To keep this post as short as possible I will summarize this story. In my human evolution class I was reading about how Americans are trying to feed Haitians by finding new ways of cooking food without the use of fire wood. The haitians were unable to adopt a new strategy of cooking because it was not possible to cook with the new pan using traditional cultural cooking techniques. The Americans tried teaching the young women in the country how to cook in a different style. It didn't work because the elders didn't approve of the new cooking style. This made me think of Microsoft's attempt at selling Xbox in Japan.

Maybe Microsoft needs to take a new approach to selling Xbox in Japan (or possibly any foreign markets). So far the only thing Microsoft has done to sell Xbox in Japan is secure a limited amount of stereotypical Japanese games and lower the price of each Xbox unit. While it is a good start for Microsoft to do this it will only boost sales for a limited amount of time. Microsoft needs to buy/create entire studios in Japan and have a steady amount of Japanese titles coming each year. microsoft should not buy what they 'think' the Japanese will enjoy and aquire studios in Japan that make games for the Japanese. japanese console makers can't survive that well because their games only sell well in Japan and development prices are increasing. Microsoft should at least subsidise consoel game makers in the region. I don't know how much advertising Microsoft does in Japan but their ads need to cater to the Japanese video game audience. Microsoft needs to also push its apps on the Japanese audience.

Think of the best selling systems in Japan today, they are mostly handhelds. The DS/PSP/3DS/Vita are all selling well because they get a constant flow of Japan-exclusive games every year. The same can be said with the PS3. The handhelds also offer multimedia/gadgets that Japanese people like to mess around with. The Ja[anese people don't want to see a typical Xbox commercial of three white dudes watching football and playing halo. Their commercials need to seem like they're hip with the Japanese audience. Will add more later I have to go to class.

thank god he needed to go to class...

Not sure what you are even talking about. Ms have laid out no plans on how they are planning to release the Xbox one in japan. They could have released it during the November launch but they didn't, they obviously have a plan on how they are going to launch and clearing attempting a different approach based on what the heads have been saying. other than murmurs here and there, you aint heard much to jump to the "misinterpeting the japanese culture" troupe.

PS/
Ms buying studios in JAPAN IS A HORRIBLE IDEA.

Doesn't Microsoft Miss interpret virtually everything? They thought Windows Users didn't like the start menu and they go rid of it in Windows 8... They thought people wanted Kinect on the Xbox and made the Xbox One $100 more... They thought Windows Phone was a good idea and the market share is lolz worthy and finally... they thought the Surface RT with no apps for $200 would be the best tablet ever and that didn't happen either

MS doesn't even bother to get enough developers in the west exclusive for the X1. What makes you think they would throw money at a dead market like Japan? X1 will always be worse off simply by the fact that it was produced in the wrong country.

.......-_- i can never get that time back

This is actually one of your more reasonable topics. Good job toastboy.

Now as for your main point, no it's not going to help. MS got plenty of exclusive JRPGs and none of them did anything. And I'm sure MS spent hundreds of millions advertising the 360 over there. Dem Japanese people don't care about no Xbox.

Microsoft tried to change Japan's taste for the Xbox. Microsoft did not adapt to Japan.

What is the number one restaurant in Japan? McDonalds. But how can this be? According to teh interwebz, Japan is the most racist nation on Earth! Well, guess what? McDonalds changed some of its menu to fit Japanese taste! For example, teriyaki burgers, shrimp burgers, etc. etc.

Microsoft released big games like Halo and Gears of War hoping they would sell in Japan. They were wrong. Yes, they came out with Japanese style games... 3 years too late. From late 2007 to mid 2009 they did OK, with games such as Lost Odyssey, Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, Eternal Sonata, The Last Remnant, Tales of Vesperia, Ninja Gaiden 2, etc. etc. but by then it was too late, Japan had rejected the 360. If that was the lineup from early 2006 to 2007 then the Xbox 360 could have probably sold around 6-8 million in Japan.

Think of it this way. The Genesis sold like 3.5 million in Japan. The Saturn sold 6 million, nearly double despite it being a "failure." Even though Sega is Japanese, the Genesis lacked many Japanese games, especially compared to the SNES. However, the Saturn had many games that appealed to the Japanese audience and thus the Saturn sells really well in Japan.

So I debunked a few myths here.

MYTH: Japan refuses to buy American products
TRUTH: Japan's biggest restaurant is McDonalds. Japan's most popular cola product is Coca-Cola. Japan's most popular coffee is Starbucks. Japan's most popular jeans are Levi's. Apple owned Sony in the portable MP3 market a few years ago and phone market now.

MYTH: Microsoft tried really hard in Japan
TRUTH: It was too late when they did. The Xbox was an insult to the Japanese. It was even named "Project Midway" as a sign that consoles were going to be dominated by America (the Battle of Midway was the turning point of the Pacific theater in WWII). Then of course "Xbox" is a terrible name in Japanese. For example, "Xbox One" means DIVORCE in Japanese! Source :http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/live/learning-japanese/2012/10/29/japanese-slang-batsu-ichi/

Then of course, "X" means to cancel in Japanese as well (for example, on the DualShock, "X" cancels and "O" is for accepting). So right off the bat the name is wrong.

Then it was huge and clunky. Then MS released no JRPGs of note on the Xbox. Then it launched the 360 with the weakest lineup in Japan's history. It was like 6 games and only 2 were kind of Japanese (Tetris and Every Party). And MS ignored it in Japan until as noted late 2007... by then it was too late.

MYTH: Microsoft cannot succeed in Japan

TRUTH: It can. But it has to be smarter. Get an anime mascot like with IE and Windows. If you must, license it to Toshiba and change the name (as the Xbox brand is damaged there). Change it something like the "One Box" or whatever, I don't know. Then when you launch it, get a few Japanese exclusives right away. Get the interested.Get deals with Japanese TV and make it look like you are working to get a foothold in Japan.

To be honest, Japan isn't as crucial as it was in 2005, but I think you still need to do good there to win the console war. MS could try and aim to sell 5-7 million if they play their cards right, but they probably won't.

MS will never be successful with the Xbox brand in Japan... That ship has sailed