Ladies and gentlemen, you might want to sit down; the Xbox 360 has sold out In Japan. Well, the special-edition Blue Dragon bundles have, anyway.
Pre-orders began yesterday for the SE bundle, of which there are 10,000 units, and it miraculously managed to sell out in Japan almost immediately, with the additional 90,000 'standard' bundles reportedly selling fast.
According to 1up.com, one major online retailer managed to sell out of their SE allotment in five minutes, with others managing to last most of the day.
The special-edition bundle contains an Xbox 360 core system with Blue Dragon, along with an original table calendar, Blue Dragon faceplate illustrated by game artist Akira Toriyama and a set of five miniature character figures. All of this for the bargain price of 29,800 yen (134 JPN).
Considering the huge amount of Toriyama fans in the Far East and severe shortages of the PS3, the pre-order sell out is perhaps not so surprising. Still, it's a much-needed boost for Microsoft in Japan, where most weeks it has been struggling to shift even 1,000 units of its next-gen console.
Is MS about to get the break its been praying for in the world's gaming capital? Watch this space.
is this the right conversion rate? ...but this is awesome news! i really hope that they can follow it up with desirable releases and keep the japanese interested & playing on their 360s.
The Xbox360 needs a lot more weeks like this one before it can aspire to be a credible gaming platform in Japan. But it's a start, that's for sure. I'd say they need to start getting "quirky" games, which is what the japanese public adores, in addition to some more, many more RPGs.
Congratulations to Microsoft. They've put a lot of time, effort and money into Japan and they deserve to see results.
I'm glad it's finally caught on. To be honest I can't see what aspect of the system the Japanese didn't like. In fact I can't see any aspect of the system that's not to like.
I'm glad it's finally caught on. To be honest I can't see what aspect of the system the Japanese didn't like. In fact I can't see any aspect of the system that's not to like.
Apart from the fact it's made by an American company?!
That dragon edition sold out so quickly because of the Japanese artwork and it's collectable value. A good way to win the Japanese gamers but 10k pieces isn't much.
I'm glad it's finally caught on. To be honest I can't see what aspect of the system the Japanese didn't like. In fact I can't see any aspect of the system that's not to like.
Apart from the fact it's made by an American company?!
C.
Wasn't WW2 supposed to have been fought to beat the racists? The Japanese (having lost) need to sort this foreignmadephobia out.
I'm glad it's finally caught on. To be honest I can't see what aspect of the system the Japanese didn't like. In fact I can't see any aspect of the system that's not to like.
Apart from the fact it's made by an American company?!
C.
Wasn't WW2 supposed to have been fought to beat the racists? The Japanese (having lost) need to sort this foreignmadephobia out.
Probably... but until very recently the Americans were the same... think Cars... Until quite recently (When most of the population finally realised that Japanese cars are actually better) most Americans bought American!!
I'm glad it's finally caught on. To be honest I can't see what aspect of the system the Japanese didn't like. In fact I can't see any aspect of the system that's not to like.
Apart from the fact it's made by an American company?!
C.
That, and the lack of quirky Japanese software. Xbox is still very Western/Hardcore oriented.
I get the feeling that this isn't going to turn things around for them over there - such sales increases are probably only going to occur with such bundles, and they're going to be now and then aren't they?
Sounds more impressive a help than DOA was for Microsoft over there anyway.
It'll go double mental when Losy Odysee comes out.
Yeah. The trailer to that game looks class and the concept of the hero living a 1000 years sounds unique as well. Havent seen any ingame shots yet though...
I think its a no brainer to have RPGS on your system in order to sell it in Japan. MS needs to keep this momentum going now. Lost Odysee and Blue Dragon are good, but where are the next batch of RPGs? How long will we have to wait for those?
And bring back that canned MMRPG that was announced on the xbox. True Phantasy Online was it called? That looked so good!
The console hasn't broken at all. They just bought a bunch of consoles, which they're selling remarkably cheaply, and are *collectable items*.
The people who buy these collectables are probably *NEVER* going to take them out of the box and play them. Do you understand? They sold out in 5 minutes. They're probably worth 10 times as much as they paid.
So overall, Microsoft have undersold hardware, probably at a loss as usual, and the buyers of the consoles probably won't be buying many games... if any...
Idiots. They should sell Ł134 Xbox 360s HERE where it'll be much more appreciated....!!
I think people have bought it for the plate of BD and the toys (the figures ) included .
Now being serious the X360 is flopping like a bomb in Japan ,even worse than the original Xbox and thats saying something . Games like Blue Dragon and Lost Oddysey can help it a lot to multiply its sales there for some weeks ....but it remains to be seen that this turns into something that changes the structure of japanese market .After all ,games like NInja Gaiden and DOA Extreme boosted the sales for the Xbox in Japan for weeks and weeks ...but in the long run that didnt mean a single thing .
I have to say the price of this bundle is absolutely great ,if I was there I would buy it myself .
It'll go double mental when Losy Odysee comes out.
Ive read ohter reports that says it was a 100,000 consoles snapped up with the blue dragon stuff with another 90,000 to go, if this is true, then surely this is the amount MS have shifted since launch, in the space of a week, now with word of mouth, surely blue dragon might go on to be a million seller in japan, sames goes with lost odysee aswell, which im looking forward to more than blue dragon.
The Ipod sells well in Japan and its American made so there is hope
Its a british design for an american company, made in china, from parts made in all over the far east, so its really a multi country thing, and not 100% american, just look at car sales in japan, they not crazy for the american cars, european ones sell, but jap cars sell best everwhere.
Same goes with consoles in japan, if it isnt japanese then, they tend not to bother with it much.
The sales for the X360 in the last weeks have returned to the usual 1000-1500 consoles per week ....so I guess it was simply the people wanted the Blue Dragon Faceplate and figures and artwork ....
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