why Japanese not support xbox? but US has a lot ps fans

[loves2splooge]

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

loves2splooge said:

Like I've said, the Xbox 360 doesn't have mainstream appeal over there. It appeals more to the hardcore. 360 owners buy more games for their consoles than other owners in Japan. Just look at the software to hardware attach rate below. And the sales aren't lopsided in the direction of western games either. The top 5 on the 360 are all Japanese games. The 360 base in Japan tends to enjoy a mix of both Japanese and western games looking at the sales.

http://www.vgchartz.com/jweekly.php

X360 5.17
DS 4.87
Wii 4.21
PS3 3.62
PSP 2.36 (I didn't know they pirated this thing in Japan too, I thought piracy was taboo over there)

And the software attach rate is growing because software sales are keeping pace while hardware sales are going towards a downward trend. More evidence that the core group of 1.2 million 360 gamers are continuing to buy lots of games. If the 360 didn't have hardcore niche appeal, do you really think the owners would continue buying the games?

I think we're talking about 2 different things.  You're talking about attach rates and the fact that the XBOX brand has a 'core niche market'.  And while that's completely true, I'm talking about how, no matter how core and attached the XBOX market is in Japan, its still microscopic compared to any other market, such as DS, PSP, Wii and PS3.  And a few 360 games a year that interests a select group isn't going to grow that market any wider, as the rest of the market (roughly 55 million installed userbase) aren't interested in the 360.

I don't think "software shortage" is the issue though. The issue is, the 360 doesn't have enough exclusive big name Japanese IPs to compete. That's why they are losing. Software shortage is not the issue because mainstream gamers in Japan don't buy a whole lot of new games in stores anyway. The tie ratios are atrocious. They just want Final Fantasy 567 and Dynasty Warriors 741 (much like how westerners want Guitar Hero 948). That's what moves the consoles. The new IPs don't move consoles unless you hit the jackpot and have a killer marketing campaign (something that M$ is lacking in Japan). Software shortage is more of an issue with the hardcore gaming geeks. And that is the one demographic that the Xbox 360 doesn't have trouble selling to. Most likely because the average 360 owner in Japan is likely to own multiple systems anyway (for evidence of this, look at the Tekken 6 gap and then look at the Bayonetta gap.)