By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Microsoft Discussion - MS Japan formed a team to save 360 in JPN

aleusianacht88 on 27 January 2010
Masakari said:
There's a lot of hate in this thread for MS and what happened in japan. For me, the truth is that they really tried, and it hasn't worked like they wanted simply because the japanese are inherently resistant to western consoles and games, and also haven't jumped like crazy at the HD bandwagon.

You can't tell the 360 doesn't have great games, it does, it works well, has the best online, and MS did try hard with japanese exclusives, even though the quality / quantity ratio isn't the best.

The japanese market is in a weird state these last few years, but ultimately, I think Xbox will never get traction there because it's an american console.

Or because the console is faulty and unreliable and they know it, why does everything have to be blamed on Japan and the people, you're basically calling them racist, maybe they just aren't interested in the concept of roid freaks with big guns and military shooters, I don't really blame them.

That's your opinion btw @ the bolded quote

Why don't you place the blame on Microsoft for rushing their console when they really shouldn't have? Where is the blame on Microsoft? They deserve most of the blame, not Japan.



Around the Network
Huya on 27 January 2010

Japan isn't known for huge military successes with guns, apart from spanking Russia but that is 100 years ago. There are a lot of cultural differences, Japan was most succesfull with traditional weapons(swords etc!). The problem is their market is different then the one EU and US have. And also if you think Japan is not nationalistic or racist towards other countries please stop watching animes



heruamon on 27 January 2010

LOL...saving what never existed...I will admit...the xbox brand did make a beachhead into the Japanese marketplace this gen, but it's never going to win against those 2 gaints of gaming in the country that spawned them...never. The msot M$ can ever hope for in Japan is 5-10% market share, imho...so they should plan accordingly for whatever the strategy is.



"...You can't kill ideas with a sword, and you can't sink belief structures with a broadside. You defeat them by making them change..."

- From By Schism Rent Asunder

arsenicazure on 27 January 2010

I think MS's focus at this point is the future. More than the present. 360 shd have LTD sales of 2mil in JPN. Thats about 5 times more than the xbox. JPN is grooming towards handhelds in the last few yrs. MS have a fantastic device in the ZUNE HD, which could easily be made into an handheld/phone/gaming device. So they need to have a certain backbone presence there.

It doesnt matter at this point. They make enough money in NA to counter losses in JPN. The real test IMO is natal- if JPN doesnt embrace natal with some love, MS just might reconsider a retreat- coz if you cant get japan excited about body motion gaming- then you cant buy their love with anything- it would be time to move on.



Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

owner of : atari 2600, commodore 64, NES,gameboy,atari lynx, genesis, saturn,neogeo,DC,PS2,GC,X360, Wii

5 THINGS I'd like to see before i knock out:

a. a AAA 3D sonic title

b. a nintendo developed game that has a "M rating"

c. redesgined PS controller

d. SEGA back in the console business

e. M$ out of the OS business

Kenryoku_Maxis on 27 January 2010
jarrod said:
So what other old PC games can they convince 3rd parties to port? PS3's already nabbed the boring Koei MMOs.

Oh there's plenty.  There's Age of Empires III, Battlefield Bad Company, Crysis....

Oh, you mean games Japan WANTS.  That's a different story.....  But then again, that's assuming Japan would even care about any game on the 360.  Frankly, if names like Akira Toriyama and Sakaguchi can't sell systems/games, then nothing can help your system in Japan.



Six upcoming games you should look into:

 

  

Around the Network
Wandamaximoff on 27 January 2010
Masakari said:
There's a lot of hate in this thread for MS and what happened in japan. For me, the truth is that they really tried, and it hasn't worked like they wanted simply because the japanese are inherently resistant to western consoles and games, and also haven't jumped like crazy at the HD bandwagon.

You can't tell the 360 doesn't have great games, it does, it works well, has the best online, and MS did try hard with japanese exclusives, even though the quality / quantity ratio isn't the best.

The japanese market is in a weird state these last few years, but ultimately, I think Xbox will never get traction there because it's an american console.

i agree ms has done a fantastic job, they have gained the support of the JPN developers

thats pretty huge!

if u see the step from xbox to xbox 360 you will see a huge difference.

 

MS always said it would take prob 4 gens to be at the top.... id say this gen they have comp pretty close and thats console number 2!!



jarrod on 27 January 2010
SonySoft said:
jarrod said:
SonySoft said:
To make matters worse, all the mid-tier development teams are no longer considering the system for Japan-only releases.

Er, Cave, G.Rev, 5pb, Alchemist, Koei and others disagree.  360 basically inherited the STG/ADV okatku-core legacy in Japan.  Previous torchbearers include PC Engine, Saturn and Dreamcast... honestly, it probably has more JP only releases coming up than PS3.

Far from it, the 360 is getting a few SHMUPs and rarely some 5pb graphic novels. Theyve managed to attract that down to the fact the 360 is easy to develop for, but now with the sheer increase in the PS3s userbase, it might not mean much.

The PC-E, Saturn and even the Mega Drive had huge mid-tier support as well as big-budget exclusives that gave them a niche in the market. In fact the Saturn beat the N64 with more hardware sales despite Nintendo having the Pokemon craze as well as stronger software sales.

MS are doing okay hardware sales wise, if they stay at the current 5k trend, theyll end at a decent total userbase, but unfortunately, the attach rate has not kept up with the increased hardware sales. Worst of all, those 360 owners pretty much all have PS3s which means that 1.2 million 360s mean little for developers wanting to make a HD game. If that wasnt bad enough, even in previous years they benefitted from the holiday effect, but this year, it did little.

Just look at the massive disconnect between Pro Evo 10 sales on both systems even though MS helped market the game. One place where MS did do well on were Western games sales, but thats no longer the case, Gears of War 2 for example has sold less than the first game. Similarly, fighters that have been released, SCIV, SFIV and Tekken 6, have all sold roughly the same amount despite the increasing userbase.

MS need to get out a slim and very cheap system out soon, this could get a lot of handheld and Wii gamers to get the 360 as a poor-mans-PS3  as it does have most of the big HD games being released by the big publishers. MS should also make better use of Mistwalker, but it seems like theyve given up on the traditional approach and riding their luck on Natal.

All in all, MS have done well and its going to be a big factor in influencing the sales of their next system as after all, the 360 does have a quality line-up for Japanese gamers, but that success has been extinguished by the PS3s improving fortunes.

Disagreed, Microsoft's doing fairly well considering how small their base is, and "midline" Japanese devs have embraced multiplatform development for the most part this gen (admittedly with an eye on the west).   Koei, Spike, Acquire, Tecmo, Marvelous, Tecmo, From, SNK, D3, Taito, Atlus... they're all supporting 360.   Nevermind the big guys (Sega, Capcom, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Konami).  Christ, the release calendar looks almost identical to PS3, though 360 trades the few exclusive niche PS3 RPGs (NIS, Gust, etc) for even more exclusive niche STG/ADVs (Cave, 5pb, etc).

But really, the proof is in the pudding. Rounding up the current "Japan only" retail releases coming up for all consoles...

 

PlayStation 3

  1. Nobunga no Yabou Tendou (Koei Tecmo)
  2. Nobumga no Yabou Online (Koei Tecmo)
  3. Pachipara 2 Super Umi in Okinawa 2 (IREM)
  4. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (Konami)
  5. Winning Post World 2010 (Tecmo Koei)

Xbox 360

  1. Akatsuki no Amaneki no Aoi Kyojin (Cyberfront)
  2. Chaos; Head Love Chu Chu (5pb Games)
  3. Espgaluda II: Black Label (Cave)
  4. Ketsui: Kizuna Jikogutachi Extra (5pb Games)
  5. No Fate! Only the Power of Will (Alchemist)
  6. Nobunga no Yabou Tendou (Koei Tecmo)
  7. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (Konami)
  8. Senko no Rondo DUO (G.Rev)
  9. Strike Witches (Cyberfront)
  10. Winning Post World 2010 (Tecmo Koei)
  11. W.L.O. World Love organization (5pb Games)

Wii

  1. Daikaishu Battle Ultra Coliseum DX Ultra Senshi Daishuuketsu (Bandai) 
  2. Karaoke Joysound DX Extra (Hudson)
  3. Radio Allergy NOA (Milestone)
  4. Winning Post World 2010 (Tecmo Koei)


jarrod on 27 January 2010
Kenryoku_Maxis said:
jarrod said:
So what other old PC games can they convince 3rd parties to port? PS3's already nabbed the boring Koei MMOs.

Oh there's plenty.  There's Age of Empires III, Battlefield Bad Company, Crysis....

Oh, you mean games Japan WANTS.  That's a different story.....  But then again, that's assuming Japan would even care about any game on the 360.  Frankly, if names like Akira Toriyama and Sakaguchi can't sell systems/games, then nothing can help your system in Japan.

lol.  It probably wouldn't mean much to most, but I'd personally fangasm if Microsoft struck a deal with Falcom.  Then maybe I could get a non-shitty Ys VII!



huaxiong90 on 27 January 2010
jarrod said:
Kenryoku_Maxis said:
jarrod said:
So what other old PC games can they convince 3rd parties to port? PS3's already nabbed the boring Koei MMOs.

Oh there's plenty.  There's Age of Empires III, Battlefield Bad Company, Crysis....

Oh, you mean games Japan WANTS.  That's a different story.....  But then again, that's assuming Japan would even care about any game on the 360.  Frankly, if names like Akira Toriyama and Sakaguchi can't sell systems/games, then nothing can help your system in Japan.

lol.  It probably wouldn't mean much to most, but I'd personally fangasm if Microsoft struck a deal with Falcom.  Then maybe I could get a non-shitty Ys VII!

Have you played the first 3 Ys games? And if so, on what platform?



Rockstar: Announce Bully 2 already and make gamers proud!

Kojima: Come out with Project S already!

Masakari on 27 January 2010
aleusianacht88 said:
Masakari said:
There's a lot of hate in this thread for MS and what happened in japan. For me, the truth is that they really tried, and it hasn't worked like they wanted simply because the japanese are inherently resistant to western consoles and games, and also haven't jumped like crazy at the HD bandwagon.

You can't tell the 360 doesn't have great games, it does, it works well, has the best online, and MS did try hard with japanese exclusives, even though the quality / quantity ratio isn't the best.

The japanese market is in a weird state these last few years, but ultimately, I think Xbox will never get traction there because it's an american console.

Or because the console is faulty and unreliable and they know it, why does everything have to be blamed on Japan and the people, you're basically calling them racist, maybe they just aren't interested in the concept of roid freaks with big guns and military shooters, I don't really blame them.

That's your opinion btw @ the bolded quote

Why don't you place the blame on Microsoft for rushing their console when they really shouldn't have? Where is the blame on Microsoft? They deserve most of the blame, not Japan.

Yes, i know the console used to fail quite a bit. The PS1 and PS2 also failed quite a bit, and nobody raised that much hell against them. I've had 2 PS2s for example, and my almost 3 year old Xbox never broke down, for example. And i'm not even getting to the fact that MS actually treated their costumers well for the most part with the warranty, I know some pretty bad horror stories from Sony of the PS1/PS2 breakdowns, simply because they didn't care, because it didn't turn into a PR nightmare like the 360 did.

In other words, yes the console had problems, but they were blown out of proportion due to anti-MS sentiment, and this isn't 2007 or 2008, we're in 2010, get over it. Besides, it's historic that japanese tend to dislike more western style gaming, and it's also pretty well known how japanese typically view outsiders.

Your post is overly anti-MS and it shows.