XB1 launch in Japan a bust

[Ayen]

Doesn't look like the XB1 will be doing much better than the X360 in Japan.


Today, the Xbox One finally went on sale in Japan. The launch looked rather depressing. But maybe you saw that coming, right?

Granted, these days, it's really hard to tell how hardware does. People can order stuff online, so there isn't the same emphasis on launch lines, like as in the past. That being said, if there are lots of people waiting for something—say, Yokai Watch toys—then it's possible to make a popularity assumption. But that is exactly what it is: an assumption.

Still, the Xbox One launch in Japan looks like a total downer. I'm sure there are Japanese gamers excited to get it, and a few people did appear to line up for the console. But, man, these photos circulating online do not look good for the Xbox One's chances in Japan.

Source (http://kotaku.com/japans-xbox-one-launch-as-sad-as-youd-expect-1630411606)

I wish I could say that I'm surprised, but I'm really not. It seems Microsoft and Sony really have switched places this generation.

Discuss.

[Colonel Angus]

Microsoft never did well in Japan. I'm sure they give zero fucks about this.

[Sephex]

EDIT: My original post was knocking the article for what I thought was manipulative journalism by showing an empty line when I have seen pictures of people in lines for it.

I missed that they did include a certain picture in the article (work computer is terrible and failed to load all pics when I checked it out). Yeah, the other pics do showcase what the article is talking about.

I am so jaded by game "journalism" that I was too quick to call them out, so that's on me. My bad. As I said in my original post, I don't care for the Xbox One, I just don't like misleading stuff like that, but I was mistaken in this case.

[Psychotic]

It's nothing new. I remember they had secret Xbox or Xbox 360 booths where you could test out the console without the shame of having any of your family or friends bump into you trying it out into a games store. The Xbox brand has and always will fail in Japan until the end of time and they should just stop trying. Or not, because it provides comedy like the secret booths and this article!

[AssassinDX]

EDIT: My original post was knocking the article for what I thought was manipulative journalism by showing an empty line when I have seen pictures of people in lines for it.

I missed that they did include a certain picture in the article (work computer is terrible and failed to load all pics when I checked it out). Yeah, the other pics do showcase what the article is talking about.

I am so jaded by game "journalism" that I was too quick to call them out, so that's on me. My bad. As I said in my original post, I don't care for the Xbox One, I just don't like misleading stuff like that, but I was mistaken in this case.

Picture with no line:
59500

But then it looked a little better:

59501

[Shauna]

"This is such a shock to see the Xbox not doing well in Japan!" - Nobody ever, 2014.

Seriously though, the Xbox bombed in Japan, the 360 bombed in Japan, the XB1 is just following suit. Nobody with any vague notion of Microsoft's relationship with Japan expected anything less.

For a long time worldwide the 360 did better than the PS3, but in Japan the preferred console was never up for debate.

[Sephex]

EDIT: My original post was knocking the article for what I thought was manipulative journalism by showing an empty line when I have seen pictures of people in lines for it.

I missed that they did include a certain picture in the article (work computer is terrible and failed to load all pics when I checked it out). Yeah, the other pics do showcase what the article is talking about.

I am so jaded by game "journalism" that I was too quick to call them out, so that's on me. My bad. As I said in my original post, I don't care for the Xbox One, I just don't like misleading stuff like that, but I was mistaken in this case.

Picture with no line:
59500

But then it looked a little better:

59501

I get that, and my original post acknowledged it. Again, my main point was the misleading pic that would infer that NO ONE showed up to the launch. My work computer originally only loaded that pic and a couple of others that had no line. Yesterday I saw different posts elsewhere that showed different lines and more people, along with the one you posted.

So originally I was pissed that gaming "journalism" was at it again, but I admitted my mistake when I noticed the article loaded properly after making my original post.

Also, I mentioned in the original post that it is absolutely true that the Xbox One has bombed in Japan, and like other posters in this thread, that has always been the case with those consoles. I just didn't like what I thought the article was trying to pull when it loaded wrong for me for the sake of dramatizing it, especially when this is a "what else is new" situation.

[Ayen]

Maybe Microsoft should consider learning how to do business with Japan so they don't have such crap sales. If it's true that the Xbox 360 had less of the amount of features available in the US then I don't blame the Japanese for not taking kindly to it. It doesn't help that most of the Xbox games aren't appealing to people over there to begin with and most of the games they would get are already on the rival system. I can't imagine they get many exclusives from the big Japanese developers since no one wants to strike out in their hometown.

If Samsung TVs can outsell Sony TVs, then Microsoft should be able to have more of a stage presence than it does now in Japan. But I suppose that requires more effort than Microsoft is willing to put in and/or is capable of.

[Loony BoB]

The only reasons anyone in Japan bought a 360 were Lost Odyssey or because they are foreigners living in Japan. Okay, probably an exaggeration, but you can't deny that a lot of that is probably true.

No Sakaguchi, no sales.

[Shauna]

But I suppose that requires more effort than Microsoft is willing to put in and/or is capable of.


While the original Xbox sold poorly in Japan, selling just 0.5 million units while it was on the market (between 2002 and 2005), the Xbox 360 performed better, but still poorly, selling only 1.5 million units from 2005 to 2011

Edge magazine reported in August 2011 that initially lacklustre and subsequently falling sales in Japan, where Microsoft had been unable to make serious inroads into the dominance of domestic rivals Sony and Nintendo, had led to retailers scaling back and in some cases discontinuing sales of the Xbox 360 completely

Link! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_sales#Japan)

Why the heck would MS want to have a massive push in Japan, spending a lot of money on advertising and all that jazz, when this is their legacy so far? x}

The Japanese are just not interested.

[metagloria]

The only reasons anyone in Japan bought a 360 were Lost Odyssey

I'm an american and this is the only reason I bought a 360.

[Slothy]

I don't want to say that Japan is racist.

But dey be racist. :p

[Iceglow]

I recall watching a documentary or reading an article, something like that; about computer gaming and difficulty where they actually proved that the gamers in Japan tend not to be as good as those in the west. This was supposedly the reason behind the invention of difficulties such as European Extreme on the Metal Gear series and other equally challenging difficulties added in to the games to appeal to the western gaming market.

When you then consider that the main title people associate with Xbox will always be Halo which dominates the IP market for the Xbox family down to the point that the 360's pads were designed to be more ergonomic for shooting games to ensure that gamers would feel comfortable spending hundreds of hours on the 360 playing Halo. FPS games being based entirely on skill and reflexes have never been huge in Japan, it's just not their cultural bag. So a console designed primarily around shooters, with a FPS based headlining series, was never really expected to do well in Japan.

You also have to realise that many features we take for granted on our consoles, such as Amazon Instant Video or Netflix are actually competitive edges for the console developers. "Buy a Sony PS3, we have access to Netflix and Amazon Instant Video" or whatever the equivalent Japanese services are has a lot more pull than "Buy a Microsoft Xbox 360, we have shooters" often for additional features and services provided by a 3rd party there such as Netflix will result in an intensely vicious contract war where to the victors goes the competitive edge.

[Shorty]

But I suppose that requires more effort than Microsoft is willing to put in and/or is capable of.


While the original Xbox sold poorly in Japan, selling just 0.5 million units while it was on the market (between 2002 and 2005), the Xbox 360 performed better, but still poorly, selling only 1.5 million units from 2005 to 2011

Edge magazine reported in August 2011 that initially lacklustre and subsequently falling sales in Japan, where Microsoft had been unable to make serious inroads into the dominance of domestic rivals Sony and Nintendo, had led to retailers scaling back and in some cases discontinuing sales of the Xbox 360 completely

Link! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_sales#Japan)

Why the heck would MS want to have a massive push in Japan, spending a lot of money on advertising and all that jazz, when this is their legacy so far? x}

The Japanese are just not interested.

This was my thought as well. Probably just not interested. If Xbox and the 360 both bombed, why wouldn't this one as well?

Additionally, I think it's stupid for a journalist to take photos of midnight and early hour stores saying "BUT NO ONE IS HERE!!!!!" or "THEY WILL LINE UP FOR COW TONGUE SOUP BUT NO XBOX 1?!?!!" Perhaps they don't begin camping out three days in advance for a sale like Americans do? I am sure that there are people buying it, but to indicate that people have not put their lives on hold to wait in line for something as catastrophic is a bit ridiculous. It does seem like manipulative journalism.

Also, I thought it might have something to do with pre-orders, and it looks like XB1 did in fact do pretty well in Japanese pre-orders (http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/06/21/xbox-one-manages-to-top-amazon-japan-best-seller-chart-on-its-pre-order-debut/), going so far as to sell out in some smaller independent stores.


Most probably we aren’t going to see a first day explosion of PS4-like proportions, but the Xbox One seems to be set to make a very decent debut in Japan.

(most probably?)

Basically, comparing the debut of XB1 to PS4 in Japan is unrealistic. It's great that MS is trying to expand their marketing in Japan in order to appeal to the Japanese audience more, but it's clear that the market is not preferential to XBox at this time.

[edczxcvbnm]

Nothing Microsoft has ever done has helped the sales of the XBox in Japan. The original had a bunch of Sega exclusive games from sequels to new IP. The 360 has exclusive games from Sakaguchi and it barely helped. I am convinced that there is probably nothing they can do to save the XBox in Japan now or in the future. It will post moderate sales over the long run but still be in a distant 3rd place overall. This should come as no surprise and doesn't deserve an article anywhere. It should just be a mention in other articles or something.

[AssassinDX]

Apologies Sephex, I posted the pictures to back up your point rather than challenge it, as you hadn't posted them yourself in your first post.

[Ayen]

But I suppose that requires more effort than Microsoft is willing to put in and/or is capable of.


While the original Xbox sold poorly in Japan, selling just 0.5 million units while it was on the market (between 2002 and 2005), the Xbox 360 performed better, but still poorly, selling only 1.5 million units from 2005 to 2011

Edge magazine reported in August 2011 that initially lacklustre and subsequently falling sales in Japan, where Microsoft had been unable to make serious inroads into the dominance of domestic rivals Sony and Nintendo, had led to retailers scaling back and in some cases discontinuing sales of the Xbox 360 completely

Link! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_sales#Japan)

Why the heck would MS want to have a massive push in Japan, spending a lot of money on advertising and all that jazz, when this is their legacy so far? x}

The Japanese are just not interested.

Then they should stop shipping their units over there.

[DMKA]

Yeah, the 360 completed bombed in Japan too, even when there were a ton of Japanese exclusives for it. So most of us saw this coming.

To be fair though, none of the home consoles are doing well in Japan at the moment. Sure, the Wii U and the PS4 had strong launches there, but now they're both struggling to sell a few thousand units a week there. PC game sales are particularly weak too. Meanwhile the 3DS and the Vita, and mobile phone games, are all selling very well.

It seems that these days, if it's a video game and it's not mobile, Japan doesn't want it.

[Ayen]

It seems that these days, if it's a video game and it's not mobile, Japan doesn't want it.

No wonder Square Enix keeps making so many mobile games these days.

[Shauna]

Then they should stop shipping their units over there.

There was 1 million units sold - there obviously is some market for the console, albeit not a grand one. They probably still make a profit in Japan. My point was that MS have no reason to make more of an effort in Japan - which you said they should try to do.

Heck, Japan wasn't a priority launch for MS! The XB1 has been out here for months!

[Dat Matt]

Just like Nintendo is becoming a Niche Market in the west, Xbox systems are a Niche in Japan. Xbox has never done well there, but it does well enough to distribute the console in this region.

Microsoft don't seem to know what to do with the XB1 though. I read an article saying that the XB1 only sold something like 90K Lifetime units in Germany, and isn't even in any European countries yet. I expected this from Japan and they could try to make it ore Japan friendly but they are not going to push playstation off the top spot no matter what they do.

[Colonel Angus]

I heard they named it the XBoxOne, because it only has one good game.








Joke stolen from Mike Matei

[Uchu]

Maybe Microsoft should consider learning how to do business with Japan so they don't have such crap sales. If it's true that the Xbox 360 had less of the amount of features available in the US then I don't blame the Japanese for not taking kindly to it. It doesn't help that most of the Xbox games aren't appealing to people over there to begin with and most of the games they would get are already on the rival system. I can't imagine they get many exclusives from the big Japanese developers since no one wants to strike out in their hometown.

If Samsung TVs can outsell Sony TVs, then Microsoft should be able to have more of a stage presence than it does now in Japan. But I suppose that requires more effort than Microsoft is willing to put in and/or is capable of.

It's funny you would mention Samsung. Samsung no longer sells things in Japan, apart from the Galaxy and some computer monitors.

----

It is interesting though when these sort of topics pop up. "MS is stupid for selling in Japan!" "We all saw it coming!" etc. It's similar to the crappy 'Japan doesn't play PC games' thing. Some do, it may be more niche but there exists an audience, or in some cases the taste is just a lot different. Unfortunately I too haven't done any research into the actual market or situation and can only observe, but I would suggest people don't be too quick to jump the gun and declare things dead on arrival or that 'they shouldn't bother'. Yes, they should bother because there is a market, just smaller and MS is right in supporting that niche.

Just for reference Destiny is currently getting a major push in Japan, for the PS4 admittedly, but why bother, it's a FPS and Japan doesn't play those, right?

This might be a interesting: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-13-why-xbox-failed-in-japan

[Vyk]

True Fantasy Live Online

This is karma :P They should have never stifled one of the only worthwhile MMOs I was ever interested in. And maybe they'd do better in Japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_I5j256vDY

[Mirage]

I'm finding it hard to give a shit. Luckily though, I managed to find enough of one to actually post about having such a hard time.

[Dat Matt]

I heard they named it the XBoxOne, because it only has one good game.








Joke stolen from Mike Matei

It's called the Xbox One as it's designed to be your One entertainment system in the Living room

Disclaimer: Xbox one will not be your all in one media entertainment system unless you are a resident of North Amercia. #Freedom

[DMKA]

I heard they named it the XBoxOne, because it only has one good game.

I heard it was because after you take One look at it you turn 360 degrees and walk away! XD

[Shorty]

But if they turn 360 degrees they'll be walking right at it again. :confused:

[Rostum]

I don't want to say that Japan is racist.

But dey be racist. :p

Well if we're going to play that card I'd say that perhaps it's more that Japanese people are very patriotic and would prefer products from a Japanese-based company (e.g. Sony).

[Sephex]

Apologies Sephex, I posted the pictures to back up your point rather than challenge it, as you hadn't posted them yourself in your first post.

It's all good, I was mainly clarifying my thought process behind my original post and the edit for everyone. I was fairly certain that's what you were doing, but I was also afraid my edit got lost in translation, so I went into more detail.

[Dat Matt]

But if they turn 360 degrees they'll be walking right at it again. :confused:

https://warosu.org/data/ck/img/0041/14/1357060103155.gif

[Psychotic]

Wii. :hahaha:

Oh sorry, wrong thread.

[Sephex]

If you were to put the console on the torso of a manikin in Japan, the XBox One would still be a bust.

[Bolivar]

To be fair, the PS4 is bombing pretty hard in Japan as well, hence why Sony has third parties porting their upcoming Vita games to the console as well.

But Microsoft's problem isn't just Japan. The Xbox One is practically nonexistent in continental Europe, literally so for the countries it hasn't even launched in yet. That Eurogamer article about Japan is interesting in that it also tracks their international decline. You can trace the trajectory of them falling off the globe to the erosion of their first party studios, console exclusive PC ports, indie programs, and Japanese partners. Over the last few years, those resources noticeably shifted to Call of Duty co-marketing, Kinect, and the now-infamous Xbox One entertainment push. That's not a great way to sell a console overseas and Microsoft has only been able to mask this decline by how hard they dominated the US and UK charts throughout the entirety of the generation. It doesn't bode well for the health of the industry if Sony is the only viable console manufacturer, although when I compare last generation to its predecessor, the whole "competition is good" argument becomes less and less convincing when it comes to gaming.

On a funny side note, someone photoshopped the empty Japan launch locales with the cardboard cutout audience from Forza Motorsport 5, tweeting it at Microsoft execs who didn't realize it was a joke. (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=888440)

[Mirage]

I don't think anyone in Japan really thinks it's going to be sold out like ever, so even if they planned on getting one, they wouldn't be standing in line for it.

[Nate]

To be fair, the PS4 is bombing pretty hard in Japan as well, hence why Sony has third parties porting their upcoming Vita games to the console as well.

But Microsoft's problem isn't just Japan. The Xbox One is practically nonexistent in continental Europe, literally so for the countries it hasn't even launched in yet. That Eurogamer article about Japan is interesting in that it also tracks their international decline. You can trace the trajectory of them falling off the globe to the erosion of their first party studios, console exclusive PC ports, indie programs, and Japanese partners. Over the last few years, those resources noticeably shifted to Call of Duty co-marketing, Kinect, and the now-infamous Xbox One entertainment push. That's not a great way to sell a console overseas and Microsoft has only been able to mask this decline by how hard they dominated the US and UK charts throughout the entirety of the generation. It doesn't bode well for the health of the industry if Sony is the only viable console manufacturer, although when I compare last generation to its predecessor, the whole "competition is good" argument becomes less and less convincing when it comes to gaming.

On a funny side note, someone photoshopped the empty Japan launch locales with the cardboard cutout audience from Forza Motorsport 5, tweeting it at Microsoft execs who didn't realize it was a joke. (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=888440)

Dude, that is funny as hell. I played Forza at the MS Store, and wondered what the heck they were thinking on the crowds. It reminded me of something from the PSX generation. I suppose too much focus on the main visuals.

Either way, the XBONE was never going to be big in Japan. There's always been a little home nation bias when it comes to the Xbox there, and with all the bad press and lack of games that appeal to the Japanese crowd, at present, I wouldn't buy one there either.

[Dat Matt]

But Microsoft's problem isn't just Japan. The Xbox One is practically nonexistent in continental Europe, literally so for the countries it hasn't even launched in yet

I recall reading an article that the Xbox one wasn't even at 90K in Germany a few months ago, A small portion of these sales were from the Scandinavian and neighbouring countries that didn't have the system available for retail yet so the staggered release didn't even work. This staggered release didn't help sales and goes to show that Microsoft don't care about the market outside of the US and the UK to a smaller extent. Unless there is a game that I need an Xbox One to play I don't think I'll ever get one.

I will get a PS4, but only after Tales of Zestriria, FFXV and KH3 come out.

[Psychotic]

I know a few people who own both XB1 and PS4 and people who own XB1s. It's interesting because they all rate the XB1 really highly and those that own both have said they prefer the XB1. Yet the PS4 is absolutely stomping it. I wonder what led to that. Theories?

I also wonder if that's just a unique phenomenon I've encountered or whether there is a lot of good word of mouth about the XB1 everywhere. If it's the latter, there could be a fightback. Certainly in my own case I was all aboard the PS4 train and on balance I think I'm still going to go that way, but it's less of a sure thing for me than it was and I'm content to sit back and wait and see.

[Shauna]

Microsoft made a lot of bad decisions on the lead up to release. It wasn't that long ago that all this was happening (and I suppose it continues to be, since they're still reversing their "completely necessary" policies), so there's probably just a lot of stigma still attached to it. It may be a sleeper hit, and once it's released in all like 30 countries or whatever, it might do better.

[Dr Unne]

I know a few people who own both XB1 and PS4 and people who own XB1s. It's interesting because they all rate the XB1 really highly and those that own both have said they prefer the XB1. Yet the PS4 is absolutely stomping it. I wonder what led to that. Theories?

People like different stuff

[Dat Matt]

I know a few people who own both XB1 and PS4 and people who own XB1s. It's interesting because they all rate the XB1 really highly and those that own both have said they prefer the XB1. Yet the PS4 is absolutely stomping it. I wonder what led to that. Theories?

Depends on the person. XB1 is definitely catered to 2 specific crowds, Americans and "Not so hard core gamers". A friend of mine bought the Xbox One and launch and so far has only used it for Fifa. Will probably continue to use it only for Fifa with #15 comes out at the end of the month. Swears it's the best thing ever, but he probably only spends an hour a week playing it.

It might also be as a result of the Kinect actually working. People say it's cool to walk into the living room and just yell at the TV and it'll do stuff. Livin in the future.