Those are definitely two of the issues on the hardware side that Microsoft needs to address now that the RROD problems have been reduced.

Also, that was posted on this site?  Link? 

I also agree with this. 

Don't expect critical mass to be reached in Japan, that can only lead to disappointment.  If and when it does happen you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Personally I don't even follow Japanese sales at this point (because it's mostly DS games I've never heard of).

I think you must first specify what you mean. Critical mass for what? Doubling XB1 numbers? Selling 50% of PS3? Regular titles in the top 10?

I think X360 will at least triple XB1 hardware and software sales LTD and get a lot more japanese third party support. It will still only be a "blip", but a much larger blip, and will make MS a real contender in Japan with the next Xbox.

http://vgchartz.com/news/news.php?id=623

I think that most people say what they want to happen. It is just wishful thinking than common sense. Nothing big happened really. X360 had a good title this week plus some other things helped (pricedrops, new sku) and sold very good. But nothing changed, Japanese people didn't shift to X360 and it still will be minor console there. 16k isn't a record (even fox X360) and it changed X360 marketshare in Japan by only 0.18%(new gen consoles, it's now 8.69%). Great debut for AC6 and good week for X360 but nothing more.

I think the idea of Critical Mass for the X360 in Japan is a very, very, relative term.

The issue we face is this: the Xbox 360 had the WORST launch ever in the history of gaming, relative to what it brought to the table. This was on the heels of the worst-selling console in Japan, even toppling such favorites as the Sega Master System and Turbo Grafix.

The first 6 months were pitiful - even sure-fire DOA4 underwhelmed, and the poor-selling Xbox was outpacing the Xbox 360's sales for a very, very long time. By the end of the first 3 months, the X360 had slouched in sales to a 2:1 ratio vs. the Xbox at the same time (or even more than 2:1, possibly even 3:1).


Fast forward to today: If true, the Xbox 360 this week alone has sold 50% of the YTD sales of the Xbox's entire 2004 season! And it's not even Christmas! Isn't that something actually noteworthy? Yes, 16k is absolutely nothing, and I'm glad to admit that, but in the shadow of previous X360 and Xbox sales, it's huge.

Not only this, Ace Combat 6, in it's first 3 days has outsold the top-selling game of the Xbox's second year, Ninja Gaiden, by over 10,000 units.

To me, that's pretty huge and noteworth. Add in the fact the PS3 is also preforming bad, and it's something that I take interest in. No one on these forums, even the most deluded Xbox fanboy thinks that the "critical mass" we talk about is even remotely close to rivaling the Playstation 3, which alone is bad. We're merely excited about the fact the Xbox 360 is trending to sell 1.5m, to even 2.5m or more units - 3 to 5x the Xbox's total sales.

And for the reason I care: it means more JRPGs. JRPGs are my favorite genre. Add in the WRPGs the X360 has, and it's why I take note. I bought my X360 in the hope and faith that Microsoft was going to moneyhat JRPGs, and bring them to America. This was before Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were even publically talked about in the US. Guess what? I was 100% right and then some. If the X360 had a 2.5m userbase at the end of it's run, the next system could manage 5m or even 7m units. At that point, I'd be getting every Playstation exclusive game I'd want, on the system I choose to own.

I still think we need to look at more important numbers, that would be it's average weekly hardware sales after all the holiday hype dies with stuff like LO and AC6. These games sales will be solid, but they are a battle, if the 360 drops down again to sub 5,000 weekly numbers then these recent additions haven't really turned the tide. MS needs to see sales on weeks it doesn't spend countless dollars trying to win over Japan. Either way their image has to be getting better.

I wanted to add this chart to look at as it does reflect the vast improvement the 360 now is over the original x-box

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=X360&reg1=Japan&cons2=XB&reg2=Japan&cons3=X360&reg3=Japan&weeks=238

You'll see it was weeks ago 360 surpassed the orginal in week for week sales, and ever since left it in the dust, they are now currently about 2 weeks away from outselling the x-box entire install base, before LO even launches. And it's clear it has an even brighter future.

Why do so many people assume the new heatsink settings are helping against the RROD error? Look at the SA thread on the issue: ~20% of the Xbox 360s repaired come back and break within weeks and, disturbingly, many people are getting brand new 360s that break within the 30 day period whereby they can return it to the store (this includes new bundles, elites, etc).

The new heatsinks don't seem to have fixed anything. People need to realize that failure rates take a while to pan out, so if Microsoft makes a change, we won't know the true failure rate for that change for some time. People are just hoping that the 360 is fixed so they can justify buying one themselves. I'd love to buy one if they didn't have continued quality problems.

This will be apparent in 12 months when people are still getting failures on relatively new units at that time and we have an influx of failed units that will have been sold during the '07 holidays. This will bite Microsoft in the ass because it will have been the second time they claimed they fixed the Xbox 360 without actually fixing it and, as stated above, the Japanese will not forget about it.

The 360 has a fantastic library so far this generation.  Its hardware just sucks, and continues to suck.

Has MS actually claimed that it's fixed with the newer units? I know it's common expectation, but I've never seen an official statement to that effect.

As for critical mass, I'd say no, not yet, but definately progressing nicely dispite the 360's mentioned short-comings.

What strikes me the most is that the 360 is staying within striking distance of the PS3. By this I mean even if the PS3 were to start outselling the 360 in NA it'd take them a Loooong time to overtake their lead. But if the 360 starts outselling the PS3 in Japan, it wouldn't take to long to overtake them. The difference in installed base is still rather minor.