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jarrod on 12 January 2010
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JazzyJeez said:
jarrod said:
I'd say in Japan it's less about xenophobic/nationalistic concerns and more about brand pedigree.

Xbox left a terrible taste in people's mouths there, it was basically considered a big, ugly, yoge machine that scratched your discs and had support dumped by most within it's first year. 360 was coming from a position of playing defense well before it even released.

PlayStation 1/2 however were the dominant, nearly ubiquitous platforms that had something for everyone. Sure, Ds basically came in a took that crown, but PlayStation still has a hugely positive brand image.

It's not just the games or pricepoints or features, I'd say those elements are basically interchangable between the HD twins. It's about the brands, PlayStation was a massive success and Xbox was a massive flop, and their successors had to work their way from those positions to wind up where they are today.

 

@jarrod 
Yeah I think you could be right about brand recognition being the main factor for success for japanese products in japan, but I think you only have to look at the recent success of the ps3 in others after the release of the 'slim' and the price cut to release it was a big factor

 

Yeah I think you could be right about brand recognition being the main factor for success for japanese products in japan, but you only have to look at the recent success of the ps3 in others after the release of the 'slim' and the price cut combined with some v.good games to see the affect it had. 

Me personally this is my first PS console, I was an Xbox,GC & Dreamcast owner, so I have absolutely no brand loyalty, it was just a question of price and games and PS3 was my choice, might get a 360 eventually because I believe its an excellent machine.

 

 

Oh sure.  But I'd also say that the PlayStation brand image was how PS3 was able to mount such a mini-recovery this year off those good moves.  If 360 would've done the exact same things instead (slim, huge pricedrop, FFXIII, etc), it wouldn't have had nearly the same effect.  If PS3 had gotten 360's early JRPG lineup instead, it would've also surged farther earlier.  This isn't because the Japanese love Japanese and hate American, it's because the Japanese love PlayStation and hate Xbox.