Microsoft always faced a tough battle in bringing the Xbox 360 to Japan, vying for attention with Sony and Nintendo on their home territory was never going to be an easy task. However if reports coming from German website GameFront are to be believed, MS is planning a major relaunch for the console in the Land of the Rising Sun beginning on June 29.
GameFront quotes Japanese retail sources who say MS is planning a second launch for the 360, to coincide with a number of big name game releases around that date, to give some much needed momentum to the console. Apparently just over 27,000 Xbox 360s have been sold in Japan since Christmas, which must be a very disappointing total for the Redmond giant, given that Sony and Nintendo sell more than that in a week.
Significantly perhaps, four major games which are perceived to be more 'Japanese-friendly' including Sega's CHROMEHOUNDs, Ubi's Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter, Idea Factory's Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage and AQ's Bullet Witch have all just had their release dates shifted to June 29, so this is one rumour which may indeed have legs.
However what the 360 really needs in Japan is quality home-produced titles like Ninety Nine Nights to appeal to a market which is notorious for being quite inward looking. When those kind of titles arrive it should help drive more Japanese sales of the 360. However with the PS3 arriving in November and Revolution probably even sooner, the clock is most definitely ticking for MS and even a massive Japanese relaunch may be just delaying the inevitable.
They can compete and win in any other country other than japan, thisd might be down the fact that japenese are a very inward looking people and don't take too kindly to outsiders doing well in their own market place.
It's either that or MS don't have final fantasy 21 and dragon quest 32 on their machine yet.
Microsoft should concentrate on the West. There are more than enough gamers in this part of the world to make the gaming venture a profitable one, without having to throw away money in Japan. And what for? It is clear that there is something seriously wrong with the Japanese. Every one there must own like what, 2 DS'es and now they are each purchasing a DS Lite as well? Thats 3 per person then. I, for one, am sick of a business model that squeezes europeans as hard as they can when it comes to profit margins in order to subsidize low margins and losses in Japan (and to a lesser extent the USA). So, when you are paying 45GBP ($80) for your copy of Top Spin 2 this Friday, (which costs $40 in the US and will be even less in Japan), do so with a smile and know that probably $25 of the margin on that game is going as a subsidy for the '2nd launch in Japan'.
big respect to Microsoft for keeping it real. but i dont know why there trying to hard? the Japan gamers cant see anything outside what there companies can build. just leave them alone and put all that effort into the USA and Europe. here we are, hardly any consoles in the shops, and Japan has them coming out of there ears. even Austraila which launched last week have none on the shelfs.
Microsoft need to kick it in the butt as far as Japan goes, the first Xbox sold nearly 30 million units, and that ws without Japan's help? hey look at what Sony are doing? even there launching in the USA first, and Metal Gear 3 was launched for the USA gamers first. it shows that Japan is slowly falling behind. even now there the 3rd market in Video games behind Europe (2nd) in hardware sales. forget about Japan and move on. if they want to buy it, let them, if they don't, leave them alone.
Microsoft is probably focusing so hard to sell consoles over in japan because they that japanese games sell really well in the US and also there is alot of money to be made in a culture that will buy a new console whenever a limited edition version comes out, or even a redesigned version comes out, I'd love for some of the japanese xbox 1 games to come out over here, like Metal Wolf, I played a demo of that game, and even though I couldn't understand the language, it sure was a fun game, I'd love to see some of those companies that makes great games like that do well enough in Japan, so that they can bring their games to the U.S. ande Europe.
The problem stems from the fact that they just don't understand the Japanese market well enough. Us westerners are pretty simple to please. Some nice graphics and fancy explosions, throw in a couple of fancy high tech guns and the possibility of gunning your m8 down, and we're around it like flies to a ... well you get the picture.
The Japanese are a little more selective. They enjoy silly little pointless games which we probably wouldn't touch with a barge pole, and of course the RPG (be it of the epic variety, some tactical card battle drivel, or just the hard core stat crunching stuff), of which the 360 has none, and won't for a long time to come, if ever. I think the only two games that actually shifted 360 consoles over in Japan were Final Fantasy XI, and Dead or Alive 4.
Perhaps trying to get Final Fantasy whatever or something similar for the 360 is not as stupid an idea as it sounds. Although we all know Sony will get them first.
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That reminds me, I need to get myself a copy over the weekend 
