Peter Moore: Sony's Business in Japan is 'Crumbling'

When asked specifically about the importance of Japan to the global console battle, he fired back, "That's probably a better question for Sony who's getting outsold by what, 6-to-1? You can bet that Sony built a long-term business plan about being successful in Japan and that business plan is crumbling."

He added, "I built a business plan [for Japan], but I don't think my expectations in Japan were anything close to what Sony's expectations are. They are failing. They're missing their plan by much more than I'm missing my plan."

[TriggerHappy]

you gotta love Moore. I agree with him. Sony could do much much better in Japan than they doing right now

[AznSniper]

I agree with him.....but Sony will finally start to pick up with the release of the highly anticipated Hot Shots Golf 5 in July 26.....apparently they said they already have over 300,000 preorders for this game in Japan

[jromao]

...his problem is 360 selling more than Gameboy there and his business "rising" due to red lights and consumers getting informed about the problems they try to hide from public knowledge.

[Marceles]

I agree that they should have catered to the Japanese audience...usually that's who ends up winning the console war.

[Firewire]

Ok! whatever Peter!
the 360 sells under 3,000 units weekly (actually I think its below 2,500)
the PS3 is outselling the 360 by more than 2:1 in Japan, in less than half the time on the market, without any Japanese focused games on the market.

Peter Moore said at the launch of the 360 "We will make major in-roads this time in Japan" "We won't make the same mistake" bull crap!

The PS3 hasn't released one heavy hitter in Japan yet. The Japanese buy the following games like crazy...

Hot Shots Golf
MGS4
FFXIII & Versus
Tekken 6
GT5
& not to mention the numerous mmo's and over 15 jrpg's Sony has in development!

Peter Moore will look really stupid soon, if he doesn't already!

[ALI G]

you missing the point for shony BS3 is planned for 20-30 years not 1,2,3..5 years .who want to play console 3or 5 year?everyone i know want to stick with their console for 12 years

[smitty]

The 360 has no chance now in Japan, so Moore is badmouthing the PS3. What an ugly american.

[johnnywit]

Smithy

I could care less about this article but I just thought I would let you know peter is British or something not americian.

[dantesparda]

Contain yourself, you're starting to lose it. You seem mad. Why? is it cuz the majority of the media like the Sony Press conference over yours? Or is it cuz the 360 barely sells in Japan? You talk of Wii beating their @ss by a factor of 6 to 1, however, the Wii is kicking your ass too, right here in the US, not to mention, beating everybodies @ss all over the world. Temper,temper, remember, never let them see you sweat. Now if you could tell your repair department to hurry it up with my 360, it was supposed top only take 7 to 8 business days to fix, and now you're telling me 4 to 6 weeks. Sharp MS, real fvcking smart. I just better get a breakproof 360, thats all im saying, cuz i dont wanna go through this sh!t a fourth time. Now compose yourself

[THE VIOLATOR]

Things are looking bad for Sony, indeed. And if they get any worse, other game companies are not going to help it.

Folks over at Newsweek’s Level Up have interviewees that predict game companies are not going to be helping out the PS3 with exclusive content, or even throwing them a bone at all.

“Already third party executives are telling me that if PS3 sales stay below 100k for 3 consecutive months, PS3 SKUs may start disappearing from release lists,” Geoff Keighly said in the blog. “In turn, this wil create a wealth of de-facto exclusives for the Xbox 360.”

No exclusive content for the PS3 and exclusive content for rival consoles would mean Sony’s baby would join the ranks of failed over-priced systems.

[acies]

What he says pisses me off.. because it's true.
I would have thought atleast Hirai Kazuo knows what he's doing, but considering how it looks in Japan now (grave indeed), someone needs a serious wake-up call. And I'm not talking about the consumers with their blind hype for the Wii, which, contrary to popular belief, really isn't as cheap as they want it to be if you think it through.

[nasim]

X360 is the least selling console in JAPAN

it sells 2k hardwares per week and has sold just 380k hardwares till date.(in 20 months)

on the other hand ps3 has sold 1.05 million consoles in japan and sells 12 k hardwares per week

www.famitsu.com

[natsfan7]

Peter is not saying that the xbox is doing better in japan than the PS3, but that the PS3( and 360) is being crushed in Japan by the Wii. The difference is that no one thought the 360 would sell well in Japan, so MS mad the plans with Japan as an after thought; while Japan was a key part to the success of the PS3.

[hazeblaze]

The problem with all of your comments is that the PS3 has been picking UP in sales in Japan over the last month, where as the 360 has been dropping further.

Also, in regards to developer support. There have been more devs making announcenments for the PS3 in the last months too... particular Japanese developers. They're getting 3 rpg's this year that we aren't getting outside of Japan. So all of your doom & gloom prophicies are really moot.

Especially after this past E3 and seeing Free Radical & Epic throw some weight in Sony's court. Popularity for the system is clearly increasing... not the other way around. And by next year, there should be absolutely no more price issues with the system if costs continue to fall reasonably... coupled with the awesome PS3 lineup... it will be just in time to start overtaking the competition in sales and continue Sony dominance.

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

Thank you for understanding the point of the article.

+bubbles

[Odion]

it would be hard just 2 years ago Sony was seeing NDS and Wii numbers on EVERYTHING, it would be a huge loss for them

[pwnsause]

crumbling? i think its quite the oppisite, he should stop worring about the PS3 and start fixing those RROD 360 consoles that they rushed 2 years ago into the market...

[SlippyMadFrog]

...which he is busy doing

[risk]

and the funnier thing is...what is his plan for japan? to keep stock of all the 360's that will never go sold? cuz the ps3 is outselling it in japan.

[actionjackson]

Right !!!!!!!

[Premonition]

Even though some things are true what he stated, hes one to talk.

[THC CELL]

Japan i would be scared if he said Europe

He really needs to stop his silly comments and learn to sing

[Blankman]

why do i always hear sony outsold 6-1 4-1 why dosent anyone ever compare msoft which is being oustold by like 20-1 in Japan. Sony is off to a good start wii is just off to a great start. I mean sony may be losing business in Japan but MSoft has NO business in Japan. 2000 consoles a week common. And 33% of that 2000 is gonna fail????

[LeShin]

Damn, you beat me to it with that "No business" remark lol

[omansteveo]

Bc nobod expects them to be selling great there so their numbers arent as concerning, as Sony's. Sony promised God and they cant deliver

[ALI G]

last year if you remember ubisoft CEO came out and complained about the japanese not buying software that made by other than japaniessssssss developer .how much more 360 sold when Blue dragon came out,there was increase in 360 sales also when beatful kathbfdfh came out.

[LeShin]

Well, in a way he's right. Nintendo is currently running things over ther but that is only because the Wii and the DS are much cheaper compared to the PS3 and PSP. If the PS3 came out at the same price of the 360, Sony would of be in a VERY different position. Anyways, I think Sony will make progress eventually especially when FFXII comes out, and if the massively rumored FFVII remake comes out on it, it's curtains!!

However, sorry Peter. At least Sony HAS business in Japan :)

[omansteveo]

PSP and DS its a 20 dollar difference and i think if the wii and PS3 were the same price they would still be in trouble..nobody buys somethin just based on the fact that its cheaper

[Why o why]

lol. P M knows japan doesnt he..........even more than the japanese.

[pwnsause]

Damn, does he love Bad PR, does microsoft write these scipts for him? Dont they read Famitsu magazines and read the top most wanted games in japan, I seen it recently, DS game on top, the Rest, PS3, then wii games lol. BTW can I get some bubbles???

[original seed]

You want bubbles...3 Dollars!

[aiphanes]

You da man dog!!

[felidae]

normally i like peter moore. but it seems that after E3 he uses the words "sony" and "playstation" much more than before.

he seems a bit scared or something.

[xg-ei8ht]

The unsold 360's in Japan, may as well be sent back to microsoft, and used as replacements for Ring of death 360's.

Anyway.

Killzone for the win!!

[Odion]

the big difference, is that Sony was King and now their barely beating the 360 who has always been in last place

[achira]

barely ? 6:1 ratio, very barely! especially when you know that the xbox260 costs nothing in japan, you get it as a present there. but noone wants this crap.

[Vojkan]

Nah he just seemed scared. If he wonders what is 10 year plan i advise him to look at PS2. It has been on market for 7 years and it is going to be around for at least 2 more, so there you go "mr" Moore. Very easy to figure.
BTW i like more "10 year plan" than "stuck it in my back after 4 years"

[paracardium]

Sony will pickup in Japan its just a matter of time and everyone knows it. At least its doing way better then xbox.

[mccomber]

Well, failing in Japan is certainly something he's qualified to talk about.
Sony may not be doing as well in Japan as they would probably like, but for anyone from MS to say anything about sales in Japan... well, it's a little bit of the pot and kettle, isn't it?

[Tackle990]

you don't understand what he is saying......
He basically said the PS3 is doing far worse than the PS2 did and that the 360 is doing better in Japan if you compare it to the original xbox sales.

[mccomber]

Oh, I understand him alright, and I can't even say he's entirely wrong... but I do think that he's not exactly in the position to call out Sony on poor sales in Japan.
If the ps3 is being demolished there, where exactly does that put the console he represents again?

[CrazzyMan]

He added, "I built a business plan [for Japan], but I don't think my expectations in Japan were anything close to what Sony's expectations are. They are failing. They're missing their plan by much more than I'm missing my plan."

Then his plan was 4k per week? =))) Or what? =]] 50% less... =))

Well, anyway, i don`t see ps3 selling better in japan till GT5 Prologue, MGS4, Tekken6, WKS DMC4, RE5 are released.

But 40k per month, is definately better then 8k per month. =)) Ofcourse 240k is better even more. =) But well, Wii is not a HD console, so it`s hard to compare, though good sales means more 3rd party developers. However i see MORE interesting games for ME coming to PS3 then to Wii. The end.

p.s. Wait! who has most games in Famitsu Most Wanted List? Not PS3? =))))

[Says you]

Badly and hes saying that Sony is doing bad over there, hes a joke he doesnt even know what he's talking about he is so lieing in what he's saying Sony's business is crumbling not even close!.

[Loudninja]

The Ps3 is goign up now, slowy but yes its going up,He really is the one to talk, I mean really, outsold already in Japan

[NextGen24Gamer]

I love the effort by MS securing great games and building a nice library for Japanese gamers. As long as the 360 sells more than the original xbox when its all said and done. And its doing just that so far....Halo 2 has sold 100k in Japan. We can expect at least that. I know shooters aren't popular in Japan. But 100k in Japan is respectable. Sony is far behind what the ps2 did in Japan. And the Wii isn't showing any mercy.

Halo 3 will own from September and beyond. It will sell more than the impressive Gears of War did up till now....In a couple days. Halo 2 shattered the first day sales record with 1.5 million pre orders. Halo 3 has surpassed 4 million with over a month left. I still have to pre order my copies...lol....WOW...

And if the rumors of a price drop are true in September....The 360's already steady sales will push beyond the competition. I was impressed to find out that the "new" launching Wii....is only slightly ahead of the 360 in sales since launch. How in the world is the 360....a year older than the Wii....keeping up with its launch windows sales? WOW....Thats with the bad press about console failures...which I think are over blown. I have 7 360's and haven't had one fail. And me and my family get lots of use out of them.....But extending the warranty to 3 years was very impressive on MS's part.

Halo 3 and the 360 with a price cut...will cearly dominate Sales from September to December....

And thats without taking into account Mass Effect, Blue Dragon, GTA 4, Bio Shock, Assasins Creed, Bio Shock, Lost Odyssey, and Eternal Sonata....And many many more releasing before Christmas 2007. WOW

http://xbox360.vgcore.com/n...

[omansteveo]

I wonder what your agree-to-disagree ratio would be if you had a different avatar...what you say makes sense MS isnt going to shoot for the moon in Japan all of a sudden based off of there last gen performance so thy are taking a slowly bu surely type approach as for Sony they have to be goin what the hell happened, i mean they seriously took a nose dive and they didnt see it comin

[aiphanes]

People are just not buying the Xbox 360 right now...sure Halo 3 will sale..but only to the people who already have the console...the 10 million or so...only about 3 million people world wide will buy Halo 3....thats if it is good..

When killzone 2 comes out on the PS3 everybody will buy it on the PS3...

[Chug]

Using that stupid 4 letter word (halo)
Edit: To EliteGamer

[doomsonyman]

hes just mad that his console has failed in japan and also in mexico. sony will rule japan just like they have before. just wait till fall moore and lets see if you can talk that mess then

[scarlett_rg]

What the heck is a "pontintol"? Lol, sorry couldn't resist. That is one bad typo. =P

The word you were looking for was "potential".

[omansteveo]

you paid 600+ dollars for pontenial?

[XxZxX]

My god, is he trying to steal reggie spotlight. That's somethign reggie said, not Moore. because jack can simply reply, "well our plan is working better than yours"

[Dogswithguns]

Would you stop making fun of mr. SHMoore...... SHMoore's cool.

[Expy]

I wonder what Moore has to say about his performance in Australia.

[BaMYouRDeaD]

Look who's talking. This is something that should be coming out of Nintendo's mouth, not MS. If MS wants to say something bad about PS3 sales, they ought to be doing it in America. I respect Moore, and like him more than any other MS exec, but this is just nonsense to be talking about Japan.

P.S. Can I have my fifth bubble back please? Thanks.

[ElementX]

Japan isn't as important for MS as it is for Sony. Right now Japan is Nintendo country.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Where isn't Nintendo's country right now?

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

If they are crumbling then the the xbox must be dust...

Bubbles for D AVERAGE

[darkside]

I agree(^_^)

[N4GayFanturds]

y'all fanboys should heed his words. WHY? For two reasons;

1. He's worked closely with the Japanese market under Sega - and knows the telltale signs once the Japanese consumers start lacking support towards a Japanese product (Dreamcast). It's amazing how you fanboys suddenly get amnesia and fail to realize this.

2. He knows the plight of an American product in Japan, competing against Japanese products via Microsoft. Everyone knows that the Japanese/Asian gamer and the Western gamer are two entirely different universes. Top that with the fact that Japanese consumers are seriously loyal to Japanese products and I'd say MS's current stance has been pretty successful so far (light years away from the orig Xbox).

[JCDenton]

Bubbles for you!

[gunnerforlife]

i guess the 360 is doing pretty bad down there if his that pissed of or he just angry for not being able too get mgs4:lol:

[timmyp53]

Nintendo should be saying this becuz they own Japan... Japans got like a ds in everyroom in they house and the wii is outselling ps3 6-1...and Nintendo is outselling xbox 27-1

the wii is in its own league

[Blackmoon]

Yeah because we all know how well Xbox does in Japan. Maybe Moore should focus on getting the joke of a Japanese Xbox division in order before he goes bashing Sony’s strategy.

[NextGen24Gamer]

Your right. But Moore was asked a question and thats why he is commenting on it. And those numbers sound huge...6 to 1 and 27 to 1. But the fact of the matter is total worldwide sales....The 360 is slightly behind the Wii and selling 2 to 1 over the Ps3. Thats since both the Wii Launch and the Ps3 launch. Thats amazing since the 360 has essentially maintained its 6 million console lead over the Wii and has actualy grown its lead ever month since the ps3 launch against Sony. WOW.

So while 27 to 1 sounds huge...Its Japan folks....We are talking a total of 1.5 million consoles sold by Nintendo in Japan. Thats very minute compared to the USA market and the European Market. Which MS is leading in.

Whats more impressive is the Wii and 360 are neck and neck since the Wii launch worldwide...and the 360 and the Wii is outselling the Ps3 2 to 1 worldwide since November 2006.

And the most impressive number of all is the 360 is selling more games than the Wii and the ps3 combined.

So don't get down on Moore. He was only answering questions in an interview.

[weekapaugh]

Peter Moore would know, he is an expert on crumbling gaming divisions.

[gunnerforlife]

that idiot should consentrate is time on improving the xbox sale in japan rather than talk sh1t like he just did lolhe should know that once the ps3 prise goes down in japan as well there gone destroy 360 down there from 27-1 too 40-1

[gunnerforlife]

youre wrong in one bit the only place in europe that 360 is outselling the ps3 is in the UK everywhere else the ps3 is the lead console. yes the countrys aint that big too make a difference on the gaming market but it shows u that europe is mostly ps3 terretory;)

edit-2 disagrees lol why dont u lot check the stats before u click that button 360 is doing bad everywhere in europe except the UK;)

[bootsielon]

As Square Enix's president said... PS3 will pick up sales in 2008. He was probably referring to Japan, because PS3 sales will sure as hell pick up (even more) in Europe once Singstar comes out. In America sales will be pretty good too with all the great games coming out. I'm not saying it will outsell 360 or Wii. It'll simply do better than acceptable, considering its high price, lateness to the market, bad press and lack of Final Fantasy, Killzone and Metal Gear Solid. In 2008, those 4 titles will come out (I say four because I included Versus), and so will Afrika, The Getaway, 8 Days, Infamous, Little Big Planet, Gran Turismo 5, Monster Hunter 3 and White Knight Story. These games have all been announced, and I'm sure there'll be more later on.

My bet is that Peter Moore doesn't speak Japanese and therefore has never picked up an issue of Famitsu, Japan's most popular videogame and other family (Fami-tsu) entertainment magazine. The Top 5 are inhabited by PS3 titles mainly. Only one DS title is the number 1, but that's not in direct competition with PS3. Furthermore, all those titles are not coming this year; the DS game is coming this year. The few 360 titles that have appeared on the list are about to come (Eternal Sonata, Halo 3 and Lost Odyssey), and they've never even reached the top 10.

Come 2008, you're gonna see even more PS3 titles on that list. The number 1 title will no longer be the DS title, because it's coming out this year (Dragon Quest IX). Once information about Shirokishi Monogatari (White Knigh Story) comes out, it'll probably Skyrocket in popularity. Hell, Monster Hunter has been on that list for so long even though we know absolutely nothing about it. Also, nearly every every multiplatform game on PS3 and 360 will be bought, almost by default, on PS3. The Japanese don't really care about Xbox 360 (even with achievements).

So, Resident Evil 5 and Devil May Cry 4 will ironically move a lot of PS3s in Japan, even though they're multiplatform and PS3 is significantly more expensive. Metal Gear Solid 4 and FFXIII are the most popular exclusives right now, and once we know something about Versus, it'll be another one in the Top 10 for PS3. That doesn't even take in account ICO team's title which might hit the PS3 late 2008, and several other unannounced titles, or announced Japanese RPGs but once that we know nothing about.

2008 will probably be the year of the PS3 in Japan (if not the most sales, at least the highest increase ever, and probably the most revenue due to the expensive price). Hot Shots Golf might do something for the PS3 soon though.

[Bloodmask]

Japan is Sony territory. And it isn't anymore. Sony handed over the crown to Nintendo.

Japan is Sony's home territory. It is very important for them to secure it, and they haven't. That is the only thing Peter Moore was stressing.

The same could be said if PS3 was leading in USA in install base and sales. But it isn't 360 is.

Japan is far more important to Sony than it is to Microsoft.

If 360 sells better than the original XBOX in Japan I'm sure Microsoft would view it as a success. Which it is.