Why Did Xbox 360 Fail in Japan?

[Mr Puggsly]

kain_kusanagi said:

I have a college buddy who's native Japanese and lives near Tokyo. I asked him once why Japanese gamers don't play Xbox. He told me straight up that the Japanese pretty much consider western games to be garbage. He said video game stores stock western games in bins labeled "foriegn shit".

Can you imagine that happening in the USA? Of course not. We love Japanese games as well as games from any country. How is it that western games like Halo can be so popular in evey part of the world EXCEPT Japan? While in college my Japanese friend played Halo with us. He wasn't good at first but he got better and loved it. But he was the type that wanted to try American things and see as much of the USA before going back. From what he's told me I don't think he represents the majority of Japan. The majority seem to agree with how Keiji Inafune so gently puts it. They don't want it if it isn't Japanese. Hopefully one day they will open their hearts to the amazing games that they are missing. Untill then MS will just have to bite the bullet and continue to futily support the Japanese market so they can secure the best Japanese games for the rest of the world.

It doesn't matter how the Japanese feel about western games, the Japanese will buy the hardware that has the games they want. That's is how MS managed to move 360 hardware in Japan early on.

No, I can't imagine that would happen in the west because we aren't complete assholes that just play JRPGs. Clearly they lack respect. But it should be noted some western games have done pretty well in Japan.

Personally, my feelings are fuck Japan. They are not the bread and butter of home consoles. Its not a market worth spending a ton of money on. MS has focused on the west and its a more worthwhile audience because they buy more games and play more onine games (i.e. Live subsciptions).