Japan’s initial Xbox Series X/S pre-orders have quickly sold out everywhere

Xbox's next-gen consoles are seemingly off to a positive start in the region.

[yarbie1000]

Xbox Series S was available 24hrs after release in several EU countries while Xbox bragged about record numbers. Until they reveal the numbers, it means nothing.

Amazon shows PS5 selling more than Xbox in every country which means more PS5's were available.

[cell989]

Lol to be fair Amazon sold a bunch of xbox one Xs with the confusing names

[Prem8tuaProcrastin8a]

No they didn't. The sales rating rose, not the sales. The sales rating is traffic, not purchases.

[East76lands]

If both sold out surely it's just a case of stock anyway? If PS had more units to sell than Xbox they'd be top and vice versa. No?

[bouzebbal]

Amazing.. First xbox selling out without a single jap game announced on it..
It's the 5 xbox employees in Japan who ordered the 5 available consoles at launch..
We've seen it before..

[hiawa23]

LOL, but to be fair, the X1X, looks nothing like or sounds like a Series X, but I get what you are saying as many of us were trying to order the Series X on Amazon on the 9/22 pre-order debacle and it kept bringing up the X1X, but that is not on MS. The name is what it is and that is not changing✌.

[Wikkid666]

You should probably look again

[Challengerscatpack]

Accident.

[Blaze929]

This is about Xbox and you're talking about PS5, why?

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Because he’s a troll. What he should be talking about is how Sony is going to screw people over with the Spider-Man upgrade lol...

[morganfell]

Nope. The PS5 is having supply issues. The demands are extremely high and it has taken every most wanted pole. But Microsoft had their supply ready. The PS5 uses a lot of custom components and thus the Xbox is out selling the PS5 by a wide margine on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain, and Best Buy US.

[morganfell]

First if you are not aware I am a PlayStation supporter. I own a X1X but I am not planning on buying again. I had one older game I like and I was, was a huge HALO fan but that's over. But as a PS Fanboy I am not going to sit here and deny what I am seeing. And yes the Bloomberg report was apparently without merit.

Amazon US video games bestsellers September (so far), when both systems initially went on preorder. Updated hourly so if Sony releases more stock this may shift:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/b...

Amazon US video games bestsellers 2020:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/b...

Amazon best sellers EU countries updated hourly:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Be...

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/gp/be...

France: https://www.amazon.fr/gp/be...

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/gp/be...

Best Buy US: https://www.bestbuy.com/sit...

Since the PS5 is leading all trending and winning every pole when it comes to the console people intend to purchase, if it is selling out rapidly and rabidly any time one appears in the wild (I have two inbound) then the only thing you can deduce is that the Xbox stock is far higher. It is possible MS fired every gun they had and bet on every console they could produce and Sony is being more cautious releasing based on weekly manufacturing estimates which is of course far more accurate.

None of this means a great deal as Sony continually releasing in waves could top final holidays stock of anyone else. And these are sales numbers and because stock is tight not a reflection of demand at all. At then end of the day none of this is going to matter until the new year.

[morganfell]

One correction that first link, US September sales is updated daily not hourly.

Here is UK, France, and Germany for the month of September. The PS5 is leading there. This is actually a shift from when I posted yesterday in the three territories.

AND THESE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT MATTER ALONG WITH YEARLY TOTAL RATHER THAN HOURLY ASSESSMENTS LISTED ABOVE:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/be...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp...

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/be...

They are still ahead in the US but if Sony keeps releasing waves that will shift. Sony said there would be plenty of stock so I expect them to over take the Xbox in the US as well.

[Bathyj]

SBox is still available in Australia.

[Sayai jin]

I try, I try, but some people are just pathetic.

[Marquinho]

Don't try do downplay Xbox just because you don't like it.

I was waiting to have better figures because Japan has always been an impossible market for Microsoft, but then it
happened:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

Sold out in few minutes and reached #1 in Amazon Japan... which means there was actually an important number of console over there. That's unbelievable... Microsoft actually has a shot in the country of the rising sun. Of course they won't "win" in that territory but we're talking about a country that historically plain ignored the Xbox. Wow!

[leejohnson222]

Xboxes are widely available in the uk in all major retailers, so why in a region they find hardest overall would they sell out? No exclusive rpg for the Japanese market. Sounds like spin

[CaptainObvious878]

On the Aussie amazon best sellers, the ranking is very very interesting.

PS5 sits at 13th

And the xsx sits all the way down at..... 85th

For a little more context, the PS4 Pro sits at 65th

And PS5 orders stopped before the xsx. so I think we can safely deduce from this that, in Australia at least, Sony's allocation was much much larger than MS's.

Maybe MS just made sure they had a large allocation in the US, so sacrificed other regions.

[jcole97]

relax man

[Cyberdik]

So is n4g a breeding site for Sony fanboys that think there is some war going on? Is there other sites that lean Microsoft? And is Nintendo like the independents?

[darthv72]

xbox is like that little engine that could... it keeps trying to climb the hill that is Mt Fuji.

[porkChop]

I find it interesting that Japan expects the rest of the world to buy their products, but many of them won't buy international products. The only American company I can think of that's had significant penetration of that market is Apple.

[Magatsuhi]

Well Disney is pretty big there too.

[Lexreborn2]

MS isn’t doing a good job of appealing to Japan. Did you see their TGS showcase? Nothing on it screamed “HEY JAPAN, this is for you!” They showed games already announced elsewhere, and nothing that would make Japan feel secure in the device.

Japanese Devs are ALWAYS catering to westerners. But western devs and companies continue to ignore japans interest. Insomniac is the only western studio to make a game that appeals to Japan and it sold amazingly world wide and in Japan.

[darthv72]

MS had some pretty good success with the MSX line of computers. But that was years ago.

[Rimeskeem]

I think it's more the fact Nintendo and Sony were made in Japan. Kind of like how Xbox sells the most in the US. Xbox was also late to the party and consumer loyalty is a large factor.

Sony launched their first phone in 2008 but by that time Apple had already released their iphone along with major fixes.

Japan has also never been the best of friends with the US

[Lexreborn2]

How anyone can disagree with what I said and MS track record in Japan speaks for itself is just sheer fanboyism.

You would have to be under a rock to not acknowledge the poor performance and lack of adaptation MS has had in Japan. At some points it only sold 600 systems in a monthly report.

[zenintude]

Lol look at this person who has never been to Japan... Levi’s, Coca-Cola, McDonalds... lots of American companies doing big business in Japan.

[Sunny_D]

How is the people of Japan expecting the world to buy their products? Lol, you mean Japanese companies? That’s a completely different entity.

[DarXyde]

It's Microsoft. The Xbox simply isn't an appealing product over there. Keep in mind, the people who actually ponied up for an Xbox 360 for Tales of Vesperia didn't take that very well.

Apple, McDonald's, Google, Netflix and Disney are pretty popular in Japan. On the other side of things, Toyota, Honda, Sony, Nintendo, Nikon, Studio ghibli, Asics, Sapporo, Yamaha, Uniball, and 7- Eleven are Japanese brands that are very popular in America.

It's not us. It's not them. It's Microsoft.

[Father__Merrin]

Wrong it's just xbox. American products and pop culture are very popular there

[jukins]

Can tell you've never actually been to Japan.. american products are everywhere in Japan..its not uncommon to see a Harley rolling down the road someone popping a coke or rubbing suntan lotion from suave on their face.

[porkChop]

For the record, I was talking about electronics/devices. Obviously stuff like Disney, Coke, etc., are super popular all around the world. It's my fault though, I should have specified.

[aaronaton]

The Japanese will only buy quality products, they see through all the marketing for what it is.
For instance they will buy German cars over American ones 99% of the time.
The Xbox One sold poorly in Japan (and Germany for instance) because it was a massively inferior product, contrary to what MS lead us to believe at launch.

[darthv72]

@aaron, inferior... yes but 'massively' is a bit of a reach. We are talking XBO vs PS4 not the 2600 vs the PS4.

It had nothing to do with inferior... it had to do with appeal. The games just didnt appeal to the culture. Nintendo switch is inferior to the XBO (and PS4) but it does well due to the appeal of portability (and popularity of Nintendo franchises).

XCloud is something MS hopes appeals to the JP gamer as it gives them portability and access to a plethora of titles not found on the switch. And they can use their own gear instead of buy into something else.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

It has less to do with where the product originates from and everything to do with not understanding what most Japanese people want in such a product. Don't forget, Disney is huge in Japan too, and a great deal many Japanese people love KFC. MS can get the completionists who buy every new piece of tech (who would also be pre-ordering a PS5), as well as those who have a particular fondness for American products, but it just doesn't have much to offer a typical Japanese gamer over what the competition can provide.

[Levii_92]

There you go .. let this be a reminder that this whole preorders selling out crap before next gen consoles actually launch means very little.

[darthv72]

there technically is no reason for pre-orders to sell out. Its not like thats all that is going to be made. So retailers should still be accepting them regardless as there will eventually be stock on hand to fill.

[NotoriousWhiz]

They like the foot traffic from people trying to secure a launch console in store. It's like Black Friday a couple of weeks early.

[Teflon02]

If like PS4, it'll likely be like that ultimately where they'll allow preorders for later shipments closer to release

[CaptainObvious878]

I kinda get what you're saying. Like having a queue system.

Most retail websites probably wouldn't support such a system though.

[aaronaton]

I remember when the XboxOne sold out, and the hype was still around at launch, but then the dust settled and Mr.Reality had his way.

[SinisterKieran]

You know what’s funny, I have no problem finding and S. I got onto Argos and it super easy to find

[MatrixxGT]

Despite the buzz the day one console buyers are more of a “core gamer” crowd and most core day one buyers are not interested in a inferior product. Series S is more for casual crowd that doesn’t care about best power and just want to play with friends, etc.

[Marquinho]

Uhmmm... Need to be very cautious with Japanese number. As I've said before, I believe Xbox has a shot there with xCloud but that's not gonna release until 2021 Q1.

[Teflon02]

Xcloud ain't selling xbox's in Japan. Maybe a used service but the system naw

[JayRyu]

Good for MS

[rlow1]

Compared to the past, this is good news for them. I think the xbox 1 barely moved when it launched. The second shipment will be the real indicater as to how the launch will go.

[littletad]

Yeah much as I want to express excitement over this, pretty sure it's just scalpers.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Looks like the story is about to change for Xbox. Great to finally see this happening.

[Popsicle]

These types of assumptions are invalid without knowing the number of units that were supplied for pre-order.

[Teflon02]

Xbox One X sold out in Japan too I swear. With Xbox they're cautious on amounts so they probably have really low preorder numbers in general

[TheColbertinator]

Expecting at least 10 million Series X consoles sold in Japan by the end of this cycle

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Very optimistic

[talocaca]

It's hard to know without knowing how many units they had available.
I tried just to check and I was able to add to my cart a Series X from Amazon Japan and a Series S from the Microsoft stores.

I didn't actually buy them (already pre-ordered a PS5) but Microsoft is not popular in Japan.

When the PS5 launched....EVERY site crashed immediately. With the Xbox I didn't expect any issues.

Even with Bethesda, they don't have many games that cater to the Japanese market 🤷‍♂️

[BrainSyphoned]

Maybe start by getting Mistwalker out of the phone game biz and get them back to making exclusive JRPGS (Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon) like they did when I was a Xbox fan. They could have been huge already if MS would have flipped loose change their way, instead we got one good phone game, a failed sequel and an empty generation of Xbox.

[Sayai jin]

I Lived in Japan when the Xbox 360 launch. I went to a ToysRUs just outside of Tokyo. I and a few other Americans were there, but then there was a large line wrapping around the corner...probably about 200 people. I was thinking to myself that I didn't think the 360 would sell well. We all waited outside for a few minutes and then the door opened. I went immediately to buy a 360 along with some other people. I was expecting a Black Friday type of dash to get one, but there was not. All of the Japanese people that were camped outside, besides a few, weren't there for a Xbox, but instead some digital pet toy. LOL...

[derektweed1]

LOL, didn't see that twist coming at all.

[Sayai jin]

I truly didn't as I couldn't speak fluent Japanese at thr time. Mlm ost of the people im line were males, age 15 to 40.

[MrNinosan]

Here in Sweden you can order both Series X and Series S.
The PS5 is a no go thou.

[TheCaptainKuchiki]

They probably had like 1000 consoles available for Japan.
They're not dumb. Since the One has always been a massive flop in Japan, they're not gonna ship millions of consoles there. So these preorders selling out means nothing.

[hiawa23]

But how? Why? They don't buy Xboxs. Many of us in America are still trying to get a Series X.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

I doubt MS allocated all that many units for Japan. They know the demand over there won't be nearly as high as it is around here.

[Mister_G]

Good luck MS. Japan likes mobile games and some folks have limited space in their apartments, but good luck :)

[S3ks]

Hopefully Xbox will perform better in Japan than previous gen. Plus MS now own an interesting Japanese game dev (Tango Gameworks) which could make games suiting Japansese gamers.