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Phil Spencer explains why Japanese games skip Xbox

We know why they skip XBOX. They generally don’t appeal to the VERY finicky demographic and they sell terrible on the XBOX as a result compared to the competition. Been like this for years. Most of the people who buy and support Japanese games have left the Xbox years ago as well. Look up numbers for something like Yakuza: Like a Dragon or RE: Village compared to PlayStation numbers as an example.
 
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If I were Microsoft, I would have partnered with Sega or Matsushita and sold it under their brand. Imagine if Microsoft said to Sega, hey... you're going to own Xbox in Japan and you can create whatever games you want for it and we're going to fund 3rd party games as well.

Sega's biggest problem is they couldn't keep taking Ls on hardware. This would have solved that for them.
I always loved this idea Aswell. Never got why they didnt do it unless there was something stopping them, that I didnt quite understand, just seemed like the perfect route to go. I always smile a little when I see Matsushita as my parents both worked for them.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Makes sense. All the reasons Phil gave are true.

However, I must disagree with Phil's approach. If anything, Phil is training Japanese developers and publishers to skip the Xbox platform and only bring their games to the Xbox platform when Microsoft hands them the Game Pass bag of money.

That is just an extremely unsustainable way of going about it. Eventually, Microsoft will stop giving them money to bring those games to Xbox and Game Pass, and the Japanese games will dry up once again.
 

Moses85

Member
Oh, Phillyboy the wise guy has something to explain.

Pop Corn GIF by WWE


Oh, ok, Phillyboy
Get Out Theatre GIF by Tony Awards
 

Bkdk

Member
Hopefully they would help stellar blade and pragmata, if they really need to cancel some current projects then cut ninja theory off and use those recourses for at least one of them. Or even bring back scalebound, seems like no way these 3 JP games could be worse than what ninja theory is doing.
 

EDMIX

Member
They don’t need to buy studios. Just fund a third party Japanese studio similar to what Sony did with Bloodborne.

Yeah, Scalebound didn’t work. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try again.

nahhh, imho.....it means maybe they need to let this one go.

Getting FF, KH and so many JRPGs literally didn't change shit ,those games are still moving really low numbers to the point of Square just moving on and no longer putting certain titles on XB.

I need you to consider this man

The Xbox leadership back in the 360 days at least fucking tried to open up to the Japanese market by funding epic JRPGs like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon.

^^^

They tried, they literally had the person that created FF making several exclusive titles, they had FF, KH, Persona, the list goes on. If the biggest Japanese IP can't work on XB in terms of JRPGs, I think maybe, just maybe....they should just let this go. They are just paying for ports, that those publishers know damn well are not going to move huge units on XB, so its a plus for them cause MS is funding those ports, but I don't see the point in it if MS isn't funding it.....thus, MS is basically just paying for games to be ported that are not even moving units enough to justify the publisher themselves paying for it to be on XB.

Its kinda like saying you are giving free samples and marketing to get customers, that make sense as first sure......that stops making sense when you are doing nothing but paying for customers to get free food lol MS is basically paying for ports, they are moving low numbers and publishers don't care so long as MS foots the bill.

If generations later this is still resulting in JRPGs doing poorly on XB, I don't know of what IPs they would really need if they couldn't get JRPG fans on board with KH, FF and Persona. Lets get those sales numbers up on those IP, before we start talking about a "Scalebound" folks, holy shit, if the biggest JRPGS can't sell massive units on the platform, what incentive would MS even have to then fund a new IP if the establish ones can't even bring in that install base?
 

Dr. Suchong

Member
Which is utterly ironic as I never had an original Xbox fail on me. Unlike the dog shit original PS1..

Infact, i've still got it.
I had about four ps1's and they were indeed, unreliable hardware.
Lens crapped out in a few, and the spindle in another came loose.
This was mid game. I opened the lid to see what the awful grinding was and my Thps2 disc nearly decapitated me as it scittered out like a Frisbee.
 
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skneogaf

Member
Yet iPhones are the number one used products by far over there. As well as other American products.

Yeah it's strange but I can't believe it's not a factor as so many developers choose not to, it looks like they choose playstation to force that company to do better.

They really don't need to as xbox will never catch up.

PlayStation and steam is so common for japanese releases
 
Xbox needs to make deals because Japanese devs don't see a return on investment on that platform. It doesn't help that Series consoles sell massively less than PS4 in the region. So they wait for Spencer to come with the bag of cash to even bother.
I called him a clown not because of the brand popularity in Japan, but of the disingenuous way he framed it. 'It's primarily the competition's fault'. I would not bother with his comment but this was the second time he has done it in the period of a month (KF interview).
'you don't know more about it than he does if that is what you are getting at...'. What the hell is this now? Appeal to authority? Should we take the word of executives at face value now? And he does know more about it than me. That doesn't mean he is telling the truth or that he doesn't obfuscate things to prop up his brand.
"obfuscate things to prop up his brand" yep that's his job. And he's getting paid millions for it.

None of these CEOs are our friends and I don't understand why people fanboy or fangirlfor them.
 
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Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
I had about four ps1's and they were indeed, unreliable hardware.
Lens crapped out in a few, and the spindle in another came loose.
This was mid game. I opened the lid to see what the awful grinding was and my Thps2 disc nearly decapitated me as it scittered out like a Frisbee.
Same here, I went through a few too. A few mates and me used to play Pes football quite a bit, his old PS1 we ended up having to tilt it at a 38 degree angle on some books, it was a 50/50 shot wether it'd boot, If it did we were granted to some epic sounding russian commentary too during the game, it was a highly hilarious farce. It got to the point of booting it upside down :messenger_tears_of_joy:

We didnt risk opening during play, it probably would have opened a worm hole.
 

Dane

Member
Do people still believe its because of the audience? Because the biggest effort was during the Xbox 360 days and I can definetely get why only few games sold well.
 
"Japanese games skip Xbox because Japanese studios know their games won't sell on Xbox because there are no Japanese Xbox gamers since no one in Japan buys Xbox and Western Xbox gamers don't buy Japanese games"
 
If we check my "Phil Spencer Persona" Chart, this must be Victim Phil

Kumbaya Phil - Let's all play together | Xbox is a service | anti-console war. Peace and love (powered by XBOX) | Let's hold hands and be like Nintendo.
Bad guy Phil - We want to disrupt the market before Amazon or Apple | Xbox is a console | "Sony isn't are focus" | Nintendo needs us (gets a % for online play).
Victim Phil - The Industry is against us | Sony is being mean | Xbox is the outcast | It's Japan's fault | Nintendo never shares with us.
 
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oldergamer

Member
Xbox needs to make deals because Japanese devs don't see a return on investment on that platform. It doesn't help that Series consoles sell massively less than PS4 in the region. So they wait for Spencer to come with the bag of cash to even bother.
I called him a clown not because of the brand popularity in Japan, but of the disingenuous way he framed it. 'It's primarily the competition's fault'. I would not bother with his comment but this was the second time he has done it in the period of a month (KF interview).
'you don't know more about it than he does if that is what you are getting at...'. What the hell is this now? Appeal to authority? Should we take the word of executives at face value now? And he does know more about it than me. That doesn't mean he is telling the truth or that he doesn't obfuscate things to prop up his brand.
Nothing he said was disingenuous. That is total nonsense. Total bullshit.

how many times have you travelled to Japan to speak with studios about supporting a platform not native to that country? Oh right zero? But somehow you know the Japanese market better? Nonsense.
 
man, people really hate Xbox around here, it's like Phil fucked their girlfriends.

Edit: the fact that people reported this joke and I was given a warning is just hilarious.
You were given a warning because K dash hangs out with a robot man with sideburns and a 13 year old girl as his crew.
 

Kumomeme

Member
i disagree people said they tried during Xbox 360 era and it 'failed' so no use to try it now.


this is long term investment. a marathon. be it gonna fail or not is not something that can be measured within short time. it wont properly take foot just within single generation. changing people mindshare not happened overnight especially against rivals that very synonymn in everybody's mind for decades. even Playstation took more than 2 generation to established themself with their exclusives. Nintendo? they carrying their reputation and mascots since atleast 16bit era non stop and those things literaly the one that carried them over when Wii U failed. it is unreasonable to expect someone to take on these competition merely within just 5-7 years. the problem with Microsoft is, they didnt carry the on going momentum from Xbox 360 toward Xbox One then toward current gen. instead of they keep climbing, they stop because the peak is too high and cant reach it fast. they retry at every generation instead of keep 'continue'.

they 'give up' halfway.

imagine if they keep the momentum of outputing exclusive, maintaining japanese interest from Xbox 360 toward Xbox one and other stuff, by current generation even if they still tracking behind Sony and Nintendo, atleast they has better position and better mindshare especially toward non US market. they might not gonna be 'struggling' like how they currently did.





if they keep on going, with their 'warchest', imagine where they could be at next generation or another next. but all this wont happend if they stop halfway and everything is crumbled. to build back from scratch is not easy while their Rival steadly keep climbing higher and solidfying their position over and over. blame them is not the solution. money can buy stuff but time is not something they can buy no matter how billions acquisition they throw around.

another issue is compared to Nintendo and Sony, they didnt has clear align of long term vision. Nintendo and Sony maintain same stuff for decades and generations. but Microsoft? its like they back to drawing board everytime. after Xbox 360 era they suddenly trying to shift focus on 'TV entertainment living room' with Xbox One. then now, they changing it up, focus on bussiness model like their subscription services foremost while proudly claim that they didnt bother with consoles sales. all this affected currently growing up mindshare. the mindshare that favour them during Xbox 360 era might not gonna be same with mindset of mindshare that favour them during Xbox One and then later, Series S/X generation. this could split their audience in long run.
 
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99 is my head canon team: Maxima, Benimaru and Shingo are my crew.
You were given a warning because K dash hangs out with a robot with sideburns, a pretty boy who gives every girl he meets "THE SHOCKER" while saying I LOVE YOU, and a fanboy who learned to name his fighting attacks from Recoome from Dragon Ball Z.
 

RickMasters

Member
The Japanese companies know if Microsoft want their games day 1 they will have to make a deal, god knows what they pay Sega for those Persona and Yakuza games.
I’m glad they do it. As a long time sega fan. Also, given the lack of presence for more recent square games on Xbox, I think this is a good time for them to really partner up with sega and maybe fund some exclusive, persona game or something like that. Actively market persona in the west along side Xbox. Marketing goes a long way when it comes to brand association. Sega could be to MS what square is to Sony. I’d be all for that.

And while they are at it pay treasure, to make a few games for Xbox. And get that Damn Darius collection on Xbox! I want to play in my living room! Maybe give platinum games another shot at an all new IP. Or try take another stab at scalebound…. The concept has potential.
 

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
I got one but the battery died on it or something.
I think they do suffer from a capacitor problem over time as well, it leaks out. Which is a bit of a bummer as I bought one still sealed back when they were selling them off cheap in the dying days of the original..

I've not come across it personally and i've got a few now stuffed in a cupboard. All the batteries are dead though :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Tsaki

Member
"obfuscate things to prop up his brand" yep that's his job. And he's getting paid millions for it.

None of these CEOs are our friends and I don't understand why people fanboy or fangirlfor them.
I know and fair enough. I never said the opposite. And people are free to call them out and clown on them.
 

Tsaki

Member
Nothing he said was disingenuous. That is total nonsense. Total bullshit.

how many times have you travelled to Japan to speak with studios about supporting a platform not native to that country? Oh right zero? But somehow you know the Japanese market better? Nonsense.
You literally said the exact same thing as your previous comment, which I already answered. And again you appeal to authority. You replies are nonsensical and you do not even reply to my arguments. I don't think there is a point discussing with you when you say the same (already answered) things.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
The lack of stores supporting is maybe the first problem to fix

During the 360 era Xbox was big here in Brazil. Lot's of stores having the console, lots of games on sale, showroom, deals everywhere. Now it's here and there, and basically only the big stores has a Xbox stand with the console, controllers and headsets, maybe some games - Microsoft and Sony doesn't manufacture physical games here anymore
 
That's the same damn thing, lol.

Not really, the GamePass condition isn't the primary objective of the marketing deal. The objective is an association of the 3rd party game with the PS brand.

These deals predate GamePass, and you can bet your ass MS's marketing deals contain the same stipulations about PSN+ Extra/Premium.

This is the gaming business. If it offends you, you probably need to mature and understand that these gaming platforms are businesses that will do whatever they need to do to protect their business interests and you should expect them to.
 
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