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Microsoft to skip Tokyo Game Show 2015

Takao

Banned
I wonder how much idolmaster sold on the xbox back when it was exclusive to the console (since i'm sure that game outsold ToV, BD, any other japanese made game besides FF and maybe monster hunter G(whatever the online game is) Cant really see what they'd show at TGS that would wow people.

The best selling Idolmaster on 360 did <80k and ranks as the 18th best selling game on the platform. Blue Dragon (203k), Tales of Vesperia (204k), Star Ocean IV (208k), Ace Combat 6 (244k) and pretty much every semi-notable Japanese exclusive 360 game sold more than that.

Not really, because who will really go to that?

The Japanese games press. Microsoft has hosted similar events in the past.
 

Heartfyre

Member
It doesn't really work that way. In general, companies have games shown at events, even if they're already announced/exhibited in other events already. I mean, I can safely say that Youkai Watch and MHX will be the among the biggest games at TGS 2015 this year, and both are already announced/shown earlier this year.

Yet besides Scalebound, MS don't have any other Japanese games to show. At first I thought Recore since Inafune was on-board, but if it's from "the creators of Metroid Prime", I guess that's more of a Western game than not. Of course they could exhibit Scalebound, but there wouldn't be any new information from Gamescom since there's only a month between. And it would be the only Japanese game surrounded by Halo and Gears Ultimate, which is the kind of exhibition in Japan they may as well avoid.
 
Yet besides Scalebound, MS don't have any other Japanese games to show. At first I thought Recore since Inafune was on-board, but if it's from "the creators of Metroid Prime", I guess that's more of a Western game than not. Of course they could exhibit Scalebound, but there wouldn't be any new information from Gamescom since there's only a month between. And it would be the only Japanese game surrounded by Halo and Gears Ultimate, which is the kind of exhibition in Japan they may as well avoid.

I'm guessing that MS feels that it's not worth investing into? Part of the reason to have booths at TGS is for the core gamers, aka those people who attend game shows to get to play your games. That, and well, the usual big company has big presence at big events are almost taken for granted.

I mean, if all they want is Japanese press coverage of their games, they could easily host a small press-only event for journalist to come over and play their games. No need for big TGS floor space.
 

safichan

Banned
Well when TGS for Microsoft would go something like this..

GlJMD0C.jpg

If Atari awake from death, it still can manage to do better than this...
 
53,122 Japanese Xbone owners all cried out in unison "&#12354;&#12394;&#12383;&#12399;&#20309;&#12363;&#35328;&#12356;&#12414;&#12375;&#12383;&#12363;".
 

MisterR

Member
I wouldn't interpret that as meaning they're going to host their own event at all. "...we’re making various preparations to deliver the latest Xbox news to fans and media" sounds much more like "We'll write some posts on the newly-opened Xbox Japan blog to cover the event."

Considering Scalebound is being shown at Gamescom, they don't have much to exhibit to the Japanese audience anyway.

Yep. MS sure as hell isn't going to do their own event in Japan. They sell less than 200 Xbones a week. Sounds like some blog posts to me.
 

Biker19

Banned
Honestly don't know how anyone can buy that comment. Its more likely they're just (finally) admitting its a lost cause and its a bunch of fluff to save some face.

This. They're backing out of it because they know that they don't have anything for Japanese gamers.
 
This part's important:


I had noticed this through the exhibitors list before:

It stood out because they've attended the ones in recent years. An event of their own would explain it.

This seems highly unlikely. They can't possibly think they're going to move the needle at this point.

I agree. What would they show that would appeal to the Japanese audience? I doubt they'll care about Gears, Halo or Quantum Theory. Maybe Scalebound a bit, but that's mainly because it's from a Japanese developer. Do they have any other games in development in Japan? And no, Recore doesn't count. Their own event as opposed to being at TGS just seems like a phenomenal waste of resources; especially when they're struggling to keep their head above water in every territory aside from NA and the UK.
 
At this point, they should Vita it. Fund a bunch of low budget otaku games that they'd never release here. The horrible things they could do with the Kinect (rebranded the "Kiss Kiss Cam" or something cringeworthy)...

This is the company that published a game for the original Xbox called "Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment", about teaching a shapely robot girl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM55Onccj5I
 
Why is Microsoft so adamant about not totally dropping Japan?
They do sell basically nothing over there and must make not only zero profit but only losses.

Why stay there at all?
 

Somnia

Member
I'm pretty sure they know what's up and understand it's a lost cause. Phil didn't out right say it, but he pretty much admitted Japan is a lost cause on that IGN special Ryan did.

Their focus is going to be taking back America and gaining more market share in Europe, but I think even they know they can't win in Europe, just increase their market share some.
 

Oriel

Member
Well.....not really that surprising. Xbone in Japan was dead on arrival. It would make more sense to close down Xbox Japan and get some third party distributor to handle the console in the territory and focus on other potentially lucrative growth areas in the Asia-Pacific region.
 

Patryn

Member
Japan as a territory is fast becoming irrelevant in terms of home consoles, so there's no reason MS should waste money trying to appeal to them.

It's a totally different market than when Microsoft first launched the original XBox. The 360 showed they can thrive and succeed without Japan.

As long as they stay competitive, the Japanese third-parties will still come to them, because they'll need to reach the Western gamers if they want to still make console games (for the most part).
 

Three

Member
Why is Microsoft so adamant about not totally dropping Japan?
They do sell basically nothing over there and must make not only zero profit but only losses.

Why stay there at all?

I suspect it's more to do with trying to get Japanese games ported to their console but it isn't working out all that well for them. They want support from publishers there more than sales I assume.
 
While this isn't a good idea, I think, the importance of the Tokyo game show is dwindling over the years.
TGS has been better in the past two years then in previous years. It will likely be even better this year then it has been any year during last gen. Sony's own IP jRPG, Level 5 jRPG and Dragon Quest XI all likely to be shown, among who knows what else. Whether that does anything to that sinking console market, I don't know. Just that your comment is incorrect.

In regards to MS, I have said this for a few years but you can't blame them. They did try, it's just too hard. They hurt the market there last gen with games being exclusives but not selling well.
 
I suspect it's more to do with trying to get Japanese games ported to their console but it isn't working out all that well for them. They want support from publishers there more than sales I assume.
Aha, now that is an interesting theory. I mean, Japanese games do sell outside of Japan but it could be weird to some Japanese devs to make games which are not available in their home country (on that platform at least).
Not sure if MS couldn't honeypot them just by visiting and keeping good relations from the outside without having Xbox there though.
 

Tain

Member
While at my most optimistic I hope for MS to be thirsty enough to help fund some STGs, at this point I just want Raiden V.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Mattrick nearly killed the Xbox brand entirely. It's a miracle that they're only losing out 2:1 to PS4.
Based Phil Spencer
Heh, seriously, Phil has done a remarkable job turning this around. I am not envious of the job he was tasked with. Mattrick could not possibly have fucked up more.
 
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