Xbox 360 Redesign Losing Steam in Japan

Well, the party couldn't last forever. Though the Xbox 360 received a sales spike of 800% in Japan following the slim redesign, the latest Media Create numbers show signs that the sales are normalizing. GamesIndustry.biz reports that the latest numbers show the Xbox 360 selling 7,303 units, less than half of the 17,370 from the last reporting period.

[Raoh]

always a spike in new redesigned hardware. i dont think japan has changed their minds on not liking the 360.

the spike could possibly be the japanese 360 owners that do like their 360 but wanted a hardware upgrade. i know if i still had my 360 i would have bought the new one.

[Double Toasted]

Fo' shizzle it fizzeled, but I'm no lizzayah when the 120 gig for $199 hits, it'll be fizzayah...ok I'm done.

[BX81]

I'm predicting that the 360 is going to do a lot better in Japan. If they are smart they'll release a limited edition console when they release monster hunter for the 360. A spike is always good but now they need to put out software to back up that spike. Yeah I think it's gonna take more than a new system design to win over the market in Japan but i've seen crazier things.

[sikbeta]

MH:FO was out by the same time the x360S came out, so that's it a sales Spike produced by both the new model and the exclusive game, it was a matter of time for this to happen even if MH is a Sales Beast in Japan, dumb Capcom making dumb decisions...

O-T

Well, I'm here to admit that I was Wrong about this specific "situation", when that article about the sales spike was the other week or so I said that when everything goes back to normal = 2k/3k per week for the x360, there wouldn't be any article about that, but here this article pointing out that sales are going back to normal, so yeah, I was wrong about this one....

[Mizz_mai]

my guess is that the buzz died down after gamers found out you have to pay for live AND the subscription fee......

[stb]

Dude monster hunter was released already...

Ooh you!

[lelo2play]

Microsoft hasn't got a chance in Japan. They don't give much love to the X360 over there.

[Tony-A]

I don't think anyone expected this to last at all. And if you did.... well... you have some really high expectations.

Omega... BX...

[stonecold1]

week it will go down 2000 or below where 360 first started off if not 1500 back to where it belongs i guess hehehe

[VINNIEPAZ]

Jesus Christ..........grow up douche

[logikil]

I think that people mistakenly tied the sales of the system to the redesign. It had more to do with monster hunter than any change in the hardware.

[Anon1974]

Monster Hunter and the sales they were having to get rid of the old hardware. I strongly suspect the 360 sales hike had much more to do with the old hardware being sold cheaper than anything else. Time will tell, but I predict 360 sales will go right back to where they were before the spike, about 12-15% lower than they were last year.

[postofficebuddy]

The spike came almost entirely from the new model 15k out of 17k were the new ones.

[hennessey86]

just concentrate on us gamers who actually like the 360. give us some more exclusives instead of wasting time and money in japan where they just dont care about 360

[Game-ur]

Microsoft started this generation by trying hard to appeal to Japan, thy commissioned lots of RPGs, some are great others not so much, but not long afterwards that just disappeared, did they want success overnight?

I consider Lost Odyssey the best JRPG so far (more of a FF than FF13, it had that feel to it), and ToV was the best produced Tales series, but I'm disappointed to see them give up and just look to get Games go multi platform.

[stb]

True, cus of, ps3 is the way to go at the time of dealing with rpg...now

[seij555]

Nope VC, Demons Souls, heck even Disgaea 3 are better than Lost Odyssey.

[Game-ur]

Those games are great, but I mean traditional JRPGs, VC is a SRPG and DS is something new (don't know what to compare it with).

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Release all the consoles you want.

You still can't play God of War III, Heavy Rain, inFamous, Killzone 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted 1 & 2, or other reasons they've chosen the PS3.

The Last Guardian FTW.

[Cloudberry]

.
Yakuza 3 & 4.

Yakuza 4 would release in Spring 2011.

[Abriael]

Well said, Cloudberry, bubble for you.

And just lol at the random disagrees, ah, sweet, blissful ignorance... The funny part is that the people that slag on every Japanese game just because it's Japanese, are normally the same ones that accuse the Japanese to be "xenophobic".

Just lol.

[BabyTownFrolics]

since I own a ps3 and 360. If you own one it does not mean you cant own the other. these squabbles are petty.

[M4ndat0ry_1nstall]

The Japs are xenophobic by nature. I'm surprised the 360 has even reached a million in "The land of the rising sun".

[zootang]

Stereotyping ey??? All Americans are fat comes to mind.

[ElementX]

The fat comment is true, pretty much.
/sarcasm

I'm fat! But I've been dieting and already lost 13lbs :)

[nycredude]

I wouldn't say fat but "most americans are overweight" is pretty spot on.

[mrv321]

Hence why 50% of smart phones in Japan are Apple iphones.

Maybe they just like quality.

Games?

Since game on PS3 are common on 360 you can't use that as an excuse. The rumours of Sony's PS2 kill switch probably had an affect on sales in Japan.

[M4ndat0ry_1nstall]

Then why is the DS more popular than the PSP over there?

QUALITY?

@Abriael
I didn't realize "JAP" was a derogatory term, I apologise for my mistake.

That is all.

[nickjkl]

bull 50 percent of smart phones in japan are not iphones

[Venatus-Deus]

Blonde American hookers can also charge a premium and are in high demand.

[Abriael]

I find it funny that someone that accuses someone else to be "xenophobic" would use the derogatory term "jap".

Ah, the irony.

I'm sorry to burst a bubble, but not bending over and automatically accepting every single item america produces (expecially when there are same or higher quality products on the market) does not make anyone "xenophobic".
Especially when MANY other american products (from McDonalds to Coca Cola to Apple) are widely and easily accepted.

Why the DS is more popular than the PSP? Several reasons, but having increased my PSP gameplay a lot lately due to some games i really wanted to play I can tell you a primary reason why the PSP isn't as popular as it could be: Ergonomy.

The PSP, while a great gaming machine, has one of the most uncomfortable grips i ever saw in a portable. Playing control intensive games like Gran Turismo on it borders on torture. Which is really a pity. I seriously wish i could just plug a dualshock to it (without having to buy A PSP go and to rebuy my whole library of games).

[Abriael]

M4ndat0ry_1nstall asked about why the DS is more popular than the PSP in JAPAN. The japanese games library of the PSP is absolutely excellent, and most non-nintendo big franchises that get portable versions do so on PSP. For a core-oriented Japanese gamer the PSP offers a much higher quality experience. Too bad a good percentage of those games don't get localized overseas.

This said, I would disagree with your statement even considering the games sold in the west. The PSP has quite a lot more high quality games than the DS, whose gaming library is much biugger but is also in large part made by shovelware.
Considering different kind of tastes, the western gaming libraries of the DS or the PSP are pretty much complementary.
Different gamers will like one or the other more.
Gamers that are more interested in "big" games and core, relatively mature gameplat, will probably like the PSP more.
Gamers that are more interested in bite-sized games, light-hearted (or juvenile) adventures and platforms, and lovers of the nintendo franchises and style will prefer the DS.

In the end, the fact that the PSP has an unconfortable grip for many gamers IS a problem.

[Godmars290]

Meanwhile iPod and iPad, tons of other American goods, sell like crazy.

Monster Hunter did more to bump up numbers than the redesign. Were probably the only reason.

[morganfell]

Oh the irony...

[gtsentry]

did a popular game come out in japan last week for ps3 cuz ps3 had a big sales spike along with the wii

[sarshelyam]

More likely people are just realizing the recently released Monster Hunter Frontier (the sole reason for the sales spike on HW), is a bland port of 3-year-old PC game.

[DlocDaBudSmoka]

didnt last long. hmm wonder why?

[ReBurn]

Nintendo still rules the Japanese gaming world, and handhelds are much more popular than consoles there. That's just how it goes. Clearly Microsoft didn't bring to the table what it takes to be successful in Japan.

[M4ndat0ry_1nstall]

Yes, like being a Japanese gaming company.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I would argue it is also a culture of protecting their own industry.

When you have a country that protects their products from:

a) California Rice which by the way is half the price of Japanese grown rice

b) Garbage disposals for your sink that cost a $1k that cost about $150 in the US

Then that tells me they aren't very interested in outside imported products. Sure there are exceptions, but one can not argue the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The Japanese don't have a free market!

[thewhoopimen]

That's nice except American Fashion is HUGE in Japan. Apple iPhones dominate in sales and people love McDonald's, Wendy's, Denny's, BurgerKing, Starbucks. Windows is near ubiquitous in the land of the rising sun. So no your reasons are ... very suspect. A truer assertion would be, most Japanese consumers don't like Microsoft hardware. Maybe it has to do with all the shooters.

[Baka-akaB]

that old tired excuse need to be shot down .

When you launch a console with perfect dark zero and no game appealing to a local japanese market , except blue dragon and lost odyssey one year later , that's all that's needed to fail .

"oh how generous of them to later bring japanese rpg exclusives on 360 , why can't the japanese public drop its prejudice and embrace the console" .

Another dried out excuse ... they are already busy with two sucessful handheld , then the wii , and they knew the ps3 was getting bigger hits like Final fantasy , along with a few exclusive of its own .

And people wonder why they werent keen to bit on the bait ?

Try launching a console in us with 100% japanese products like pachinko games , dating sims , and turn based tactical and jrpgs ...
then tell us how it fared .

Japanese folks eat up us merchandises , it's trendy . The iphone is even huge there .
Microsoft's failure is on microsoft . So what if your big shot fps are good , try to understand the market you wanna cater to , instead of trying to remold it .

Next time launch with something like a lost odyssey 2 ... not some fps they dont give a damn about , then a few years later exclusive rpgs , when their choices of hardware would be already covered .

[Jack Klugman]

M4ndat0ry_1nstall: Yup.

But yes, Japan is Nintendo country..

[Counter Strike]

U mean mostly... I have Americans friends wich are as fit as i am and im bodybuilder so...

But yes +1 M 360´s on Japan is pretty damn good.

[SoSLy]

I live in Canada.... then one day I decided to go for a vacation in New York... u know what i saw? fat folks in little scooters... It was pretty sad since I saw them entering Mcdonalds near Time Square...

[ElementX]

I really don't know why people still continue to write these articles. The 360 has always been a flop in Japan, a redesign don't change that.

[BillOreilly]

ms tried hard with blue dragon, lost odessey, the last remnant, infinite undiscovery and more near launch but the japanese dont generally take to american products they support japan thats why. I think they shoulve bought more because ms supports the us by bringing the best and most fps to 360 and wouldve supported jrpgs the same for japan. mistwalker and square enix were making 360 exclusives but it all ended when ms realized even with 20 of the best rpgs japan still wont buy a 360 (a lot did for bd and lo but not as much as needed)

[orange-skittle]

They support Apple products. They new 360 is a little smaller and a lot slicker, but doesn't off much difference except for wi-fi. There's no real reason to own one right now. There will be a cheaper one in the fall that has a smaller HDD and I think it's replacing the current $199 sku. If you want another 360, this would be the best way to go at the moment(if u can wait). I am getting another one because I love the design, 250GB, and wifi...but that's because it's perfect for my media room. If you're buying it "just because," then you're throwing money away. Japanese are hard sales. They always have been, plus they enjoy their handhelds. Have you ever seen them during a work week? It's like sardines in a bus and they are playing on cellphones or handhelds. Then the arcades are stacked with childish vegas style machines as if these people never grew up.

BTW, what's the fixation w/ little school girls and white blonde women w/ big boobs and no azz?

@ Chakan

Japan is NOT relevant any longer in the gaming world as they once were. Before, they were the determining factor in the success of a console or game, but not any longer. If MS didn't sell a 360 there...it wouldn't make a difference so...YES! JAPAN IS NOT RELEVANT. If MS concentrated on Canada, US, and EU...they would be just fine without Japans sales numbers. If you took away the million they sold there, they are still 4 million ahead of the PS3 in sales, so what's your point?

[Newtype]

that's just plain generalization.

[Baka-akaB]

BS , they just tried to late with jrpg and japanese appealing products appearing more than a year after a failure of a launch , with western games such as perfect dark zero .

Some of you guys need to go over japan asap and see how trendy american culture , clothing , merchandise and hardware can be , instead of making yourselves look so silly .

[SephireX]

Maybe the Japanese just have bad taste? Nah. The 360 sucks!

[BeaArthur]

I don't know who would be surprised by this, the 360 was never big in Japan.

[orange-skittle]

Who gives a f#ck about Japan anymore. They are not even relevant. Not only have EU and western developers surpassed them, but the gaming industry can survive without their contributions now. Let them stick with their handhelds and cheesy games.

[chakan]

LOL! Japan is not relevant? The United States and Europe is not the world. Japan also counts. Funny how you hear this piece of news and Japan is not relevant.

Lmfao.

[chakan]

Well...Operation Redesign failed...>_>

[Counter Strike]

"
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[krisprolls]

Only fools and fanboys still think the 360 is alive in Japan...

It's been outsold 4:1 by the PS3 for years, so I have a hard time understanding how a new model could change anything...

Wishes and Fanboy Dreams =/= Facts and Reality

Reality = PS3 won the HD console war long ago in Japan.

[J-Smith]

monster hunter

[Optical_Matrix]

You ever been to Japan? Seen how western centric Tokyo can be. Japan love off Apple products more than most over countries. American culture from McDonalds to fashion brands are all over the place in Tokyo. They love western culture. Fact is, Microsoft is synonymous with bad quality products. Japanese strive for quality which the 360 doesn't offer hardware wise. It's not a case of them not wanting to buy an American product. That's just a myth. What I'm saying here, is pure fact. The concept of "gaijin" console has nothing to do with the 360's poor performance in Japan. Please stop these ridiculous articles.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

We've had about 35 people trade in their 360 to buy the redesign at our GameStop. Unfortunately, they're buying them from Walmart. GameStop is getting screwed over.

Nobody is buying the redesign because they've never owned a 360.

They're buying it because they're afraid of their old one red-ringing.

People are forking out money to MS like crazy! It's pathetic!

[flyingmunky]

How much trade in value do you guys give out for the old ones at your store? The closest GameStop to me is about 30 mins away so I don't go very often. Thanks in advance.

[ranmafandude]

do you really think there was any other reason the xbox 360 was selling good in japan when the new slim came out besides monster hunter? japan buys monster hunter in droves every time it comes out.

[tiamat5]

Awwww! That's too bad. After the Move arrives in Japan Microsoft should just just pack up and come back to the U.S. where they don't care about quality and will buy their junk.

[gumgum99]

Japanese consumer: alright!, a new 360!!

*gets it in the house*

Japanese consumer: oh...>.>

[Zerodin]

They were like.
"It is not made my Japanese! It threatens our existence!"
"The Yellow Race is the mellow race!!!"

[Wikkid666]

Ever think there might be shortages like here in the US. MS probably didn't allocate many units because it's not a huge MS market.

[jneul]

x360s boost won't last as long as ps3 slim boost did, oh well never mind...
the world shall return back to normality very soon...

[wissam]

Like they have a steam to begin with.

[Mc187]

As I was unaware that the 360 , in any format , had any steam what so ever in Japan.

[xxLuckyStrike]

on how these fanboys take one little source and run to the bank with it...but if its VG charts reporting favorable numbers for the 360 they scoff and say how inaccurate the data is...

*Double Standard Much....Not to Much.....Much to Much!!

And what do you expect its japan...its not gonna keep selling like ramen noodles over there as they are biased. Nintendo first then after that its anyones guess...lol 1.DS, 2.Wii, 3.PS3rd....lol no escaping that fate Sony fanboys....lmao

[hassi94]

The 360 is hated in Japan. The end.

[JJFNIGHTS80]

It's because the gamers of Japan. only cares for SONY & NINTENDO NOT MS

[rezzah]

XD