Japan loves the PS3

[Almasy]

Why do Japanese sales matter?

Mmmm....because if one happens to enjoy something different than EA mass produced crap, Clancy games, gazillions of generic FPSs and/or "authenthic" war themed games, one can only turn to japanese developers.

Performing well in Japan can only mean more support from them and maye they will be brought over.

Also, don´t get cocky on the importance of the american market. It may be the biggest, but look at how many Japanese games are on Xbox.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Stay on target, people. Stay...on...target.

 

[Fafalada]

I think it unfair that the the japanese market is so xenophobic even with a good "product."

I think this time around it had a lot more to do with MS Japan's incompetence then any kind of hw xenophobia.
We've also seen this in Korea, where Xbox was labeled a sure fire success due to PC friendly content and good online support and MS managed to fail here pretty much just as miserably as in Japan.
Meanwhile the hated Japanese product became a first console to make a dent in Korean mostly PC centric game market.

 

[seismologist]

Its all about the reputation. It's like asking in the US if you would be more interested in Gamecube 2 or Playstation 3....(no offense to GC fans)

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I think there are extra barriers to foreign product acceptance by the general Japanese public, but these can be overcome in time. It will take years though, unless something fadish (ala Pokemon) comes to X360 to turn things around quickly.

MS is probably hoping that 10% of the 30 million Japanese console owners buy an X360 this coming generation. 3 million consoles would be a respectable base to grow the business next-generation. If MS wins NA, ties in EU, and gets 3 million units out in Japan, Asian developers will have no choice but to kill many of their exclusive deals with Sony. Once FF, DQ, and MGS go multi-platform MS will have a real chance to get their numbers up to 20-25% of the market, etc...

Always remember that their eventual goal is total dominance. Most likely they are hoping for 50% of the NA market, 35% of the EU market, and 10% of the Japanese market this coming generation. Then they will try to add another 10 points to those in the following generation, etc...

I'm not speaking to their chances of success, just about their aspirations. That topic can wait until a little later in the year.

 

[JasonCross]

I know that its just a poll, but does anybody else thinks that this matters like me? Should MS actually care about this?

Link http://ps3.ign.com/articles/633/633092p1.html

Obviously Microsoft has a lot of work to do in Japan, but I don't take polls like these seriously.

1. Where did they get the participants? From a gaming website? Are they famitsu subscribers? From which Famitsu mags?

2. Of COURSE the Japanese gamers aren't excited about the 360...they haven't really been exposed to it yet. Closer to launch, as Microsoft steps up their marketing and hold press conferences there, things may change.

They're holding a big event in Japan at the end of this month. We'll see what sort of surprises they have in store for the Japanese press. If they can showcase some truly next-gen games, with "big in Japan" franchises that they didn't have for the original Xbox, they can change opinions. They can also change opinions if they have a price advantage.

I'd like to see them poll the exact same 1,000 gamers in October, and see how the results would change.

 

[bbot]

All this talk about Microsoft winning Japan... Forget about Japan. Microsoft needs to win North America first where Sony dominates. What MS needs to do is get developers to develop games for their system. MS seems to be doing a decent job getting western developers. The big problem is getting Japanese developers to make alot of games for X360. People buy PS because it has a larger, wider selection of games.

 

[Carl B]

I'd like to see them poll the exact same 1,000 gamers in October, and see how the results would change.

I would love to see that - but seriously I'd be happy with the results of any 1,000 individuals.

 

[Fox5]

I'm surprised, aren't quite a few animes based on lots and lots of shooting? Certainly moreso than American cartoons are.

FPS doesn't sell in Japan because
1. It's said that some Japanese gamers tend to get dizzy in playing FPS.
2. In FPS you can't see how cool a protagonist looks in action. You have to modify it like Devil May Cry 3 or Resident Evil 4 or even GTA.
3. Old shmup like Gradius and Ikaruga was once a top genre in Japan but today is in a dead niche for enthusiasts. Now, the essence of FPS is aim & shoot, if you are bored with it it ends there. You have to arrange it like Deus Ex, Thief, or again, GTA.

1. Complaints of dizzyness in FPS games were very common in America when the genre was just getting started, it's probably an aquired taste, that or maybe they need high framerate games like metroid prime.(btw, I used to get dizzy playing high flashyiness games like super metroid with all the explosions and what not, I no longer do)

2. True, but I don't think any of those games were great sellers in Japan, even DMC3 and RE4 only in the hundreds of thousands.

3. I don't think Deus Ex or Thief made any impact in Japan, especially since Deus Ex played more like an American RPG and not a more focuses/less open ended Japanese RPG.

Segas back catalog is only trumped by Nintendo... and notwithstanding their console failures is a very respected development house in Japan with cult like followings in the NA and European markets.

Except outside of a few games like Sonic, most Sega games never sold anywhere near as well as Nintendo games. Back in the N64 gen, Rare was the next best thing to Nintendo. They matched them almost game for game, pretty much carried half the burden of the N64, and sold just as well. If Rare were doing as well now as they did back with Nintendo, there would have been no question that they were a great purchase.(for that matter it doesn't seem like Nintendo should have sold Rare, they've tried many cheaper replacement companies and none of them have produced games worth a damn)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If people don't want this thread getting locked they'll keep the Sociology debate for other forums...

For those who've forgotten, the threads about Japan and what they like and why and how to sel to them.

 

[ZoinKs!]

If Xbox360 gets 10% market share in Japan, that'd be doing well. The main deciding factor will be the games, not nationalism.

 

[seismologist]

Have you guys been to Japan? It's like SOny country out there.

To put things in perspective, take something that's traditionally American. Like say McDonald's. RIght next door to it, some Japanese food chain opens a knock off version called Mr. Wong's.

Now even though all of the Japanese people insist that Mr. Wongs tastes really good, most people are still going to McDonald's because it's what you know and it has nothing to do with national pride.

 

[Arun]

Now, back on topic everyone please, considering this thread might - who knows! - still have something interesting to offer. One's comments are quite interesting imo. You mention that "Now, the essence of FPS is aim & shoot, if you are bored with it it ends there." - do you think there's any particuliar reason, cultural or perhaps lifestyle-related, besides points 1 & 2, that Japan tends to be more bored of this than the US & EU?
I was always surprised by the fact Ultima Online gained a quite important marketshre in Japan a few years ago when the game was already half-dead in the US.

Uttar

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

10% of the japanese market is nothing... you realize that's only around 2.5 million units right? Maybe if they were to sell up front, then that might establish the XBox 360, but still seems weak to me. Personally, I think MS should just concentrate in the US... if they hold the lead in the west, sooner or later the Japanese developers will come around.

As to the FPS issue... while dizziness was something reported... I always tend to think it has more to do the view being so much more narrow in comparison to 3rd person -- not enough information. Anyway, no thing to watch will be Dirge of Cerberus, since it will be blending Japanese tastes with FPS style gameplay... I imagine it could be a gentle introduction for the japanese gaming public.

EDIT:: God I'm slow at typing...

Anyway, one cultral reason FPS don't take so well to Japan and asia is the fact it's all about guns. They're really not that big there... John Woo has a particular fondness for them, but outside of that no. To put it simply guns in the west martial arts in the east. Guns don't have the same romanticism like they do in the west. I mean even when you watch movies about yakuza (mafia) and stuff more than likely you'll see swords before guns, though they're far from entirely absent.

 

[scooby_dooby]

On the subject of MS securing Japanese Dev's, am I the only one who feels they are not getting nearly enough credit for the moves they've already made?

What more could they do at this point? Secured Square Enix, Capcom, Konami, Namco, Q Entertainment, Game Republic, Mistwalker.

Not to mention the Sega games! Gamespot just reported the new Sega arcade is built on X360 technology...

I think they have done ALOT, and they will have some extremely good support from japanese developers from now on.

I really think the quality exlusives will pile up, forcing the japanese gamers to at least dip into the 360, there will just be too many good games to pass up...

 

[Carl B]

Oh Microsoft has done a ton, I'm not going to argue with that. It's just a matter of will they be able to sway the Japanese public to buy the system, thus purchase the games, thus lead to system sales, thus lead to dev support, etc etc...

The pieces are all there, we just have to see now come launch day whether this thing catalyzes or not in Japan.

 

[Oda]

I will be astonished if MS captures even close to 10% of the Japanese market, as that is more than 6 times what they've sold with the Xbox. There seems to be a misconception that interest is running higher for the 360 than it was for the original Xbox here in Japan, and really, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I might even go as far as to say that it's even less.

And why do people think MS has such a good chance at capturing a large portion of the American market? IMO they still have to do a lot more to build a more diverse lineup and a more general brand name. I'm almost positive MS will gain more buyers than they lose next-gen, but I don't think the difference will be very big. I also think a very large portion who buy the system will also buy a PS3, far, far more than who will do so vice versa.

And on the topic of securing Japanese devs, the reason I don't give MS much credit is because simply having their support, and what type of support they get are two VERY different things.

MS is getting American style games from the larger Japanese houses, and this stuff doesn't mean squat to the Japanese market. They're also throwing large sums of money at unproven dev studios, which is a risk I think will backfire. IMO they really aren't doing much more than they did this gen, aside from the Mistwalker deal (and don't get me started on what I think of that PR FUD deal...).

 

[scooby_dooby]

And why do people think MS has such a good chance at capturing a large portion of the American market? IMO they still have to do a lot more to build a more diverse lineup and a more general brand name. I'm almost positive MS will gain more buyers than they lose next-gen, but I don't think the difference will be very big. I also think a very large portion who buy the system will also buy a PS3, far, far more than who will do so vice versa..

If you take an honest look at the planned titles on 360 over the first year of launch, it is an extremely diverse line-up of games. Anyone who says otherwise really isn't giving them a fair shake.

In short, they are launching first, with extremely good games and very deep advertising pockets. When PS3 does eventuall launch it will be competing with ~100 360 games, and many 2nd generation games already being released, very many exlusives as well.

The key in my mind, is the fact that for the first time ever, PS will not have the most games, situations will be reversed, and this will cause the shift in the US market.

 

[Titanio]

The key in my mind, is the fact that for the first time ever, PS will not have the most games, situations will be reversed, and this will cause the shift in the US market.

Yeah, I guess every other time Sony launched a system - always after competitors - there were zero games on those other platforms

The number of games alone means very little.

 

[Fox5]

I think Microsoft could take first place in the American market because the American market was the only place MS was even remotely close to Sony. They were only outsold by what, like 50% in America, compared to several hundred percent in Europe, and several thousand percent in Japan?

That and Nintendo almost seems like a nonfactor this generation, they're launching so late, haven't revealed much about their system, and have stated they won't be directly competing with MS and Sony, that frees up probably around 10 million people to look at a new console to buy.(though it'll probably be an even split whether they go for Sony or MS, but MS has Rare which might attract some)

It's not like there can't be massive swings in the market. Sega went from like 1%-2% of the American market with the Master System, to around 50% with the Genesis, Sony went from nothing to probably 60%-70% of the American market with the PSX, and probably edged up to 75%-80% with the PS2. Their competition is much stronger than what Nintendo had with the NES, and that didn't stop Nintendo from losing half the market.

I believe Japan has been more resistent to change though. I don't think Nintendo had a major competitor like Sega to the SNES in Japan(PC-Engine did ok), though I'm not sure if N64 bombed or did ok in Japan.