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New, cheaper Xbox 360 model coming to Japan
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The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 4 February, 2008
Microsoft has announced that beginning on March 6th it will begin selling a cheaper Xbox 360 model in Japan.
The new model will have identical specifications to the Xbox 360 Arcade model which was released in the US late last year. It will include an HDMI output, a wireless controller, and a 256MB memory card instead of a HDD.
Microsoft says the new model will retail for JPY 27,800, ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
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xXxBG
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4. February 2008 @ 16:32 |
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WOW, like that will make a differance!!
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Senior Member
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4. February 2008 @ 16:37 |
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Not sure if anyone here is from Japan, but if so, maybe you can shed some light. What is the main reason that the XBox doesn't sell in Japan? Is it price? Lack of Japanese games? People there simply don't like Microsoft?
I'm guessing the issue isn't price, but I could be wrong. However, if I am right, then this drop in price won't really make a difference.
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MrXenu
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4. February 2008 @ 17:16 |
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Its cheaper than the ps3 out their, i'm gonan guess brand loyalty, the fact that the japanesse will generally only buy products which their own country make, not being stereotypical here, but its true, japanese peopel are very 'loyal' to their own country!
Also its not as if the ps3 has had many japanese games out on it, i think their are more 360 japanese games then there are ps3 japanese games. 360 has a lot more RPG's, that are good and has a few goof JRPG's (Blue Dragon)
Just my 2 pence!
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AfterDawn Addict
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4. February 2008 @ 17:23 |
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Originally posted by silk42:
Not sure if anyone here is from Japan, but if so, maybe you can shed some light. What is the main reason that the XBox doesn't sell in Japan? Is it price? Lack of Japanese games? People there simply don't like Microsoft?
I'm guessing the issue isn't price, but I could be wrong. However, if I am right, then this drop in price won't really make a difference.
2 reasons brand lotilty and lack of JP fan fav genres likw RPGs and such,MS should drop the whole Anti AO gimmick and let devs make hentai and PG13-R rated romance sims get them out in both markets in one pressing, let devs put mroe spice into gaming cause the gamepaly is dead and rotting.....
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4. February 2008 @ 21:03 |
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Originally posted by MrXenu:
...the fact that the japanesse will generally only buy products which their own country make, not being stereotypical here, but its true, japanese peopel are very 'loyal' to their own country...
this is the reason i've always seen for the lack of 360 sales in japan. there's no way it's game selection, because 360 had an entire year's worth of releases before ps3 even hit the market; loyalty to domestic-made products just makes sense.
unlike here in the us with japanese-made games and even -shudders- japanese cars, the market for such american-branded products is just about worthless in japan. from what i've heard, it's their import fees on cars that make it all but impossible for ford or gm and the like to sell anything over there. that's obviously not the only reason if 360 sells for the same price over there.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4. February 2008 @ 21:03
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AfterDawn Addict
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4. February 2008 @ 22:55 |
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Quote:
Originally posted by MrXenu:
...the fact that the japanesse will generally only buy products which their own country make, not being stereotypical here, but its true, japanese peopel are very 'loyal' to their own country...
this is the reason i've always seen for the lack of 360 sales in japan. there's no way it's game selection, because 360 had an entire year's worth of releases before ps3 even hit the market; loyalty to domestic-made products just makes sense.
unlike here in the us with japanese-made games and even -shudders- japanese cars, the market for such american-branded products is just about worthless in japan. from what i've heard, it's their import fees on cars that make it all but impossible for ford or gm and the like to sell anything over there. that's obviously not the only reason if 360 sells for the same price over there.
dude...its game selection...... they like a different genre type than the mainstream shooters and US style RPGs and "games" in general on the 360.
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5. February 2008 @ 02:31 |
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Yeah. Its the game.
Galgé is very popular in japan.
Hentai is not a must, many visualnovel like CLANNAD success is pc.
Utawarerumono on ps2, air on ps2 and many more.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. February 2008 @ 02:46 |
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Originally posted by jutsu:
Yeah. Its the game.
Galgé is very popular in japan.
Hentai is not a must, many visualnovel like CLANNAD success is pc.
Utawarerumono on ps2, air on ps2 and many more.
Well my AO rant goes a bit deeper,look at sega back in the day before the ESRB they took a more active interest in the content in their games where ninteniod just said no, I really think MS could change the face of gaming by letting AO games be made on the 360, however they will need a board to approve the games before its passed on to the ESRB.
I can see the 360 growing in mature content and expanding is game base with it, the only other alternative is to "setup shop" in JP ,spend 2-5B and create a development house that dose not create games but translates and launches titles in 3-5 languages at once, screw the local dominator that business plan falls on its face more often than not and a lot of games go unpublished in a lot of areas, what MS can do and has the money to do it with is build a dev house that dose not make games but ports and translates them,from thier they can make deals with JP devs saying their games will be released in JP for 30-40$ wile in the US and euro land,ect,ect they will be 10-20$ more in the US.
Doing this and doing it soon will double or tripple the 360s library and they can even have a PS2 devs come to them and say we have these games ported to the 360, also you can have devs take preorders for a project port, if they meet the basic reqs the game will get ported if not those that made the preorder would get 80-90% refunded back theres a lot of untaped profits in this plan, but it will cost arm and a leg to get it started.
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5. February 2008 @ 05:38 |
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This is a pretty pointless move as price has never been a determining factor in the Japanese market. The problems the 360 has in Japan can be summed up as:
- lack of games oriented to the market (aside from Ace Combat 6, Blue Dragon and Lost Oddessey, there aren't much exclusive games aimed at Japanese gamers on the console)
- lack of brand recognition. The 360 isn't profiling itself the way Nintendo and Sony are in Japan.
- poor customer support: they need to increase customer support (waiting times, overall service quality, etc)
- RROD is a huge problem, regardless of the extended warranty.
Basically, Japanese consumers value brand recognition and quality over price. An overpriced leather Gucci bag will sell more than a nameless bag made of poor quality fabric. Same goes for consoles. Ms really shows they don't understand the Japanese consumer in that regard.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. February 2008 @ 05:45 |
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Originally posted by kyo28:
This is a pretty pointless move as price has never been a determining factor in the Japanese market. The problems the 360 has in Japan can be summed up as:
- lack of games oriented to the market (aside from Ace Combat 6, Blue Dragon and Lost Oddessey, there aren't much exclusive games aimed at Japanese gamers on the console)
- lack of brand recognition. The 360 isn't profiling itself the way Nintendo and Sony are in Japan.
- poor customer support: they need to increase customer support (waiting times, overall service quality, etc)
- RROD is a huge problem, regardless of the extended warranty.
Basically, Japanese consumers value brand recognition and quality over price. An overpriced leather Gucci bag will sell more than a nameless bag made of poor quality fabric. Same goes for consoles. Ms really shows they don't understand the Japanese consumer in that regard.
This is true, in order to start a dev house to make it cheap for devs to sell their games on the 360 as well as create a PR system in JP they are going to have to fight there spending millions if not billoins to make ail headway, they have never seemed interested to do this since they keep using the its shiny it will sale RP spew for their games...which seem to work fine for the US and euro land..a lot of zombie gamers with disposalable income to drool over shiny....
Sure sony messed up on price..the launch...BWC..... but in a year or 2 it will dominate the high end console market while the WII maintains pwnage over all, they still have the devs and the 360 is not getting any younger....
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5. February 2008 @ 06:19 |
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Originally posted by :
dude...its game selection...... they like a different genre type than the mainstream shooters and US style RPGs and "games" in general on the 360.
i just can't see it that way. i don't see how their problem could be game selection, when 360 has a larger and more varied library of games. i really don't know anything about japanese taste in games, but i don't like mainstream shooters (usually...cod4 is great) or basically any type of rpg. game selection isn't the reason i'd avoid 360, the main problem i have is their last-gen-style online support (paid online play and no wifi.)
i just know that japanese pop culture (and story/writing in games) is basically a fawning tribute to american culture (to me.) i guess that doesn't mean they loved red dead revolver or the gta series or anything else for that matter.
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Gnawnivek
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5. February 2008 @ 09:48 |
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Why MS bother to pump more X360s into Japan with a 1/5 reduced price? It might sell some, but it's a losing battle, everyone knows it...
Here are some reasons i think why the X360 is not doing well in Japan:
1. RRoD, big turn off... Please fix that MS... With the new chip, the failure rate is now around 10% (big improvement from 30%)
2. Live subscription fees
3. FPS games don't do well in Japan (motion sickness)
I'm leaving out brand loyalty (too flaming)... personally, i don't think it matters, it all comes down to what i'm buying and what it offers (i.e. what's in it for me?).
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Senior Member
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5. February 2008 @ 10:42 |
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It definitely sounds like price isn't the issue for the 360 not selling. I guess if MS isn't totally convinced of this, they can have a weekend special (maybe during a Japanese Holiday) and offer the 360 for $99 and see how many they sell. If they're able to move a 100,000 units, which would be impressive considering they only sold 300,000 all of last year, then maybe they can conclude that price does matter. If sales don't spike significantly, then maybe they'll finally realize that they have to look at other areas to improve on.
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BludRayne
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5. February 2008 @ 13:30 |
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I would love more spice in U.S. games. I welcome the AO rating, too bad Walmart will never sells those.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. February 2008 @ 14:02 |
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Quote:
Originally posted by :
dude...its game selection...... they like a different genre type than the mainstream shooters and US style RPGs and "games" in general on the 360.
i just can't see it that way. i don't see how their problem could be game selection, when 360 has a larger and more varied library of games. i really don't know anything about japanese taste in games, but i don't like mainstream shooters (usually...cod4 is great) or basically any type of rpg. game selection isn't the reason i'd avoid 360, the main problem i have is their last-gen-style online support (paid online play and no wifi.)
i just know that japanese pop culture (and story/writing in games) is basically a fawning tribute to american culture (to me.) i guess that doesn't mean they loved red dead revolver or the gta series or anything else for that matter.
its rather easy ignore price and graphics and look at the PS2 game selection, now select all the game types that do not easily come out in the US or the 360and you have the reason why the 360 is a 3rd wheel.
By the time you add up games and brand loyalty(the US likes its US made goods so whats the problem with it?), the 360s hardware issues the extra monthly fee for live it just all adds up, hell looking at whats avabile for the 360 I can't even jump into it at current prices because it dosent have the stuff I want to play.
BludRayne
the 360 has the same issues the Xbox did a lack of vairaty in games and MS is unwilling to do something about it.
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ikari
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5. February 2008 @ 15:05 |
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So does that mean they are going to lower the price everywhere else too?
While I going to guess they aren't (right now at least), it show that they are really trying to get the numbers up in Japan. As mentioned in other posts, MS doesn't understand Japanese consumer practices.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. February 2008 @ 15:09 |
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Originally posted by ikari:
So does that mean they are going to lower the price everywhere else too?
While I going to guess they aren't (right now at least), it show that they are really trying to get the numbers up in Japan. As mentioned in other posts, MS doesn't understand Japanese consumer practices.
I would say the current strategy is to lower price in JP because thats the main market most of the console makers focus on, the US will get price drops next.
I foresee the 360 dropping to 200-250 for the premium unit in a year.
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5. February 2008 @ 16:56 |
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Originally posted by BludRayne:
I would love more spice in U.S. games. I welcome the AO rating, too bad Walmart will never sells those.
that's the very reason no one makes ao rated games. walmart and, i believe, target are the two largest retailers of video games. they sell more than anyone, so if they won't sell it then no one will make it.
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
...MS should drop the whole Anti AO gimmick and let devs make hentai and PG13-R rated romance sims get them out in both markets in one pressing, let devs put mroe spice into gaming cause the gamepaly is dead and rotting.....
that would probably work, and i completely agree it would put some new kicks into dying gameplay.
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AfterDawn Addict
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5. February 2008 @ 17:18 |
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Quote:
Originally posted by BludRayne:
I would love more spice in U.S. games. I welcome the AO rating, too bad Walmart will never sells those.
that's the very reason no one makes ao rated games. walmart and, i believe, target are the two largest retailers of video games. they sell more than anyone, so if they won't sell it then no one will make it.
Originally posted by ZippyDSM:
...MS should drop the whole Anti AO gimmick and let devs make hentai and PG13-R rated romance sims get them out in both markets in one pressing, let devs put mroe spice into gaming cause the gamepaly is dead and rotting.....
that would probably work, and i completely agree it would put some new kicks into dying gameplay.
It is only part of the picture, Wallmart and stores like it are in the mature media misconspection haze, they sale without restriction R rated and NC17(unrated) DVDs yet frown on music and games, however that haze expands into the family friendly bizaro world of we know most gamers are adults but we don;t want to lose sales from anal retentive parents thus we put in place these bizaro bans on the approval of AO titles.
Is not that AO is baned by retail some stores wont sale them some will the problem is the console makers will not let the market deal with the issue in a realistic way they instead ban it, one needs approval to release a game on a console thus censoring the marketplace.
Wallyworld is delaying carding for all media because if they have to they would loss some of their bottom line
to it and as the old zippy saying goes the 800LB gorilla butt needs to lose a couple ounces to better sit on the consumer....
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theschaft
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8. February 2008 @ 08:50 |
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I believe MS is trying to expand to other countries through selling a cheaper system. Apparently and most definately, Japan favors Sony over Microsoft. The Wii sells good everywhere, where as the 360 is a more dominant system in the U.S., the PS3 is more popular in Japan. How much do PS3s sell for in Japan?
A big factor cannot be the game types. How could it be the game types if PS3 has only come out with a backwards compatible system now. The PS3 was way too expensive. Yes it has blu-ray, yes it does have better graphic capabilities than any other system, but does it really have any good games out for it that aren't also out for the 360? Maybe two. My guess is that Japan just doesn't like the idea of Microsoft. They will support their companies over the companies of the U.S. Would the Japanese really put Sony out of business by supporting Microsoft?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8. February 2008 @ 08:59
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Gnawnivek
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8. February 2008 @ 09:24 |
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Originally posted by theschaft:
I believe MS is trying to expand to other countries through selling a cheaper system. Apparently and most definately, Japan favors Sony over Microsoft. The Wii sells good everywhere, where as the 360 is a more dominant system in the U.S., the PS3 is more popular in Japan. How much do PS3s sell for in Japan?
A big factor cannot be the game types. How could it be the game types if PS3 has only come out with a backwards compatible system now. The PS3 was way too expensive. Yes it has blu-ray, yes it does have better graphic capabilities than any other system, but does it really have any good games out for it that aren't also out for the 360? Maybe two. My guess is that Japan just doesn't like the idea of Microsoft. They will support their companies over the companies of the U.S. Would the Japanese really put Sony out of business by supporting Microsoft?
For the record, you can't really compare the PS3's game library with the X360's, because the X360 has been out much longer than the PS3. MS's rush to get the X360 out before the PS3 was a big risk, but it worked for MS (not only made money, but established a much larger fan base). The PS3 is not doing all that bad and this year is the year of the PS3. Big titles like MGS4 (June), FFXIII (Fall), R2:UWS (Fall), LBP (Fall) will certainly make some noise... Also, a number of ports will be ported to the PS3 (e.g. Lost Planet). As to on-line, PS3's free on-line service will be on par with XLive when Home is released. There are also rumors that the PS3 will hit the $300 USD mark this summer (or November holiday season).
Lastly, even if Japanese gamers support the X360, it will not put Sony out of business. It certainly will cripple Sony's game division, but far far away from out of business...
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theschaft
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8. February 2008 @ 09:44 |
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How is this year the year for PS3. People say a lot about certain games but most of it is hype. I guess we will see. Do you remember Kill Zone, the Halo killer? So much for that. What do you mean larger fan base? People who wanted it and could afford it got one. It would be a good thing for PS3 to drop in price. Maybe then more people will be able to purchase one. That could save blu-ray, but from what I know, HD DVD is where things are going.
Cripple is the right word for what I was trying to say. Of course it wouldn't put Sony out of business. People still purchase PS3s. They have many products other than gaming consoles so support their companies income.
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AfterDawn Addict
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8. February 2008 @ 09:48 |
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360 has no chance in beating ether nin or sony in Jp they simply do not have the game types for it and are unwilling to go out of their way get the devs to do it.
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theschaft
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8. February 2008 @ 09:52 |
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You are just a hater of XBox. What do you mean the game types? They don't need to go out of their way. Microsoft is already on top. Attempting to stay there is not a bad idea.
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AfterDawn Addict
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8. February 2008 @ 10:04 |
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Originally posted by theschaft:
You are just a hater of XBox. What do you mean the game types? They don't need to go out of their way. Microsoft is already on top. Attempting to stay there is not a bad idea.
Its just fact....how long has the 360 been out how long have they been keeping the price lower than the US and how poorly has it sold, the system is not gear twored JP gamers much like how poorly the Xbox did in JP.
And with the fail rates,poor hardware and half of the better titles being on PC who needs a 360...or PS3 for that matter both are bloated POS's that are using 110 year old tech to do games on, I don't care about graphics and physics suck if the game dose and gameplay for most games is like hollywoods dialog/scripting IT SUCKS for the price.
Despite me being a game nazi fact is fact the 360 dose not have the JP games JP likes nor the genre types thats why its always failed to lead the JP market.
And you being such a 360fanboy you seem to fail to read when I say they COULD lead JP if they make a focused effort and go out of thier way to do it.(willing to setup a dev house that will let devs cheaply port and translate games so they can be launched in 3+ markets at once).
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