Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reiterates Importance of Japanese Market and Promises a Lot More News in 2020

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IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
twinfinite.net

Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reiterates Importance of Japanese Market and Promises a Lot More News in 2020

Today Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of Xbox Game Pass in Japan on April 14, and it released a message from Phil Spencer himself.
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Today Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of Xbox Game Pass in Japan on April 14, and it released a message from Phil Spencer himself.

In the video below you can see spencer making a brave effort to speak Japanese at least for a bit, talking about the extension of the service for the local market.

Interestingly, he also took the time to reiterate the importance of the Japanese market.

"The gaming market in Japan, fans in Japan, gamers in Japan, are incredibly important to me and team Xbox.
Some of the most amazing experiences we've all played on games have come from Japan and we work really hard to make Xbox a part of the experience for customers in Japan."
Click to expand...
We also hear at the end of the video

"This is an exciting year for us in 2020. Obviously consoles are coming out this year, a lot of great games that we're working on… We at team Xbox have a lot more news to share throughout the tear and expect to continue to talk with you, be very transparent with you about our plans and what we're working on."
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Since the beginning of the generation Microsoft (Phil in particular, after taking the helm from Mattrick) keeps reiterating the importance of the Japanese market.

And yet...

5LSi.gif
 
Just look at the obscure shit in the Japanese charts. There is no way Xbox will make it over there.

Dong Dong Panty Fantasy Slime Attack Metal Underage Girls VIIXVIII
 
Oh my god I never thought I'd see the day where a head of Xbox opens a video speaking in Japanese.

It's the little things that make a big difference in a lot of cultures. They are finally learning, praise the sun.
 
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Console gaming has been trending down for years. Not sure why as Japanese gamers used to buy tons of consoles in the past. If MS wants to gun for Japan, then do a handheld or see if XCloud on phones will work well there.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.
 
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DunDunDunpachi said:
Since the beginning of the generation Microsoft (Phil in particular, after taking the helm from Mattrick) keeps reiterating the importance of the Japanese market.

And yet...

5LSi.gif
Click to expand...

The fact that they actually posted this on the Japanese Xbox Youtube account and he's introducing himself in Japanese tells me they are actually making an effort now.

Let's see what comes of it.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Console gaming has been trending down for years. Not sure why as Japanese gamers used to buy tons of consoles in the past. If MS wants to gun for Japan, then do a handheld or see if XCloud on phones will work well there.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with Europe either, between Sony and Nintendo the market's pretty sewn-up.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.
Click to expand...

Correction - American brands that fail to adapt their products and marketing efforts in Japan do shit.
 
Advice 1: Don't hold your breath.
Advice 2: Wait and see.
Advice 3: Don't get your hopes up.
 
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GHG said:
The fact that they actually posted this on the Japanese Xbox Youtube account and he's introducing himself in Japanese tells me they are actually making an effort now.

Let's see what comes of it.
Click to expand...
Woah.

They posted a YouTube video?

And he said stuff in Japanese?

Say konichiwa to a million upcoming Japanese games, then!

Remember when they had Kojima on their E3 stage back in 2013? I do. Microsoft will continue stringing people along with empty promises as long as their die-hard fans go soy-faced over the tiniest hint of effort.
 
Those opening few seconds are kinda hard to watch
 
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
 
Lady Bernkastel said:
As of now most people replying to the video are Japanese. And the response seems to be positive.
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Well I mean "a statistically significant portion of Japan doesn't care".. thought that would be obvious. I assume some of the 10s of thousands of Japanese Xbox Gamers have Twitter.

Beyond that it's MS throwing money at something that hasn't stuck for well over a decade, seems wasteful.
 
DunDunDunpachi said:
Woah.

They posted a YouTube video?

And he said stuff in Japanese?

Say konichiwa to a million upcoming Japanese games, then!

Remember when they had Kojima on their E3 stage back in 2013? I do. Microsoft will continue stringing people along with empty promises as long as their die-hard fans go soy-faced over the tiniest hint of effort.
Click to expand...

You have a point but these are little things they didn't even do before.

Look at how sparse the Japanese Xbox account is for example:

www.youtube.com

Xbox Japan

Xbox の、ゲーム紹介映像など、たくさんの情報を公開していきます。
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Literally zero effort, this is the first video they've posted on there in 3 months.
 
IntentionalPun said:
Well I mean "a statistically significant portion of Japan doesn't care".. thought that would be obvious. I assume some of the 10s of thousands of Japanese Xbox Gamers have Twitter.

Beyond that it's MS throwing money at something that hasn't stuck for well over a decade, seems wasteful.
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Did you know some companies made Vita exclusives even though they sold around 10k? If Xbox ignored Japan and still got 10k people to respond, that means there is a niche fanbase. So, if they focused on Xbox during Series X gen they can get it to 360 days or even more.
Some studios actually even made games for Xbox just to support them. There are devs out there willing to help.
 
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It seems like they always talk about improving their foothold in that market but never seem to actually pull it off. Will this gen be different? I...don't think so, but maybe?

It would help them, tremendously.
 
Lady Bernkastel said:
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
Click to expand...
They are really pushing Project XCloud, which in theory means everyone can play their Xbox games on their phone when it's fully realized.

Also, don't underestimate the power of value. Game Pass has stuff like Nier, Kingdom Hearts, Ace Combat, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, and Yakuza now. Presumably that brings a lot of value to potential console buyers.
 
I remember 2006 too, my PC had an 8800 that I cherished, I had yet to discover the world of the Witcher, there was no COVID-19, and Microsoft was stressing the importance of the Japanese market for it's console.
 
Lady Bernkastel said:
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
Click to expand...
I know South Korea specifically has been a focus for the Project xCloud and gaming from your phone. It is a huge market but I don't think MS has the games, even on Gamepass/xCloud, that customers in South Korea or Japan will find enticing. It's a great entry point to the ecosystem but there just isn't the appealing content. This has been the main problem for like 15 years now.
 
GHG said:
You have a point but these are little things they didn't even do before.

Look at how sparse the Japanese Xbox account is for example:

www.youtube.com

Xbox Japan

Xbox の、ゲーム紹介映像など、たくさんの情報を公開していきます。
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Literally zero effort, this is the first video they've posted on there in 3 months.
Click to expand...
They could start by adding more Japanese games to the b.c. catalogue since that takes very little effort. 360 is still one of the best consoles of all time when it comes to shmups, but there hasn't been any headway there. Handing out a blue ribbon for promising Japanese games in the future seems silly when they can't even properly manage the Japanese games they already have in the ecosystem.

I mean, this "effort" is PR. Nothing more and nothing less.
 
GHG said:
This is how I imagine some of my clients reacting to me when I introduce myself in Arabic :messenger_tears_of_joy:
Click to expand...
same when i travel to foreign country and try to talk with my broken english (i'm far better with wroted stuff)

edit: yeah wroted doesn't even exist, it's written stuff, fuck me 😆
 
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DunDunDunpachi said:
I mean, this "effort" is PR. Nothing more and nothing less.
Click to expand...
You wont reach out to such a niche fanbase(I am talking about the Japanese Xbox fans) for "PR". They can be completely ignored and nothing will change. If they are, that means they have plans for Japanese titles like 360 days.
 
GymWolf said:
same when i travel to foreign country and try to talk with my broken english (i'm far better with wroted stuff)

edit: yeah wroted doesn't even exist, it's written stuff, fuck me 😆
Click to expand...

One thing I've learnt is that the effort is always appreciated everywhere, even if you fail in your attempt.
 
Lady Bernkastel said:
You wont reach out to such a niche fanbase(I am talking about the Japanese Xbox fans) for "PR". They can be completely ignored and nothing will change. If they are, that means they have plans for Japanese titles like 360 days.
Click to expand...
I think you took my sentence as a pejorative when it was simply a descriptive.

This is Public Relations. There's no announcement. There's no list of games. It's an announcement of an announcement, a request that fans "stay tuned". If that doesn't qualify I as PR I don't know what does.

Thing is, Xbox PR has not once been in short supply. Microsoft are masters of marketing, which is why their PR shouldn't be received with such starry-eyed hopefulness. Their track record of taking the Japanese market seriously is visible for all to see. There's no guesswork, no promises of an announcement of an announcement. It's factual.
 
GHG said:
One thing I've learnt is that the effort is always appreciated everywhere, even if you fail in your attempt.
Click to expand...
my problem is that i have literally no one in my life who talk fluent english so i can't train myself with real talk shit.
forums and serial tv\films helps but still...

lucky for me, i usually travel to amsterdam when i can and over there even english talker sleur their words after a joint or 2 so the difference is not really that noticeable, also i don't know why but when i'm high or stoned as fuck, my english improve considerably, maybe because i'm less nervous...
 
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I have no idea why they are doing this. They really pushed in the 360 era and failed, and the brand has only diminished since.

Not only that but the Japanese market has been moving away from consoles for a long time. The switch has already outsold the PS4 in Japan. It's all about handheld gaming over there.

Why try something so futile in a market that is already shrinking?
 
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