| FilaBrasileiro said: Where are you guys getting this info that Lips will be released in Japan? I haven't found any info on it...or You're in the movies Japan release date for that matter.... |
Lips is made by iNiS - the creators of Ouedan/Elite Beat Agents. They are a Japanese company, and it's very hard for me to think that the game wouldn't be released there.
You have to admit that Japan has been rather unfriendly towards consoles this gen. This is the reason sony may not be heavily focused on marketing the ps3 in Japan. Even the wii is selling like ass in Japan compared to the west.
M$ can build a real userbase in JP but with JP's current indifference to console gaming, I'm not sure if it's entirely worth it. It seems more worthwhile for M$ to just launch a handheld to compete with DS and focus on marketing that in Japan.
X360 is doing great in Taiwan, HK and SK primarily because of software piracy. This doesn't really help M$ because as you know, software is where the $$$ is at lol
Although Japan is indeed favoring handheld gaming more than console gaming, console sales aren't that bad. 2007 saw hardware levels at 5.97 million units between the Wii, PS3, PS2, X360, and Gamecube. In 2002 (a similar year), console sales were at 6.32 million units between the PS2, PS1, GC, Xbox and Dreamcast - only down by 5%. So it's not as bad as you think.
Also, if you look at MGC profiles for SK, Taiwanese, and HK Xbox 360 owners, quite a few of them own legal copies of Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and other major J-centric games. I've argued that many of these games are undertracked by VGC, due to the compelling information that asiatic markets for the X360 are significant. You can argue pirated software (which there is), but those areas do move quite a bit of legal stuff too.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
