Yep. Either way, the box has done excellent in Japan, and the PS3 has sucked it up. Even though the PS3 managed to secure second place, it's a hollow victory after Sony's success last gen.....just like it is worldwide.

@ Zen

I don't think anyone has said that the 360 hasn't done well in Japan.

Just that the money sunk into that country didn't yield the type of results that it would have in EU or NA, and what point it is to keep on trying in Japan when they really don't want to buy your consoles.

Yes, the PS3 has sucked in Japan, but they haven't sunk nearly as much into that market buying JRPGs, exclusives and the like. Sony is coasting, and is still in second place, and MS is trying hard as hell and still in third.

Hollow victory or not, Sony has had a much better game-plan in Japan than MS has.

i agree with dmj, sony have spent little or nothing in japan to help sales, that's why they suck, except secure a few exclusives. if sony spent the time and money ms did in japan we wouldn't be having this discussion. whilst microsoft have sweated buckets over japan to suck that little bit less. bravo.

Again, my friend, Sony fans tend to resort to the profit side of things, when they fail to see the strategy part. Microsoft is building its brand. They don't care how much they have to overspend to do this, obviously.

Sony has a terrible gameplan in Japan. The worst possibe gameplan you can have, because you know what their gameplan is? It's called "coasting."

Now, MS has spent way more money on garnering Japanese support, and has suceeded in outselling Sony a few weeks, are are indeed selling consoles well there, considering they are Microsoft. They're building their brand.

Now, if we look at this outside of profit, or money spent, you will of course agree, Microsoft has done much, much, much more for its brand this gen than Sony has in Japan. In fact, Sony's brand has went down the crapper, this gen, in the country. The Xbox brand, however, is much stronger. Period.

Just because you think that it wasn't efficient monitarily, for Microsoft to do this, doesn't mean the end result isn't the same.

Frankly, your bolded statement is ignorant. Sony has managed to induce the largest shift of power inside the gaming industry ever this gen, and its nowhere more apparent than Japan.

This is indicative of Sony's overall startegy, of coasting, and being stingy with profit, to benefit the shareholders, and not the longterm brand success. Losing multiplats like Tekken and XIII. Microsoft, on the other hand, is undercutting Sony. Now, let me explain that strategy to you:

Imagine Sony and Microsoft are gas stations.

Microsoft lowers its price to 1 penny per gallon

Sony can't afford to do that, so everyone shops at Microsoft

Then, Sony goes out of business because they couldn't compete

Microsoft then starts selling its product at normal prices

This is what Microsoft has attempted to do this gen to a lesser extent, with the Xbox 360 price cuts, and increased Japanese support. You're saying that because MS aren't making short term profit, that their strategy sucks? You're saying that largely increasing your brands image in Japan is useless? Is making your brand image crap, also useless and unimportant?

You can't presume to know how much or little money MS has spent in Japan, and you can't say that no effort at all is a better business plan than a lot of effort. The fact that CGI-Quality has jumped on your bandwagon, should make you realize that your argument is completely pro-Sony.

For you to try to spin this, like Sony has done better in Japan this gen than Microsoft!? You're better than that bro. Get your priorities straight. What are you?

Sony screwed the pooch in Japan this gen worse than any company ever. It's impossible for anyone to have a worse gameplan than that. Period. Done. Out.

@ Zen

I don't like reading that much text.

Try condensing that into a few sentences, lol.

i agree that sony's plan sucked, their plan was near enough none existant. but no matter how you spin it; sony has done better in japan than microsoft. yes microsoft has improved, but sony has still done better. pure and simple.

Suffice it to say, you were owned. Here's a highlight:

Sony screwed the pooch in Japan this gen worse than any company ever. It's impossible for anyone to have a worse gameplan than that.

Yeah, I guess if you want to look at it simplistically, you could call it like that. However, the same could be said about Microsoft beating Sony worldwide right now. That is, if you didn't want to give any context, background, or understanding to your arugment.

As for me, I was talking about gameplans, and gameplans(or as I call them "strategies) have an element of relativity to them, which has nothing to do with static figures. I'm glad you agreed with that part.

well unless sony actually overtakes microsoft worldwide, how can i disagree?

lol, they will, without a doubt. I'm just saying that those static numbers don't always tell the story, and trying is always better than not trying. I think we're on the same page, at least.