I'm sure the Xbox fans in Japan disagree. It may not sell like hotcakes, but they're still gamers that deserve a choice as well.

I don't think that the Xbox One will do amazingly well, but I don't really see a reason for just pulling out of that market. It has potential for MS, even if it isn't nearly as successful there. I'm sure there are Xbox fans in Japan that would be happy to pick up the console and play some of the successful titles that are already out.

MS knows they aren't gonna sell loads in Japan, so they won't be overstocking X1.

long as they don't lose money overall on the venture I don't think there's a good reason not to, and I doubt they'd lose money overall. Having some kind of presence there also helps with getting Japanese games to the console outside of Japan as well.

Hahaha, am I the only person who has paid attention to Japanese home console sales? It's a dying market. Xb1 is doing terribly in Europe, but Japan will set new standards for disaster lol. At least it will be funny (and a bit sad).

This. 

You can't get Japanese publishers behind you if you're not in Japan yourself. The 360 did a lot better in Japan than the Xbox, and with a little creative marketing as well as a presence at TGS they can carve a niche in Japan. It definitely won't happen overnight but they are really wasting an opportunity.  They just need patience and moneyhatted exclusives/definitive multiplats.

Totally agree. I have no idea why anybody would not want the system to launch at all in Japan.

The Xbox brand doesn't have a big following in Japan, that's one of the main problems.

There's absolutely no chance of that happening. Sales across the board for consoles in Japan are horrendous. Even for ones with much more appeal to the Japanese consumer (compact, with an emphasis on mobile : such as Vita play, the WiiU tablet, etc). XB1 is massive with a huge power brick, it's going to go over like a lead balloon.

Localization costs many millions of dollars, and marketing/distribution/support will run those costs way up there. With Microsoft's management record, it would be unsurprising to see the costs running into at least the several hundred million range to just get it localized and in stores in Japan. How much do they make per unit @ $400? $20 or so?

Sales would have to be far beyond PS4+WiiU combined in Japan AND a ridiculous attach rate for years to come for XB1 to turn a profit from the effort.

I think it's idiotic, but I'm happy that it's happening because the numbers will be pure comedy gold. It will have a tiny launch bubble, then fall below 1k/week very quickly.

All one needs to do is look at the charts. Attractive Japanese IPs are available currently on :

PS3

WiiU

3DS

Vita

PSP

Guess where virtually ALL of the sales are? Mobile. And not by a small margin. The gap is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. The only home console games which even crack respectable numbers are the big Wii/WiiU Nintendo IPs (Mario/Smash/Kart). MGS,:GZ, which was cheap and follows a massively successful series in Japan, has yet to crack 250k on PS3 (which has a huge install base there!). PS4? Don't make me laugh.

What does that tell you? Even consoles with many MANY millions in install base have been closeted and put away for the most part. Japanese gamers aren't buying games on home consoles in any serious numbers any more. It's 'uncool' in Japan now.

And what's incredibly uncool? A console of ludicrous boxy massive proportions that looks like a 1980s VCR.

I've been down this road before, when everyone pre-launch was convinced that XB1 was going to rule the world. Then when people were convinced that Titanfall would give MS the lead in the US, then when the $449 Bundle was announced it was going to change everything, etc. Every single time I've nailed it to the wall with reality. And this one is just the plainest/clearest yet.

There is literally nothing MS can do to make the XB1 a success in Japan. Whatever they're doing, what is it? 6 games? Quadruple that. Make it 24 games that you can only play on Japan XB1. It still won't sell. People don't want to pay 40,000 yen for a gigantic Microsoft box. The 360 burned the few Japanese buyers that gave them a chance last time, and this time the home market is a fraction of what it was.

The Vita alone is selling at a rate that basically amounts to PS4+WiiU COMBINED there, and the 3DS is well ahead of that.

It's going to be an absolutely beautiful bloodbath. There's not a .01% chance of success there. It's an absolutely guaranteed failure with the combo of :

40,000 yen

MASSIVE BOX

Microsoft brand

Non-mobile home console

Microsoft gained their foothold in Japan by (presumably) buying exclusivity of a number of mid-tier franchises from established publishers for the first few years of the console's life.

This was a pretty good idea because not only did it help in Japan, but it helped in the west as well (I know a few early adopters who bought 360's because of the JRPG's, who switched to PS3 later in the console generation).

The tier of games which they relied upon for the 360 is no longer around. Stuff like Star Ocean; Eternal Sonata; Ace Combat etc. has either gone to smartphones; gone F2P on PS3 or has died altogether. So they can't rely on that this time around.

I do not think they will gain any kind of foothold in Japan this generation. The support they do have (5pb & Cave) is about as niche as it's possible to get, and will not sell many consoles.

The reason they should release in Japan is twofold. Firstly, they will still be getting multi-plats aimed at the west along with PS4 (i.e. Final Fantasy; Resident Evil). The publishers of these games will still presumably want to sell as many copies in Japan as they can. So at least getting the console out there should appease them.

Secondly, western games are a lot bigger in Japan than people realise. It's all well and good saying that XB1 has 6 exclusives, many from 5pb, but stuff like Battlefield/Call of Duty/Grand Theft Auto is infinitely bigger than those titles. And again, these publishers are going to want to sell as much as they can in Japan. They'll already be translating the games for release on PS3/PS4, so they might as well stick out an XB1 version too.

Therefore, I can completely understand why MS are releasing in Japan.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of effort they make with Japan this gen. Will there be funded games like Lost Odyssey again? Will they get any bigger games exclusively on board? I think they've missed the boat for getting western JRPG fans interested in the console - PS4 already has Acquire/Gust/Compile Heart/NIS/Falcom developing for it, and Baba seems set on keeping Tales on PlayStation home consoles going forward. Western-focused multi-plats will keep being multi-plat regardless of what MS do. So I don't particularly see much incentive for them to develop for Japan, but who knows.