RSSMicrosoft Tries Again in Japan With Xbox 360
By Ed Oswald | Published September 12, 2007, 11:43 AM
When it comes to Japan and the Xbox 360, you can't say that Microsoft isn't trying.
Microsoft said it is attracting to the platform some of the biggest names in Japanese gaming to produce games in 2007 and beyond during a press event at the Tokyo Game Show on Wednesday.
By any standard, the Xbox 360 has been an abject failure in Japan, the home of both Sony and Nintendo. Even in the PS3's darkest days in the country, it was still outselling Microsoft's console by at least a 2 to 1 margin. But to Microsoft's credit, they're not taking it sitting down.
Probably the biggest news out of the presser was the fact that Square Enix, the final developer holdout on the 360, will produce two games for the platform. One would be called Infinite Undiscovery, the other The Last Remnant.
While the games were touched on only briefly, they both appear to follow the RPG format which seems to be much more popular in the Asian market. So far, most first-person shooters that are popular among American gamers have generally gone unregarded in the East.
Besides Square Enix, two of Japan's most well known developers, Tomonobu Itagaki from Team NINJA/Tecmo Ltd. and Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker, also joined the press conference to voice their support for the platform. Itagaki announced Ninja Gaiden 2, while Sakaguchi debuted the RPG Lost Odyssey..
"We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan's best and most innovative developers, and we're looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond," Interactive Entertainment chief Don Mattrick said.
The most recent sales data available from Japan shows that the Xbox 360 has a deep hole to pull itself out of: Media Create found that from August 27 to September 2 the console only sold 1,635 units.
In comparison, the Wii sold 39,371 units, the PS3 18,068 units, and the PS2 14,280.
How does that old saying go? If at first you don't succeed... market, market again.
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|Xbox 360 will get more games. Because it has the best develop tools. With XNA Game Studio, Visual Studio. Compare to PS3. Develop a same Xbox 360 save alot of time. That mean save alot of money for company.
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|I am holding out for the Falcon and would believe that others are doing the same. Why buy something now that will be outdated and known to have issues.
I am waiting for the news, but think it will arrive sometime this month. Anyone know when?
Same time as Halo I believe.
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|Early next year. They have 65nm units in warehouses, and will launch them when the 90nm units are mostly sold.
If they were to release 65nm units today, the market will be flodded with 90nm 2ndhand units, and people will be cherrypicking the new 65nm units.
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|I don't remember posting that. Oh that's right .... I didn't.
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|To be fair microsoft are really trying hard in japan, but not nearly hard enough.
For everything xbox360 you see theres twice as much PS3 and 10 times as much wii/ds in terms of marketing.
Though the main biccamera store in nagoya has very nice xbox displays that are always packed with people playing them.... and over on the PS3 display.. you can play tennis.
Odd
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|One would be called Infinite Undiscovery, the other The Last Remnant.
...and a possible third, from a series that many of you may already be familiar with, Final Fantasy XIII.
You know, developers tend to stick wholeheartedly with a particular platform (especially if they've been compensated generously to do so), not just reserve one game or franchise for it, then release the rest of their titles on multiple platforms. If that is indeed what's happening, then I'd lay down good money to bet that Sony laid down good money as well.
If games truly sell a console (which anyone with half a brain knows to be true, otherwise the PS3 would be selling more), then Final Fantasy will definitely be what Sony has been needing. Otherwise, it's yet another nail in an already very heavy coffin.
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|If only they had decided to release FFXIII on the 360... sigh.
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|MS is really trying hard... and loosing money doing it. Even Blue Dragon by Mistwalker has been quite the flop there (well, maybe that was also due to the game being mediocre at best).
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|The game itself was bad though so not entirely MS fault.
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|Exactly, just like Lair wasn't Sony's fault.
Oh wait... yes, it was. Sorry. :)
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|Either way its good news that they at least got squares support, hopefully the named games turn out to be good. and Ninja Gaiden 2!
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|Pat on the back for effort, but Microsoft will never succeed in Japan. Their mentality is like some people in the US. It's like "Buy American" but 10 times worse.
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|They don't buy the 360 in Japan, basically because it's s***.
Stop trying to pretend it's anything to do with national pride.
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|Seriously shouldn't you be banned by now since you are trying to impersonate someone...
Apparently this is BS "BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated"
If its that bad how come everyone is leaving Sony? How come Square is developing games for MS? How come GAMES are actually coming out for xbox360. BTW how is Lair? Apparently 50 GB of space still couldn't polish a turd.
How come Sony is having problems selling it, calling it a hit in Japan is still Mediocre at best. So by your logic the PS3 is also garbage.
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|Speaking of lair did you see the comment over on bluray that MS supporters must feel real bad since bluedragon barley outsold Lair. To me that is also a crack on the hot exclusive title that they were just raving about having.
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|Lair... BEST GAME OF THE YEAR MAN!!
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/817/817117p1.html
http://www.gamespot.com/...ltimodule;picks;title;3
I'm going to rush out and get a PS3 now!
I hope there's still a fire sale going on.
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|I think I know what was wrong with the game, and why it was getting such bad reviews.
You see, with such a revolutionary game, you have to rethink how you play it. You need to play it in a revolutionary way...
by using your feet!
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|I have read the reviews as well, even the hardcore PS3 sites are saying it sucks. I especially like GameSpot's short and sweet summary.
"Lair is a beautiful disaster."
It's averaging about a 4.3 out of 10, one guy said playing the old arcade game by Williams called Joust was more fun.
Actual user reviews are avaging about 3.8 out of 10. Was this a Sony in house game?
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|I believe that particular reviewer stated that Joust had more depth, which is actually a worse stab at Lair...
And yes, it was published by SCEA. Truly sad that they couldn't even design a game worth a crap for their own hardware.
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|I don't know if Square would go to the Wii even though i think the Wii is a great system it just doesn't have the horsepower as the PS3 or Xbox has for graphics unless Nintendo can prove me wrong on this wish i hope they do. But the PS3 problems just sound like when every other new system comes out that it hard to develop for. so when the developers start to master the PS3 than the games may look better than the 360's
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|I still don't under stand why everyone picks one console or the other or one HD movie format or the other and bashes everything else.
Why not get a 360 with the HD-DVD add on and a PS3? Now you have two great gaming consoles and both next gen movie players.
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|because it costs too much right now.
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|^This^
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|Because the only thing ps3 has that I want bad enough to purchase is FF, everything else that has come out for them I haven't been impressed.
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|People have nothing better to do than to argue. I have both and I like both. I have movies & games on both formats. Though I think more data per layer is the better idea I don't care who wins. Eventually I'll get a Wii too.
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|Now if only Squenix moves FF over to Xbox, then I won't have any reason to purchase a ps3.
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|I doubt that's going to happen. Sony will drive a dump truck full of money to the developers' house if they have to.
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|Yeah but in a previous response squenix stated they were not happy with how Sony is handling the ps3 and something needs to change, maybe it'll go to the wii but unless Sony has some hidden gems coming out soon, I see Sony maybe going the way of Sega
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|like microsoft can't do the same thing.
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|Maybe, but Sony is bleeding money already though too.
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