The 360's Japanese Status Revisited 68
Next Generation is reporting on more elements of the Xbox 360's presence in Japan. From the corporate side of things, the head of the Xbox division in Japan can be referred to as vaguely pessimistic. From the article: "Two RPGs from such a prolific fellow as Sakaguchi may strike a chord in Japan, but Microsoft will have to pull out even more tricks with the impending launch of the Wii and PS3, both of which Japan gamers favor over the Xbox brand. Right now, the Xbox 360 can't even make any headway sans next-gen competition. 'Globally we are doing very well but Japan has always been tough,' Huston admitted. 'We launched early and with not enough Japan-specific content.'" They're also running an article looking deeper into the situation, an examination from an outsider's perspective. From that article: "Mr. Huston has also commented that the 360 'launched early,' which is true in many senses of the word -- they launched before all their competitors, they launched early into the popularity of high-definition televisions in Japan, and they launched earlier than any good games. It was widely believed by Microsoft Japan that Dead or Alive 4 would save the system at launch, though really, how naive is that?"
Why no staged rollout? (Score:4, Interesting)
Being first to market doesn't guarantee success, and often allows your competitors to learn from your mistakes. Even if MS had a killer line up of Japanese games coming, they now have to fight against a negative perception.
It's a cultural thing (Score:3, Interesting)
Even if we wipe the slate clean, and a new American company comes out with a system in Japan, and it had some interesting games for that market, the mere fact that it's American causes some contempt among the Japanese. To put it in other terms, this is like asking why Toyotas don't sell better amongst American UAW union workers. Or why France doesn't have a major California wine festival. From my understanding of speaking with people who live(d) in Japan, there is a very big sense of nationalism with video games, more so than in any other country. The three superpowers of the last two decades, Sony, Sega and Nintendo, were all Japanese. It is almost offensive to suggest to a Japanese customer that Microsoft could do a better job than the homegrown heroes.
Simply put, the deck was stacked against Microsoft from the very beginning.
This is not to say that Microsoft is at a complete loss with the 360 in Japan, but certainly some of those resources could be better used at launching that console more strongly in other markets where this console xenophobia may not exist. Maybe India. Maybe it's China. Or Korea. Maybe it's another country. (Look at the estimated makeup of internet-connected Xbox 360 owners around the globe [fantasticdamage.com]). My guess is Blizzard is not focusing on Japan as WoW's third biggest market.
It would take some amazing feat, like Zelda, Biohazard and Dragonquest all launching only on the next Xbox, for Microsoft to be anywhere near the top in Japan. That's not going to happen, so you need to focus your resources where they are best spent. And it's not Japan.
If that seems depressing, think of the executives in Japan that can't seem to understand why dating sims and DOA-based patchinko games aren't automatic big sellers here. I don't think they're losing much sleep over it.
Makes it hard to buy a 360 in the US too (Score:3, Interesting)
The PS3 is looking even better in that regard as I believe the US and Japan are supposed to be in the same region as far as games go - no more chipping to play games from Japan directly.
I don't know how, but Microsoft really needs to work much harder to get some Japanese studio support or they will have long-term problems in other countries, not just Japan.
MS dont get it. (Score:4, Interesting)
Best example is from 2channel a few months back, Bandai announced Gundam Gashapon wars. Featuring a truck load of fan favour robots which hadn't been seen in a game since the SNES era. The forum post had about 50 people going "I would of bought it, but it's on the gamecube so I'll pass" or bitching about it being on the gamecube.
Japan doesn't like the Xbox, it doesn't matter what games they put on it, it just won't compete with the DS and the PS2 currently. When the PS3 comes out and the Wii, it will be the next Gamegear/Lynx/Your dead console of choice here.
Re:It's a cultural thing (Score:5, Interesting)
That must be why the Sony MP3 player is trouncing Apple's iPod in Japan.
Wait a second, no it's not. I'm really sick of armchair cultural studies. The entire time I lived in Japan, people picked items based on their percieved quality and/or hipness. I was in Japan for the Xbox360 launch - there was no reaction in Den Den Town. The thing is considered un-hip and bulky. Not because it's American, but because it sucks. The iPod is stylish. The Xbox360 is a lame copy of Apple style. Any Japanese with enough disposable income to pick them up (and I know, my girlfriend bought a nano and helped me buy a couple of DS Lites) would probably pick up on that and base some of their purchasing desicion around it. That's based on all the 20-somethings I knew.
It wasn't that it wasn't American (do you think 10 year old kids care if the XBOX is American? They don't - they just know their favorite series is on the Nintendo DS or that all their friends have one).
That doesn't mean all American products are treated the same way. Dells tend to sell, as well as the iPod and Apple's computers. Sony's MP3 player, on the other hand, is doing nearly as badly there as it is here. American movies, American TV shows, American books are all popular. But any time some half-baked American product fails to make a splash in Japan, it's because the Japanese have "contempt" (read: racism) towards it.
Re:It's a cultural thing (Score:3, Interesting)
No, but Japanese have a long tradition of manufacturing audio products.
But the real reason the iPod has been such a success is that Apple is more Japanese-y than Sony, in terms of industrial design. Jobs and Ives both get it.
One more thing (Score:3, Interesting)
And at the end, its all about the games. Why would anyone buy a new console, if he/she can get the same games for the PS2 which is already in their homes. Most of them are casual games, and none of them are online RPG playes.
Third, the biggest craze in Japan are "brain train games". Both top sellers for the PSP and the Nintendo DS are brain train games. Japan follows crazes. There is the "black chocolate craze", "the brian train game craze",
MS is out of the loop here and to be honest, they will stay out. The next big thing could only be the Wii. Half of my japanese colleges are all over it. "So cheap" "looks so much fun"