Reply With QuoteMS didn't have any real strategy for Japan. Maybe they think the US market is enough, I don't know. I think they're holding on to 2nd place in the US, but Europe and Japan are still buying the PS2 in droves and an occasional Cube.
Here's the list of Xbox games and what they sold in Japan through June 16 as reported on The Magic Box. I don't think anyone posted this anywhere here and it's pretty telling as to the success of the machine over there. It's only a matter of time before Japanese devs leave the system for dead altogether at this rate. This is total pieces sold, there's no multiplication by thousands or anything like that.
Dead or Alive 3 (Tecmo) - 142,148
Halo (Microsoft) - 57,250
Genma Onimusha (Capcom) - 35,043
Project Gotham Racing (Microsoft) - 30,655
Jet Set Radio Future (Sega) - 27,432
Shikigami No Shiro (Mediaquest) - 22,705
Gun Valkyrie (Sega) - 20,072
Air Force Delta II (Konami) - 9,459
Nobunaga's Ambition Ranseiki (Koei) - 9,329
Double S.T.E.A.L. (Bunkasha) - 9,041
Rallisports Challenge (Microsoft) - 7,884
Nezmix (Microsoft) - 7,114
2002 FIFA World Cup Korea Japan (EA Square) - 6,836
UFC: Tapout (Capcom) - 5,724
Metal Dungeon (Panther Soft) - 5,605
Bistro Cupid (Success) - 5,579
Myst III: Exiles (Ubi Soft) - 4,785
Jikkyou World Soccer 2002 (Konami) - 4,422
F1 2002 (EA Square) - 3,049
Knockout Kings 2002 (EA Square) 798
Mad Dash Racing (Eidos) - 779
--Dave
MS didn't have any real strategy for Japan. Maybe they think the US market is enough, I don't know. I think they're holding on to 2nd place in the US, but Europe and Japan are still buying the PS2 in droves and an occasional Cube.
I can only pray that MS cares as little about the Japanese market as I do.
I seem to remember the Atari 2600 and Intellivision being quite successful without any Japanese games. How is such a thing possible, Dave Long?! Pray tell!
If Microsoft is happy to stay in a distant second or third place, they don't need success in the Japanese market.
Oh yeah. MS is deffinitely the settling type.
MS may not expect or need to win or succeed in Japan, but they certainly need some Japanese developers. Tecmo is basical trheir sole source of anything resembling a fighting franchise. And there's Sega. How long will Sega keep giving the Xbox exclusives if they can't bust 100,000 units in their home market? Microsoft would have to completely subsidize development of these projects, and even then the suits at Sega will be thinking about how many copies they could sell on a PS2.
We can debate endlessly about whether games are an art, but they are certainly a form of expression. Even if fully funded, how happy will the developers be if they make a game no one they know will ever play?
Point is, if Sega drops support the Xbox would be completely screwed. How many of the hardcore out there bought the Xbox because of the promise of things like Panzer Dragoon, Shenmue II, etc? Sega games are one of the last legs the Xbox has to stand on. Take away Japanese support and suddenly MS is left hopping around on just Halo.
I don't think the failure in Japan will affect Xbox gamers. MS is willing to spend money to prop it up, so the usual rules don't apply. I think MS would subsidize Sega handsomely if they were thinking of reducing the number of Xbox titles. Besides, I don't see how Panzer Dragoon Orta and Shenmue II can miss.
It just look more like the "take over the world" phase is going to have wait another generation or three for MS.
Seems like a good time to throw this on this particular fire. From Andy Eddy's Gamespy column Biz Buzz:
http://www.gamespy.com/bizbuzz/july02/bizbuzz27/
"If the figures are to be believed, the Xbox console is picking up steam. Microsoft quotes "two independent research groups" as saying that the game system is doing well: International Development Group (IDG) and The NPD Group.
With the stated additions of Project Gotham Racing and Tecmo's Dead or Alive 3 to the million-seller list -- joining the previously announced Halo: Combat Evolved at the pinnacle -- IDG claims that Xbox is the first video game system to have three million-selling games within eight months of its release. Microsoft also indicates that there'll be over 200 games available to Xbox owners this holiday season.
NPD's figures show that the console has sold more than ten million software units in the U.S. since its debut last November, also a record number among game consoles -- and Microsoft added its claim that 20 million Xbox software units have been sold worldwide in the past fiscal year. NPD's sales research also indicates that, since the May price cuts on the three systems being sold, Xbox has done the best with sales increases of 131% across the two months."
Grand Theft Auto 3 sold six million copies.. and counting. Guess how many copies it sold in Japan? Zero.If Microsoft is happy to stay in a distant second or third place, they don't need success in the Japanese market.
Well, so much for Mark's theory.
And how many GTA3s are there? It's an unusually successful game -- a PS2 game and not an Xbox game, btw. You might as well point at The Sims and try to use that game to gauge the market for PC titles. You're using data points that are off the charts.Originally Posted by Anonymous
I'm not arguing that the Xbox can't sell games. There's Halo, which has sold well (though not in the same ballpark as GTA3), but if Microsoft hopes to pull closer to the PS2 they'll need worldwide success, not just a good second place in North America.
Shenmue II has already been released for the DC in Japan (and Europe too, I think). It will probably do well in Japan, but doubtless a lot of gamers over there have already played it.
Panzer Dragoon Orta and Shenmue II aren't killer apps for the Xbox. No way. Shenmue couldn't save the Dreamcast and as many people hated it as loved it. Shenmue II isn't much different in the gameplay department. Panzer Dragoon Orta may be pretty but it's still a shooter. Of the three PD games on Saturn, the shooters sold ok but the RPG is the one people really loved. These are hardcore gamer's games like most Sega titles. They won't be the kind of thing that sells systems. You need a phenomenon like GTA3 or strong selling franchises like Mario to do that.
Xbox has one thing that's still selling it in the US, Halo. If they continue to allow games like Bruce Lee and Outlaw Golf to be their most heavily promoted titles, they're sure to dig an even deeper hole for themselves.
--Dave
Now don't forget about the Tecmo Dead or Alive Extreme Volleyball exclusive, now. I'd make a good volleyball lingo + bouncing breasts joke here but I can't think of anything. Somebody back me up with a zinger.
Especially with the imaginary nude code people are pretending it will have. How can the game miss?
Microsoft needs to publically and vociferously deny that there is a "purported" nude code in one of their games. My god, sales would go through the roof.
I dunno. If there are other people out there like Penny Arcade's Gabe, Panzer Dragoon Orta might end up being a console pusher.
Unlikely, but if there are, kill me now.If there are other people out there like Penny Arcade's Gabe
MS needs to "dig in" and "bounce back"! That was a volleyball term followed by a boobles reference.
Yes? No? I can go with the shoot-me crowd...
Arise!
Eurogamer has a great article looking back at how the Xbox failed in Japan. Lots of interviews with many key people involved.
I was going to make a snarky comment asking when they would write up the 360 autopsy but I see they managed to get around to that as well near the end. I wonder if the third time will be the charm for Microsoft-or whether they'll even try.
Yeah, that 360 portion of the article was weak, since they didn't have many interviews with the principles in that portion like they did for the original XBox. I almost wish they hadn't gone there because it lead to a weak ending for the article.
Microsoft has benefited from the fact that Japan is not nearly as important as it once was, sales-wise. The fall-off of the market has kind of solved that problem for them.
Sales wise no it's not important-especially when your own percentage of that market is so miniscule. However if Microsoft pulled out of the market altogether, what chance would they have of getting Japanese titles on their system in the next generation. I realize that 360's are mainly COD boxes in the US but even still, a lot of people might hesitate if there was a chance they couldn't get Final Fantasy or Resident Evil or Dark Souls.
The whole article was weak. I'm glad for the interviews and deep research that (clearly) went into it, but the article read like a rough draft of what would eventually become a really good feature. Lots of rambling sentences and way too many inappropriate colloquialisms. You could produce a much better article by cutting a quarter of the (8,000+ word) length.
Posting Permissions