Microsoft needs help in Japan. OK, let's not mince words here -- they need a bona fide miracle. While sales are sluggish (that's called an understatement), Microsoft continues to approach the Eastern market with an assortment of games that appeal to the majority of their tastes. In response, the region sometimes sees a spike in sales but overall the Xbox 360 rarely sells more than a few thousand units per week (and this is an overstatement).
Enter Team Gamerscore Blog. Attempting to communicate directly with the Japanese gamer, the team at GSB have created a a video that hopes to entice gamers into the Xbox 360 camp. How? With personality, that's how!
We know some of the of comments to this video will be negative for the attempt but trying this approach to the market couldn't hurt right? Microsoft is essentially a faceless corporation in the East and putting some nice people in front of a camera talking about games could help remove the negative stigma the system has in the region. Or you know, maybe it won't.
As one of the exclusive RPGs to hit the 360 this fall and one of the few 360 games by Square-Enix, Tales of Vesperia is solidly part of the 360's fall lineup. It's just that many won't really care about it when it comes. Liveblogs from the Microsoft RPG event in Shibuya report that the JPRG will be hitting Japan August 7 and in North America and Europe before that month is out. Also mentioned is the fact that a demo will be released for the game before this month is out. Unfortunately, no specific region for the demo was cited, and given the region specific release of demos lately, it'll likely be Japan only. Well readers, do you think you (or rather the 360's demographic at large) can find room in your hearts for a JPRG this fall? Or will Fable 2 eclipse it entirely?
Struggling as they are in Japan, Microsoft has pulled another move in a desperate attempt to gain (or perhaps simply lose no more) ground. The Premium 360 there had previously been priced at 34,800 yen, and on March the 6th Microsoft will launch the Arcade to the tune 27,800 yen, which is (one would think not coincidentally) much closer to the Wii's Japan price of 25,000 yen. With this new price effecting only the Arcade SKU it's difficult to see how this could gain Microsoft anything at all, as with the sale of Arcade units the consumer is still not receiving the entire experience (Live, HDD required content, etc) and may not end up being a loyal customer. Just how hard is Microsoft willing to push in Japan? Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon have already released and that didn't change much at all, so what will it take? Will this price drop do anything to sales? Readers, is Japan a lost cause for the 360?
Posted Feb 4th 2008 12:00PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Seen as the bastard child of the Xbox 360 console SKUs, the Xbox 360 Arcade and its 256MB memory card are officially making their way to Japan's retail stores.
The new Arcade bundle will retail for 27,800 Yen (roughly $260 US) and be nearly identical to the United States' Arcade bundle including an HDMI port, wireless controller, 256MB memory card and five XBLA games. It wasn't made clear of Japan's Xbox 360 Core bundle will be going the way of the U.S.'s (see: no more Core), but we're thinking that isn't the highest priority right now. Priority number one is to get anyone in Japan to buy an Xbox 360 at any price. And even though we don't think the Xbox 360 Arcade is going to be the 360's savior in Japan, it's a step in the right direction to make the product a bit cheaper. And that's good ... right?
Posted Nov 27th 2007 2:30PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Coming straight out of a Microsoft Japan held press conference are new details about what features will be included in the December 4th Fall Update. All the information is in Japanese (and we forgot our Japanese translator at home), but thanks to Engadget Japan's own Ittousai we've got all the goods. And yes, there's more to the Fall Update than just Xbox Originals and Friends of Friends. Click through to the break to get learnified ...
We agree with out kinfolk at Joystiq that it's probably time to start packing some supplies and head for your nearest bomb shelter. Why? Because the Xbox 360 outsold the Playstation 3 in Japan last week. We'll just give you a moment to let that soak in.
Got it?
Good. Yes, the impossible has happened, but it's not quite as grandiose as one might think. The Xbox 360 managed to sell 17,673 units compared to the Playstation 3's 17,434, a mere 239 units apart. Still, in a country dominated by Sony and Nintendo, it's bound to be a momentous occasion for Microsoft, especially given that the week prior saw only 3,718 360s sold. The reason for the nearly 500% increase was the release of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, which landed at number two in Japanese software sales (Super Mario Galaxy was number one). So, the message for Microsoft in Japan is clear: start making more games about jets!
Posted Oct 22nd 2007 12:15PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
With sales of Xbox 360 hardware in the land of the rising sun not doing to hot, Microsoft is looking to spur some sales using the age old marketing technique of ... price cutting. Starting November 1st the Xbox 360 will be available in Japan for 34,800 yen (from 39,795) and come bundled with Viva Pinata and Forza Motorsport. Maybe the price reduction and value add of getting free games with purchase will finally make the Japanese come to their senses and fall deeply in love with the 360. Ahh heck, who are we kidding? No amount of price cutting is going to change things in Japan unless Microsoft can swing a deal to get 360s shrunk down to the size of marbles and dispense them out of anime themed gumball machines. We'll be sure to send that idea off to the Japanese 360 marketing team.
It seems like every few months it's time for a new article discussing the doom and gloom that is the Xbox 360 in Japan. We're not sure how long it's been, but it's probably time for a new one, don't you think? GameSpot has taken up the reins this time, gathering together a gaggle of Japanese developers with Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg thrown in for good measure. So, what do Japanese developers think should be done to lift the Xbox from the Pit of Despair? The most common answer: more RPGs. It seems that Japanese gamers tend to dislike the "stressful, difficult" games preferred in the west (the article uses Rainbow Six Vegas, Gears of War, and Test Drive as examples), and would rather have slower, more guided games. In other words, RPGs. The article also notes that Microsoft is pursuing more Japanese made Xbox Live Arcade content as well, hoping that such offerings will appeal to Japanese gamers as well as gamers across the pond. In fact, courting Japanese developers doesn't seem to be the problem at all (unlike the original Xbox), as more developers are looking to the larger western audience when designing games. It's merely a matter of getting the Japanese gamer on board that presents a problem. Whether or not Microsoft can ever make a sizable dent in Japan remains to be seen. We're keeping our eyes on Lost Odyssey.
Posted Jul 5th 2007 12:00PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
This morning, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 Elite bundle will make its way to the Japanese market October 11th and will be priced cheaper than in the US. The black 360 will cost 47,800 yen which translates to roughly $390 US, making it $90 cheaper in Japan. Man, do we want ourselves some cheap Elite love too. Microsoft's reasoning pretty much revolves around the fact that the Xbox 360's performance in Japan lacks stating that "the decision on the pricing was based on the situation in the Japanese market" and that "we are not satisfied with our position in Japan and working to improve it". So, if Americans quit buying Xbox 360 Elites then we too would get cheaper hardware ... we'll have to make a note of that one.
Japanese action figure manufacturer Kotobukiya and Bungie have partnered up to offer up one big and highly collectible Halo 3Master Chief statue. Available this October for the gotta have it price of $99.99 is a one foot tall Master Chief ARTFX figure featuring energy sword, dual magnums and our Chief in the "let's get the heck out of hear" classic pose. Yup, it's expensive and a little excessive, but how can you pass up something like this? It's not like you actually have something more important to spend $100 on ... really. More Master Chief statue photos available after the jump.
The Japanese culture may be coming around to what us 360 owning Westerners are obsessed with. No, not apple pie or our love of gas guzzling vehicles, instead they are willing to experience a little game called Halo 3. Currently sitting at the number two spot on the Japanese Amazon.com video game best seller list is Halo 3. Number two! Even more interesting is that yesterday Halo 3 was sitting on top of the rankings listed in the number one position. Master Chief's Spartan charm must be wearing down the Japanese culture's wall they've put up against Western games. Good job Halo 3, you may have finally cracked the code and could be the key to getting Japanese gamers to experience the 360. Though, we doubt it.
Posted Jun 24th 2007 4:15PM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
Microsoft's 360 sales in Japan may be borderline sad and depressing, but at least their ad campaigns are winning awards. Blue Dragon's marketing campaign BIG SHADOW won a coveted Canneslion award for best outdoor advertisement. The BIG SHADOW campaign can be seen here and took place in Japan where they projected people's shadows on a nearby building that morph into Blue Dragon creatures. The campaign also went online featuring a live feed of the fun and interaction with the shadows. It's quite the creative experience and well worth an award. Now only if Microsoft could translate an advertising award into Xbox 360 hardware sales then we think things would be good in Japan.
Stop the presses, hold the phone, and list some clichés, because an Xbox 360 game has reached the number 2 spot on the Japanese sales charts. Yes, Eternal Sonata, known as Trusty Bell in Japan, clawed its way to the number 2 spot with 49,334 copies sold, beaten only by Practice by Observing: DS Observation Training for the DS. It is unclear how many copies sold were part of the Trusty Bellbundle we reported back in April. If you haven't been keeping track, the Xbox 360 hasn't really fared too well in Japan, so a number 2 game is a momentous occasion indeed. This becomes particularly apparent in light of the fact that Blue Dragon, developed by the creator of Final Fantasy himself, only managed to hit number 4 (though it actually sold more copies). We'll be keeping our eye out for the hardware charts to see if the Xbox 360 got a much needed boost last week as well.
As part of their 2006 fiscal year reporting, Capcom released sales numbers that prove that Japan hasn't been feeling Lost Planet or Dead Rising. According to their numbers, both games sold pretty well in North America and Europe, Dead Rising selling 730,000 and Lost Planet selling 810,000 copies in North America alone. But Japan is another story all together as both games have yet to sell even 100,000 copies, which makes up for less than 10% of each games' total sales. We understand that both Lost Planet and Dead Rising were geared towards Western audiences, so less than fantastic Japanese sales were a given. But we didn't think Japanese gamers would avoid these gems like the black plague. Don't worry though, Lost Planet or Dead Rising, we still love you and you can crash on our couch anytime you want.
Today, Microsoft announced a sparkly new piece of Blue Dragon downloadable content that will be available for Japanese Xbox 360 gamers April 27th. For 300 Microsoft points (444 yen) you too can get your very own Random Dungeon Creator. That is if you live in Japan and have a copy of Blue Dragon. And excuse us if this is common knowledge, but what in the world is a Random Dungeon Creator? Does it create post-modern dungeons in a random fashion to explore and wander about? Seriously, a Random Dungeon Creator ... it just sounds silly to us.
