LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
-snickers-
360 should rot in the abyss. Everyone should have waited for the PS3 to grace the stores.
Well not exactly, I just wanted a title that would piss Raven off. But seriously though....this isn't looking good for XBOX overseas. Taken from BBC.
Microsoft's next generation Xbox 360 has got off to a slow start in Japan.
According to a study by leading Japanese game magazine Famitsu, less than half of the estimated 159,000 360 consoles in stores sold in the first weekend of sales.
The poor performance of the console has been blamed on postponement of the Dead or Alive 4 game.
Japan's games market is traditionally dominated by Sony and Nintendo, which are releasing new consoles next year.
Catching Sony
Japan is the biggest market for console games, after the US but Microsoft has struggled to make headway in the Japanese market, where Sony is estimated to have an 80% market share.
According to a study by leading Japanese game magazine Famitsu, less than half of the estimated 159,000 360 consoles in stores sold in the first weekend of sales.
The poor performance of the console has been blamed on postponement of the Dead or Alive 4 game.
Japan's games market is traditionally dominated by Sony and Nintendo, which are releasing new consoles next year.
Xbox 360
Microsoft had to start out strong and it failed to do that
Takashi Oya, Deutsche Securities analyst
But it had hoped to steal a march on both Sony and Nintendo as their next-generation consoles are not available for a few more months.
When the original Xbox went on sale in February 2002, Microsoft sold 123,000 in the first three days of sales.
But according to an independent study by Enterbrain, which publishes leading Japanese game magazine Famitsu, Microsoft has failed to sell even half of that figure with its new machine.
Only about 62,000 units were purchased on 10 and 11 December, said Enterbrain.
Lack of games
Famitsu Editor Munetatsu Matsui said the sole reason for this was the postponement of the much anticipated game Dead or Alive 4.
Microsoft had intended to launch the game with the box but it will not now be released until after Christmas.
Enterbrain also reported that some customers had cancelled pre-reserved Xbox 360s and that others would wait until the much-anticipated game is available on December 29.
"Microsoft had to start out strong and it failed to do that," Deutsche Securities analyst Takashi Oya told the Reuters news agency.
"I feel sorry for them since they had put a lot of effort into promoting Xbox 360 in Japan."
-snickers-
360 should rot in the abyss. Everyone should have waited for the PS3 to grace the stores.
Seduced by Flesh
Surprise, surprise. A country in which there's whole buildings dedicated to Dance Dance Revolution doesn't see a reason to buy the XBox 360.
If it's as great as Raven would have you believe then word will get out and sales will pick up. However, Microsoft doesn't seem to exactly cater to the Japanese market. They need more DDR and RPGs.
Damn fangirl.Originally Posted by Kasai
The Last Remaining Realist.
See Dick Buy Beer, See Dick not Tip, See Dick try again, See Dick Go thirsty.Moral of the Story: Don't be a Dick.
Hmmm. Sony is the best at RPGs, right?
Seduced by Flesh
That would be what I was pointing out. Only to say that if they want to corner the Japanese market, releasing more quality RPGs is essential.
Apparently DOA4 was quite necessary as well, but that necessity only comes with having no other game for that market to look forward to, I would assume.
Side note: Tales of Symphonia on Nintendo pwned. It's a fact.
Last edited by Agent Orange 216; Dec 13, 2005 at 11:22 AM.
The Last Remaining Realist.
See Dick Buy Beer, See Dick not Tip, See Dick try again, See Dick Go thirsty.
I got another article that was similar, and Im pretty sure that one would get raven to go hang himself
The Xbox 360 has landed in Japan. Today, Microsoft’s next –gen gaming console has finally been released in Sony and Nintendo’s arena, and the Japanese gamers… did nothing.
Well, not nothing, but according to several Japanese press sources, the reaction to the Xbox 360 was far from what Microsoft might have expected.
According to AFP, a survey at several major retailers pointed out the fact that sales were much slower than they had been in Europe or the United States, and one retailer in Tokyo even said that he had sold less than 50 consoles in the first two hours.
There are several factors that could explain Microsoft’s relative sales failure in the first day after the launch. First of all, it’s quite clear that the Japanese gamers prefer something built by one of their home companies (let’s call it a question of national pride), but there is also a flaw in Microsoft’s marketing strategy. Thus, RPGs and action games are much more popular than the FPSs in Japan, and Microsoft had almost no game of this type in its initial line-up.
What’s even worse for Microsoft is that the Japanese haven’t been impressed with the special favor granted to them. They’re getting only the premium version, but at only 39,795 yen ($330 USD), significantly cheaper than the price it is offered anywhere else in the world.
Microsoft has decided to keep everything under raps, and I’m pretty sure that information on the real success of the Xbox 360 on Sony’s turf will be rather scarce. Probably because there won’t be a success to talk about?
'Cause you give me something / That makes me scared, alright / This could be nothing / But I'm willing to give it a try / Please give me something
'Cause someday I might call you from my heart
Well at the moment microsoft is making many mmorpg's, this is happening cause microsoft wants japan to get them, as far as i see microsoft will be good in japan next holiday season.
Japan Hates the 360.Fixed.Japan Doesn't Support Gaijin Merchandise, Namely American.
They are known for supporting their own economy, so they will probably buy a lot of Sony consoles.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks