Support NeoGAF

[AgentChris]

We would have gotten more Japanese games if the 360 would have had some moderate success. MS was willing to finance them too.

Moderate success for MS in Japan would be impossible. They jumped ship and focused in NA.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Maybe it needed more moneyhatting at Japanese publishers?

They've moneyhatted a fair bit but I suppose they could have done more. We still have a few Kinect moneyhat games to look forward to. Project Draco and Steel Batallion.

 

[kokujin]

Who needs a X360 in Japan to play these babies? Seriously.

I live in the US thank you very much.

 

[InfiniteNine]

I live in the US thank you very much.

Me too! I can play that at a place about 10 minutes from here, but I had the Japanese 360 version here too.

 

[Admiral Bone to Pick]

The 360 never sold very well in Japan because:

360 Launch Line-up (Japan):

Every Party
FIFA '06: Road to FIFA World Cup
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Ridge Racer 6
Tetris: The Grandmaster Ace

This wouldn't even be so awful if Microsoft didn't already create such a bad image with the original Xbox. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. They should have come out with big-name JRPGS right away with the original Xbox. They have no one to blame but themselves.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

this sucks, I love buying cheaparse region free japanese 360 games with english language

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Me too! I can play that at a place about 10 minutes from here, but I had the Japanese 360 version here too.

Must be nice to live in one of the 3 cities across America that keeps their arcades current with non-fighting games.

 

[rvy]

Mind you, I have no idea what kind of Europe-focused exclusives they could nab other than football-related ones, and let's face it, FIFA more or less dominates in that area.

If they were any smart, they'd get a sponsorship deal with UEFA for the Champions League. I ain't even kidding.

 

[Takao]

That's really splitting Koei Musou hairs.

EDIT: Also worth noting, doesn't seem like they even bothered releasing RR DS in Japan.

Well, I remember getting into this argument, and basically being told Dynasty Warriors is bigger than Samurai Musou in terms of sales.

As for Ridge Racer, I wasn't aware DS wasn't released in Japan. But I still think Vita RR will do better than RR 3DS due to the amount of effort being put in. 3D looked low effort, while Vita seems to be the next step for the franchise given its staff.

 

[iconoclast]

Didn't realize they had multiple teams... I just assumed it was the normal Cave dudes working on it. Cuz there's only what... like seven of 'em?

Nah, Cave is pretty big. The arcade/console team is only a small portion of the company. There's also a mobile team who has been porting their games for ages (well before iOS), and they've also made the SMT MMO, Princess Debut, and some other junk.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Do you really believe that a company like Namco couldn't afford to buy PS3 dev kits?And it's not like they didn't released PS3 games prior to TOV.I'm not saying that what he said didn't happened (since MS was far more desperate to establish their console there than Sony) but i'm sure Namco also got a fair amount of money from MS to secure the time-exclusive of TOV.

You didn't read what I wrote. PS3 kits weren't available to even purchase no matter how much money they had. At the time Sony could barely even supply their own first parties.

 

[jett]

Didn't know the region lock thing wasn't enforced. If I could find someone to get me a japanese xbox for $80 I totally would buy one.

 

[TheSeks]

Damn, a 360 for $79-80? *Envious* a little, *not-so-Envious* of MS's poor hardware so it's prone to failure. >:|

This wouldn't even be so awful if Microsoft didn't already create such a bad image with the original Xbox. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. They should have come out with big-name JRPGS right away with the original Xbox. They have no one to blame but themselves.

MGS in general has been absolutely pants-on-head-stupid this generation and last generation. Make Phantom Dust that appeals to the Japanese and most people that bought the X-box before the other two consoles in the west. Drop support and lock the IP up to where the creator can't make another for other platforms or systems for those fans

Make new console, get JRPG support. Do nothing to help or foster it. Lose support.

Didn't know the region lock thing wasn't enforced.

Depends on the game and publisher. MGS titles are AFAIK region locked. Same for Ubisoft.

 

[eastside49er]

Console gaming died in Japan a long time ago. Handheld and on the go gaming has been their thing for the last 2 generations. At least MS was able to sell around 2 million units there this time around, unlike last generation where they only sold around 500K. That is quite a step up. Now MS could care less. Their system is probably going to sell more this coming fiscal year than last fiscal year, all with out the help of Japan. It is funny though. MS made a huge push for Japan early in the generation, but eventually stopped caring once Japan became irrelevant to the overall success of the 360.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Depends on the game and publisher. MGS titles are AFAIK region locked. Same for Ubisoft.

I don't know I can play a US copy of Assassin's Creed 2 on my 360 just fine. I don't own any MGS games though.

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

After Peter Moore was gone, Microsoft didn't seem to care about Japan anymore...

 

[charsace]

Moderate success for MS in Japan would be impossible. They jumped ship and focused in NA.

They jumped because they were putting out games for japan and the system still didn't sell. No point in losing money if it wasn't having an impact.

 

[bullet_happy]

I live in the US thank you very much.

But we are talking about Japan not US. So...Cave can continue releasing them to the US/PAL X360s. I know it's difficult though.

 

[Sean]

I doubt Microsoft will bother with Japan next time around, it seems to be a lost cause.

They pushed the Japan market really hard in the first few years of 360 with the Mistwalker stuff and JRPG's and it didn't really get them anywhere. Hardware and software sales are like triple what the original Xbox was, but that's not exactly a great achievement.

Microsoft is better off focusing on Europe.

 

[bullet_happy]

Must be nice to live in one of the 3 cities across America that keeps their arcades current with non-fighting games.

Must be nice to live in one of those cities across world that keeps their arcades at all.

 

[eastside49er]

MS will release their next console in Japan no doubt. It will be interesting though if they push for so many Japanese exclusives next time around, like they did early in this generation and the sad thing was, they were great exclusives and if on a Japanese console, would have been massive system sellers.

 

[commedieu]

Fixed.

Unless you arent talkin about hardware sales.

NPD = The world.

Fixed.

MS will release their next console in Japan no doubt. It will be interesting though if they push for so many Japanese exclusives next time around, like they did early in this generation and the sad thing was, they were great exclusives and if on a Japanese console, would have been massive system sellers.

They pushed for a lot, but a metric ton of them were very very poor games. MS can't seem to understand that whole reason the PS2 sold so well/thrived. It wasn't just hardware sales.. FREE PS2 with ICECREAM, take THAT nintendo!!! The game quality did have something to do with it.

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

this gen is so weird.

America- 360
Yurop- PS3
Japan- Nintendo

Actually I think its

America- Wii>360>PS3
Europ- Wii>PS3>360
Japan- Wii>PS3>360

 

[sublimit]

You didn't read what I wrote. PS3 kits weren't available to even purchase no matter how much money they had. At the time Sony could barely even supply their own first parties.

I'm sorry but i really don't believe that 360 dev kits were available sooooo much earlier than PS3 ones that they couldn't afford to release the games at the same time.

 

[Vire]

Worldwide sales figures

Wii – 87.57 million as of 30 June 2011
Xbox 360 – 55 million as of 4 June 2011
PlayStation 3 – 50 million as of 31 March 2011

Crazy numbers for everyone. Last generation wasn't nearly this spread out in high volume, most of it was all clumped into the PS2 sales.

Microsoft is better off forgetting about Japan and focusing on the European market. Mistwalker did not prove to be a successful endeavor.

 

[KingDizzi]

Worldwide sales figures

Wii – 87.57 million as of 30 June 2011
Xbox 360 – 55 million as of 4 June 2011
PlayStation 3 – 50 million as of 31 March 2011

Crazy numbers for everyone. Last generation wasn't nearly this spread out in high volume, most of it was all clumped into the PS2 sales.

Microsoft is better off forgetting about Japan and focusing on the European market. Mistwalker did not prove to be a successful endeavor.

Backing a has been such as Sakaguchi was always gonna end in tears.

MS really did try with the 360 in Japan and it just never worked out, end of really.

 

[like a dragon]

I doubt Microsoft will bother with Japan next time around, it seems to be a lost cause.

They pushed the Japan market really hard in the first few years of 360 with the Mistwalker stuff and JRPG's and it didn't really get them anywhere. Hardware and software sales are like triple what the original Xbox was, but that's not exactly a great achievement.

Microsoft is better off focusing on Europe.

I doubt Japan would bother with the next Microsoft console next generation. Retailers aren't going to give their vailable shelve space to a twice failed console while they could sell other more popolur products.

Secondly, Japanese publishers wont be buying into the lucid dream of developing for a western console to appeal to western audiences again, as doing so got them nowhere.

I doubt the next Xbox could ever sell as much as the xbox 360 in Japan (LOL) even if Microsoft tried.

 

[RukusProvider]

After Peter Moore was gone, Microsoft didn't seem to care about Japan anymore...

After Japanese development fell far behind and the big publishers with Western appetites were already on board with MS for the future, MS had no reason to care for Japan. This is a business first and foremost.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

One of the biggest reasons MS went after Japan early in the generation is due to the impact the Japanese development had in previous generations. Their goal was to put the time and money in to secure support.

However, this generation has mainly been dominated by western developers and even the bigger Japanese publishers seem to be focus on catering to the western user base. Kojima and others have routinely emphasized how Japan has fallen behind.

Going forward and especially next generation, MS should shift that early Japan focus to Europe. The big Japanese publishers will cater to the next Xbox fine as long as it does well in other markets.

There is no reason for MS to continue dumping money into Japan.

Yeah, this is what I think is going to happen.

They already have pretty much every big Japanese game/IP, and the support of just about every big Japanese publisher. Short of something happening next gen that really throws the Xbox brand off, I really doubt all the Japanese publishers still supporting the 360 are going to just ditch it.

The next step should be to remain strong in North America and build up its position in Europe.

 

[see5harp]

Even if they don't support Japan with their own console, I think it's crazy to think that the big names like Capcom and Square Enix don't believe there's money to be had in North America and Europe. As long as the next XBOX continues to sell in these regions I think MS will get support from the big Japanese publishers. It will be sad if smaller devs like Cave jump ship and exclusively support iOS..I still think Cave can target XBLA though.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I'm sorry but i really don't believe that 360 dev kits were available sooooo much earlier than PS3 ones that they couldn't afford to release the games at the same time.

Don't know what to tell you if you don't believe the comments from the developers actually working on the title. There is nothing to discuss with you at this point then.

Worldwide sales figures

Wii – 87.57 million as of 30 June 2011
Xbox 360 – 55 million as of 4 June 2011
PlayStation 3 – 50 million as of 31 March 2011

Crazy numbers for everyone. Last generation wasn't nearly this spread out in high volume, most of it was all clumped into the PS2 sales.

Microsoft is better off forgetting about Japan and focusing on the European market. Mistwalker did not prove to be a successful endeavor.

It is still crazy to think MS is second place worldwide in userbase numbers considering they are totally dead in 1 out of the 3 regions. Shows just how big the US market has grown and how small the Japanese market has shrank.

That would be the right move. I think they can certainly make a much bigger impact on mainland Europe with enough focus and region specific catering with games and services. I believe that would be next ideal focus spot for the new console. Of course, they'll ensure their NA appeal remains strong.

I can see them ignoring Japan next gen and putting all the money and effort that would have gone into it to more support in Europe. Right now, many of the biggest features of XBL don't even matter outside of the US/UK so they need more region specific features next gen.

 

[RukusProvider]

The next step should be to remain strong in North America and build up its position in Europe.

That would be the right move. I think they can certainly make a much bigger impact on mainland Europe with enough focus and region specific catering with games and services. I believe that would be next ideal focus spot for the new console. Of course, they'll ensure their NA appeal remains strong.

 

[ThisWreckage]

I'd argue that they should completely ignore Japan next generation and funnel that money into exclusive software for the western market instead.

 

[RukusProvider]

I'd argue that they should completely ignore Japan next generation and funnel that money into exclusive software for the western market instead.

I don't think many people will argue back....

 

[Grinchy]

Who needs a X360 in Japan to play these babies? Seriously.

I know this adds like nothing to the discussion, but I appreciate the fact that they have ashtrays right near the controls, and yet the entire cabinet isn't covered in ashes and burn holes. When I'm in Vegas, one of my biggest pet peeves is people who irresponsibly smoke and ash all over the place, missing the tray, ect. Now that I'm done typing this post, I still have no idea why I'm about to his submit. It has nothing to do with anything.

 

[like a dragon]

I'd argue that they should completely ignore Japan next generation and funnel that money into exclusive software for the western market instead.

The problem with western exclusives is that they are so much more expensive then their Japanese counterparts and doesn't make financial sense, especially since all three console do well in Europe and US, unlike Japan were one console is nearly non existent. Its hard to make a case for Microsoft buying European exclusives when they are doing the worst is Europe.

 

[Truespeed]

I wouldn't call the 360 dead in Japan. It's more of a Zombie.

 

[see5harp]

I'd argue that they should completely ignore Japan next generation and funnel that money into exclusive software for the western market instead.

The only problem now is that MS seems content to leverage Live as their one true leg up on the competition and cares more about big name media partnerships. Next gen is going to be a lot more competitive on the usability front (I suppose Vita will be a good indicator of whether Sony is paying attention). Right now MS doesn't seem to think investing in first party studios is a good investment. It's hard to say definitively whether or not this is the right move but so far it's going alright for MS.

 

[Reversed]

Sad news for the shmup and VN crowd (except the latter finds a big alternative on PCs).

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

The 360 never sold very well in Japan because:

360 Launch Line-up (Japan):

Every Party
FIFA '06: Road to FIFA World Cup
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Ridge Racer 6
Tetris: The Grandmaster Ace

This wouldn't even be so awful if Microsoft didn't already create such a bad image with the original Xbox. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

But they did. About a year after launch Blue Dragon hit and improved the system's numbers enormously. It's only now in 2011 that things have slowed back down to what it was doing in 2006, shortly after launch.

 

[tinfoilhatman]

LOL at anyone who thought an American game console or any electronic device outside of the trendy Iphone\Ipad would do well in Japan, stupid waste of money Microsoft.

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

It just makes no fucking sense to me.

It's like the entire country is populated with the worst kind of fanboys.

It's not like there aren't good games to be played on the 360.

 

[sublimit]

Don't know what to tell you if you don't believe the comments from the developers actually working on the title. There is nothing to discuss with you at this point then.

If something doesn't sound reasonable then i don't believe it no matter who is saying it.As i said i'm not saying MS didn't offered free kits but i doubt they offered them so much earlier than Sony in order to secure exclusivity.The developer wants to protect the image of the company he's working for and after the backlash Namco received from Japanese fans it's no surprise he'd refuse to admit MS paid them for exclusivity.

 

[tinfoilhatman]

I'd argue that they should completely ignore Japan next generation and funnel that money into exclusive software for the western market instead.

This , it's a lost cause what was the last Japanese centric console game that sold well in America?

Fighting and JRPG's are pretty much dead here, what do western gamers need Japan for these days?

 

[Nostalgia~4ever]

It's not like there aren't good games to be played on the 360.

fps games does not cater to the Japanese audience though. They dont sell on any platform.

what do western gamers need Japan for these days?

jrpgs thank you, plus that the japanese has made the majority of my fav games through history. I would be sad if the Castlevania series didn't exist.

 

[Lance Bone Path]

LOL at anyone who thought an American game console or any electronic device outside of the trendy Iphone\Ipad would do well in Japan, stupid waste of money Microsoft.

Apple's approach to an ultra-competitive market in Japan has been pretty different from Microsoft's, but obviously the problem is Japan.

 

[Nostalgia~4ever]

there is a lot of ignorance in this thread, saying that Japanese games isn't needed in the West is BS.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

If something doesn't sound reasonable then i don't believe it no matter who is saying it.As i said i'm not saying MS didn't offered free kits but i doubt they offered them so much earlier than Sony in order to secure exclusivity.The developer wants to protect the image of the company he's working for and after the backlash Namco received from Japanese fans it's no surprise he'd refuse to admit MS paid them for exclusivity.

Think about the 360 year head start wasn't just in sales... it was with final development kits and software tools/support as well. Now take yourself back to 2006 and look at multiplatform games and listen to developers complaining about porting from 360 to PS3. If they were knee deep into building the 360 version, then they finally got kits from Sony, at that point their kits were very early and the developers had no experience with them and even Sony admitted their early software tools were subpar and on top of that Namco had to port the 360 code to PS3 which at the time was very difficult for them.

It's not far fetched at all to think. The PS3 today wasn't the PS3 at launch, not by a long shot. I'm sure a lot of Japanese devs thought they would just start on the 360 and then quickly port to the PS3 but that didn't turn out as easy as they maybe thought.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

So is it crazy to imagine them not putting the Xbox 3 out in Japan at all? Or will they just keep putting their systems out there knowing they will never sell?

Also, do games that sell huge in American for the 360 sell big on the PS3 in Japan, or is it just flat out that they don't give a fuck about the type of games we westerners do (ie shooting their friends in the face online)? What games sell big in Japan on PS3?

 

[Vire]

there is a lot of ignorance in this thread, saying that Japanese games isn't needed in the West is BS.

Is it needed? Not especially - this generation has proved it otherwise. Aside from a few titles from Nintendo, Capcom and Square - eastern gaming sales have stagnated greatly in the past five years.

The better question is - is it wanted? There will always be a legion of players who yearn for old school Japanese games but unfortunately that market is dwindling with each day passing. The main stream no longer is buying these types of games in the US market.