Japan: 1 Million Xbox 360s Sold in 4yrs, Should Microsoft Give up?

Gamesthirst: With some voicing their concerns publicly and gamers being furious about Microsoft's lack of first party studios, the question must be asked: Should Microsoft abandon their efforts in Japan and focus on the western regions like Europe and North America? Or should the software giant keep waging war on Sony and Nintendo's territory? The recent data we found is depressing to say the least, if Microsoft is in this business to make a profit and not just throw money at problems, then maybe they should consider leaving. Apparently, the Japanese are just not into the Xbox 360, let's have a look at some stats.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

1 million in four years? hahaha

[Major_Tom]

I thought you didn't play the number game?

[Mo0eY]

How is he playing the number game? He's just repeating what the article reads - it is quite sad though, lmao. 1 million Xbox 360s with only 500,000 being playable, and of that, only 30,000 probably play it daily.

Yup, that's quite sad.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

They should pack up and go. You can't sell crap to the Japanese.

[ultimolu]

I see the idiot bots sniped your bubbles as well.

I think MS *should* pull out but then again, they should just stay for the lulz.

[rawd]

Nice try, Major

[AngryTypingGuy]

I think they should keep trying. I'll say it yet again: Japan is a big rock that MS has to keep chipping away at. In time, success will come with persistence.

Three things that MS needs to do right for success in not only Japan, but the rest of the world. 1. Adapt a Sony-like business model. By that I mean keep supporting the 360 long into the next gen. Let people get their true money's worth. 2. And this is probably the most crucial...only release the next console after it has been put through the ringer and is ready for market. MS needs to correct its reputation for hardware quality. I think the next Xbox will be their last chance. 3. Slowly build up first party studios.

If they can do those things, they will find success. Also, they need to be 110% behind Natal when it launches.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

Americans will buy any crap - Hummers, Big Macs, rims, etc.

[infekt]

I hope other nations realise what crappoli of anything MS makes. Looks like European and Japanese quality has totally buried the competition in recent years.

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

Yes. :)

[gamesR4fun]

1. Star Ocean 4 (life-to-date: 208,521)

2. Blue Dragon (life-to-date: 203,740)

3. Tales of Vesperia (life-to-date: 194,714)

4. Last Remnant (life-to-date: 154,493)

5. Lost Odyssey (life-to-date: 40,000)

if theyd spent less on bribes hype n crappy hardware and more on first party games they might still b a contender...

[Immortal Kaim]

This site posts nothing but flamebait drivel...watch it reach the top story like their other "articles".

[kalebgray92]

the 360 has failed and lost a lot of money ..... the correct business thing to do is to pull out

[Ilikegames76]

the people are less gullible.

[Immortal Kaim]

I'm sure the Japanese market is part of Microsoft's business strategy, the costs of penetrating this market must not outweigh the benefits if Microsoft continues its effort to capture the market.

And, yes the last four stories from this "site" have all been created to encourage the sort of fanboy conflicts I'm sure will occur.

[MURKERR]

under the noses of SE (lets be honest SE love big pay offs) to get ff13 to launch in japan with the ps3 unfortunately its completely game over come december 2009.

[evrfighter]

Japan USED to be the benchmark for determining the success of a game or a console.

That tradition has long since shifted to the U.S.

curse those handsome devils.

[LastDance]

haha ... "used" .... your ridiculous statement was void before you even finished it.

[AKNAA]

MS should just call it quits now in Japan before the release of FF13 this dec... It's just gonna be like killing something thats already dead...

[Syronicus]

Oh that's right. They're the ones struggling to keep up with the weekly PS2 sales... I forgot.

[gaffyh]

@1.1 - Damn man, why did LO sell so little?? It is one of the best JRPGs on that list.

[Myst]

Wow kind of surprised at Lost Odyssey, In my opinion it's the best one out of the list you provided. Kind of saddened to hear that :(.

[Keowrath]

Gaffyh agreed! Wow! 40,000 copies sold??? That's really not good. I know a few people who have the game and they really enjoyed it.

Guess 360 owners don't want JRPG's and then you have the PS3 owners who are begging for em. (Square, you really screwed yourself over this generation lol) At least we're starting to see them released now.

Incidently, anyone know how much Fallout3, Oblivion and Mass Effect sold on the 360?

I'm not usually one for counting sales on any console but I'm interested to see the difference in demand of WRPG's and JRPG's on the 360.

[SCThor]

"What's even worst is most of the aforementioned games will soon be available for the PS3 with Tales of Vesperia already out for Sony's console with that version selling over 140,000 copies in the first day and 217,000 in its first week out, totally outstripping the life-to-date sales of the Xbox 360 version."

It clearly shows that some japanese only bought the xbox360 because they neded their "RPG-fix" and didn't got another choice, since Halo, Gears,etc don't appeal to them.

[ultimolu]

Um...yes?

Lol @ the disagrees. Seriously, one million in four years is BAD. The 360 had all these rpgs and couldn't even make a dent in Japan? That's just hilarious.

And v1c1ous, love how you bring up the PSP, a handheld! Lol!

[v1c1ous]

well?

or how about the PSP?

[Face Palm]

And PS3 slim sold 1 million units in M$'s territory in 1 week :)

[ABizzel1]

I had to readdress my statements, because I use to be one of the people who say Yes, and I still agree, but that was from a consumer stand point. However, from a business standpoint any sell is a profit, but I think they shouldn't focus their marketing as much in Japan, seeing how their earlier attempts which were great attempts, failed.

[gamesR4fun]

especially lo

ps list is off the article

I dunno why they sold so little well other than piracy maybe...

[ChrisW]

It is very exciting to see our enemy fail so hard in our allied country, Japan.

We are pleased that Intel states that at Toys R Us, the shelves where the Xbox360s once were, are now filled with the glorious PS3! This transition took place about 2 or 3 months ago with the slow yet absolute extermination of all Xbox360 paraphernalia and propaganda. Thus in turn was a major victory!

However, it is still saddening that war fronts in major retailers like BigCamera have not completely vanquished the enemy. Also counter-intel reports that major electronic districts like Akihabara in Tokyo and OsuKannon in Nagoya still show a certain amount of support for the Xbox360. This however is nothing to be alarmed about. We will prevail!

Hail Fuhrer Kaz Hirai and the Sony Socialist Republic!

[NateNater]

You know if the title mentioned PS3 sales being bad somewhere and someone said Sony needs to give up, this article would have hit 1000 degrees already. But because its xbox, so many people here are PS3 fanboys (including me lol), its ok to put down M$. N4G is just littered with Sony lovers.

But I really do think M$ need to rethink their entire strategy in Japan. Selling 1 mil consoles after 4 years is not a good thing. Especially in a country where gaming is of great importance. They don't necessarily need to stop selling their console there, but instead just provide something that appeals more to Japanese gamers.

[Raoh]

I agree with the low sales of lost odyssey

it is one of the best rpg's this generation..

the low sales to me speaks more in volume of the common xbox gamer..

they are not rpg gamers.. which is why some rpg's sell based on marketing and hype but they are more the halo/call of duty crowd

I know plenty of gamers that are xbox supporters that dont care about final fantasy 13, they never liked final fantasy series and claim to never will, but are happy that it is no longer exclusive in america just cause they hate sony.. but are they excited the get a chance to play ffxiii? nope not at all.

[CaptainKratos]

and they said the 360 was doomed.....

[table]

"Should sony have pulled out the first 2 years of ps3 release?"

PS3 is the 3rd fastest selling console ever...

[ThanatosDMC]

Guess, it's cold in Japan... ::wink wink::

[darthv72]

how many did the original xbox console sell in japan before it was killed off?

[Maddens Raiders]

this belongs on Bad Joystick.

[vhero]

You people are thinking of the smaller picture they lose it in Japan but gain it back in the states its partly why they have stayed on top. Getting those exclusives you can only get from Japanese developers who are not gonna make the games if their is no console for sale in Japan as that would just be stupid. MS don't care about losing to Japan as they are making it back from US and Europe. Their plan was never to beat Nintendo and Sony in Japan it was to get great games from Japanese developers and get a foothold for the future.

[siyrobbo]

I read this as 360 sold 1 million in 4 hrs, i thought, wtf? why? then i relised

lol

[KingME]

Step 1: Check to see who the article was intended for.
Step 2: Check to see if the comments being made are by the people that the article was claimed to be written for.
Step 3: Check to see if said commenters are making negative or positive comments about the subject (Especially if the commenter is not part of the intended audience.)
Step 4: Mark as flamebait and report accordingly.
Step 5: Sigh then move on after noticing that the MODs appear to be fanboys also.

[pixelsword]

...and the whole "ODST outsold Killzone2 in one day" article not flamebait?

That's the problem: either eliminate all sources of flamebait, or accept all. There is no middle ground.

[KingME]

ODST outselling KZ2 in day one "IS" a flamebait article. The point is, why are we continuing to approve this type of crap.

[pixelsword]

I don't think I've approved an article like this before, but I'm not certain, but if I did, I don't think I did so once I realized what a flamebait article was.

[Elaine Benes]

I think MS could care less about Japan.
I think their focus is on the US 90% and EU 10%.

They could give up. And their accounting team wouldnt even notice the loss.
They would just keep stacking the money piles higher and higher, so Daddy Bill, and Uncle Steve can swim in them. :)

You know what guys? I really miss that cartoon, "Duck Tales". What were thier names? Huey, Dewey, and Luey?

[4Sh0w]

It states Lost Odyssey (life-to-date: 104,417) not 40,000= proof some people dont read the articles on n4g.

Why quit, I don't think anybody in their right mind would honestly say they thought micro would win(lead) in Japan at any point. Also the notion that bringing jrpg's to 360 has been some wild spending spree thats holding up dev of other games is silly, who's to say how much those games cost microsoft and would they just have put another 10mil here, 10mil, there, 10mil extra Halo3 advertising with Halo Gatorade, 10mil extra on some launch party etc, etc, microsoft has a huge budget but not paying to bring a few less jrpg's to the 360 doesn't mean it would have went to creating game x.

Also microsoft isn't failing in Japan, they've offered plenty of Japanese centric games with their jrpg offerings, however its obvious Japan is not as receptive to a foreign console as other places and still many see microsoft as the outsider. Thats a tough hill to climb, it takes baby steps, and the fact is 360 while being far behind ps3 and waaay farther behind wii has already done better than its predeccesor. Thats not saying much but IT IS progress, and consistent healthy sales in Japan will take time. Also its worth noting that several of ps3 jrpg's while having big first weeks also had significant drops the latter weeks with many no longer on the charts outside of 3 weeks. Yeah, there are a few ps3 jrpgs that did well but some game like Valkyria Chronicles didn't do much better than 360 games in LTD sales either, what are the LTD sales of Folklore and all the ps3 jrpg's 'cause japan hasn't exactly brought alot of console games this gen anyway. Look at the all the top Japanese dev's willingness to lineup and support Natal, I think in part its because they feel comfortable that microsoft is willing to stick it out in Japan, the type of thinking that says microsoft should "give up" in Japan is very short-sighted when you look at the big picture.

[XxZxX]

give it Dewey, you won't make it.

[tee_bag242]

Quite clearly Microsoft do not understand the Japanese market. Perhaps its the lack of variety in Genre on the 360

[jden28]

SORRY BUT NO, M$ shouldn't give up what the slanted author of this thing fails to mention is that the original xbox sold only 470,000 units in it's 4 yr life in japan. So a 240% increase in sales in BUSINESS is a positive. Now imagine if there next console sells 240% better than the life time sales of the X360 in 4yrs thats over 2.5 million and that my dear fanboyz is what MS is looking forward to.

[The Lazy One]

"this very reliable source" = wikipedia?

That said, no they shouldn't. They already have the product. Their going to keep selling them everywhere else. It would be near idiotic to not have the consoles available in japan.

[Lich120]

From a business stand point, pulling out would be a terrible idea, unless MS doesn't plan on releasing there next console in Japan. If they pulled out now they would be screwing over the people who do enjoy the 360 there. Those people would not purchase the next MS console.

Also, lets keep in mind that Japan's population is about 1/3 the size of the US so the equivalent sales in the US would be if the 360 had sold 3mil to date (based on population size). Obviously this is still not great, but it's no drop in the bucket. Im sure MS wishes they were doing much better but its no reason to pull out since they are still be backed by the US market.

[mebob]

The Japanese expect the best quality for their hard earned money and this is proof of it :D

[milked2themax]

why give up?

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

Because FFXIII is coming in December, that's why.

[Turn 10 Studios]

Natal is the Last Hope for Japan

[MURKERR]

because motion controls ae nothing more than a gimmick which gets tiresome fairly quickly, so what makes you believe a console that barely outsells ps2 by a couple hundred units is suddenly going to ignite by bringing its own version of motion controls three years after the wii?

edit: instead of blindly pressing disagree why not attempt at answering my question? my god n4g is full of immature hardened fanboys where logic hurts them.......its a piece of plastic entertainment, microsoft are not paying you royalties your PAYING them....think about it

[beardpapa]

silly, that was Star Ocean 4.

@ Murkerr, you fail to realize that Microsoft successfully got millions of people paying $42-50 a year to play games online, while also getting to enjoy using Twitter, Facebook, or Netflix only if they pay for Gold subscription. They also successfully managed to get these very same people to watch advertisements in their dashboard - because it's the only correct thing to do, give your customers more advertisements for things they paid for. They also managed to successfully get millions more to adopt the 360 brand despite the RRoD fiasco with their 3 yr warranty plan incentive. They tested and tried selling overpriced accessories, and successfully concluded that people are willing to pay those prices to get the best gaming experience. They successfully advertised a Windows 7 campaign featuring a cute little Asian girl that was intelligent enough at that age, to create a movie or powerpoint slide using impressive & positive comments from review sites such as Cnet. She's definitely a PC. You also fail to realize that Microsoft has successfully managed to get by being a powerful [yet dirty] business company and it's definitely okay for them to do the things they do because... it's simply just business.

/s

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

"bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu- bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu- b u-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-b u -bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu - bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu- b u-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-b u -bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu - bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu- bu-bu-bu-but Kojima said Natal will be a revolution!"

[Pirateogta]

Uhhh... Natal isn't out yet.

[AngryTypingGuy]

You never know man, the Japs may just fall in love with Natal. Probably not, but then again, they appreciate new and alternative gaming experiences over there.

[Masamori Sumimura]

there's no need to give up. As long there's a number of people with the console over there MS have to feed them.

[LCF]

Feed them what? X360 gamers are being starved here too. Look at all the gamers that spent $60 on a sub-HD expansion pack. With the lack of games comes the lack of choice.

[Arnon]

I'm sorry... I wasn't aware that the only games to enjoy on a console are exclusives. Also, though they may not be rated incredibly high, the 360's had and will have a fair amount of exclusives this year.

[danielle007]

Oh RIGHT because the 360 definitely has no games coming out soon. Like Brutal Legend, MW2, LFD2, Assassin's Creed 2, etc. Nope, us 360 gamers have no games to speak of , gosh, we should just sell it for scrap.

Chyeah ohkay, fella.

[LCF]

Those are all multiplat, whats the point of owning a X360? All you really need this gen is a PC/PS3 combo with free online from both platforms. You X360 gamers really do need higher standards...really you do. You take what ever bone microsoft throws at you. Sad.

[danielle007]

PS3 doesn't get L4D2 or Alan Wake or Forza or Mass Effect 2, the new Splinter Cell, or Crackdown 2.

[cheapndirty]

All I need is a pc? Ok Fine. How much do I need to spend to get a good gaming pc? My PC is 4 years and is a single core. It works fine for email and web surfing. I was told 1000.00 to get a decent one. I can even go as high as 5k. My launch 60gb ps3 was 599.00. My 3 year old 360 was 399.00. Sorry guy, its cheaper to get the 360 and ps3 than it is to get a ps3 and a gaming pc. You obviously think that everyone thinks like you.

Hopefully you had 'higher standards' and bought the launch ps3. Not the gimped down verion Sony had to make because the fanboys with mouths bigger than their checkbooks sat on the fence.

[Bumpmapping]

LMAO M$ is a joke hahahaha....omg....im in tears!

[Major_Tom]

No, I think they should just keep running it down into the ground until there's nothing left but stubs.

[i3eyond the Circle]

As long as there are people without Xboxs in Japan MSFT has potential buyers.

Just because they don't sell Xbox's in Japan doesn't mean they aren't making money.

Working slowly in the Japanese market isn't hurting MSFT but if they were to listen to fanboys and stop that would hurt them even more.

While it is selling slow the more people that get it the better the next xbox will do and so forth and so on.

[gamesR4fun]

i jus hope they get the next one right if there's another one in em...

[-DeathWraith-]

Yes

[stonecold1]

natal wont go into japan and be as big what m$ relying on as japan is more to sony and nintendo home m$ having a tough time there like sega were doing with the dreamcast but 1million in 4 years good work for m$

[glennc]

how can you say that about unproven tech? for all we know they may jump all over it. it may be a system seller in japan. the PS3 is the same motion tech as the wii so there is nothing new there... this is new. i'm not saying it will just it is unknown how it will do.

[HarukoHex]

I assume every body here who say they should pull out could afford 1 million 360s, or put them all in there house at once. if not, then there not really failing.

[gamesR4fun]

so what i need 8 trillion ta say the usa should spend less on corporate sponsored wars over other countries resources... heck am i even allowed ta vote?

man u all kinds of duh

[PLAYstar]

The Japanese is asking for technology and reliability, they only ask for the BEST! Sad thing, M$ just can't deliver it during the past 4years. In Japan, the xbox is put inside the toilet. Just so u know, in that million most are either employees who bought it or just some cheap lucky prizes won.

[glennc]

the japanese are asking for japanese not american. reliable or not it would not have sold up against two japanese companies. they were wasting their time from the beginning.

[sunil]

are you Japanese? have you surveyed the Japanese people?

[madpuppy]

with the i-Phone.

[beardpapa]

The japanese like dependable, reliable, respectful, innovative, and technological. Oh and they also like boobies. No. Like isn't strong enough the word. Love. That's better. Not dirty enough? Okay. Crave. They crave boobies. Still not dirty enough? They hunger for boobies.

[SRT4Chris401]

The japanese generally buy into they're own country to save it's economy and jobs, unlike us americans. Plus western gamers are ga ga for the most mediocre fps of all time and it's only on one system think about it. Plus the japanese can't run an shoot in they're games, why do you think we complained about the ancient control scheme for RE5...

[xoxideu]

ms stock just dropped. :)

can't wait until it's .01

[Bathyj]

I dont think they should give up, but in all honesty they would be doing the Japanese gamer a favour if they did.

All those RPG's M$ bought for their system could have been on a console where they might have got some appreciation.

I'm just saying, alot of gamers in Japan might have bought Lost Odessey, Blue Dragon etc etc if they had been on PS3 or Wii. And the devs who let M$ lead them by the nose with their checkbook did themselves no favours either, trading whatever short term benefit for long term loses and ridicule.

Remember, this is an industry whose customers hold a grudge, Square in particular dont have as good a reputation as they once enjoyed, and their XB releases are mostly the reason for it. Backwards momentum takes a big effort or event to not only stop going backwards, but reverse into forward momentum. Luckily for Square FFXIII should do the trick if its good, but if its not you cant bet that grudge will be held for alot longer.

[Godmars290]

Except its very doubtful Blue dragon of lost Odyssey would have ever been made without MS. Its not like they were churning out hit after hit before MS dropped some cash on their doorstep.

Mind you, with high end JRPG cinema heavy, MS didn't then do themselves any favors is sticking with DVDs which were already showing their age.

[psycho360]

Dont know why MS bothered with that country which are so ethnocentric that they will suffer rather than take on something which is produced in the western world. Lets not forget their long time hatered towards the USA for WWII.

You'd think if 360 was a jap product they would treat it the same way with all the jprgs and other region specific games for them.

How many US cars are being sold in Japan for that matter? If USA stops all teh Japan imports where will the cheap junk from Japan go?

[Godmars290]

While the US gets its cheap goods from China, Japan gets their from Korea.

[PLAYstar]

Here's a fact, Japan is ALOT more innovative than USA! End of story..

[sunil]

I was sure someone was going to bring this up...

Its real easy to make statements and blame everyone else for your (in your case 360's) failure (in Japan)

Since you claimed the 360 didn't sell well in Japan because its an American product, can I then claim that the PS3 is lagging behind in the US only because its not an american product?

Stop being stupid...

As for your car example - American cars are well known for their luxury, but not for their reliability. In most countries, except for the US, cars are things people expect to last a lifetime. Without reliability its basically worthless

Another Eg:- In my country ford uses the same steering wheel produced in the US (even though we drive on the other side). How do you expect cars which the manufacturer didnt even bother customizing to suit the region sell well?

[beardpapa]

^ "Since you claimed the 360 didn't sell well in Japan because its an American product, can I then claim that the PS3 is lagging behind in the US only because its not an american product? "

Funny you say that, because from time to time when browsing around in retail stores like BestBuy or Fry's, I occasionally bump into older folks that are purchasing a console for their kid or grandkid. It's difficult not to eavesdrop, especially in public when people just say their minds when it comes to electronics and shopping, but I've heard several times when these consumers would favor the 360 simply because it was an American product. So hey! You never know!

For freedom fries!

[DK_Kithuni_71]

US cars are crap!

[kaveti6616]

IF Microsoft pulls out of Japan, the PS3 fanboys will bash Microsoft for not supporting the one million 360 owners in Japan.

IF Microsoft continues to support the 360 in Japan, the PS3 fanboys will criticize Microsoft for not pulling out of Japan.

Clearly, these morons have gone haywire. They're trapped in a loop of their own ignorant bullshit and they won't even admit it. STFU and play your AWESOME-O AAA titles that you're all bragging so much about. I swear, you fanboys are not even good people, let alone gamers. Some people just try to find meaning in their lives by making fun of other people. They're the most pathetic people in the world, and there's no better place to find them than here.

[PLAYstar]

WOW! You sound like a great person additional with a gamer tag! HA! Some people's head really screwed up when trying to conceal their emotion.

EDIT: below
You don't look like who you claimed to be. If you're not a fanboy, why bring yourself into their war which doesn't even concern you...!? You say fanboy's love spinning, but aren't you here to one trying to spin your way out?

[kaveti6616]

Ya... no. I have a PS3. I love it. Hell, I even prefer it to the Xbox 360. But I'm not a fanboy. I know there is nothing that Microsoft can do to make a Sony fanboy stop bashing it. Nothing at all. Fanboys ain't nothing but spins and sh!t.

[taliesin]

STFU and play your AWESOME-O AAA titles??? Interesting comment but seeing as you state your a PS3 lover yourself in the post above....are they not your AAA titles too?

I fully agree that your comments regarding FB's are true but it is not just the PS3 that is infected with them...the 360 has some of the most rabid fans on the planet (i did not murder him for one) and they post in here just as often as the PS3. Simple answer dont get involved and click ignore on those people that truely wind you up

[kaveti6616]

I'm not buying any games for about a year because I got tickets to pay off and such, so no, they're not my games until I own them. The PS3 fanboys I was referring to are the ones who brag about all the AAA games they have to play, and yet they are here talking about them instead of playing them.

And it's only your opinion that 360 fanboys are worse. They're equally annoying in my opinion.

[taliesin]

its a shame that other issues have occured preventing you from purchasing games at the moment, but thats life i guess good one moment, bites your a** the next :-)

However, at no point in my comment did i ever state that xbox FB's were worse (am not sure how you came to that conclusion but its cool), i agree their all equally as bad as each other and the sooner we can get rid of them the better!

[Rai]

yes but they won't. if they give up on japan some of the japanese developers may give up on them too. If I heard correctly japanese players just aren't that big into the online market and thats the 360s big thing and since they aren't big it makes no sense for them to buy a console that forces them to pay for online, if they do play it'll be once in awhile why not get the ones with free online instead.

[PandemicPrawn0]

I don't believe that Microsoft will give up in Japan.

But I don't think it would be a bad idea for them to refocus their efforts in the US and EU markets. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are smaller markets that are still anyone's for the taking.

Microsoft not long invested quite a bit of money into South Korea game development also.

Is the Japanese market really as important as it once was?

[Sarcasm]

"Is the Japanese market really as important as it once was?"

Considering the PS3 has sold 4 million consoles there. I'd say yes.

If the PS3's world wide numbers didn't include Japan, They would only be around 18million world wide.

But obviously for MS it doesn't hold the same weight. It's 33 million worldwide with Japan, and 32 million worldwide without Japan.

Hence, the reason this article is suggestion for MS to stop worrying about Japan and focuse on their strong regions like NA and EU.

Heck, they've practically already dominated the US, but still haven't completely won over EU.

[bjornbear]

depends on the console / game buddy =)

[kasasensei]

Do not give up Microsoft!
Ps3 users need you to pay for jrpg fake-time-exclusives and beta-test!

Just kidding.

Microsoft need to stay in japan. They need to support and bring new and fresh games to that specific market. It would be a shame if they do the same thing as for the first xbox, like abandon all users to force them to buy the next gaming machine.

[ReBurn]

I like how people throw the word "force" around like if Microsoft made a new console they would hold a gun to 360 owners' heads and threaten to pull the trigger if they didn't buy it.

Nobody's "forced" to buy any game console.

[aaron5829]

I'm serious.

If MS were to make sex dolls... they will be successful... :D

[StrboyM]

No, we need a good laugh every now and then here in america...haha

[hard joe]

and go back to where its loyal followers are

[free3sixty]

how much sold the pos3 in its own country? 3.5 Million? lol.....

[ultimolu]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2nhj...

[spongeboob]

How much English do you know to speak.

DUMBA$$!

[chrisulloa]

32.2 Million Xbox Owners
24.79 Million PS3 Owners

Nuff said.

[napoleon_ist]

.

[Dogswithguns]

Time for the new Xbox360.... Xbox360 2 or something.

[George Sears]

Perseverance. That's what Microsoft needs and is exactly what they are during in Japan. They know the position that they are in but if they show defeat, then they are showing weakness.

[Droid Control]

Seriously M$ - JUST GIVE UP.

Its over, the 360 was stillborn in japan, and nothing you can do is going to change that.

Infact, just go away altogether. You arn't making money in the console space, so just leave.

[psycho360]

Yes sure, being in 3rd place this generation really hurt M$.. Also with a previous community of 120million users did not bother upgrading to BD ray.... oh wait.

[infekt]

Wait for it... waaaaait.. the b!tch-slap is coming psycho360, and youre first in line to get it!

[dredgewalker]

I cant say that MS will give up in Japan, you have to remember a lot of famous game developers and famous games are made in Japan. If they were gonna abandon Japan then those games will be harder to obtain and release in the western market and thus would be giving more edge to their competition.

[maverick1191]

i bet square enix feel gutted now FF is on 360 they know its not going to sell well

[PirateThom]

I think the money they wasted trying to make a name in Japan is the biggest joke.

[FFXI101]

That's second, the biggest one is their system, 360.

[The real killer]

Their biggest fault is that they invent the 360.

[Sonic the Hedgehog]

1. Star Ocean 4 (life-to-date: 208,521)

2. Blue Dragon (life-to-date: 203,740)

3. Tales of Vesperia (life-to-date: 194,714)

4. Last Remnant (life-to-date: 154,493)

5. Lost Odyssey (life-to-date: 40,000)

I'm sensing a pattern here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/...

"Sales of Dreamcast in the United States and Europe have maintained strength and are exceeding our plans..."

[Pillville]

... and then the XBox dies. Later, since there's no XBox, MS agrees to make new games on other systems for their exclusive characters and we're tortured with "Master Cheif and Kratos at the Winter Olympics".

[devilhunterx]

Wonder how many non-Japanese actually bought an XB2 in Japan.

[ReBurn]

I seriously doubt that Microsoft ever really intended to dominate Japan with the 360. Considering that it is an American product and that the PS3 hasn't even sold 4 million there yet it isn't really that bad of a number.

Microsoft will continue to lose money in Japan in order to learn the market and gain trust. After all, this is a marathon and not a sprint.

[gameman]

i will answer microsoft get the F out of this country they don"t need you we don't need your xflop3fixme JUST get out

[DigitalAnalog]

Living here in Hong Kong, I can say that Sony has the advantage knowing the market here. What tends to be popular in Japan also is popular right here such as Monster Hunter, Multi-raid, etc. Most of my PS3 friends here either buys a sports game, card-based battle games or very popular Japanese franchises like Final Fantasy / Biohazard (Resident Evil).

Most who buy the XBox360 has no desire to go online or do cross-game chat and the like and are only interested in Japanese games like Star Ocean 4, The Last Remnant etc, they feel more inclined to "mod" their 360 just to play these "offline" games. Nevermind the warranty, you gotta pay here for shipping and such so to save trouble most retailers offer "jasper" chip installation for a certain price. Point-in-case, I see more Halo/Call of Duty games in the bargain bin pretty quickly. And there are a lot less tolerant gamers who gets RROD and will toss them to the garbage bin on their 2nd or 3rd failure.

The Wii has the highest advantage as it is trendy (among couples) then there's the DS/Dsi because a lot of couples can ad-hoc some cool Japanese games together which is pretty interesting. Don't know if it applies to Japan but as I have mentioned what is trendy over there reflects the trend here. Just a possible insight to those wondering why the 360 doesn't do so well in Japan.

[Ravage27]

and i can concur with what you said, though i think the gamers at my place are more varied in taste. KZ2 and MGS4 sold really well here

[orange-skittle]

I would've kicked them to the curb a long time ago. F*ck Japan! They are no longer the difference makers in a systems success and their taste in games suck. Everything from cross gendered characters to school girls with big boobs and no azz. You can't have RPG's when dealing with them, it has to be JRPG because their taste differs from anyone else. I would sell them a stripped down console w/ garbage titles and stop trying to cater to them. Even the TGS was rated a "C" at best because the show sucked. Just a bunch of asians walking around with back packs and taking pictures.

As posted by a Hong Kong gamer, they only play JRPG's and turn based card games. They have no interest in online gaming, so f-ck 'em. Sell them a stripped down piece of hardware with a bunch of crap games so they can play them in their hole that they call apartment. The streets of Japan are littered with penny arcades and have grown men playing those childish machines as if it were Vegas slots. They are easily amused when the UK and NA require more bang for the buck. The comment about asian developers backing out if MS does...are u that dumb? Those companies want to make money, why would they support a system that isn't selling because they abandoned their home turf. Japanese are interested in money too, so don't get it twisted. Why do you think Capcom, Konami, Namco/Bandai, and Square Enix jumped ship from exclusivity.

[ChrisW]

Oh my god! It's as if you lived in Japan for a year or so and had a less than desirable time! I've been here in Japan for more than 6 years and trust me I STILL laugh at such things all the time!

The first thing that you said that was absolutely true was about, "cross gendered characters to school girls with big boobs and no azz"! Japanese really like transgender looking heroes, Enchanted Arms comes first to mind. I simply, cannot figure out why... Another example, look up Haruna Ai (はるな 愛) on Google.co.jp. NOT A GIRL! And you thought Thailand was bad with its She-Males??? Haruna is on talk shows, game shows, and commercials! He makes me ungodly sick every time I see him (because he's actually CUTE, if he were really a girl!!)

Let me also point out that PINK is in fashion for Japanese men these days! Pink shoes, pink pants, heck I've even seen pink jackets with pink hearts on them!!! Along with guys holding hands and sitting on each other's laps (sickly TRUE), you would think this society has some highly questionable orientations! But... it's their culture, they don't care about such things like us Western Cultures do.

Continuing with games; In addition to the horribly cliché story lines (oh my, a looser or picked on kid who suddenly realizes he has some sort of unnatural powers or discovers an ancient robot, WOW!) The aforementioned is why I stopped playing JRPGs a long time ago.

IMO, Japan is no longer the MUST conquer video game country that it used to be. Reason being, it has not been able to "grow up" with the times! Look at the ElderScrolls and the Fallout RPGs, that's growing up with the times! Japan is still fascinated with giant robots (i.e. a recent movie: 20th Century Boys) and Giant Enemy Crabs!

As for your Vegas comment. It's so damn funny. Class 3 Gambling is illegal in Japan. However, they get around this clause concerning Pachinko and Slot by having you trade your Pachinko-balls and Slot-balls for cards with symbols on them, then you have to go OUTSIDE the establishment and exchange them for money! How ridiculously lame is that!?!

Only horse racing, scratch, and the lotto are legal. But funny, you can find pachinko and slot machines in game centers for kids, though you can't get any money from them. (Yes, they are promoting gambling to minors!)

Anywayz, good rant! I just wanted to add this slightly long comment to give yours validity.

[Arnon]

Thank-You.

Two people that actually understand that Japan is not the defining market in the video game world, anymore.

[psycho360]

ps1/ps2 owners install base = 200+ million
Ps3 in 3 years = 10 percent. Total time required to match install base 30 years

[PirateThom]

Yes, because the PS1 and PS2 sold all 100m in a week from launch... :-/

[ChrisW]

We will prevail!

Hail Fuhrer Kaz Hirai and the Sony Socialist Republic!

[niceboy]

Microsoft won't leave Japan, it would display a weak spot in the giant's armor.

[orange-skittle]

Microsoft does not cater to JRPG's, cross gendered characters, school girls with big boobs and no ass, or penny arcade games. I would abort Operation: Japan Invasion and fallback leaving them a stripped down version that supports their mediocre tastes

[Why Dat]

Where's XDF? That annoying little kid is supposed to be trolling these forums and saying Anti-PS3 crap.

He always touts sales, sales, sales, and look at this particular article. I'm sure he/she/it has plenty of spin on this one.

[ReBurn]

Heh, XDF. No room for them due to the massive amount of SDF tools around here.

[devilhunterx]

psst, there is one right below you.

[Knghtz]

ROFL Devilhunterx.

What's even better is it looks like your avatar is looking right at him. Sorry I messed up your post though. :/

EDIT: On second glance maybe your avatar isn't looking down? I can't really tell, heh

[SuperSaiyan4]

Microsoft have chosen the cheapest route with the 360, i love playing on my 360 but it comes across like a bit of a toy. Whereas my 60gb PS3 even though i dont play on it is shouting 'quality'. Microsoft just wanted to be the first ones out there whereas initially with the 60gb PS3 Sony wanted to do things right even though the GPU was old for the choice they made back then but looking at the games the PS3 is getting like UC2, Heavenly Rain etc its definently showing that the RSX and CELL can seriously produce some awesome looking games.

Also with Sony being a bigger brand in Japan and offering pretty much the latest tech like blu-ray and many gamers being preferable to the PS controller i think Microsofts only way to get a better table in Japan is to invest a lot more money in offering better tech next gen.

[McLuvn]

MS should stop wasting money on JRPGs.
Their user base doesn't buy them, hopefully they learned this last year.
This is a big mistake and they need to learn from it and go forward.
Natal is not the answer, just another mistake.
Be yourself MS,not Nintendo or Sony.
Concentrate on 1st party devs and new IPs.
This is a must.

[bjornbear]

No company should give up. just because its hard, doesn't mean they should quit.

Same for any console. Thats why I hated stupid articles on "PS3 fail?" that where on up to a year ago. Its stupid.

Every company has to get over these obstacles to succeed, and even MS has that right.

[Game13a13y]

cause then we'll have one less thing to laugh at you !! LOL

[tonywood24]

The US traditionally is not into the same games as the East. meaning, our culture is hugh into action, violence, greed, and material things. (Man, I just accept these things, which are not all bad attributes.)

Sony is a well rounded multi media device, which focus on a wide range of capabilities. Movies, music, downloads, Blu Ray, and various genre a games. japan is not huge FPS market, and why MS won't make a quality MMO, or adventure game is beyond me. Sure, they have a fake Grand Turismo in Forza, but leaving platformers behind was costly for them. Halo and Call of Duty were marketed towards the US population. Next time any of you are on Halo 3, LOOK AT THE WORLD WIDE MAP, FOR THE BRIGHTLY LIT SPOTS. MS is making their money in the US, so I'm sure they are very happy ripping us off with Halo and DLC.

[gumgum99]

Wow...

I personally didn't expect any of those numbers to be that low. Even Lost Odyssey..0_0

[tojfrd7931z]

That Microsoft's jRPG initiative failed, is because quite frankly, most of them were BORING... Plus the fact that Japanese are more into the MMORPG type RPG now. Companies like Aeriagames are mopping up the floor in that area. You almost dont need a console any more for that type of game.

[Djinn]

Thats what you get for making a piece of *hit.

[ico92]

if microsoft stays there just gonna lose millions or billions , and japan will just be a financial disaster for them ,if they leave there gonna be flamed by the entire gaming press and community for screwing over the japanese 360 owners ...either way there f*cked.

[Tron_Rocks]

MS has gone out of there way to make the 360 inviting in Japan. They have rejected the system and MS should stop trying to cater to them. Japan does not drive sales nor is it where the money is.

[Isaahc]

Quitting will only make things worse. Just squeeze it till it drop nothing but piss, then you have a reason to quit. Just like the ps2 Sony could stop supporting but it sell, not like it used to before but sony is squeezing it until it dries out completely since consumers still buy it. another example third party devs who still support the ps2 like EA,THQ etc... it makes profit so why not keep games coming on it.

[KINGKON51]

THE JAPONES ARE SO INTELLIGENT, THIS PEOPLE KNOW THE THING THEY NEED TO BUY, THEY ARE NOT LIKE US IN THE USA THAT WE BUY BAD MACHINES LIKE THE XBOX

[firezone]

has only sold over 3 million there...

[betrayed gamer]

so what your saying a foreign console should sell good in a country that is tech based and supports their product over others? msft is doing poor in japan, but they are doing better then their original at least. msft isnt trying to win japan in one go. they are creating a base more or less. look at it like this. last console what were the games from japan released on the xbox? anyone remember cause i dont and i aint in the mood to look it up. this time they have a beeter japanese game choice, and have a better following. id say the next system they release will sell better. i dont think they should pull out cause that would alienate the current fanbase.

[111111]

Wow, 250.000 units a year is ALOT for an exotic niche hardware on the jap market. Congrats.

[ForROME]

I agree I mean you gave it a good shot, you pushed your way in and the results point to a no go, I saw you wrap it up with the xbox 360 until the end of its cycle and pull out next gen altogther of Japan.

US makes up for the difference that Japan doesnt supply and Japan makes up for SONY where they lack in the US

[monkpunk1]

this is fitting

[Xi]

No one expected you to sell 250k so a million is impressive for you.

[firezone]

give up at all

[BladeN4G]

I think selling a million is not so bad considering we dropped a nuclear bomb on them. There is still a lot of tension there for a lot of Japanese people.

[ginsunuva]

Japanese people are smart. They won't buy crap.

[ironmonkey]

they should of given up the first year it failed