150°

Microsoft: Japanese Sell Out Is "Totally Legit"

Kotaku reports: "In mid-August, a seemingly unbelievable thing happened: The Xbox 360 sold out in Japan. Unbelievable because for years Japan ignored the Microsoft game console. But there we were, mid-August and an Xbox 360 sell out. This came just as Namco Bandai RPG Tales of Vesperia hit the Xbox 360. It got so bad that Microsoft actually had to issue an apology for the sell out. September saw a Microsoft Tokyo press conference that announced a console price cut that would hit when stores were restocked with consoles.

The timing for all this is just too damn good. When asked if this was a moved engineered by Microsoft, company exec Aaron Greenberg said, "Oh, it was totally legit. The demand for the console shot up suddenly. How can you plan for that?" Even now, the situation is so bad that apparently there are only roughly 18 or so consoles in the Japanese warehouse. "Everything we're making, we're selling straight through," Greenberg said. "That's why we're selling out. The only machines we're not selling have dents in them or have been accidentally damaged.""
SUP3R - contributor
Published: 435 days 5 hours ago | News | TGS 2008 | Xbox 360 | Industry News
 
 

Showing: 1 - 27 of 27 Comments
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wotta - 435 days 5 hours ago
1 - What is it with Kotaku and 360 Feel good stories?
We know what console they own lol.

p.s I own both so I dont care :)
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Snukadaman_ - 435 days 1 hour ago
1.1 - we do know what console they own
especially with the 10 rrods they had which was a big story here..remember?
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anzagi - 435 days 5 hours ago
2 -
I agree, its so OTT, I bet they have matching 360 duvets and curtains
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vilmer - 435 days 3 hours ago
3 -
That site is awful.
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MetalProxy - 435 days 3 hours ago
4 - neat
They might hit the "one million sold in japan" mark.
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LightningPS3 - 435 days 3 hours ago
5 - We just saw the official sales of last week
it was like 8k for 360 vs 7k for PS3. So I think all this sellout crap is overdone.
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ThanatosDMC - 435 days ago
5.1 -
Just like that Sales Quadruple story. If they sold one a week before then sold 4 a week later... that means it quadrupled in a week.

Ignorance is bliss or just ignorant...
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dericb11 - 435 days 3 hours ago
6 -
So they are selling damaged goods to people and laughing about it? I pray that the RROD's come quick and screw up there fun ride. So funny is the Japanese market never had so many systems out at one time meaning when the RROD's do hit they will get flooded and not know and not fix them all and lose the user base they think they have.
6.1 dirtrider | 434 days 23 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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rhood022 - 435 days 3 hours ago
7 -
If the sell out was totally legit, then how come the 360 went back to selling it's pre-Tales numbers following the boost and continued to do so until the price drop?

Isn't the definition of a "sell out," at its fundamental base, that there are NO CONSOLES TO SELL?
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Death - 435 days 3 hours ago
7.1 - They sold out in August.
Sales dropped significantly at the end of August since the Xbox 360 was getting harder to find. The apology was from Microsoft since they had no consoles in the warehouse to replenish stock. They also gave a ship date in the press release with the apology. The ship date was the beginning of September. September also seen the price reduction and not too coincidentally the best month Microsoft has had.

The sell out was not fabricated since it was difficult to foresee the Xbox selling as many units as it did when sales were less than stellar since launch. Could they have been better prepared? Sure, but hindsight is 20/20.

-Death
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rhood022 - 435 days 2 hours ago
7.2 -
Then they shouldn't call it a "sell out." That denotes no supply on the consumer end.

Instead, they should have said "sell through" if it was a stocking problem in the distribution end of it.
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Death - 435 days 2 hours ago
7.3 - The last week of August seen 842 units sold.
This was due to the fact it was getting very difficult to find them at retail. The reason retail did not have consoles was because Microsoft did not have consoles at the warehouse to restock retail. That is called a sell out. It took Microsoft almost 3 weeks to replenish stock. When they did, sales increased dramatically. Like I said earlier, the price drop definitely helped stimulate sales once they were restocked in September though.

-Death
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juuken - 435 days 3 hours ago
8 -
Poor salt on the wounds failtaku, why don't you.
8.1 dirtrider | 434 days 23 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Vip3r - 435 days 3 hours ago
9 -
The only thing getting sold out is this story.

It was only by 1000 units. Not really that impressive tbh.
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Martini - 435 days 3 hours ago
10 -
Sore loosers ^^^^
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GiantEnemyCrab - 435 days 3 hours ago
10.1 -
hahaha all the classices have been used and I'm only at comment ten:

RROD - check
Kotaku bias to MS - check
Kotaku sucks - check
downplay good news - check

haha I'm so tired of Sony fanboys crying in 360 articles. You would think if they hate kotaku and the 360 and that it's exagerated news then why did they even click on it and bother to comment?
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Firstkn1ghT - 435 days 1 hour ago
10.2 - LMAO
That is so funny and true Giant! :)
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robotnik - 435 days 3 hours ago
11 -
Kotaku spitting poison again.
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lowcarb - 435 days 2 hours ago
12 - haha....
Sony's loosing on there home turf lol. Time's are changing and in a good way for 360.
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Apocalypse Shadow - 435 days 2 hours ago
13 - how about this giant crab
microsoft didn't mention how many they MAKE or put in the channel.if you don't have that many to begin with,but you release a game that sells consoles,and you didn't think that you needed more because sales were abismal,then it's not that impressive.

sales didn't increase like the wii,and dropped each time after a big game release.

when microsoft finally hits a million like their competitors in each country after having released their system FIRST and a year headstart,then someone might notice.

right now,saying you did something like sell out,but still can't get over that big hump,is just chest thumping.and now this week,they barely outsell the ps3 by 1,000 but sells for half or so.

not impressive.

apocalypse...........
13.1 JokesOnYou | 435 days 1 hour ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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THE TRUTH - 435 days 2 hours ago
14 - Great
Great for MS!!! You sold out a couple thousand consoles! Wake me up when it's a couple hundred thousand sold out!

Facts people:

Wii has/is selling out SINCE LAUNCH! Since when is a couple thounds consoles sold really produced a winner in these console wars?

I'm glad they aren't sitting on store shelves but MS AND SONY need to get there asses back in the game because the rate they are selling consoles in Japan is embarresing!
15 CViper | 435 days 1 hour ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
16 mac4u10 | 435 days 1 hour ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Rodney Dangerfield - 435 days ago
17 -
Kotaku gets no respect. No respect!
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