Xbox360 Launches with free game in Japan

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ps2xboxcube

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This really ticks me off. They get the Premium version with Hardrive and Free playable online FFXI all for $350 dollars US. With free xboxlive and no additional FFXI monthly fee during the Beta Test.

X B O X 3 6 0
Microsoft announced that the Japanese version of Xbox 360 will be bundled with a free copy of Final Fantasy XI Beta Version, the game can be played with either Xbox Live Gold or Silver account. The beta test of the game will begin right at the launch on December 10.
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http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm
 
I don't get the problem, and fyi your thread title is misleading.

It's a free beta. Once the game comes out of beta, testers just like everyone else will be required to purchase a retail copy and pay a monthly subscription. They will most likely commence the US beta sometime afterwards and that will also be free.
 
Shoot. You must be able to cut the desperation down at Redmond with a knife. That's $100 off, in a country where EVERYTHING is more expensive than it is in the US. Games are at least $30 more on average. I'm starting to wonder if MS is actually alocating a lot of 360 to Japan. Normally, you'd think the opposite, but with this kind of thing I'm wondering if they aren't pushing to shore up the numbers in Japan and try to force out Sony from their strong hold.

That said, maybe I should import a Japanese 360, even with shipping it's should be cheaper than buying it here. I wonder if Yesasia has free shipping for the 360...

EDIT: Ah, a beta... that'll teach me not to read.
 
ps2xboxcube said:
This really ticks me off. They get the Premium version with Hardrive and Free playable online FFXI all for $350 dollars US. With free xboxlive and no additional FFXI monthly fee during the Beta Test.
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You can play MMOs on the 360 without Live Gold.

And as others noted, a Beta period is pretty standard on the PC. Basically this is the equivalent of a "demo". I would hope Sony and MS and Nintendo did more of this.

Heck, I think the HDD should be loaded with demos of every launch title! Just one short level, but let them get a taste of the games!
 
We have to pay 400$ to play Hexic when they only pay $350 and get the full beta version of FFXI to play for several months for free.
 
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ps2xboxcube said:
We have to pay 400$ to play Hexic when they only pay $350 and get the full beta version of FFXI to play for several months for free.
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You're upset about a game that is basicly a PC port they will ship in Beta version? Really nothing more than a free trial. Microsoft has to be more aggressive in Japan because both Nintendo and Sony have a loyal fanbase there.
 
ps2xboxcube said:
We have to pay 400$ to play Hexic when they only pay $350 and get the full beta version of FFXI to play for several months for free.
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You know how many Japanese Xbox consoles Microsoft sold in the whole of September? 576! Yeah, they're going to bend over backwards to encourage early adopters.

Anyway, as I said, the beta of FFXI will be available for free to US consumers in just the same way that beta MMORPG's have always been. It's nothing unusual that a Japanese company leads their beta testing in their home territory.
 
:LOL: That's very odd news. MS obviously are doing everything they can to win over Japan.

And to all those complaining about the US losing out - try and get some perspective. Are you suggesting that if they did this in the US only, and not Japan, you'd be complaining? Hell no!

This is coming from an Australian - we get the cut-down version of EVERYTHING over here. Taste of your own medicine ;)
 
ps2xboxcube said:
We have to pay 400$ to play Hexic when they only pay $350 and get the full beta version of FFXI to play for several months for free.
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think about it this way, MS makes good inroads in Japan, and they get more 3rd party support from japan, and you get a better game library. See how that works??
 
ps2xboxcube said:
This really ticks me off. They get the Premium version with Hardrive and Free playable online FFXI all for $350 dollars US. With free xboxlive and no additional FFXI monthly fee during the Beta Test.



http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm
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Well MS doesnt expect to sell many 360s in Japan.So they can take the bigger cost per console sold over there and its a good move to atleast increase a bit more interest of Japanese gamers.

Its not because they actually can release the same package at the same price in US and EU without suffering major losses
 
Mmmkay said:
You know how many Japanese Xbox consoles Microsoft sold in the whole of September? 576! Yeah, they're going to bend over backwards to encourage early adopters.

Anyway, as I said, the beta of FFXI will be available for free to US consumers in just the same way that beta MMORPG's have always been. It's nothing unusual that a Japanese company leads their beta testing in their home territory.
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Hehehehe, however, I don't think FFXI will help moving x360 in Japan. For starter, fans of the game, will already have the game already. Getting new blood into this game is going to be hard. Individuals that's likely to buy a 360 is a causal gamer looking for something simple to use (ie Live), enjoys playing western style games (due the old xbox image), or need to use an American product as a door-stop. Now, FFXI is s truly one of those hardcore rpg, and trying to entice rpg hardcore player from that demographic is pretty hard.

Personally, I think xbox live arcade will sell more 360 than FFXI. It's a type of games that will attract both cultures and span a lot of ages. I'm really excited about live arcade, however they need to lower the price of the games. Pricing the game at US$20.00 (estimated by gamespot) is too much (currently on xbox it's US$9.99, however even that is too much), it should be priced at US$4.99.
 
scooby_dooby said:
I think DOA4, NG2, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will sell more than XBLive Arcade.
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True, true...but with Live Arcade, they get to try out the demo first, without having to get their hands on a demo disk. For many reasons, I think MS is right on the mark with Live.

And in an interview BillG, said that the next gen optical disk might be the last one. With broadband and streaming technology, we will depend less and less on physical optical storage as a mean of distribution. In some way, he may be on to something, but we have yet see books totally phased out...if we're using his argument. IMO, Hollywood studios should really embrace broadband as a mean of distribution instead of fighting it, because with the right infrastructure, they can manage/control copies and lower the cost of distrubution (especially when used in conjunction with P2P).

Now, I can see Live that's providing the same common interface for gamers today, will provide the same interface to movie watchers tomorrow. Imagine, having the ability to download movies right into your 360 (using P2P). Now having the ability to watch DRM content, will require you to get a key from the server (Live), and you will be billed on your Live account. Of course, with our current infrastructure it's a little expensive all this for the average consumer. However, having prep the leading edge consumers to the new business model, it will be an easier transition when that time comes.

MS have already started pushing their IPTV technologies. Now, all they need to do consolidate all their strategies into one nice package (X360 with the ability to do IPTV). By no means, this stuff could compete with BR/HD media as it is now.

In Japan, the network infrastructure is more established than in the US, so 360 with the ability to do IPTV, Live Arcade and a simple way for people to chat without powering up their computers (and hopefully in the future -- video chat) will definitely appeal the Japanese. Damn, I'm drooling here.
 
TrungGap said:
True, true...but with Live Arcade, they get to try out the demo first, without having to get their hands on a demo disk. For many reasons, I think MS is right on the mark with Live.

And in an interview BillG, said that the next gen optical disk might be the last one. With broadband and streaming technology, we will depend less and less on physical optical storage as a mean of distribution. In some way, he may be on to something, but we have yet see books totally phased out...if we're using his argument. IMO, Hollywood studios should really embrace broadband as a mean of distribution instead of fighting it, because with the right infrastructure, they can manage/control copies and lower the cost of distrubution (especially when used in conjunction with P2P).

Now, I can see Live that's providing the same common interface for gamers today, will provide the same interface to movie watchers tomorrow. Imagine, having the ability to download movies right into your 360 (using P2P). Now having the ability to watch DRM content, will require you to get a key from the server (Live), and you will be billed on your Live account. Of course, with our current infrastructure it's a little expensive all this for the average consumer. However, having prep the leading edge consumers to the new business model, it will be an easier transition when that time comes.

MS have already started pushing their IPTV technologies. Now, all they need to do consolidate all their strategies into one nice package (X360 with the ability to do IPTV). By no means, this stuff could compete with BR/HD media as it is now.

In Japan, the network infrastructure is more established than in the US, so 360 with the ability to do IPTV, Live Arcade and a simple way for people to chat without powering up their computers (and hopefully in the future -- video chat) will definitely appeal the Japanese. Damn, I'm drooling here.
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Discs for games aren't going anywhere for a long time.

I'm in Japan at the moment and while the DSL is good, 50Mbps advertised I only end up getting max 7Mbps. People in larger cities with fiber optic access probably have a different story to tell. Part of the reason the internet is so good is because the government forced the phone company to open up it's telephone lines to competition, then YahooBB was born and they were practically giving the modems away.

I think IPTV is the future though. There just isn't enough bandwidth on regular cable to offer a full HDTV lineup. IPTV eliminates this problem (to be honest I'm not sure how all the digital cable solutions work out there, maybe some are similar to IPTV).
 
robofunk said:
Discs for games aren't going anywhere for a long time.
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I agree, currently our infrastructure isn't good enough satisfy our need to have it on demand.

robofunk said:
I'm in Japan at the moment and while the DSL is good, 50Mbps advertised I only end up getting max 7Mbps. People in larger cities with fiber optic access probably have a different story to tell. Part of the reason the internet is so good is because the government forced the phone company to open up it's telephone lines to competition, then YahooBB was born and they were practically giving the modems away.
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I'm still envious of you. ;)

robofunk said:
I think IPTV is the future though. There just isn't enough bandwidth on regular cable to offer a full HDTV lineup. IPTV eliminates this problem (to be honest I'm not sure how all the digital cable solutions work out there, maybe some are similar to IPTV).
Click to expand...

I think to utilitize our current bandwidth, we have to resort to P2P and some form intelligent streaming. Okay, imagine you have downloaded HDD movie on the living room set-top box. Now, you decided to watch it in your bedroom instead, so your bedroom box should download (or maybe stream) it from the living room set-top box or from the nearest (fastest connection) box. We are years from this sort of infrastructure...and at best BR/HD media will be at least a couple of years away before it hits critical mass.
 
it seems that they are really striving to get a good chunk of the japanese market...

which is great :)

coz eventhough japan doesn't have as much gamers compared to the US and Europe, collectively...

getting a good share of the japanese market will get more japanese game developers on board...

which will in turn have more games available for the system and a good possibility of those games coming to the US and european soil :)
 
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