http://www.gamespot.com/news/6167571.html
Gamespot interview with Blue Dragon developer Hironobu Sakaguchi
"
GS: You mentioned that Blue Dragon has been one of the top sellers on the 360 in Japan, but the system's success in Japan still hasn't come close to what it has reached in the United States. What else do you think that Microsoft and developers have to do to bring the 360 up to that level of success in Japan?
HS: [in English] Good marketing. Japanese marketing guys are not so good. Marketing is important, most important.
GS: How do you think they could strengthen their marketing in Japan? What are they doing wrong? Is there a different strategy they should pursue?
;)
HS: Just to give you an example...the "jump in" statement, right? Jump in...the tagline. Nobody can understand it or knows what "jump in" means. So it has to be localized to cater to the audience in Japan, to get them to understand what that's about. So paying particular attention to [the marketing]--not just bring everything as is over to Japan--it's not going to do any good. You have to really think about the market, market needs and demands, and then really tailor it to that audience.
HS: [in English] If you say "jump in" in Japanese. Jump in. It's not so cool in Japanese.
GS: It doesn't make sense.
HS: [English] Yeah, makes no sense.
Microsoft PR rep: "Do, do, do." [the recent Xbox 360 slogan in Japan]
HS: [English] "Do, do, do" is not so good either. [laughs]
GS: So they need to try harder then.
HS: [English] Yeah, it's not so cool. [laughs] "
Bad marketing for the 360 in general, so no one buys the system. Combine that with a severe lack of games that appeal in Japan (BD is about the only one) and it's a wonder that even 3000 buy it each week there.
