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AFP:Japan launch of Microsoft Xbox One a damp squib

sublimit

sublimit

Banned
b644365ca4515131950ec65cfa038199a142bfa8.jpg
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Tokyo (AFP) - The Japanese launch of Microsoft's Xbox One fell flat on Thursday, with journalists covering the debut far outnumbering buyers.

Japan finally got the console more than nine months after it hit shelves in North America, Europe and Australasia and half a year after domestic heavyweight Sony unleashed its PlayStation 4 to grand acclaim.

But the usual enthusiastic crowds that greet big launches in Japan were absent on Thursday morning, with just one buyer at a major electronic retailer in Tokyo.

"I was surprised that I was the first one to get this even though I didn't wait in a queue," said Kazuyuki Wakai, surrounded by half a dozen journalists from Japanese and international media.

Wakai, 30, said he had opted for the Xbox because of its graphics and because of certain titles that are only available on the console, including the "Halo" series.

But Wakai, who also has a number of PlayStations and a Nintendo Wii, admitted the Xbox lags far behind its Japanese rivals in terms of popularity.

"It may be because the bad impression of earlier models still lingers," he said, noting hardware designs and initial technical glitches.

Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are aimed at hard-core gamers, strategies the companies hope will insulate them from the challenge posed by free or cheap smartphone downloads popular among the casual player.

Microsoft says application software development and linguistic challenges are among the reasons behind the long lag in launching the Xbox One in Japan

The company said in April it had shipped more than five million of the consoles globally since it launched in November.

Sony said last month global sales of PlayStation 4 had surged past the 10 million mark in less than a year, a record for the Japanese giant.

Xbox has been trailing badly in Japan. Japanese sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 were 824,000 units in 2013, dwarfing the fewer than 20,000 Xbox 360 consoles, the predecessor to Xbox One, according to estimates by leading game magazine Famitsu.

A Microsoft marketing official told AFP the company expects sales will pick up as more titles are released towards the end of the year.

"We have high expectations as this (machine) is loaded with graphics that will surely satisfy game players," he said.
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http://news.yahoo.com/japan-launch-microsoft-xbox-one-damp-squib-051520478--finance.html
 
A

Asd202

Member
"I was surprised that I was the first one to get this even though I didn't wait in a queue," said Kazuyuki WakaI

Yep I'm sure he was. Well whatever everybody knows this console was there DOA.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Microsoft says application software development and linguistic challenges are among the reasons behind the long lag in launching the Xbox One in Japan
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Maybe you should hire some Japanese employees and make some Japanese games then? It's like they're bizarro Nintendo. "Man, why can't we crack into this market that we refuse to invest in?"
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Regardless of outcome, kudos to MS for launching in a market they pretty much know they will struggle within. At least they are giving the small number of consumer who want an xb1 a chance to get one.
 
DeviantBoi

DeviantBoi

Member
MS should have expected this sort of reaction from the Japanese consumers, so why make a big deal of the launch and hold midnight launches?

It just makes for bad press.
 
S

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
MS isn't even trying this time.

Xbox and especially Xbox 360 really put forth a respectable effort in Japan. I honestly thought they deserved to succeed. Xbox had some awesome Japanese exclusives like Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, Otogi, DoA 3, etc. 360 had a ton of exclusives/times exclusives like Chromehounds, Eternal Sonata, Tales of Vesperia, The Last Remnant, Full Auto, Dead Rising, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Beautiful Katamari, Star Ocean 4 etc.

Can't blame MS for not trying this time. Japanese gamers have proven that they don't give a shit about Xbox regardless how many quality Japanese exclusives it has.
 
C

chrominance

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Maybe you should hire some Japanese employees and make some Japanese games then? It's like they're bizarro Nintendo. "Man, why can't we crack into this market that we refuse to invest in?"
Click to expand...

Did you miss the 360 launch, or does that not count for some reason? Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia, etc., etc.

Or basically what shark sandwich said above me.
 
J

Jea Song

Did the right thing
What did you expect? You kinda gotta give it to Microsoft for trying in a market they know they will fail and fail hard compared to the competition.
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
Jea Song said:
What did you expect? You kinda gotta give it to Microsoft for trying in a market they know they will fail and fail hard compared to the competition.
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I doubt they want to, but if they didn't that 'd be really bad PR for them. (worse than selling like 50 xboxones in japan)
 
F

flkraven

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Maybe you should hire some Japanese employees and make some Japanese games then? It's like they're bizarro Nintendo. "Man, why can't we crack into this market that we refuse to invest in?"
Click to expand...

They have a japanese studio. They had a ton of a exclusives. It's just pissing money away at the point mate. Heck, the console market in Japan in general is twindling. They are just launching here out of obligation, not because they expect anything of it.
 
T

tokkun

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Maybe you should hire some Japanese employees and make some Japanese games then? It's like they're bizarro Nintendo. "Man, why can't we crack into this market that we refuse to invest in?"
Click to expand...

They did invest with the 360. Two exclusives from Sakaguchi, a timed exclusive of the best Tales games, Idolmaster, shmups, visual novels, Earth Defense Force, several Capcom exclusives. And that didn't even get them a foothold.
 
G

GiantBreadbug

Member
"We have high expectations as this (machine) is loaded with graphics that will surely satisfy game players," he said.
Click to expand...

Don't know why this made me laugh so much.

Like, no games necessary just sustain yourself on the console's graphics
 
D

Deadbeat

Banned
Last gen you had Blue Dragon and an actual attempt at getting Japan sales. This gen its just dumping a ladle full of gruel on the floor and telling people to dig in.
 
P

Percy

Banned
Journalists outnumbered the customers. That's insane... even for a Japanese console launch in this day and age :/
 
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