up, they'll keep on pushing till they get what they want, they always have

Shadow Flare5468d ago

. . . .and in the process it makes them zero profit at the end of it all

deshon095468d ago

they do have a future it should only take them 8 more years to make 5 million in japan by that time ms will have killed off the 360 no let me stop they have a ok future but i don't see it being much different than the x box 1 in japan

Shaka2K65468d ago

LOL it took microsoft 4 years to sell 1 million in Japan.

talk about the biggest Fail in the history of gaming right there.

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50°

Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX

This could be fun as they make great tables. Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16.

250°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv7221h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle8h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18815h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio5h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning7753m ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga8h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21837h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga6h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan2h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

romulus231h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv7250m ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 50m ago
purple10110h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos10h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-9m ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac9h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1019h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic7h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead31m ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 31m ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein20h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno16h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k415h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson14h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu15h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson14h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -