| starcraft said: That is true, I'd never given it much thought. But I guess that is another incentive for Microsoft to keep at it in Japan. Taking third party exclusives definitely limits Sony to an extent. Even strong first-party JRPG's like BD, LO and Cry On distract the hardcore base from the purchase of a PS3, if only for a little while. |
That and the fact that MS has > $100 b in cash reserves... even if they fritter away $10 m in Japan, it's like a drop of water in the ocean. And if their effort puts a 5% dent in PS3 sales in Japan, then MS probably feels it was worth it.
I'm not sure the Xbox line will ever be a strong contender in Japan... they're nationalistic to an unbelievable level. I remember watching a program where someone was interviewing Japanese consumers in an electronics shop, and trying to figure out why the shoppers were picking almost exclusively domestic electronics and ignoring Korean (Samsung, LG) products, even though the latter were well made, just as feature laden, and much cheaper than their Japanese counterparts. The translations of the reasons all pretty much went, "They're not made in Japan... they might break" or "They're not Japanese made, they're not as good." Yeah, right.
I'm not sure how a European or American company can contend with that sort of consumer mentality. Even if the 360 was more reliable and more advanced than the PS3, I doubt that most Japanese consumers would purchase it because it would be "bad" for Japan. So much for a console brand competing on its merits.
