XB1 launch in Japan a bust

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

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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.

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Source

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.

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

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.

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!

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Originally Posted by 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.

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Picture with no line:
Attachment 59500

But then it looked a little better:

Attachment 59501

"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.

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Originally Posted by AssassinDX

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Originally Posted by 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.

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Picture with no line:
Attachment 59500

But then it looked a little better:

Attachment 59501

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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.

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.

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.

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

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia, take with a pinch of salt, I guess

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

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Link!

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.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

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

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

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

But dey be racist. :p

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.

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Originally Posted by Shauna

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

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia, take with a pinch of salt, I guess

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

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Link!

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.

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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, going so far as to sell out in some smaller independent stores.

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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.

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(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.

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.