| STEKSTAV said: Natal can't come soon enough for the Xbox in Japan because that right there is just sad. I dont have that much knowledge on the japan scene, but beside the fact that xbox is a US product, why is it that the difference is sooo big when they sell basicly within the same ballpark in the rest of the world? |
Keeping it simple, the main hurdles facing 360 at launch were:
1 - weak Xbox brand associated with Western titles not popular in the region, Halo, etc
2 - known brands in Nintendo and Sony with the expectation of lots of popular titles for the region
Now, the 360 started to gain some traction when MS released JRPGs on the platform, countering point 1), seeing some not bad boosts (compared to baseline 360 sales) but then RROD gave it a knock back as poor reliability is less acceptable in Japan apparently. Plus the Wii took off and although it didn't do gangbusters the PS3 started to find its feet.
In the end MS simply couldn't maintain the rate of JRPG exclusive releases, nor stop the timed exclusivity they'd agreed for some titles expiring, hence current sales trends and levels.
Natal might give it a boost but it's by no means a sure thing as Wii already owns a big chunk of motion control market in Japan, plus of course Sony will have it's own motion controls on a more popular console and brand in the region.
In the end I think 360 isn't going to see much more interest in Japan over current levels, and I expect MS to just settle for what they've gained in the region and focus on US/Europe for a while now.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
