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[harSon]

They stopped going after support sometime near the end of 2008, and didn't look back since... outside of some Kinect games.

I think they may keep Lost Odyssey afloat considering the first game's decent sales. I recall at the end of last year, it was reported that Feel Plus was working on a "large scale" RPG for Microsoft. Considering the sales of the first and the fact that Feelplus worked on the first, I can't see it being anything but a sequel to Lost Odyssey.

 

[Wonko_C]

The PSP is dead in the west, so it's only fair. (Still bitter for no Valkyria Chronicles 3 and Yakuza: Black Panther localizations)

 

[darkside31337]

These people buy iDOLM@STER, Summer Session and have dinner with pillows of hentai, who gives a flying fuck.

Their money is just as good as your money.

And it ain't their biggest RPGs with completely pointless, meaningless and ridiculous sex scenes.

But yeah, 360 was dead before it arrived in Japan. They put up a good fight though considering the odds.

 

[ULTROS!]

It's not like it was ever alive in Japan anyway

Wasn't it "alive" when Star Ocean 4 came out?

 

[LQX]

Cant say MS did not try and if anything they tried way harder than Sony which is killing them. Sad really, even with so many games geared towards them they still turned their backs on the system. Hopefully if devs release new shooters they come out on XBLA instead of Japanese retail to make it easier for us in the West to buy them.

 

[Tucah]

I don't think this will be a surprise to anyone.

 

[Drkirby]

But all those Shmups.

Any month now Cave will announce the iOS version of their shmups have made more then the Xbox 360 version.

 

[Xater]

It's not like it was ever alive in Japan anyway

Exactly. it only made some numbers when a Japanese game was released exclusively for it and even then those number were not really impressive.

 

[Princess Skittles]

Eh, they could have built a respectable fanbase in Japan if they had continued on the path they were on in 2007/2008 after the releases of Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia, etc. They weren't dominating the industry by any means, but with each passing RPG that catered to Japanese audiences, they began to inch closer and closer to respectable hardware numbers. But then they gave up.

That might have been something they would have considered if Japan hadn't made such a drastic switch to portables.

That the PS3 has done anything at all in Japan is largely brand loyalty coming off of the PS2. I wouldn't expect any future set-top consoles to do much in Japan unless there's a strange Wii thing happening again.

 

[MetalFearSolid]

360 in Japan lasted longer than I thought

 

[mujun]

I doubt MS will do much better in Japan with their next hardware. Unless they come up with some crazy strategy different enough from what they did with the 360. It's nigh on impossible in most cases for a foreign product to compete in a market where Japanese products already have a monopoly.

 

[Steve McQueen]

In EDGE 229 ( page 229 > create > localisation > role call ) was a list of the most polupar types of games in Japan today.

1. RPG
2. Action
3. Adventure
4. Strategic simulation
5. Shooting
6. Nurturing simulation
7. Fighting simulation
8. Rhythym-action
9. Puzze/ Quiz
10. Racing
11. MMORPG
12. Sports
13. Love Simulation
14. First Person Shooters
15. Sound Novel

I think that when people in the US and Europe would make that list, the list would be completely different ( @ no. 1 nurturing simulation ftw ).

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Wasn't it "alive" when Star Ocean 4 came out?

Na, Microsoft just used defibrillators in a vain attempt at giving it a pulse

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

So, anyone care to speculate as to what this means about their future plans for Japan and their eventual new console?

Hard to say. Their new console will certainly be released in Japan. It certainly won't have a disk tray and a jet-engine fan. RROD will probably be avoided at all costs. Their Kinect initiative shows that game-makers are still passionate about trying new things on their hardware (see: Child of Eden), and they've been able to get a few Japanese XBLA games of note as well.

But they can't force Japan to accept a digital distribution future. They can't force them to adopt console online gaming. As these are the 360's biggest strengths, it means finding an approach that works. Look at what Sony has done with the PSP. Look at what Nintendo has done with the DS and Wii. Talk to Japanese gamers. They need a presence in the Japanese development community.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Wouldn't surprise me. They kinda ditched jRPG's awhile back.

 

[KaiserBecks]

What's a Japan?

 

[Combichristoffersen]

What's a Japan?

A miserable pile of animu?

 

[Rad-]

Microsoft Should have kept their AAA JRPG exclusives strategy in Japan,the moment they abandoned that it was all over.

Their JRPG strategy didn't result in anything else than getting a few extra thousand sales per week. I've said it before, Japan would ignore Xbox even if MS bought SE and got Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest as exclusives. It's not really a software issue and MS's JRPG hunt showed that. It's purely because MS is a NA company going against two very popular Japanese companies.

And there was an interview with some MS exec back in 2008 or 2009. He basically admitted MS is done with Japan and is moving those resources to the west.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Wouldn't surprise me. They kinda ditched jRPG's awhile back.

Well they weren't really working.
MS got a very small core bunch, of around 200,000+, but no title or titles pushed them beyond that.

 

[Hyuga]

Xbox 360 dead in Japan?

It was never alive!

 

[[Nintex]]

I think they may keep Lost Odyssey afloat considering the first game's decent sales. I recall at the end of last year, it was reported that Feel Plus was working on a "large scale" RPG for Microsoft. Considering the sales of the first and the fact that Feelplus worked on the first, I can't see it being anything but a sequel to Lost Odyssey.

I doubt that the project is still in the cards, Microsoft shot down so many things not tied to 'Kinect' or their 'core' franchises. They pretty much restructured the entire Xbox division and hired some new guys to create new AAA franchises to add to the current line-up of Halo/Gears/Forza/Fable.

Mindjack was FeelPlus's latest game I believe and a total car wreck. AQ Interactive(what FeelPlus is part of) merged with Marvelous so both could stay afloat. I highly doubt that Microsoft is still working with them at this point. With that said whatever happened to all those games Microsoft showed at one of the TGS's, like a new Panzer Dragoon type of game etc. we haven't seen those projects since. More victims of Microsoft's 'strategic' changes?

 

[kokujin]

Any month now Cave will announce the iOS version of their shmups have made more then the Xbox 360 version.

If they'd release them over here, more people would buy them, even on XBLA/PSN.

 

[harSon]

I doubt that the project is still in the cards, Microsoft shot down so many things not tied to 'Kinect' or their 'core' franchises. They pretty much restructured the entire Xbox division and hired some new guys to create new AAA franchises to add to the current line-up of Halo/Gears/Forza/Fable.

Mindjack was FeelPlus's latest game I believe and a total car wreck. AQ Interactive(what FeelPlus is part of) merged with Marvelous so both could stay afloat. I highly doubt that Microsoft is still working with them at this point. With that said whatever happened to all those games Microsoft showed at one of the TGS's, like a new Panzer Dragoon type of game etc. we haven't seen those projects since. More victims of Microsoft's 'strategic' changes?

You'll probably see more from them during TGS?

 

[theBishop]

Maybe Microsoft should port Lost Odyssey to PS3 in Japan. Quick bank.

 

[quickwhips]

Microsoft needs to sell its system in japan as sega. Maybe then it would do ok?

 

[sixteen-bit]

Microsoft needs to sell its system in japan as sega. Maybe then it would do ok?

Sega never did too well in Japan either, outside of Saturn.

 

[Dai101]

But all those Shmups.

Well, a niche genre for a niche console

 

[Princess Skittles]

If they'd release them over here, more people would buy them, even on XBLA/PSN.

Apparently Guwange made something of a crater when it was released on XBLA. So. Yeah.

 

[diffusionx]

If MS ever wants to take the region seriously, they are going to have to open 1st party studios that actually create and release games designed for the Japanese market. I know this flies in the face of their current scorched earth policy, but if they can open new studios for Kinect, they can open new studios for Japan. The region is not going to buy an American console with American design sensibilities with American AAA software when there is another console with all of the same games and better Japanese first party stuff, or Nintendo's constant alternatives.

I think they put a good faith effort in the 360. Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon are good games, they got good developers on board, etc. It just wasn't enough. I'm not even sure there is much MS can do, at a certain point the level of investment requires exceeds the potential gains.

Japan likes games a little bit different from the rest of the world, so it would require MS to pretty much re-engineer their entire pipeline to accomodate. Is it worth it? Probably not. Japan's not a huge region.

 

[ULTROS!]

Well, a niche genre for a niche console

Since it's a dead console now... Dead genre?

Spoiler

nooooooooooooo

 

[Jomjom]

Don't really care about sales either way. I'm just glad now there won't be all these BS 360 exclusive JP games. They should have always been multi-plat to begin with.

 

[rvy]

Their money is just as good as your money.

Not when Microsoft has to change their whole portfolio to please these people. They need to spend money advertising and securing pointless, one-region specific exclusives to even so much as try to make it in Japan. Lost Planet didn't work, Lost Odyssey didn't work, Blue Dragon didn't work, iDOLM@STER didn't work. Hell, they could spend the next 15 years doing just that and never be accepted in Japan. "Foreign hardware and games are shit" mentality and all that.

Where's the profit?

And it ain't their biggest RPGs with completely pointless, meaningless and ridiculous sex scenes.

Clearly I hit a nerve. Yes, we Western gamers must be out of our minds to enjoy the unseemly games that the Xbox 360 has to offer.

 

[Tyrael]

 

[Lyte Edge]

It's not like it was ever alive in Japan anyway

Yup. I went back for a visit last year...the local Chameleon Club I always used to go to for games had moved their 360 section to the very back of the store. That's behind the likes of used Famicom, SFC, Mega Drive, Gameboy, etc. games. Even behind DVDs that nobody ever buys there.

 

[Hasemo]

I guess it was only alive around the time the Idolm@ster games, Vesperia "beta" and SO were released.

Still - kind of old news, EDGE.

 

[iceatcs]

In EDGE 229 ( page 229 > create > localisation > role call ) was a list of the most polupar types of games in Japan today.

1. RPG
2. Action
3. Adventure
4. Strategic simulation
5. Shooting
6. Nurturing simulation
7. Fighting simulation
8. Rhythym-action
9. Puzze/ Quiz
10. Racing
11. MMORPG
12. Sports
13. Love Simulation
14. First Person Shooters
15. Sound Novel

I think that when people in the US and Europe would make that list, the list would be completely different ( @ no. 1 nurturing simulation ftw ).

Europe will be some different from Japan.

US will be like that.
1. First Person Shooters
2. First Person Shooters
3. First Person Shooters
4. First Person Shooters
5. First Person Shooters
6. First Person Shooters
7. First Person Shooters
8. First Person Shooters
9. First Person Shooters
10. First Person Shooters
11. First Person Shooters
12. First Person Shooters
13. First Person Shooters
14. Third Person Shooters
15. Adventure/Racing/Action/Sports/RPG/MMORPG/Puzzle/Quiz

 

[Princess Skittles]

Don't really care about sales either way. I'm just glad now there won't be all these BS 360 exclusive JP games. They should have always been multi-plat to begin with.

So I guess you feel that Uncharted and Valkyrie Chronicles should have been multi-platform as well, right?

 

[harSon]

Don't really care about sales either way. I'm just glad now there won't be all these BS 360 exclusive JP games. They should have always been multi-plat to begin with.

Why were they bullshit?

 

[Petrichor]

The 360 was never really alive in Japan but the PS3 certainly hasn't been that successful in the region either. It's clear that the HD consoles were never really in line with Japanese sensibilities.

 

[Takuya]

 

[TheBanditKing]

it was over before then

it was over a few months after launch, its pretty bad when you publicly announce your product will be getting a "re-launch" and call it as much.

 

[kokujin]

Since it's a dead console now... Dead genre?

Spoiler

nooooooooooooo

There's still the Dreamcast.

 

[iceatcs]

So I guess you feel that Uncharted and Valkyrie Chronicles should have been multi-platform as well, right?

Uncharted won't work and isn't from Japan, VC could have done on 360 and even on Wii too.

 

[Kilrogg]

the entire xbox brand was never alive there to begin with what is going on

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

There are systems that have aged worse in Japan.

 

[ULTROS!]

There's still the Dreamcast.

That's even deader than the J360.

Uncharted won't work and isn't from Japan, VC could have done on 360 and even on Wii too.

I remember reading that VC was supposed to be a 360 exclusive... Let me look up for that file.

 

[Rollo Tomasi]

Alternate universe thread title:

Xbox 360 dead in U.S.? (EDGE)

 

[Oemenia]

The 360 sold a lot of software there, its an utter shame that they gave up on the market after 2009.

On the other hand, Japanese gamers have the 360 to thank for the flood of Western games released in Japan, in fact they seem to be selling better than ever right now.

 

[Raide]

Its been dead in Japan for a while. Apart from some super awesome/niche shooters, thats about all is coming for it.

I am interested to see what MS do with their next machine. Will they push harder in Japan or pretty much ignore it? It is not the massive market that it once was.

 

[Elios83]

There are systems that have aged worse in Japan.

Doesn't mean a lot considering that GC sold 4m+ while 360 is at 1.5m.
Btw Microsoft tried hard at the beginning of the gen with all the exclusive deals with Namco, Mistwalker, Capcom, Tecmo. Unfortunately for them things didn't work as expected and those developers had to look at other platforms or let their games die with the 360. That could also justify in part why MS dropped the ball suddenly in 2008.