Lol, you really have to go out of your way to type a $ for the S in MS every time. Do you do the same for Sony ($ony)? Somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, you are right that MS was unable to convince the Japanese to switch over or even try the Xbox. But I think you too quickly dismissed what Keiji Inafune said. Even if MS had been able to give the Japanese everything they want, Keiji Inafune is saying that the Japanese just want Japanese products. The Xbox brand is American and the Japanese don't want an American console in their living room.

That's an uphill battle that MS can't win unless the Japanese let go of their bias and try new things. MS should be thanked for working so hard to make sure everyone with Xbox 360's got to play so many Japanese games. If they had given up in Japan the Xbox 360 would not have gotten so many awsome Japanese games. Luckily MS knows that Japan is important and worth fighting for even if the Japanese refuse to give them a chance.

yea i do that all the time

i believe this is like the 2nd time somebody got mad at me for doing that lol is it supposed to be like an insult or someshit? why would i do that for Sony when they've lost the most money this gen?

trust me, if M$(MS) was able to get an exclusive Dragon Quest Title and Final Fantasy title on their system then they would find success and they would also need to make their online free. It's not that they dont want the American product.

Wow so much was said since this morning. And so much I agree with, too much to quote.

I agree, america is not as patriotic as it once was.

I think sega is a prime example of japan not just buying domestic for the sake of country. The later years of sega saw disgruntled fans as the company couldnt pick a direction.

lets not overlook a full year headstart to gain market share. I believe it to be the reason why ps2 outsold xbox despite the xbox having better performance (among other reasons). And the flip is also true for 360 and ps3. 360 had a full year to increase its install base. Which would even account for the boast in sales in japan. There wasnt a direct competitor yet. Obviously 360 has outsold ps3 in the states despite ps3 being the more capable system. At the end of the day timing and marketing play a big roll.

makes you think what if Xbox 360 was a success in Japan would it be near Wii sales?

I hate negative threads like this, the better question is what could they have done to sell more and I don't really see anything other than opening a huge Japanese studio but I doubt that would have made any difference either this gen. Maybe the growth is enough to give them presence to not be insignificant in the region next gen.

Hahaha, ok, I want to throw this out there for all VGChartzers.

If a 'journalists' cares so little about the truth about sales figures that they don't even look at VGChartz or any other source, then please do not link to them on VGChartz.

Wii NA sales = 44.5M
360 NA sales = 42.6

Dominating means coming 2nd now?

Do not give traffic to this moron.

This..fucking this! Microsoft offers nothing new to the market that Sony doesn't do, so the Japanese aren't impressed at all. People would buy Xboxes if the Xbox set its own standard apart from Sony. Apple started a trend with IPODs and Computers that set a standard that even the competition cannot deny and it sells just fine in Japan. People knew from the start that if Microsoft had a similar product to Sony the Japanese are going to go with Sony. Microsofts only major push for the Japanese was in its first three years and then they gave up. Japanese companies know to stay Sony because Microsoft offers nothing different therefore the Japanese people will pick the home team.

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).

You know we like pretend Wii doesn't exist.

Watch the same thing happen with the Wii U. If most people don't think of it as part of the next gen club it doesn't matter how much it contributes to the party.