1. They say Europe is the most important market out there. Between the not-so-low cost of the wii, the not-quite-there status of the PS3, and the sales figures of these games, I say Microsoft is doing a bloody good job in this console war.

Posted at 3:46PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Footlong! 0 stars

2. I know I'm going to get flamed for this but...

I'll be 38 this year, and I owned a 2600, Atari 400, Commodor Amiga 2000, PCs, Xbox, and now the 360. I never owned a japanese console, so I must not get it. I don't care for all the anime/magna art styles, I don't get the JRPG, Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Digimon, YugiO, (insert name here) etc.

Basically I don't get Japanese games or why MS seems so eager to try and win over the Japanese market.

What would be the harm if MS lost Japan horribly again? If they took all their efforts and resources and poured them into other territories like Europe/Austrailia and even more into the US and forgot all about Japan, I think they would be better off.

I don't think the Japanese style games sell that big of numbers in the US, except for perhaps Final Fantasy. I mean I don't see any japanese titles selling Madden/Splinter Cell/Ghost Recon/Burnout/Halo/Oblivion/COD2 numbers. I think it is for the most part a niche market in the US and Europe. There are exceptions but I think most of these games will fail on the 360, in the US in Europe. Bullet Witch looks underwhelming... Dead Rising/Lost Planet and few others are exceptions, because they are targeted to a Western Audience.

I just don't see the fascination of having a character with a sword that is twice his size, and probably would weigh twice that of the character, swinging their sword around in a spastic twitch fest, with exaggerated colorized motion blur. I just don't get any of it. Maybe cause I've tried a demo here and there and thought what are people seeing in these titles. Now granted everyone likes different things, but I think trying to shoehorn the 360 into a end all be all console, and trying to have the Japanese platforming/fighting/RPG type games should be left to the Nintendo and Sony camp. They understand the audience, and it seems that the Japanese have some inate prejudice towards MS and the Xboxes. So why keep trying to sweeten the pot by lowering the prices on the consoles, selling games for ultra cheap over there, when they could be dropping the prices on the 360's in Austrailia/Europe/US/Canada etc. The 360 has a much stronger chance in these territories of actually stealing the lead away from Sony this next generation. I don't think 360 has a snowball chance in hell of succeding in the same way Nintendo and Sony will in Japan.

I say if you can't beat them, forget about them, and do what you do best and cater to your customers that actually give a darn, and throw us a bone here in the territories, that can actually make 360 succeed. And I think MS would be better off. Can MS really stand to make that much $ over in Japan, if they are selling their consoles at such a loss, and selling the games for half of what they cost elsewhere? Who cares.

If Xbox 360 ended up the number one console in Europe and North America in the next 5 years way ahead of Sony, the Japanese might take notice and plead for MS to sell the next next Xbox to be sold over there. I think MS should treat the Japanese market the way they treat them, and not cater or bend over backwards to try and win their hearts.



No one knows what these Japanese titles will truly be like and from what I've gathered Ninety Nine Nights is underwhelming, and didn't meet the hype and the demos of Bullet Witch didn't either. What makes you think Blue Dragon, Lost Odessey or any of these other "highly anticipated" Japanese titles will meet the hype?

MS should cuts its losses and refocus on Europe and NA and the Western market.

Just my opinion... I just don't get it. And if you want good Japanese games buy a Sony or Nintendo product. They know what they are doing. MS has yet to prove that in the Japanese arena.

Posted at 4:05PM on Sep 19th 2006 by OS Perry 0 stars

3. GREAT POINTS OS PERRY I couldn’t agree more. Most people in the us and Europe don’t want to play one of the number one things to play in Japan for example which is believe it or not a horse racing simulator. That to most of us is not entertainment. I agree about the games you mentioned bullet witch, blue dragon and even heavenly sword do nothing for me. I am tired of the arena fighting games. Mortal K. has lost its appeal why haven’t the others? Now heavenly sword will only have one weapon, woo hoo, plays well in Japan, but not here, unless that is all you have to play. I agree do things rights Microsoft like you are in the us and uk and let Cousin Sonny and Uncle WIIIIIIII do their rather strange things over there...

Posted at 4:16PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Concerned Gamer 0 stars

4. I totally agree with you OS Perry...Well said...

Posted at 4:17PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Tprzepiorka 0 stars

5. Microsoft's approach to Japan is driven by a few things, some are business related and some are just about vendettas.

I think that they honestly believe that they need to be at least in the pack in Japan and recognized as a serious player there to give their consoles that final bit of legitimacy.

However, they also have pretty solid vendettas against Sony and Apple, two rival companies that do a lot to dominate Japan. Getting into Japanese homes would extend Microsoft's brand by quite a bit. And make no mistake, they aren't going to be happy until Sony is out of the console business. They really fucking hate those guys. They wouldn't give them Singapore, let alone Japan.

Posted at 5:09PM on Sep 19th 2006 by J.Goodwin 0 stars

6. I would be buying more and more 360 stuff if I lived in Europe. not only is Sony dropping the ball on games, price and features of the PS3 but they are holding it back.

i am bitter about Sony living in the US, I would be fumiong if I lived in Eurpoe.

Posted at 5:07PM on Sep 19th 2006 by courtney 0 stars

7. Wow, OS perry, i have exactly the same view as you, i've been meaning to post a rant of sorts like this for a while, very well put, could of done no better myself, which brings me to my next point, would you mind if i quoted you on my site at all? If you don't, post the address of your site if you have one and i'll be sure to put it with the quoted text :)

Posted at 5:38PM on Sep 19th 2006 by [email protected] 0 stars

8. No big surprise that four of the top five titles are Xbox 360 as that's the console of the moment here in the UK. Let's face it, if you want a next-gen console it's pretty much the only choice and will be for a while. Whilst I'm keen on the Wii I'm furious about the rip-off price. As for the PS3, the price is a joke and the delay made me incandescent.

As OS Perry said, leave Sony and Nintendo to fight it out Japan. Microsoft can own the US and Europe. Yeah, that's EUROPE Sony, y'know, the world's largest videogame market.

Posted at 6:02PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Gozzy 0 stars

9. You guys can diss Japan and Sony and Nintendo all you want, but the fact of the matter is having all 3 territories in your pocket is nothing but a good thing.

Yeah you guys may not like Japanese games, but what about people who dont like american sports games? and there's a lot of them, doesn't hurt those sales any now does it? Yet where would Xbox be without games like Madden and the 2k series and so on?

Now MS doesn't NEED japan to survive or maybe even win, but it cant hurt, why would you NOT want the option of a wide range of games on your system? Its the reason why PS2 ruled over Xbox and Nintendo, selection.
You think when someone gets a game for the most part they care WHERE the developer that made it was based? No.

I mean heck you could say the same about not winning europe, you could say a console could win the war without europe, but it would make it that much harder just like if they didn't have japan or america. You could theoretically win with any combination of the 3 (and the other smaller territories like Australia, south america, etc etc what have you), but having all 3 is so much better than just having 1 or 2.

and yes, Europe is a big market Gozzy, but at this point in time i still think its 3rd behind Japan and America in terms of games/systems sold. So unfortunately that would make America and Japan the two largest markets for video game software/hardware.

Seriously though i know we're 360 fans here but what's with the hate of a country that doesn't take to the 360 like its the end all be all? Just because its not exploding over there doesn't mean we should just write off all the games that come out of the country ya know. I mean i love my gamecube too but jsut because it failed to beat the original xbox by a few million units doesn't mean i have a vendetta against Xbox and Washington state or nothing.

Posted at 7:44PM on Sep 19th 2006 by JJ 0 stars

10. Fuck Japan. They can keep their turn based big eye spiky hair RPGs while I play Halo.

Posted at 9:33PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Happy 0 stars

11. OS Perry: WORD!!! F#%@ japan, and their rinse wash and repeat game design.

J.Goodwin: another good point. Microsoft simply can't accept being #2

Posted at 9:37PM on Sep 19th 2006 by aragorn 0 stars

12. "but what about people who dont like american sports games? "

then play an american/european fps, platformer, stealth game, rpg, action title, driving game, mmorpg, adventure game.

you know... when it comes to the playstation brand, to each their own. you like it? fine. that's you're right, and it's not skin off my nose.

but the highest profile games on the system were all japanese titles, and it just annoys the hell out of me that we have an entire gaming generation out there who thinks that America couldn't produce a good game if Jesus was the lead designer.

Posted at 9:41PM on Sep 19th 2006 by aragorn 0 stars

13. That's not true aragorn, i just think to most people it doesn't matter which country produced the people that made the design team as long as the game is good.

I mean it doesn't matter to me who made the game as long as its fun to play. Japanese devs make some crap, american devs make some crap and european devs make some crap but then there's that rare time when a game comes together and its just perfect.

and as for the playstation brand regardless of my feelings on it, you cant deny the fact that it is the #1 home console in terms of units moved and possibly even software sold. Because i think variety is what moved it, it had something for everyone and in the end, over graphical power, online friends list, etc, isn't that what a game console should have in terms of selection of games? A wide variety of games that appeal to more than just the hardcore or casual crowd?

If thats not what Sony or Nintendo or MS have in mind, bringing a product to the masses, than they've dropped the ball.

My whole point is just this, you cant get into the mindset that american is better or japanese is better, etc. It takes them all to make a well rounded console and thus a console that "wins" like the PS2 i mentioned.

If ya hate the console thats fine, but denying it won last gen is like denying that the 360 is the first next gen console on the shelves ya know?

Posted at 10:12PM on Sep 19th 2006 by JJ 0 stars

14. Another fine example why MS should refocus its efforts and give up on the failure that 360 is and will be in Japan.

Posted at 3:48PM on Sep 19th 2006 by OS Perry 0 stars

15. Lol, you should have had Neil Young playing a 360 for the graphic.

Posted at 10:21PM on Sep 19th 2006 by Joe Mama 0 stars

16. So how cheap must Microsoft make their Xbox360 in Japan, and should they virtually give their games away to try and gain marketshare in Japan? I think Japan is a lost cause. We'll for sure know after TGS. The niche crowd who are highly anticipating Blue Dragon, and Lost Oddessey will either make beleivers out of us or prove our point that MS should refocus their efforts on Europe and North America and a few other territories. I don't see Blue Dragon/Lost Oddessy appealing to the masses in the Xbox crowd like say a Splinter Cell, Forza 2, Halo3, GOW, etc. They were developed to try and sway the Japanese consumer into buying into the 360. Won't work they are set in their ways. They are waiting for Wii and PS3. The war will be over after TGS I'm guessing. I hope MS sees it.

Posted at 10:41PM on Sep 19th 2006 by OS Perry 0 stars

17. Just going slightly on topic here, I'm rocking Saint's Row for the UK. Loving it. 95% done (just tags and cd's left) and 60hrs racked up so far.

Sorry, you can carry on now!

P.S. More choice is always better so I would say better to have some niche/foreign games (whatever the 'quality') than none at all.

Posted at 5:57AM on Sep 20th 2006 by Boff 0 stars

18. Its Japan thats losing out with its treatment of the X360 in my opinion. Seems that if MS released a console ten times more powerful and at a quarter of the price of the PS3, it still wouldn't sell there.
All MS can do is continue to plug away until the Japanese buying public realises MS are not going away and are a valid choice. Its possible the HD-DVD drive could be a big hit there, especially at $170.

I also think the Wii will be a short-lived fad. Kudos to Nintendo for what they're trying to do but rather than widening the appeal of gaming, they're just going to carve out a hardcore niche. It'll do well long-term in Japan, medium-term in the US and at launch in Europe. Can't ever see it getting off the bottom spot though, even with the PS3 at that staggering rip-off price.

Posted at 8:42AM on Sep 20th 2006 by Mick 0 stars

19. brilliant to say the least. I started up a gang in Saint's Row with some friends recently and my friends list is growing from people I know in my area. At least now I can play 360 online with people I know and it's always good to try out your friend's games or lend their controllers for some multiplayer action.
When I had the original Xbox, I was a very very small minority and no-one else had one.

Posted at 11:28AM on Sep 20th 2006 by Ciaran Gallagher 0 stars