The PS3 is in its momentum now so itll recede that market share, in fact just about every 360 owner that probably has a Wii and/or PS3.

Its still good and as ive said, i think 3-6k for the rest of the gen would be excellent for the 360.

I have a great idea for MS to sell more boxes in Japan: it should smuggle them and sell them under the counter bundled with whale or dolphin meat!!! The Elite, with seal or panda, obviously...

Alby_da_Wolf said: I have a great idea for MS to sell more boxes in Japan: it should smuggle them and sell them under the counter bundled with whale or dolphin meat!!! The Elite, with seal or panda, obviously...

So that old people would buy them?

For the most part, Microsoft focused the original Xbox on the American market. And Japan ignored it. Both because the PS2 was, without question, the King in Japan. But also because next to nothing on the original Xbox interested them. The only real thing that pushed consoles (or games) on the original XBOX was games from Team Ninja (Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, etc). And even then, it was MUCH less than they probably would have sold if they made the games on the PS2.

When it comes to the 360...Japan just isn't interested. In America, you can sell games based on heavy marketing and the promise of pretty graphics. But in Japan, its all about name brand recognition and content. And the games on the 360 don't have any of the brands Japan wants, aside from one Tales game, one Idolmaster game and a bunch of new 'Japanese developed' IPs. Its hard to coax an entire market to buy your product when you already basically ignored them for a generation and then try to placate them with games developed more with the emphasis of making fancy graphics, but not delivering anything new content wise or the major IPs they are looking for.

Akvod said: Alby_da_Wolf said: I have a great idea for MS to sell more boxes in Japan: it should smuggle them and sell them under the counter bundled with whale or dolphin meat!!! The Elite, with seal or panda, obviously... So that old people would buy them?

Old people, reckless gourmets, as long as they pay...  

When is Mistwalker going to come out with Blue Dragon 2? Blue Dragon 2 would do really well on the 360 and it'll probably push consoles. I think Star Ocean 4 narrowly beat it in JP sales but Star Ocean had a larger install base to work with (released early 09. BD was released late 06.) Microsoft should also publish some new first-party Japanese IPs.

And since no one would be surprised by PS3 ports anymore, maybe (even though I admit this is controversial) Microsoft shouldn't stop funding third-party 360 development. I was against this idea at first (since it angered the Tales fanboys and hurt their reputation) but if you think about it, many of these third-party timed exclusives wouldn't even be on the 360 in the first place if it wasn't for Microsoft's subsidies. Some Japanese developers will publish multiplats on the 360 in Japan because they believe in the console (ie. Capcom, Arc System Works, Sega. Yeah it sounds corny but if they didn't believe in the console, they wouldn't have bothered with multiplats) but it's clear that most Japanese publishers don't feel it's worth while and want to publish PS3 only. So the incentives Microsoft gives out for 1 year timed exclusivity have their place. After all, it's better for Microsoft to get these games on the 360 (even without the exclusive content) than to not get them at all. So as long as they don't have "only on xbox 360" on the box (which they didn't with Tales, Star Ocean and Eternal Sonata anyway in Japan. And yes, look at the Japanese cover of ToV. It doesn't have those words. Therefore no false advertising.) or any of the ads. Since that's dishonest. Sure a lot of Japanese will wait it out (as evidenced by ToV) but the hardest of the hardcore will want to get it first anyway (even though the PS3 sold more overall, the ToV sales on the 360 were impressive given the low install base. So theres lots of hardcores that will buy). And 360 owners in Japan are the most hardcore. They have the highest attach rate (4.94 tie ratio vs PS3's 3.56.. gee attach rates in Japan are generally low. Maybe they buy used?). That's some great loyalty they are giving to a dead last console.

why be so negative?

Well, considering that Natal launches with a price of $200 USD (Microsoft said it could cost you). Now why would the Japanese want to buy a console they were never interested in, with an accessory that is just as expensive? I have high hopes for the Natal, but in Japan, my vision is still way to blurry. (Besides support from big 3rd Party companies like Capcom and Square Enix)

A sequel to Blue Dragon already came out.  Its on the DS.

Also, the original game didn't sell as well as expected and had mixed reviews, from fans and reviewers alike.  It proves that just because Toriyama and Sakaguchi are connected to a game, doesn't equal instant sales.

A Blue Dragon 2 is rumored, but what hope is there in its sales?  The first one only sold 500,000 copies each.  And the DS one is struggling by with only 10,000 copies.  Not terrible sales, but for a game tied to Toriyama and Sakaguchi, not anywhere near the sales of the other games they've worked on.  I think its safe to say both the Blue Dragon name and RPGs tied to the 360 aren't successful.