Games For the 360's Japanese Comeback 78
Next Generation has an article looking at games that could save the Xbox 360 in Japan. Despite Microsoft's best efforts, the console is still puttering along with lackluster sales. Even with the country's diminished interest in the PS3, the 360 needs some big-name titles to get it back into the minds of Japanese consumers. From the article: "Blue Dragon is set up to be another stick of dynamite with Toriyama's name written on it, though how willing casual fans will be to pick it up depends entirely on its advertising campaign. In America, it's becoming a simple enough strategy to put a demo of something on Xbox Live and let it spread through word of mouth. This is not so possible in Japan, mostly because most people here don't have an Xbox 360. Polls for months have indicated that the majority of casual gamers would reserve their judgment of the 360 for when they could play Sakaguchi's games."
Incorrect title (Score:3, Interesting)
First off, you can't "come back" when you never "came" to begin with. The most the 360 can hope for in Japan is to rise to acceptability from abject failure.
Second off, remember 99 Nights? This was the first one of the "zomg for Japan!!" games the 360 got. It, too, was supposed to finally catch the attention of Japanese consumers and be the comeback point that kickstarted the 360's Japanese career. It bombed. Afterwards, the Americans who'd been talking about how excited Japan supposedly was for 99 Nights quietly dropped the subject. Now, Blue Dragon has better chances than 99 Nights ever did. But I still don't think its fate is going to be all that different from 99 Nights.
Third, you realize that although this Sakaguchi guy came up with the basic game design, and the music was done by a famous Square veteran, the actual game being made by Artoon? The people who made Blinx. Blinx. Blinx! If the mere involvement of Sakaguchi in one game is supposed to be enough to save the XBox 360 from the brink of extinction, then the involvement of Artoon in that same game should be enough to sink it again.
Microsoft's Japan strategy is more about America than it is about Japan. It's first off about providing some "Japanese-y" games for Microsoft's American customers to play, and second off about allowing pro-XBox 360 bloggers (like Zonk) to write endlessly about how the XBox 360 is going to do really well in Japan. It's absolutely clear and effortless to see that the XBox 360 is not doing really well in Japan, that the XBox 360 is doing even worse in Japan than the original XBox, but as long as the bloggers keep up the smokescreen it doesn't look that way if you're thousands of miles away in America and aren't actually paying attention...
So? (Score:3, Interesting)
If MS can make a business out of making a western console for a western market, all the power to them. Maybe it's time to play hard-to-get and let the japanese pine for imports and translations of the western hits. Or not, doesn't really effect me any.
MS should concentrate on getting good games on the console for "any" territory, and stop worrying about the asian market. Blizzard seems to be doing well in China with almost no effort to adhere to some kind of asian sensibility, other than language translation. Good games are good games, regardless of territorial borders.
Re:What a crock... (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, the Nintendo DS itself has had somewhat of a resurgence. If you look at the weekly charts, the DS had a strong launch, but was slowly declining to PSP-level sales. Then, around the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, it really started to catch on.
See: http://vgcharts.org/japconscomps.php?name1=DS&typ
It's really hard to predict where cultural phenomena will happen.
Re:130k Xbox 360s In Japan (Score:1, Interesting)
Even now the trade in value of a Xbox 360 is less than that of a Nintendo DS. Yes, and old portable that retails for $130 sells for more on the used market than a $500 next generation home console. If you want an Xbox 360 in Japan you already have far more than $100 off on the used market. Retailers don't even need to lock their display cases because they know tha nobody would steal and Xbox 360.
The problem is games. Microsoft fucked themselves just like they did with the original Xbox. They needed lots of Japanese games ON LAUNCH DAY. Not killer games necessarily. Just lots of Japanese made games with a few good ones at launch.
At least with the first Xbox they had games like Jet Set Radio Future. Microsoft had even FEWER Japanese games for the Xbox 360 launch. Just empty promises of Blue Dragon which still isn't here. Gee thanks, Microsoft, maybe when you come out with Blue Dragon I'll buy your console. Meanwhile I'll buy hardware that actually has games! They even screwed up so royally by not having Dead Or Alive 4 at launch. Unbelievably huge disaster. It's not even that popular of a series, but DOA3 pretty much sold 1-to-1 with the original Xbox. What did you intend to offer the Japanese gamer, Microsoft? Madden 2006?