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Japan Analysts Cold Shoulder Xbox 360
- Thread starter Il Comodino
- Start date
PhoenixDark
Banned
O'RLY?
What do you expect? I am sick and tired of MS' constant bragging about the 360 and Japan. As usual, it's all talk and no followthrough. The 360's Japanese launch lineup is terrible. Perfect Dark 0? They still do not care or understand the Japanese market, and it seems to me they are saving their bigger Japanese games to combat the PS3 launch. By that time, it'll be too late. If MS had been serious about Japan, they would have gotten dev kits out to developers like Mist Walker and KOEI much eariler.
The 360 is going to have a disasterous launch in Japan. Write it down somewhere, on paper, the calander, or on you butt cheek with a magic marker. With Kingdom Hearts II, the DS, and the PSP posed to have great holidays, the 360 will be left in the dust.
What do you expect? I am sick and tired of MS' constant bragging about the 360 and Japan. As usual, it's all talk and no followthrough. The 360's Japanese launch lineup is terrible. Perfect Dark 0? They still do not care or understand the Japanese market, and it seems to me they are saving their bigger Japanese games to combat the PS3 launch. By that time, it'll be too late. If MS had been serious about Japan, they would have gotten dev kits out to developers like Mist Walker and KOEI much eariler.
The 360 is going to have a disasterous launch in Japan. Write it down somewhere, on paper, the calander, or on you butt cheek with a magic marker. With Kingdom Hearts II, the DS, and the PSP posed to have great holidays, the 360 will be left in the dust.
Il Comodino
sorry about his english
All the successes are born from successes in japan
I don't know if is "time to change"
I don't know if is "time to change"
SuperPac said:
Bingo. But if someone is going to launch a reasonably successful console in Japan besides Sony, it's going to have to be the N. Nintendo could always pull magic out of its hat with this Revolution business, if they play it right and show that they could beat their GameCube performance. I really think a Japanese consumer may warm up to it before an American mainstream buyer, but I could easily be proven wrong in a year.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Xellotah said:
More so than Sony? Surely you jest.
while japan isn't the "biggest", you tone implying that it doesn't matter is incorrect. The majority of the top publishers (by sales and dollar) are still Japanese based, most of the top selling games from this gen are still japanese created, etc. XBox WAS definitely still successful this gen without any major japanese support (tecmo doesn't count), but I think it's safe to say that Sony's abundance of japanese support was one of many things that lead to PS2's dominance this gen. MS won't "win" a generation without tremendous support in ALL territories.SuperPac said:
MS has more western support than Sony? I think not.Xellotah said:
Il Comodino
sorry about his english
borghe said:
bingo
lollerskates
Banned
i would say the western support is equal, with the nod slightly going to MS for getting big franchises like Doom 3 and Half Life 2 on their console
japanese support, well thats important in japan but outside of that region, not nearly as much.
japanese support, well thats important in japan but outside of that region, not nearly as much.
borghe said:
Yes, but Japanese developers don't have the monopoly of mindshare or credibility with buyers anymore; EA's consolidation of power is a notable example of how North American developers are probably going to gain some status and share over time, like they have in the last decade. And even if many Japanese devs and publishers can hold on to market power, more of their consumer base is probably coming from North America and the EU now, isn't it? I'd be surprised if they still focus on Japanese consumers the way they used to.
Glollerskates said:
T
A
you'll notice how I didn't say that Japanese support was the defining reason or anything. I definitely agree that japanese mindshare is way down from what it was years ago. however I don't agree that it is continually shrinking (well, aside from EA continually growing). it is the same situation as DS/PSP. when a someone has near 100% of the market, it is easier for some one else to come in and "dramatically" take over a large chunk of that market. but what has to be looked at is, are the number of copies sold of japanese games going down while western game sales are going up? or are just more games in general being sold? Japanese games still see MONSTROUS sales, so I think it would be hard to argue that japanese publishers are becoming less significant. it's for this reason that japanese support is still important. When you know FFXII and FFXIII will likely sell a few million copies in north america, I guarantee ANY system would like those sales. and it is with those sales, ALONG with western sales, that will determine first place. If MS can't secure those developers this gen like Sony did last gen, sony will "win" this gen again...Lo-Volt said:
lollerskates
Banned
borghe said:
thats on xbox
ManDudeChild
Member
This will probably piss off Japanese GAFfers, but I think Microsoft should have pushed the Japanese launch back into 06, and allocated the units to North America. Why give the market you're least likely to do well in (take off those tinted glasses MS, Japan's a lost cause) a launch near the market that you NEED to do well? Lets face it, Japan's not that relevant in the grand scheme of consoles doing well anymore. I mean the Japanese market's important, but if Microsoft focuses more on North America and to a lesser extent Europe (I'm only saying this due to market sizes and impact the first Xbox had in regions), they might be able to stop or tie up with the behemoth we all know as PS3 at the end of this generation.
borghe said:
That's a strange question, since there were no good FPS exclusives or WRPG exclusives on the PS2.
On the other hand, Sony has Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, and many of its internal studios are Western (like the Killzone developer).
Rockstar develops for both consoles, and it will be in the best interest of that company to continue such support.
EA, Activision, Ubisoft etc. develop for everything, and will keep doing so.
I think what he's referring to are the companies that don't have an undying allegiance to one company over another. MS got more of those guys that could have gone for the PS2 at any time. Like Bioware, Bethesda, the now dead Ion Storm, the now estranged Doublefine, the developer of Arx Fatalis, Lionhead, id, and Valve.
I don't expect these companies to go with MS fully this time around, but Bioware and Silicon Knights don't seem likely to develop any PS3 games.
lollerskates said:
Funnily enough, though, both companies responsible for these games seem to be giving PS3 similar support now. The more PC-like approach of PS3 vs PS2, having an nVidia chip in there and so forth, should attract many of those who may have gone with MS more eagerly last time. And, of course, the attraction of the market that should be offered by a Playstation platform is something these devs like iD and Valve can't ignore anymore (or should embrace more).
gofreak said:
Yeah, a great deal of the Xbox's western support -- especially where games like Doom 3 are concerned -- is due to its PC-like architecture; it's a simple and low-cost affair to give the Xbox a port and get some extra cash. The Xbox 360 won't have this advantage.
human5892 said:
it'll still be easier to port from pc to x360 than pc to ps3, especially now that both intel and AMD are hopping on the dual-core bandwagon for their new chips.
That being said, I don't think this is really a big deal. Most people I know who play video games don't care for the overtly Japanese-centric games like Metal Gear (2 absolutely killed any and all interest they might have had) or Final Fantasy or goofy games like Katamari. They like Grand Theft Auto, EA sports games, and Halo. Success in the west is most definitely not predicated on having Japanese support, especially the direction the Japanese games industry is headed in.
human5892 said:
AFAIK the x360 is still using DirectX and coding to HW level is very un-common this days.
I'm more concerned about the lack of HDD because the last titles of the xbox really depend on it
(Doom 3, HL2, H2, FarCry, etc...)
to be fair, maybe he was talking about the BR playback, but so far we know very little about the basic functions of the PS3 and the X360 has a lot of multimedia functions.
You've put together an interesting mix there - a couple of devs who have had MGS publish their games (Bizarre, Bioware) that can be compared to the likes of Insomniac and Sucker Punch on the Playstation side, you've got a dev who is just now coming on board for a future game (Silicon Knights) that can be compared to Factor 5 on the PS side, leaving you with 3 Western devs, all of which have put out their most recent games on Xbox1 primarily because of similarity with the PC architecture they're familiar with but whose next gen plans are not 100% confirmed as exlcusive to one platform or another (except perhaps Bethesda). Meanwhile there are still other examples of Western devs that have only been supporting Playstation and not Xbox - Snowblind, Evolution Studios, Melbourne House, for example.Xellotah said:
In terms of exclusives, I think its more of a wash than you realize.
SuperPac
Member
I'm kind of surprised that no other Japanese publishers have followed what Tecmo has done with the Xbox. When it comes down to it, Tecmo wasn't much of a major player in Japan before Xbox 1. Yeah they had a fighting game and Monster Rancher, but...I dunno if you could've called them a major player. Then they gambled on the Xbox with DOA (as their main fighting-game competition *wasn't* on it, and they got $$$ from MS) and they scored themselves a lot of attention and sales in America and Europe because of it.
In a lot of ways, Mistwalker is going down a similar path. They're gonna have the only Japanese RPG on the 360. As long as the game's good, that'll be big news here in the states..."The creator of Final Fantasy" + 360 = media blitz.
In a lot of ways, Mistwalker is going down a similar path. They're gonna have the only Japanese RPG on the 360. As long as the game's good, that'll be big news here in the states..."The creator of Final Fantasy" + 360 = media blitz.
Speevy said:
How big is the whole media center pc craze in Japan? Considering it's barely above snooze level here in the US I'd imagine it's probably even worse there... so that's not exactly an eye-catching appeal.
And well... the Japanese launch list shows us nice looking games with gameplay from this gene... that's not exactly going to send them running out to pick it up. Plus lets be real.. their launch list is terrible.
Arsynic said:
I'm not sure where you got that Matrix fact from.
Regardless once again here's the launch list:
Launch Titles:
- Every Party (6090 Yen)
- FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup (7140 Yen)
- Need for Speed Most Wanted (7140 Yen)
- Perfect Dark Zero (7140 Yen)
- Ridge Racer 6 (7140 Yen)
- Tetris: The Grandmaster Ace (5040 Yen)
Who the hell can defend this?
DOA4 should do well over there when it gets released... but this launch list is pitiful... Tetris will bomb, PDZ... well have the Japanese started taking to fps? I was under the genre on a whole still didn't appeal to them. I definitely don't think Most Wanted is going to appeal to them.... that leaves Every Party, FIFA and RR6.... Shit RR6 has a good chance at being the best selling launch title.
The Xbox received so many PC ports and what-have-you from many Western, PC developers not because MS conjured up their support, but rather because porting to the Xbox was a simple, menial task wherein even small sales numbers would be worth it. The PS2 on the other hand, not only couldn't handle the graphics of many PC games 2003 or later without some serious tweaking, but also required a different method of coding. Due to those reasons a PS2 port would be more costly (man-hours wise), and would require higher sales to break even/profit.
This coming gen, neither the 360 nor the PS3 has any descernible disadvantages as the PS2 had, and I fully expect the amount of PC ports/games from PC devs on the PS3 to triple, equaling the support the 360 will receive. Hell, the power advantage that the PS3 has may even wind up giving it more PC ports/games from PC devs than the 360 by the end of their lifespans. Who knows.
This coming gen, neither the 360 nor the PS3 has any descernible disadvantages as the PS2 had, and I fully expect the amount of PC ports/games from PC devs on the PS3 to triple, equaling the support the 360 will receive. Hell, the power advantage that the PS3 has may even wind up giving it more PC ports/games from PC devs than the 360 by the end of their lifespans. Who knows.
FiRez said:
True, DX gives a direct mapping for a lot of PC devs to go from PC to Xbox. But the nVidia pipeline is not a million miles apart, and for those devs that use Cg instead of DX's HLSL, the mapping is pretty direct too (see the UE3 engine, where there they moved shaders onto PS3 from PC and they worked exactly the same). For those that would be porting from HLSL to Cg..well, that's a hell of a lot easier than PC to PS2 was
I'm sure nVidia's excellent dev relations are helping here too.
The demand in Asia will easily be gauged by the price, the US version of 360 has been jacked up (even in HK, although not really too much, ~US$800, not many people bought it, though) the first week, but not quite for Japanese 360 (easily under US$500 with a game), the pre-order price is rather normal and is bound to drop when it is actually available.
Xellotah said:
One of these things is not like the others. The overrating of SK must end! Anyway I think some of you are underestimating the importance of Japan to MS (good thing MS isn't.) They did really well last generation with the western games and don't think Sony didn't notice. They'll need to expand before they get out Xbox'ed by Sony.
Marathon said:
What the hell are you talking about? The PS2 couldn't handle half the PC ports, so Xbox got them. Check out how badly PC game ports like Ghost Recon, Max Payne, RTCW, Rainbow Six, Unreal, etc ran on the PS2. There's your answer. Not to mention it couldn't handle ports like Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Far Cry, etc.
masud said:
Silicon Knights have made some good games and the 'preliminaries' of Too Human seems to be quite good, but I agree that MS need more Japanese developers and they seem to have had some success in doing so. The likes of Mystwalker, Sega?, Namco and to a limited extent SE come to mind. There is no doubt that this is only a drop in the ocean when compared to Sony's support, but at least its a start.