How's XB360 gonna sell in Japan?
- Thread starter Shifty Geezer
- Start date
Phil said:
Are Square-Enix games only sold in Japan?
Did the Xbox "fail miserably" in the US or Europe?
I think Square-Enix would be wise to support any successful consoles where 3rd party titles can make a nice profit, even if that console is not necessarily successful in Japan.
Only Japanese-only developers can afford to ignore the #2 system in world-wide sales.
scooby_dooby said:
Not really. Final Fantasy XII, a PS2 title, hasn't launched yet - in fact, expect it to launch next year in March in Japan - Amercian and European launch dates are yet to be disclosed. Given Square's localisation process, expect FFXII at the end of the year in America and early 2007 for Europe.
Now as for reasons why they wouldn't double their worldwide audience: If we take the current Xbox userbase, I'd highly doubt most of its buyers would be even remotely interested in traditional RPGs from Japan - in fact, this is one of the genres that has been more or less exclusive to the PlayStation platform since 2 generations and one of the reasons why it's the dominent player in the Japanese markets by a large margin. The current Xbox userbase consists of many ex PC centric gamers as few multiplatform owners and some casuals. I doubt that exactly that audience would care much about Japanese RPG support. They do however care a lot about action games and western targeted franchises as Halo's success and the influx of fps's shows.
Then there are costs of porting that you have to include as well: Porting isn't free.
Then in addition, you're obviously basing any such theories on a rumour - one that hasn't been confirmed. In fact, we have had a thread a few weeks/months ago on some Square Exec stating that Square-Enix isn't interested in multiplatform efforts. I'd take that much more serious than any rumours - which btw surfaced right before Xbox launched as well. Did it happen?
seismologist
Regular
Powderkeg said:
It makes you wonder how companies like Bioware can afford to ignore the #1 system in worldwide sales. Microsoft isn't the only one capable of setting up special deals you know. In fact, last time I heard Square-Enix was partly owned by Sony.
scooby_dooby
Legend
In 2007? why not?
You'll have between 10-20million consoles sold by that time. 2-3 million copies is very reasonable for a AAA rpg like FF, if it's good.
You'll have between 10-20million consoles sold by that time. 2-3 million copies is very reasonable for a AAA rpg like FF, if it's good.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Phil said:
Rumour? Last I checked an interview with Reuters was not a rumour.
Also where do you get you demographics on the XBOX userbase? Or should we all accept your gut instinct that XBOX gamers don't like RPG's so neither will X360 owners. That's completely flawed for a number of reasons:
a) your evaluation of xbox userbase is completely anecdotal and most likely completely wrong. Wierd how only 10% of the "pc-centric" audience has even gone online.
b) xbox userbase != X360 userbase, there will be some carry over, there will also be a wide variety of new xbox owners, you ignore this.
c) RPG's like Fable and KOTOR were among some of the biggest sellers EVER to be released on the system. This point more than any other shatters your assertion that xbox fans do not like RPG's. Also, FF has always appealed greatly to western audiences, so even if you say XBOX owners only like "western" rpg's, that would still include FF.
d) MS is lining up many more RPG's for X360 than they ever had for XBOX:
Mass Effect
Lost Odyssey
Blue Dragon
Oblivion
Fable 2
FFXI
Enchant Arm
Far East of Ziria (???)
KOTOR 3 (probable)
Jade Empire 2 (probable)
How can you look at that list and say that no X360 owners will care for RPG's? Your assertion is just based purely on opinion, not actual analysis, for one thing RPG's sold extremely well on XBOX, and for another X360 has at least 3x as many RPG's in the works this time around.
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Wasnt SE's problem on xbox also EA's problem? By that question I can only mean Live. Both EA and Square wanted to control how Live interacted with their products. MS got to EA by canning MGS Sports titles and so won the tug o war.
Something must have changed to have them hop on the bandwagon for FFXI but seesaw for XIII...
Something must have changed to have them hop on the bandwagon for FFXI but seesaw for XIII...
seismologist
Regular
Powderkeg said:
Dragon's quest has been Japan only as far as I know. Right now they're testing the US market on PS2. I'd say we're a long way off from full blown multiplatform support of consoles that aren't viable in Japan.
Actually alot of Japanese games that we get on PS2 aren't meant for global market. Sometimes a publisher will take a chance. But alot of these games are lucky to see US releases at all.
I'm not sure why you guys would want SE games on the 360 anyway. You just know that SE will be the first ones to fully max out BRD. I can only imagine how butchered the ports will be.
http://1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3145718Xenus said:
Interesting. Maybe no mention on specific FF13/DQ9 actually?
scooby_dooby said:
Do you have a link? The only thing I found are references to an interview with Reuters that can't be found (I've searched the Reuters website as the Google-Cache). Even then, the only thing that I have found on the subject are sniplets from a Q&A session back in May where he stated that "they have only announced one game [FFXI] at this point but hopes to establish a comprehensive relationship while examining the xbox360s capabilities".
Nothing specific though and nothing about Final Fantasy XIII. And then was the Mainichi report which caused these "rumours" in the first place about the Final Fantasy series extending onto other consoles - which later, was directly addressed by Square saying:
Now, this was published on 08/09/2005. Square-Enix have been working on FFXIII for some time already and I have no reason to believe that Wada changed his tone again after addressing this very issue not too long ago. I suspect that he was talking about supporting Xbox360 in general which quickly extended into the belief / misconception that he is talking about the FF series as was done with the Mainichi report. Lost in translation? I'm sure it was.
Scooby_dooby said:
I didn't say Xbox gamers don't like RPGs - I did say however that the a larger extend of the Xbox demographic seems to come from a PC background for a number of reasons you seem to be ignoring:
1.) The Xbox hardware in itself is very PC-flavoured thanks to its components. Bevor the Xbox launch, many saw the Xbox as an opportunity to get away from the PC gaming experience of having to do costly upgrades, fight with drivers etc. The Xbox is the most suitable platform for them: essentially a console since it's a closed-box that doesn't need to be upgraded with no hassles surrounding drivers that don't need to be installed.
2.) Further; A lot of developer support on Xbox is coming from pc developers since the hardware is essentially the same as on PC: Same developer tools, very similar hardware and API. That results to easy porting and easy accessible hardware for PC developers which in turn sparks the interest of gamers that have been tired of the PC experience for years. If the Xbox has the similar games without all the hassles, sure a large part will be interested. I can count various examples from people that I know that went through that process and it's also underlined by various xbox forums where it's quite evident that many come from a strong PC background.
3.) Already mentioned in 2.) but another reason for a great influx would be Halo IMO - a PC targeted game that turned into a "exclusive" (Exclusive in brackets because it was for a very long time until interest / hype faded quickly until it did eventually come out on PC).
So, as you see - I'm not saying that the Xbox userbase only consists of PC gamers - what I did bring forward is that a large part comes from that background and this is mainly because of the support (ports and exclusive content) that are very either PC or western orientated: First person shooters (Halo, Doom 3, Half Life 2, FarCry...) and others.
Your counter-reasons such as the Xbox-live numbers aren't very telling either: While I did say that many come from a PC background, I also suspect that many still use their PC for online experiences and aren't exclusive Xbox players. Then there's also the games that aren't all live-supported - not to the extend PC gamers are used to with PC games where practically any game has some form of internet usage. Then you also have to factor in that the very least of PC users want to pay for a service (life) that they've been using for free for years on the PC. And those who would pay - do they have access to the things required to pay for such a service (i.e. credit card)? There are various reasons why you can't simply look at Xbox-live numbers to support your argument. It's not that simple.
Regardless if you agree or not, the far greater point which you have ignored thus far is that the Xbox obviously isn't grabing the Japanese markets attention by any stretch - Xbox sales in Japan point to this quite clearly. The Japanese market is very RPG orientated (and not just any western targeted RPG as I have pointed out) - something the Xbox has lacked until now. Will this change? Maybe. Maybe not. The list you have supplied does sound nice, but it's no different than the "potential" that was there before Xbox launched. Also, how many of those in your list are confirmed and target the Japanese demographic? Final Fantasy is probably the "biggest" one from that POV - and to suggest that a port of a what... 3 year old game will make any impact on that market is surreal. In fact, I'd say the people a Final Fantasy port would be very dependant of have already all played FFXI in Japan on PS2.
Scooby_dooby said:
Oh I'm aware that the Xbox userbase != X360. In fact, the Xbox360 at the moment is ZERO, yet we are arguing if it will do better in Japan or not and if the claim of a port of the main Final Fantasy series (XIII) is valid or not. What I can say is that with a userbase of currently over 20 million with Xbox, there is still no extended support for that platform in Japan nor is the interest there. The Xbox360s success isn't dependant on its success elsewhere as Xbox1 has proven. As it seems, Square isn't really in a hurry to support a console with its flagship titles merely on its potential - which raises the question "how well must Xbox360 do in Japan to receive that support"? IMO, this won't be answered in the next few months - and after that, PS3 will folllow closely if they do the Spring launch in Japan. While Final Fantasy XIII is probably already in development (or soon to be), it's clear it will be on PS3. That much is given. Maybe, if the Xbox360 will do well enough in Japan, we can assume that there might be a port - but this won't be answered anytime soon and if you are already expecting a defintie confirmation that a main Final Fantasy will come to Xbox360 soon and turn the Japanese market upside down, then you're quite evidently out of your mind.
Reality check: Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox is a possibility - something that may or may not be. It is going to launch on PS3 first and by the time the X360 may receive a port or not, it may or may not make a difference. We're arguing over something that no one can predict for at least the next few months. I'd say a Xbox360 success in Japan will be very difficult.
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Guilty Bystander
Newcomer
Well let's say twice as good as the Xbox 1.
Which would mean about 200-400 units per month
Money talks. If Square keeps upping their budgets (reportedly above 30 million dollars for previous FF games) then they won't be able to make a profit on a single platform with only a few million users. Either they delay the next FF game until late 2007 at least, or they'll have to skip on the exclusivity. Sony and MS will certainly have some money to add weight to their words, too, so nothing is decided here yet. But, in the end, money talks, and Square will certainly listen...
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