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Forums - Sales Discussion - 360 to outsell the ps3 again in Japan?

leo-j on 29 September 2008

I think its going to either be very close, or PS3 with a slight edge, or 360 doing worst than the preview shows.

It has happened before, either way I expect 9k for PS3, and possibly anywhere from 4-11k from 360.

As for wii I expect 24k.



 

mM
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Shadowblind on 29 September 2008
Lord N said:
mrstickball said:
Goddbless said:
A year ago this would have been an easy question but now it actually has merit. Things change so quickly in this industry.

It's not so much that things change quickly, as it is that Microsoft did what was needed to make themselves competitive...Unlike last generation.

It's not that hard for a system to do well in Japan, or any country, really (provided there aren't strange circumstances such as mainland Europe's dislike of the X360 due to their hatred of Microsoft and their quality controls).

If the Playstation 3 had made the same moves - Bought up big 3rd party IPs, made aggressive pricedrops, and marketed properly, they could of been competitive with the Wii, but they didn't. Likewise, if the Wii had done the same, it'd be selling 70,000 a week and not 30,000 a week.

It's all about positioning, and Microsoft is trying to position themselves as the Otaku console in Japan, and not the Playstation 3. And unlike Sony, they are doing a pretty good job at securing a litany of JRPGs, western games, and other niche products that the Wii and PS3 have overlooked.

 

This is so shortsighterd it's not funny.

Buying up third-party IP's really makes little difference. If it mattered, then MS would be on top in every region considering that they've got by far the most money, but instead, they're in 2nd in the US and last in EU and Japan.

 

 Because THIS is why a console made by one of the most hated companies ever became succesful, and THIS is why it has a better attach rate then that "poor" selling console you spoke of and the "great" selling console. THIS is why they created what is easily the greatest online service ever created.


THIS is why its fans are happy, and the owners of its consoles are still playing it.  

 

I know its hard to understand, but game consoles are made to make people HAPPY, and getting exclusives does that.  



GOTY Contestants this year: Dead Space 2, Dark Souls, Tales of Graces f. Everything else can suck it.

leo-j on 29 September 2008
Shadowblind said:
Lord N said:
mrstickball said:
Goddbless said:
A year ago this would have been an easy question but now it actually has merit. Things change so quickly in this industry.

It's not so much that things change quickly, as it is that Microsoft did what was needed to make themselves competitive...Unlike last generation.

It's not that hard for a system to do well in Japan, or any country, really (provided there aren't strange circumstances such as mainland Europe's dislike of the X360 due to their hatred of Microsoft and their quality controls).

If the Playstation 3 had made the same moves - Bought up big 3rd party IPs, made aggressive pricedrops, and marketed properly, they could of been competitive with the Wii, but they didn't. Likewise, if the Wii had done the same, it'd be selling 70,000 a week and not 30,000 a week.

It's all about positioning, and Microsoft is trying to position themselves as the Otaku console in Japan, and not the Playstation 3. And unlike Sony, they are doing a pretty good job at securing a litany of JRPGs, western games, and other niche products that the Wii and PS3 have overlooked.

 

This is so shortsighterd it's not funny.

Buying up third-party IP's really makes little difference. If it mattered, then MS would be on top in every region considering that they've got by far the most money, but instead, they're in 2nd in the US and last in EU and Japan.

 

 Because THIS is why a console made by one of the most hated companies ever became succesful, and THIS is why it has a better attach rate then that "poor" selling console you spoke of and the "great" selling console. THIS is why they created what is easily the greatest online service ever created.


THIS is why its fans are happy, and the owners of its consoles are still playing it.  

 

I know its hard to understand, but game consoles are made to make people HAPPY, and getting exclusives does that.  

 

 Easily... no thats completely biased coming from you.

Its not "easily" the greatest online service ever created, far from "easily".



 

mM
Shadowblind on 29 September 2008
leo-j said:
Shadowblind said:
Lord N said:
mrstickball said:
Goddbless said:
A year ago this would have been an easy question but now it actually has merit. Things change so quickly in this industry.

It's not so much that things change quickly, as it is that Microsoft did what was needed to make themselves competitive...Unlike last generation.

It's not that hard for a system to do well in Japan, or any country, really (provided there aren't strange circumstances such as mainland Europe's dislike of the X360 due to their hatred of Microsoft and their quality controls).

If the Playstation 3 had made the same moves - Bought up big 3rd party IPs, made aggressive pricedrops, and marketed properly, they could of been competitive with the Wii, but they didn't. Likewise, if the Wii had done the same, it'd be selling 70,000 a week and not 30,000 a week.

It's all about positioning, and Microsoft is trying to position themselves as the Otaku console in Japan, and not the Playstation 3. And unlike Sony, they are doing a pretty good job at securing a litany of JRPGs, western games, and other niche products that the Wii and PS3 have overlooked.

 

This is so shortsighterd it's not funny.

Buying up third-party IP's really makes little difference. If it mattered, then MS would be on top in every region considering that they've got by far the most money, but instead, they're in 2nd in the US and last in EU and Japan.

 

 Because THIS is why a console made by one of the most hated companies ever became succesful, and THIS is why it has a better attach rate then that "poor" selling console you spoke of and the "great" selling console. THIS is why they created what is easily the greatest online service ever created.


THIS is why its fans are happy, and the owners of its consoles are still playing it.  

 

I know its hard to understand, but game consoles are made to make people HAPPY, and getting exclusives does that.  

 

 Easily... no thats completely biased coming from you.

Its not "easily" the greatest online service ever created, far from "easily".

Really? Other then Steam, what is a better service?

 



GOTY Contestants this year: Dead Space 2, Dark Souls, Tales of Graces f. Everything else can suck it.

mrstickball on 30 September 2008
Lord N said:

This is so shortsighterd it's not funny.

Buying up third-party IP's really makes little difference. If it mattered, then MS would be on top in every region considering that they've got by far the most money, but instead, they're in 2nd in the US and last in EU and Japan.

Nintendo and Sony don't need to buy up third-party IPs and developers because they already have a presence in Japan. The DS and PSP will most likely end up the #1 and #2 consoles in Japan at the end of the generation. The handhelds are are far more responsbile for the home consoles not lighting up the sales charts in Japan. The Japanese at the moment simply prefer the handhelds more. It's got nothing to do with a lack of money-hatting by Sony and Nintendo. As a matter of fact, all of the money that MS had fed to third-parties for such minimal gains is a big part of the reason that the 360 has failed to turn a consistent profit.

Why is this even in question? After all of the buying of JRPG's, all the 360 has managed to do is outsell a poorly-selling console a few times(the PS3) and outsell the Wii once after it had seen a drop in sales. This alone speaks for more than words can say.

Lord N,

If this is the way you feel, then what would you do if you were the marketing director of Microsoft in Japan, to boost Xbox 360 sales in the region? I'd really like to know what you'd do as the head of MS Japan to give it any measure of success. Give us a plan that Microsoft *should* have done, given their abilities, to help themselves out in the Japanese marketplace, rather than get 3rd party games.

 



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.

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selnor on 30 September 2008

Considering how much the 360 sales were affected by shortages in Japan on last weeks numbers, Unless there was a shipment I doubt it. As soon as M$ get another shipment in it seems the demand is there in Japan. Come on M$ get the stores filled.



Yoshi! on 30 September 2008

Oh boy, desperate fanboys caring about scraps that the almighty Wii left. So sad.



Lord N on 30 September 2008
Shadowblind said:
Lord N said:
mrstickball said:
Goddbless said:
A year ago this would have been an easy question but now it actually has merit. Things change so quickly in this industry.

It's not so much that things change quickly, as it is that Microsoft did what was needed to make themselves competitive...Unlike last generation.

It's not that hard for a system to do well in Japan, or any country, really (provided there aren't strange circumstances such as mainland Europe's dislike of the X360 due to their hatred of Microsoft and their quality controls).

If the Playstation 3 had made the same moves - Bought up big 3rd party IPs, made aggressive pricedrops, and marketed properly, they could of been competitive with the Wii, but they didn't. Likewise, if the Wii had done the same, it'd be selling 70,000 a week and not 30,000 a week.

It's all about positioning, and Microsoft is trying to position themselves as the Otaku console in Japan, and not the Playstation 3. And unlike Sony, they are doing a pretty good job at securing a litany of JRPGs, western games, and other niche products that the Wii and PS3 have overlooked.

 

This is so shortsighterd it's not funny.

Buying up third-party IP's really makes little difference. If it mattered, then MS would be on top in every region considering that they've got by far the most money, but instead, they're in 2nd in the US and last in EU and Japan.

 

Because THIS is why a console made by one of the most hated companies ever became succesful, and THIS is why it has a better attach rate then that "poor" selling console you spoke of and the "great" selling console. THIS is why they created what is easily the greatest online service ever created.


THIS is why its fans are happy, and the owners of its consoles are still playing it.

 

I know its hard to understand, but game consoles are made to make people HAPPY, and getting exclusives does that.

Whether or not it's successful is up for debate considering that

-It sells decently in N. America, poorly in Europe/PAL regions, and next to nothing in Japan.

-Has been bested in all regions despite a year headstart.

-Hasn't turned a profit.

Whether or not it has the greatest online service is also up for debate because everyone's idea of good, bad, better, and worse are different. There are plenty of people out there who will tell you that the PSN and even Nintendo's online service are better.

Attach rates also mean nothing, and neither does the fact that people are happy with it. The 360 has a higher attach rate than the Wii, but which has actually moved more software? Lots of people are happy with their Saturns and Dreamcasts(my self included), but that really doesn't change anything about their market performance.

 

 

 



 

Consoles owned: Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, PSP, DS, PS3

Lord N on 30 September 2008
mrstickball said:

Lord N,

If this is the way you feel, then what would you do if you were the marketing director of Microsoft in Japan, to boost Xbox 360 sales in the region? I'd really like to know what you'd do as the head of MS Japan to give it any measure of success. Give us a plan that Microsoft *should* have done, given their abilities, to help themselves out in the Japanese marketplace, rather than get 3rd party games.

 

For starters, they could have looked at how other non-Japanese companies have managed to break into the Japanese market. Apple and the Ipod would have been a good place to begin. They should have tried to implement something new that Sony and Nintendo didn't have.

Then again, that's actually above MS because they aren't a very innovative company to begin with. They're used to being able to throw money around and get what they want, but now that MS's only real weapon has proven to be nigh useless, they really don't know what to do with themselves, because for the money they've spent, the most they can hope for is to end up a distant, unprofitable second and just a few million units ahead of the PS3 at best.

All that their money has really bought them is a few new IP's, and some of them have been unmitigated failures as far as sales and notoriety are concerned. Nintendo's first-party wipes the floor with anything MS could ever buy, and the proven third-party IP's that do well in Japan such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, Monster Hunter, etc, have remained on other platforms.

Certainly someone at MS could have devised a better strategy than burning hundreds of millions of dollars to reach meaningless sales marks. It reminds me of a military commander who starts a battle in which 100,00 of his troops die just to gain a few square miles of useless territory.

 

 



 

Consoles owned: Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, PSP, DS, PS3

papflesje on 30 September 2008

@ kowenicki: I think he means it differently.

They all spent money on building the console, but from that point on, MS spent money on trying to get into a difficult market, whereas sony and nintendo have not done that. Sony because they apparently refuse to buy 3d party exclusives (or can't buy), Nintendo because they sell countless amounts by just farting :p

He is not talking about the costs of a console (that's something separate). He's talking about what they're doing afterwards to gain some control of a difficult market and he apparently does not agree with the way MS has done so.