Writing on the wall?

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 7:47 am

Probably not, at least not for the Xbox in general, but it looks like Microsoft is giving up with Japan. I found the following on Slashdot:

Thanks to GamePro for posting an article discussing the fact that Microsoft may try to keep the Xbox alive in Japan by flooding the market in less territory-suitable, but already in-development Western titles such as Conker, Voodoo Vince, and Counter-Strike. According to the article, a Japanese retail chain "..claims that Microsoft is planning to release overseas titles in Japan without bothering to localize them for the local marketin other words, they'll release the original English version with a Japanese manual attached." The article suggests this is a sign that Microsoft may forget about the mass-market in Japan, and will be "..dropping its large-scale strategy [until Xbox 2], and concentrating on the 400,000 or so hardcore fans it's managed to scrape together over the past 16 months."

In other words, they just don't care. And this hot on the heels of Microsoft laying off a good number of its Japanese workforce rather disrespectfully. I wouldn't be surprised if the Xbox eventually becomes a US-only system. After all, they're only losing money in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Jack Burton · Post by **Jack Burton** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:17 am

Well, if your japanese division made kakuto chojin, arguably the worst fighting game ever made (minus kabuki warriors which is also on xbox) I think i'd lay them off too...

But, yeah...they are going to try to advertise some more western titles, even though the xbox already has the target on its back in japan, mainly because japanese gamers are somewhat biased/racist towards american-made products. If anyone else had made the xbox, it would have gone over like gangbusters over there. Mark my words....gangbusters.

I'm sure that halo 2 and counter-strike won't hurt things at all...neither will DOA online or Ninja Gaiden.

-Jack

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:53 pm

Jack Burton wrote:Well, if your japanese personanese division made kakuto chojin, arguably the worst fighting game ever made (minus kabuki warriors which is also on xbox) I think i'd lay them off too...

LOL Good call. I would to, if they were responsible. <shudder>

Yeah, the reason I think why Xbox will probably survive in Japan, although just barely, is due to games like the ones you mentioned and True Fantasy Online. I wouldn't count on Halo2 or Counterstrike to save it overseas, though; Japanese gamers don't seem to be very big on FPSs. When's the last time you saw an FPS from Japan? (GoldenEye was US first, right?)

Post by **BreakmanX** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 1:26 am

GoldenEye was from Rare. Which is British.

RurouniQ · Post by **RurouniQ** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 10:59 am

Ahh, I knew it was an english-speaking country. And God knows, they speak english better than we do. We don't even speak english anymore, we speak american!

Realm · Post by **Realm** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 2:42 pm

ha, nothing wrong with speaking american. brits drive on the wrong side of the road, so it evens out.

Evilmagicpirate · Post by **Evilmagicpirate** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 6:27 pm

Actaully, Americans drive on the wrong side of the road. The rest of world drives on the same side as the Britts.
Also, America uses a non-universal paper & envelope size - which does Hell for printer compatability when you move to another country and try to buy paper... and then all the kids at school make fun of you becasue your paper is smaller than theirs.
And there are other things where the US just made-up your own standard that is totally different what everybody else uses..

Zukin · Post by **Zukin** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 6:36 pm

On a related note, isn't the Xbox doing fairly well in Europe? Wouldn't Microsoft be more focused on becoming even more successful there, since it's an entire continent with a much larger population than Japan? Unfortunately, the Xbox is also missing out on the potential for a lot of new & creative titles since it seems to not be as popular with Japanese citizens and subsequently, Japanese developers.