Speaking to Gamasutra, Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, says that Microsoft is "very realistic" about its prospects in Japan. Kim notes that Microsoft's approach was never to "win" Japan, but rather to do better than the original Xbox. Part of this strategy, of course, means recruiting Japanese talent like Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is creating both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey for the console. Kim says the importance of Japan is motivated by more than financial numbers, but also by the amount of talent in the Japanese development community. Titles like Dead Rising and Lost Planet, says Kim, are illustrating to Japanese developers that Japanese titles can be financially successful in the west. Finally, Kim asserts that Microsoft's aims in Japan remain "realistic," and while Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will be moderately successful in Japan, they will be successful in the west as well.
Kim "realistic" on 360's performance in Japan
Speaking to Gamasutra, Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, says that Microsoft is "very realistic" about its prospects in Japan. Kim notes that Microsoft's approach was never to "win" Japan, but rather to do better than the original Xbox. Part of this strategy, of course, means recruiting Japanese talent like Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is creating both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey for the console. Kim says the importance of Japan is motivated by more than financial numbers, but also by the amount of talent in the Japanese development community. Titles like Dead Rising and Lost Planet, says Kim, are illustrating to Japanese developers that Japanese titles can be financially successful in the west. Finally, Kim asserts that Microsoft's aims in Japan remain "realistic," and while Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will be moderately successful in Japan, they will be successful in the west as well.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-28-2007 @ 3:33PM
aragorn said...
The funny thing about the whole "360 is doing horrible in japan thing" is how people didn't quite understand that Microsoft never planned to win japan, as much as initiate the process of succeeding in the future... just like the origional xbox was never intended to surpass the ps2... as much as it was just to establish it's self.
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3-28-2007 @ 4:03PM
Jon C. said...
I can understand that Kim is being realistic about the 360's chances in Japan. And while Japan's importance in regional superiority has dwindled over the years (as noted when Sony allocated only a small number of units during the PS3's launch, compared to the North America), it's still a very important region nonetheless.
If MS is serious about beating Sony, then they shouldn't just settle for "doing ok" in Japan.
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3-28-2007 @ 6:34PM
Michael Zoran said...
This is identical to what Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, said in 2005.
But, look at the huge sales burst that happened each time a game like Blue Dragon or Lost Planet was released for the Xbox 360 in Japan.
This will happen again with Lost Odyssey.
When Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 13 are released for the Xbox 360 in Japan, the sales numbers will increase by a huge margin.
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3-30-2007 @ 4:09PM
manford said...
hmmmm, so i guess going from 200 sales per week of the xbox1 to 200-1000 sales per week of the 360 is good enough??? an attainable goal for sure and some success has been achieved with such a low hanging bar but there's no way the war against the wii and sony will pan out in the long term with this constant backpedaling of regional goals. gitonit!
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