The New Japan 360 Plan 111
Gamespot lays out Microsoft's new plan for the 360 in Japan. They're not taking the initial cool reception for their console lying down. Initiatives include new games, an emphasis on the Live system, and updates on ongoing projects that appeal to Japanese gamers. From the article: "Taking time out from development work on a clutch of Xbox 360-exclusive RPGs, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi gave a progress report on a number of projects underway at his Mistwalker development company. His first game, Blue Dragon, is on track for a 2006 release. Sakaguchi says the game is playable and his team is currently focused on game balance and presentation. Sakaguchi's second game, Lost Odyssey, is slated for a 2007 launch."
Playing catch up (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Playing catch up (Score:1)
Re:Playing catch up (Score:2)
Nintendo will make money on the 1458 units and on the titles for each of those units.
MS will only make money on the titles for 1415 units.
Re:Playing catch up (Score:1)
I can't say the deal with PS3. I don't know, and I like the Playstation, but the XBox 360 just seems like a lot of money for something that a high-end PC can still beat.
Japanese gamers don't want a glorified PC for a console with console ports of PC games, they want a console that deliv
Re:Playing catch up (Score:1)
Re:Playing catch up (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Playing catch up (Score:1, Redundant)
"New" Plan? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:"New" Plan? (Score:2)
Re:"New" Plan? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"New" Plan? (Score:2)
Pretty much (Score:4, Interesting)
I mean, Mistwalker's games will be coming out at about the same time as the PS3 and Nintendo Revolution, and will have to compete for hype time with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (coming soon for the Revolution) and Final Fantasy 13 (coming later for the PS3). But, hey, Blue Dragon is made by a Japanese person! The fact that it was made by a Japanese person means Japanese people will suddenly, instantly love it, right? It must be so!
It kind of honestly seems to me like even now, Microsoft's plans aren't about succeeding in Japan. I mean, I'm sure they'd love to succeed in Japan. But that's not what their main goal is. Their main goal is about projecting the image, in the west, that they're succeeding or about to succeed in Japan. They don't care if it succeeds in Japan, but it is very very important to them that Americans think it's succeeding in Japan. This is just speculation, maybe Microsoft isn't really intending it this way, maybe they really just do believe that two JRPGs, by themselves, are enough to break into a Japanese market that otherwise has shown zero interest in the thing.
But in effect, it looks to me like the chief beneficiary of the XBox Japan strategy isn't Japanese consumers, or even the Japanese XBox sales team. It's just a bone tossed to the Microsoft faithful in english-speaking countries, who can go on message boards and brag, see? See what a big impressive deal the XBox 360 is! It's taking over the markets! It's unstoppable! Even Japanese people love it! Well, OK. They're going to love it. Start loving it. Soon. Soon as that Mistwalker title comes out, they'll instantly go nuts for it. Just trust me.
The New Japan 360 Plan (Score:5, Funny)
"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."
"Nice plan!" I thought and then I spontaneously got the joke (albeit unintended) and burst out laughing in a rather crowded office.
Somehow this twist of fate with the server made my day... And got a few odd stares from coworkers.
The Leaked Memo (Score:5, Funny)
To: employee-list@microsoft.com
Re: New Japan 360 Plan
1. ???
2. Profit!
Re:The Leaked Memo (Score:1)
To: Bill Gates <billgates@microsoft.com>
Re: Re: New Japan 360 Plan
We are suing you for stealing our business plan.
Re:The Leaked Memo (Score:1)
Re:The Leaked Memo (Score:1)
Re:The Leaked Memo (Score:3, Funny)
Happy Fun Box 360!
Only 200,000,000 Yen
Caution: Happy Fun Box 360 may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Individual units may vary, and some Happy Fun Box 360s may have less than 360 degrees.
Ingredients of Happy Fun Box 360 include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
End-users are responsible for following any religious edicts, fatwas, or commandments proscribing use, contact, or depictions of Happy Fun Box 360.
Keep Happy Fun Box 360 locked i
MS eyes Japan (Score:3, Informative)
Now with Sony's timelines pushed even further back then expected, MS is hoping to catch them with their pants down. This is the real Japanese launch.
consumer nationalism (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2)
TURN THOSE SHIPS AROUND, BILL!!!
-Eric
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:1)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:5, Insightful)
If Americans gave up on their "oh, it's nationalism" excuse and actually tried to make products to fit the market instead of trying to shove it down their customers, they might actually be able to sell something.
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh yea, it was shunned before it was even released by almost every Japanese developer, thus destroying its chances there.
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:1)
Cars, mp3 players and video games are different things.
Entertainment media is very different from elsewhere in the globe. American cartoons don't go very well in Japan VS their own manga style for example.
The same is true for video games. FPS and shooters arn't very much liked in Japan and japanese style RPGs are. Weird puzzle games and "pets" games that we never get outside Japan are liked too. Sony has the console that has the m
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:5, Insightful)
This has been proven an incorrect assumption by the success of the iPod. Japanese consumers prefer only the best whiz-bang product on the market, and by 'best', they mean 'what everyone else in Japan is buying'. In the US, Sony and Nintendo have approximately equal market share when it comes to the DS vs PSP, but in Japan it isn't even close -- DS is dominating, because 'everyone else is buying a DS'. It means that only the products that can capture the attention of the market will succeed in Japan. If Microsoft can give their console a foothold in Japan, the PS3 will never sell, just like Sony's mp3 player doesn't sell.
we can pretty much say ... (Score:2)
Re:we can pretty much say ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wrong. The Sony brand is extremely strong in Japan and they were in the portable music player business well before Apple came along. If Sony played their cards correctly Apple would have had no chance in that market. Instead Sony shot themselves in the foot and lost market share to Apple fair and square.
Wrong. By the time the Xbox came out the PS2 wa
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2, Funny)
Be nice. It's called a PSP.
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:2)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:1)
I have iBook and iPod nano. I do not hate U.S.-made goods.
However, I do not buy Xbox360 because there is no software that wants to play.
X-box = suxbox (Score:2, Interesting)
Another words, how about changing the name.
Selling the X-box in Asia is like trying to sella a console for the American market named the "Suxbox", "Shitinabox" or "Crapconsoloe 360" or something to that effect.
Re:X-box = suxbox (Score:1)
Re:consumer nationalism (Score:3, Insightful)
That argument is bullshit. In Japan buying something foreign is some kind of status symbol. It shows you're rich and cool, or something like that.
The real reason Microsoft constantly fails in Japan is because they don't even try to properly localize their product lineup, ie. t
Re:MS eyes Japan (Score:2)
While I saw plenty of TV spots for Xbox 360 (that told me nothing about the console) I didn't see any print ads, only some in gaming magazines, natch. I'm not one to say "because this happened to me, this is how it is" but I would say most of Microsoft's push was into publicity on the 360, as that had to overshadow print ads no matter what region you're talking about. By publicity, I mean E3, press releases to gaming newssites large and small, as well as in-store placements, kiosks, etc. I'm wi
Re:MS eyes Japan (Score:1)
360 Potential is HUGE (Score:4, Interesting)
I was pretty skeptical about the potential for this thing - in Japan, the US, elsewhere - because it had a really sucky launch lineup.
But since I got mine on April 2, despite buying three games (COD2, Oblivion, GRAW), I have spent most of my time downloading and playing the demos that are FREE. I'm also a Natasha Beddingfield fan and appreciated the video download of her singing two songs.
If MS can start distributing Movies and TV shows through this thing, that will be HUGE. And it seems like it's just a matter of them negotiating it.
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Still not a reason not to work (Score:2)
If you're downloading something, you're probably going to take a network hit. But the 360 could easily prioritize gaming packets over download packets, and even if you're losing 10% of your network capacity it should still fall within operating parameters.
In terms of processor speeds, these things should degrade elegantly. Assuming the app is terribly written and takes up one-and-a-half pr
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:1)
If only the 360 could download and do other stuff, then you might have a point. For example, I'm on dialup so if I'm downloading something, I plan on keeping it otherwise it's not worth leaving my computer on all night or cramping any online gaming/browsing all day. In the case of the 360 and Japan, broadband will make downloads quick but what the hell are you suppose to do in the mean time?
If only the Xbox Live Arcade was available during that time, that'd still b
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:1)
Dial...up? What is this, ah wait, I seem to remember in the dark times
Are you willing to front the money to move everybody who still lives in dial-up-only geographic areas to geographic areas that are wired for broadband?
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
It will only happen if they are willing to cede control of the system to the users that are actually going to use it.
I should be able to stream any media format the 360 knows how to decode from any device the 360 can talk to over TCP/IP. I should NOT be limited to streaming DRM-encrusted files only from a Windows Media Center PC, license sold separately, or fro
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Wha.... I just want to download a video, like from Itunes, and then watch it on the DVD I have the Xbox 360 hooked up to. Just who are you that speaks for us all?
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Kids just want games, adults just want movies, and neither is all that interested in sharing with the other (I don't know about Japan, but most US homes have more than one television for just this reason).
Even at the PS2 launch in Japan, when it was bought more as a DVD player than a game console, it didn't do all that well against honest-to-God DVD players.
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
No, many adults want both. And adults are the ones buying the system. And it does a really good job with DVDs whears the PS2 was so bad at DVDs that Sony didn't sell the decoder hardware in any other DVD player is was selling at the time.
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm honestly not trolling or flamebaiting... I just don't get it. It is kind of like the same kind of arguments for the PSP to me.
Japan has no interest in many of the things we think are cutting edge or cool, and likewise for us, I deal with a number of people and friends over th
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
You have some misunderstandings.
1 - I don't have On Demand or PPV. And On Demand is only available in certain areas. This thing is available wherever you have broadband and has an easy built-in billing and distribution system.
2 - MTV/VH1? It seems to have more than that.
3 - Actually, the 'free online flash
Re:360 Potential is HUGE (Score:2)
Yeah, that's the kind of religious worship that surrounds Microsoft. (At least in some circles)
One friend of mine also told how great VirtualPC was - even though VMWare did the same years ago.
Some people just buy only Microsoft. They think they are creative, too because they never even try anything from
You're on crack (Score:1)
Not really... what are you supposed to do, transfer it to your MCE PC and then burn it to DVD? I don't think they would even let you do that unless there was some sort of DRM they could write to the DVD, but I don't think that's possible without a DVD mastering device. Are you just going to watch them until you sell your XBox 360 in 5 years (or 4, MS is trying to shorten the cycle) when the new consoles come out? Are
Re:You're on crack (Score:2)
Re:You're on crack (Score:2)
I really just bit torrent them and watch them on my puter. But I can extend the viewing to the Xbox. Could do that with original, too.
I'm not saying there are other ways to do what the Xbox 360 can do, I am just saying it's nice to have it all packaged together and that distribution of both free and non-free media through the system would be tits - especially if they did early release DVDs/movies, etc.
Something to note about the media that you do pay for after you b
So now the failure will be spectacular (Score:2)
Re:So now the failure will be spectacular (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So now the failure will be spectacular (Score:1)
The Duke boys combine with car to form "Super Dukeboy Mech Destruction Unit!!!
Strike Two! (Score:2, Interesting)
Blue Dragon is not the great savior MS keeps claiming it is. Public opinion and interest is non-existent. It is too expensive, too large, and offers no real compelling reasons to buy one especially with the force fed "Japanese" games Microsoft paid big bucks to churn out purely to pander to the Japanese. T
It will be interesting (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm not going to bet money on it,
Genius! (Score:1)
Plan B: Sell video game console with games people in market are interested in.
Plan B+: Sell video game console featuring the game all the kids are playing, Galaga!
Still In The Game (Score:2)
Re:Still In The Game (Score:2)
I have no doubt that at least in Japan the Revolution will wipe the floor with the blood of the PS3 and the XBox 360. The only thing that knocked Nintendo off of their #1 spot was their refusal to go to disc media, not allowing for cut scenes, which practically MADE contemporary Japanese gaming. They lost Square because of it: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the two biggest game series in Japan. And they lost 90% of the RPG and adventure game market. Now they're back, with a media fully capable of doing hou
Re:Still In The Game (Score:1)
Re:Still In The Game (Score:2)
Sony's 6 year-old Playstation 2 currently sells more than 20 (yes, that's "twenty") times as many units as the brand-new XBox360 a few months after launch.
Sony could delay for another 10 years and not being threatened by Microsoft (regarding Nintendo, that's another story)
Goal Number One (Score:2, Interesting)
Yeah, the 360 technically "outsold" the GC for this sales period. But the GC has sold about 33% more than the 360 this year (total).
Isn't it kind of sad... (Score:3, Insightful)
It really doesn't matter what they do at this point, because unless they can magically convert half the country in another seven or eight months, the Revolution and PS3 are going to absolutely blow the 360 out of the country for good.
Honestly, if the 360 can't beat the GAMECUBE, what hope does it stand against the PS3 and Revolution? Answer: None.
To all the trolls blaming Japanese nationalism... (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.4colorrebellion.com/archives/2006/01/0
Dragon Quest (Score:2)
Even MS might not be able to pull that one off, though.
Re:Dragon Quest (Score:1)
It won't work (Score:4, Interesting)
Firstly, the Japanese are very collectivist. I don't mean to sound insulting or anything - they just are. They care about what everyone else does and thinks, and very often you see these kind of "collective decisions" being made, seemingly spontaneously across a huge market. That's why marketing is so incredibly important here - to try to influence this silent "decision". You can see it in the very, very high quality of japanese commercials compared to, well, anywhere else. It's really, really important.
Now sometimes this behaviour is good, and sometimes it's bad. It's wonderful when some hot technology comes along and is just adopted by EVERYONE just like *that*. The right people saw it, they bought it, they told some more people, and like a chain reaction everyone loves that new thing. It just happens and it's amazing. The DS is like that. You can't buy one for love or money here in Tokyo.
What you don't want to be is on the flip side of that coin, when your product is rejected by the group. A product at debut, especially a high-status/visibility item like the 360, has maybe 2 weeks to get that snowball rolling after launch. After that, the same effect can be seen, in the negative. The product becomes unpopular BECAUSE it is unpopular. And before you know it, everyone has just invisibly decided your product is a turkey and you know what? It is.
That's what has now happened to the 360, just as it happened with the original. It is a LEPER in japan, there are piles of them sitting in every electronics store. I do not know a single person who has even mentioned them, and I hang around techie types. It is a leper, it will never sell, it has failed, game over, good luck next time.
I should add that the marketing for the 360 was very poor. Seemed cheap and tacky, and the very colours of the 360 seem calculated to annoy japanese - americans might think the "alien green" is cool and x-treme but the japanese just think it's ugly and tacky, and that was yet another blow to the 360's chances right at the critical moment.
Dead. Deceased. Pushing up the daisies. Nothing more you can say.
thanks,
Sho
Re:It won't work (Score:2)
They're not the only ones. Loathsome ugly bloody thing that it is...
Re:It won't work (Score:1)
People here do the exact same thing. They try to copy others and be hip by doing what other people think is hip.
Would you send you 10 year old son to school with a DS and a copy of Princess Peach... in America? I wouldn't.
Would you send him to school with a PSP? Fuck yeah. He'd considered be cool.
I'm not saying this is true ALL of the time for everybody and everything so don't get me wrong.
MS and Japan... (Score:3, Interesting)
wrong strategy (Score:1)
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/japanese-gi
If the Japanese are so racist in what they buy... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:MS don't get it. (Score:1)
Japanese aren't exactly racist about what they buy (not to say they aren't racist in general, there are a lot of problems in that department), but many US products have managed to do EXTREMELY well over in Japan, becoming so immersed in their culture that most Americans can't really comprehend it. McDonald's, Coka Cola, the iPod, if you think they're big here, they're al
Re:MS don't get it. (Score:1)
Re:MS don't get it. (Score:1)
Such as Buddhism:
"Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)"
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
Re:MS don't get it. (Score:2)
The popularity of one product does not negate the fact that Japanese do tend to avoid foreign products. The few exceptions tend to be luxury items. One thing Japanese love is European clothing, european handbags, etc. However, I think that's primarily because it's been