Should Microsoft give up the ghost with Japan?

From xbox365.com: "As Xbox 360 owners, we all know the power of 360 over the hopelessly week PS2, but 1k vs 20k units sold tells me the Japanese market clearly doesn't like Microsoft."

[Dusk]

This a pretty weak attempt at bashing the 360, PS3 Fan. It's old news. Everyone knows the Japanese market is very nationalistic and rarely buys foreign products, the Ipod being the one notable exception. Also, everyone knows the Japanese market is the smallest of the big three. If Microsoft is more successful in the NA and European market, then the 360 can still be more successful than the PS3.

What I would be more concerned about, if I was you PS3 Fan, is that Sony is falling out of favor in Japan recently as it switches its support to Nintendo. Look at DS sales compared to PSP sales overall in Japan. The PSP is getting stomped. Also, there have been several polls in Japanese gaming mags about which console are you most interested in. Nintendo crushed both the PS3 and 360 in all polls. So if MS has NA, Europe, Australia, etc. and Nintendo has Japan, what's poor Sony gonna have?

[kmis87]

What are you talking about? The Japanese have a very weird obsession with American culture, they wear clothes with American brands on them, many English words are used as fads in the country because they sound exotic over there, and one of the best selling ds games is English Training. Blaming poor sales on racism is a bad excuse. The xbox never caught on in Japan because it tried to challenge two well entrenched companies and failed to enlist large numbers of local developers, so I guess the Japanese have the right to be skeptical of the 360. Also, the PSP sales numbers don't indicate anything about the ps3. Nintendo has had the dominant handheld since the late 80's and in those almost 20 years, no other handheld has been as successful as the psp. Furthermore, the handheld market is completely different than the console market, so that comparison is indicative of nothing. Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon will probably help the 360 sell more, but I still think that Sony and Nintendo will dominate the market.

[Marty8370]

Sony & Nintendo will aways be big in Japan.What your saying will never happen,Japan will be a 60/40 split in Sony's favour.

[Dusk]

I wouldn't be so sure, paunchy. According to actual reports and not just someone's fanboy mantra, the tide in Japan seems to be switching to the Nintendo camp. We'll see, but with Nintendo's lower price point, availablity, and recent success of the DS over PSP, compared to Sony's ridiculusly high price point, lack of availability, and recent stomping by Nintendo, things could easily change. Also, if you bother to do a little research, you'd see that Japanese gamers seem to be more interested in the Wii than the PS3. In addition, Lost Odyssey may actually sell a few 360s in Japan, not enough to make Microsoft a force there, but just enough to keep the 360 hanging around. Like I said, we'll see, but if I were you, I'd do a little more research on Nintendo in Japan than Microsoft in Japan. That is, if you are as concerned about your holy grail of consoles as you seem to be.

[headblackman]

why are the asians so persistant with this whole hardware racism, :/ it sounds like they are waiting on the ps3, but not because it's the better system, because we are all hearing now that it's not and that the xbox360 and ps3 will be on the same page as far as hardware and performance goes. so if you ask me or hell, if you just pay attention to whats going on here, it's quite clear they are boycotting our american products in order to keep money in asia. now what if we as americans did the samething. boycott the ps3 and keep american money in america, im sure they wouldnt like that but what that would do is make the ps3 fall short on funds because america is the big market. and if they fall short on funds then the game developers fall off of the ps3 band wagon, wich in turn makes then go to the system thats most beneficial to develope for wich is and still will be the xbox360 (they ared doing that now anyway but they will do it alot more) so american, get smart, buy an american xbox360 and keep your money here in america. the ps3 is inferrior to the xbox360 in alot of ways so i think that just like the asians we should stop buying inferrior products :)

[kmis87]

I wish people like you weren't from my country.

[Marty8370]

Keep it US,lol.Yet it's Made In Taiwan.

[bung tickler]

its a us company, ps3 will also be made in china since they pay thier workers $1 a day. its cheaper to make stuff there. it may not be right but that still doesnt change the fact that the ppl making the big $ are based in the us and japan.

[Cyclonus]

There is a very simple reason Japan has ignored both of Microsoft's consoles, and it has nothing to do with xenophobia, or some fanatical brand loyalty:

It hasn't had the GAMES Japanese gamers want to play.

MS has only just recently tried to make real efforts on 360 with games like FFXI, and Enchanted Arms, but that's not nearly enough to get their attention. Why?

Because the already HAVE FFXI on their ps2's, and they've also got average-to-good jrpgs like EM by the hundreds and hundreds, so why would they go out and by a whole new console just to play those? That's right, they wouldn't.

But here's the good news:

MS now knows exactly what it's going to take to become competitive in Japan-great experiences that can't be found on either the PS3 or Wii. That's why they snagged Sakaguchi to make games for them. He has several Xbox 360 games in production, and the ones that have been announced are all high-budget, and are made to turn heads in Japan.

Lost Odyssey

Blue Dragon

Infinite Undiscovery

Cry On (this one is especially unique - think "Spirited Away meets "The Iron Giant")

Plus several more secret games

Gaining a foothold in Japan won't be impossible, just difficult and it will TAKE TIME. Remember, the 360 is trying to break into a country that both Sony and Nintendo are firmly ENTRENCHED in. It will take monster titles, specifically developed FOR the Japanese audience, and lots of them for MS to succeed in Japan, but it WILL happen.

Here's analogy that, while not pertainig to the gaming industry, still applies. Take an American company like McDonald's. Now, you wouldn't think a resturant known for serving greasy, fatty, AMERICAN food would do well in Japan, but it does EXTREMELY well. Why? McDonalds looked closely at the Japanese market and decided to serve mostly Japanese food, but give it to them in a fast and convenient manner, and *GASP* it worked!

Business is business, and tough markets are tough markets, no matter where in the world they are, and Japan is no different. It takes time, perserverence, and the long-term commitment to give the customer what they want.

And Microsoft knows this.

[Sidherich]

i completely agree with you.

[Sidherich]

Japanese people aren't buying products because they are made in Japan. They are buying products they want and need. Apples iPod is a huge success in japan and Apple is no Japanese company. Levis Jeans are selling good in japan. And you cant seriously argue that the japanese use english words out of pure racism.

It's as if the Japanese start arguing that the Americans are racists because they dont watch as many Anime as they watch Hollywood.

Or how about the europeans are racist because they play more ego-shooters than japanese rpg's?

People arguing that the japanese are racist because they dont buy a particular US product show a significant lack of common sense.

The japanese gaming market is difficult because the japanese essentially only play a handfull of games (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc). All MS can do is making games that are targeted towards the japanese gamer and with time (and it needs more time than a few months) they will get their desired market share in japan.

[Daewoodrow]

It has got nothing to do with racism, it's national pride. Japanese consumers trust Japanese companies more. It's hardly about the games, that might explain away a small loss of popularity, but nothing as extreme as we are seeing. Quite simply, the japanese are holding out for the PS3 launch.

Should Microsoft stop supporting Japan? Course not. As long as there are fans there they deserve the courtesy of console support. But MS need to stop sucking their collective genitals. It's just an Ego trip to prove they can undermine Sony's home territory, the 360 can be successful with or without Japan in their pocket.

[TheMART]

Well as you all know I am a real 360 fan.

But maybe they should drop Japan. I mean it's a declining market, they have a strange kind of liking games (anything with young girls in few cloths sells in Japan) and they will always hate American products and love their own countries products. Like they did with MSX-2 it was dead already around the world but in Japan it lived on and was sold for years and years.

Let them go for Wii. surveys showed they won't buy a PS3 either much too expensive

[pRo loGic II]

360 doesn't have enough strange happy-Jap games and it's American. What a f@ggot @ss post, why people keep posting this sh*t is beyond me. The Wii will crush all in Asia. MAN i seen that Heavenly sword last night on the "attack of the show" nothing great "RFOM" is the only game that's good as the exclusive launch tittles go, that is if you're still into Doom-ish FPS.

[Boink]

They need more weirdo looking hero RPG's who have gigantic phallic symbols for weapons.

then throw in a few games that make no sense what so ever but make you plays tons of repetitive, retarded mini-games, and there you have it, the japan solution...

[NextGen24Gamer]

You won't find "ONE" american or European developed game. If you look at the list you will see that MS hasn't yet put out a True Japanese style game....So it may not be the consumers in Japan shunning the 360....it has been more like the Japanese Developers have been shunning the 360 in regards to True Japanese style games. But maybe with Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey things will change...Blue Dragon in a popular Japanese Magazine is the 3rd most wanted game in Japan. Now if that translates into 360 sales....We shall soon see.

http://www.vgcharts.org/jap...

[beans]

MS will deliver in Japan but for now all we can do is wait for the games to start coming out over there! Create a Japanese Xbox Live account just to see that there doesn't seem to be much support over there but give it 1 or 2 years more and you will start to see many games over there! Remember it was only this time last year when MS announced tons of Japanese developer support at TGS! It takes time to make those games but as soon as they start coming out and japan see's that there are games for them on the way then at that point things will change as im sure they will! Yes the 360 is a nice machine but everytime I check my live account for downloads over there it's just seems empty, and who in the right mind would buy a system with no games catered to what they like! We all have doubts but im pretty sure MS has big plans for Japan that will surprise everyone in the long run! I don't think they should pull out of Japan and just stick to the plan and get the job done! Now we all know that last years TGS was pretty succesful for MS so now the question is just how much support are they recieving and when will we start to see the games? Seriously guy's I honestly believe that MS Japan is about to blow up with the help of there developers and XNA here very very shortly! MS is starting from scratch over there which is a good thing because this allows them to start up all kinds of new IP's!

[DJ]

Have obviously never been to Asia. They love our crap. I mean, Kmis28 hit it spot on. I remember when I visited my folks in Korea the only thing that seemed to change was the size of the roads and the language. That was about it. Gap Jeans were there, McDonalds, CocaCola is huge, all these American brands and products coexist what they have, just as foreign products such as Playstations, Hondas, and LG phones coexist with what we have here.

Thus, any such statement meant to defend the 360's horrible sales in Japan is null. It has nothing to back it up because it's just a normal fanboy rant. The 360's doing bad mostly because Microsoft screwed up with the first Xbox over there, and Japanese consumers haven't forgotten. To say that they only prefer Japanese games doesn't make much sense either since DOA, FFXI, Enchanted Arms, and Ninety-Nine Nights hardly made a blip in sales over there, all of which are big Japanese-developed titles. Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon may increase sales, but no ones knows by how much. If such titles don't magically increase the userbase in Japan then Mistwalker studios is going to have to completely rely on foreign markets to make back their financial and artistic investment. Should that not happen either, you might see them porting over to the PS3.

The 360's success depends entirely on the Playstation 3 and what Sony's arsenal of developers can pull off. If PS3 games don't deliver then 360 games will start to take over to fill in that void. But if they do deliver (and all evidence seems to be pointing towards yes) then...yeah. Even the media seems to have forgiven Sony's weak E3 showing simply because they're being impressed by their software lineup right now.

[TheMART]

Wrong DJ, wrong.

You're talking about Mc.Donalds, Coca Cola and some jeans.

All food or FMCG's. Those are no things which are resolved in heavy consumer thinking about the choices made to buy something as expensive as a console and hardware in general.

For real. You can't compare those. Furthermore, they eat Mc.Donalds because there is no real alternative maybe? They drink Coca Cola because there is no real good Coca Cola producer?

The thing with the hardware on computer/TV and more produced there, could still be that they dislike the American products. If one sees the line up for 360, they just did too little at the beginning. Things are starting to pick up now with new titles, but still we'll just have to see.

And actually the market is declining so much maybe MS shouldn't even worry anymore. Let it go as a target market. Europe is the next big thing, together with the rest of the world Wii may have Japan.

Even Japanese choose to not buy PS3 because it's too expensive. Surveys have shown it over and over again, they will buy a Wii.

[kmis87]

"eat Mc.Donalds because there is no real alternative maybe"-Are you trying to say that there are no companies in all of Japan that have tried their hand in the fast food market?
Japanese eat at Japanese McDonalds because McDonalds in Japan makes food that the Japanese consumers enjoy. They don't make hamburgers and fries over there! If there were games that the Japanese enjoy on the xbox360 maybe their sales would be better. I think Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon will help their sales, but two games by themselves can't be a cureall for Microsoft's problems. Plus they're gonna have to compete with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest which are insanely popular. And the importance of the Japanese market, besides pure sales, is that many of the games that Americans enjoy are Japanese, and the best way to ensure these games reach your console is to appeal to the Japanese gamers and developers. If Microsoft had chosen to completely ignore Japan like you suggest Mart, then there would be no Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Lost Odyssey, or Blue Dragon. Microsoft's focus on the Japanese market has had some good results, even if it doesn't translate into system sales.

[TheXgamerLive]

But it's in need of a "BIG" japanese title. I believe the lost faith in sony and especially w/the delay's that have happened and I believe upcoming delay's will slide there faith w/sony and "some" will slide to the XBOX 360. A few titles that are coming between october and next spring will be the time to shine, also a couple japan based designers needs to pledge a few "quality" titles to the 360, no, not an old FFX title but a truely innovative title/s.
Reguardless, the best is yet to come, but will it catch on?

Will GoW be a japanese favorite?

Oh, and to answer the writers question, should Microsoft give up in japan? ..................Hell no.

[NextGen24Gamer]

What do you think about the Japanese's top games of "ALL TIME?" There all Japanese "Developed & Style" Games. Microsoft has some Japanese Devs on board but no true Japanese Style game. Well, besides Enchanted Arms...Its going to take time for an American Made Console to earn respect over in Japan. But it starts with more than "ONE" Japanese Game released to get it.

[TheXgamerLive]

In fact it will take many and a never ending showing of continued support to do this. If it's really that important to MS to have a japan acceptance.

[kingboy]

The gods of gaming history live in japan.learn how to respect before cursing.How dare u say cr@p about japan.well japanese are good at gaming,likewise americans are good at making guns.

[kewlkat007]

It's all about the Games Meng..Just look at the top selling Games over there. you won't see NO good western/europe developed game. Why do you think that is? Something to do with the game developers. Look at the top selling games here in the US, I'm sure it won't look like thier game charts over there. The proofs in the puddin. You fanboys need to stop talking nonsense. Can't be comparing food, drink and jeans to high costing Electronics.

[DJ]

But that's besides the point. A game doesn't have to be distinctly 'Japanese' to succeed in the Japanese market, just as a game doesn't have to be distinctly 'American' to succeed in the U.S. market.

Look at God of War. That's a culturally Greek game that did VERY well in the US, and you don't get more culturally abstract than that. The final fantasy series does well in Japan despite having absolutely nothing to do with Japanese culture. It's all fiction. Hell, they love Mario games over in Japan, despite the fact that the dude's chubby and Italian.
I know people like to generalize a lot, but it's simply not how things work in this world. It's easy to forget that corellation does not imply causation.

The Xbox 360 sucks in Japan, and that's all there is to it. Blame game developers as much as you want, but it is Microsoft's console. And in the end, it is Microsoft's responsibility to ensure that the system is well-built, well-designed, and well-marketed. To suddenly pass the buck and throw all of that responsibility onto game developers is very questionable behavior.

Just as Hardware depends on reliable software, software depends on reliable hardware. And the Japanese just don't see the hardware as worth their time and money at the moment. Tough. Deal with it.

[NextGen24Gamer]

You totally avoided the question. I figured you would. Did you even look at the list? If you look at the Top selling games in America you will see that its diverse. But if you look at the Top selling games in Japan...Its "ALL" Japanese Developed games..."PERIOD". Japanese Developers obviously make Japanese style games for Sony and Nintendo pretty exclusively. MS has a few games coming out this time Exclusively by Japanese Devs for the Japanese style game experience...but prior all there was, was Enchanted Arms. Japanese Devs tend to make Western style games for MS's system. Hopefully that changes. The 360 not selling in Japan has everything to do with the fact that there are no Japanese style games made for it that is catching their attention. But with blue dragon being the 3rd most anticipated game in Japan, maybe that will change. Who knows. Halo 2 sold just over 100,000 copies in Japan. But Just about 8 million world wide. Do you get it? Gods of War sold 20,000 copies in Japan. Japan shows no love to Western style games. They have a distinct taste for games. So Nintendo and Sony being Japnese companies, Have a clear edge in Japan with the way the Japanese like their style of game. In America and Europe its more diverse. But I can say this time around Microsoft has the edge in America and Europe. Most games will be on both consoles. And with little or no difference and in some cases MS's Custom console has the advantage over the Ps3. Xbox live is changing the way gamers play. And LIVE anywhere is set to expand online play to a level that no other company can attain.

[ASTAROTH]

We are all living in AMERICA...

[Donkey Slayer]

yeah, that lasted long.

Not to mention MS pissing off Konami with their lies about soccer exclusivity.

or P. Moore pissing off 360 gamers everywhere with "under promised, over delivered" spew.. At least he backpeddled and damage controlled like crazy because he had know choice.

[Say's you]

Japanese people are not obessesed with American culture you dumbass! [Lier!] only a moron like you would think that when really all of them speak there own langauge only the japanese business man only speaks to american business man (uh! Duh!) any idiot would know that retard.

[Say's you]

Say that cause your just agreeing to kmis87 the lord of morons.

[Marty8370]

Jap X360 games will all come to PS3 cos they not selling on X360,cos X360 has flopped in Japan(Fact).

[EVER OLVERA]

You guys can aruge all you want on this one. The real fact is is that MS will never win in Japan, plain and simple. It's not about brand loyalty. My wife is a district manager for Starbuck's coffehouse. They sent her over to Japan to open up a few store's there and train. She said's that Japanesse love that stuff. But that the Starbuck's over there feel different as opposed to American Starbuck's. And yes! Japan does have their own Japanesse coffeehouses, but I forgot what my wife said they were called. We all know MS can never win in Japan, but it can cater to them while they're there.
On another note. I have a Japanesse friend on my Xbox Live friend's list. We met during a session on Battlefield: Modern Combat for the 360. I don't have the slightest clue as to what he says, but when it comes to playing together it's as if we know what to do...Crazy sh!t...