XB360 price drop for Japan

[Shifty Geezer]

Lost cause? They almost reached PS3 sales according to the latest NPD figures

Are you thinking of the 6000 XB360's vs. 7000 PS3's of a recent week? If so, that's not the norm, and one week of nearly the same sales doesn't make up for weeks and weeks of lagging behind with a lower starting point. One week of PS3 selling nearly as many XB360s in the US isn't going to suddenly make PS3 a contender for the number one position!

At the moment PS3 is outselling XB360 2:1 with a considerably higher price, and Wii is outselling PS3 2:1. Nothing MS have tried so far has earned them a strong response in Japan. BD hasn't garnered significant interest. Neither did Trusty Bell. MS have a low price and some Japanese-culture-friendly titles but still aren't making serious headway. It's a very interesting parallel to PS3 on the other side of the world!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There's also Lost Odyssey coming up soon, right? That may move a few more consoles, although anyone interested in a Sakaguchi RPG might have bought one already for Blue Dragon...

BD and Trusty Bell ought to have been attractive to the market going by normal reason, but they've failed to make a significant impact. I dunno if other games will fair any better. Perhaps Ace Combat will help a lot? Well, VGChartz shows interest in that franchise is diminshing, with 370,000 units of AC4 and 315,000 of AC5, on an existing substantial PS2 install base. I can't imagine it'll have hardware pushing power for a system that doesn't yet have much that's attracting buyers.

I don't think anyone can really fathom Japan. MS need a Summer Holiday simulator and a Lawyer-in-a-chicken-suit-cooking-pancakes game, stat!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Effective November 1, the 20GB Premium unit will retail at JPY 34,800 (EUR 214), down from JPY 39,795, while the Core SKU will sell for 27,800 (EUR 171).

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=29819

The Core retails for a little over £100 in Japan . Will price cuts have any effect, or are the Japanese just not interested? What was the cheapest XB1 dropped to over there?

 

[liolio]

I think MS is really "desesperate" about Japan

 

[Johnny Awesome]

They are.

 

[pipo]

I don't get it though. It is a lost cause. They better put some extra effort in Europe IMHO.

 

[Nesh]

Lost cause? They almost reached PS3 sales according to the latest NPD figures

 

[Rangers]

It is a lost cause, but they sell so few it cant hurt the way I look at it, I guess. I mean, they wont lose a ton of money, because they dont sell very many. So a good move, I think.

BTW, last week 360 was 6k PS3 12k, and that was because the Elite came out.

As bad as 360 is doing it's still doing infinitly better than Xbox was at the same point in Japan. Xbox was selling about 250 a week at this time. 360 usually does 1,000-1,500.

Also PS3 is getting a Japan price cut this week too, so I guess they were trying to keep up with the Joneses.

 

[Platon]

Japan is indeed a lost cause. They could be giving them for free and still they would not be doing more than PS3 numbers I don't even know why they bother, especially after their talk on concentrating on Europe where they at least do stand a chance to do well. On the other hand it is a valid point that Rangers brings up. When you sell close to nothing you don't loose too much money even if you have to go way bellow the cost of the product, still I would like to see them going for Europe more...

 

[Laa-Yosh]

There's also Lost Odyssey coming up soon, right? That may move a few more consoles, although anyone interested in a Sakaguchi RPG might have bought one already for Blue Dragon...

 

[expletive]

I don't get it though. It is a lost case. They better put some extra effort in Europe IMHO.

Ive seen this sentiment before and I dont fully understand it. Why make the assumption that effort between EU and Japan is a zero sum game and added effort in region A must equal less effort in region B? Is droppiung the price in Japan really going to prevent MS from advertising or marketing in EU?

At this point, with Japanese games having the ability to sell in NA they may as well plod along in Japan. Lost odyssee and BD can sell elsewhere and having that Japanese presence at all might be something Japanese devs need from a cultural standpoint. I cant see many japanese devs/rpgs making games for 360 when the console has 'pulled out' of Japan.

EDIT:Upon further review that may not have been excactly what pipo was saying but still, not sure that effort or performance in any one region is related to another.

 

[Arwin]

Japan may be a lost cause, but if you're not selling, then you can take some more risks too. If you fail, it won't cost you much, and if you succeed, then the subsidy on the console will expire over time anyway, and you'll have cracked a tough market which was probably worth the money.

Also, I know from experience with various demographics in Europe that at least some groups of console users look to the East for guidance, in a sense that they strongly value Eastern games and will never choose a 360 if it doesn't do well there.

I don't expect that group to be very large though. But in the long term, if the 360 does gain ground in Japan, then it's going to be easier (and cheaper) to get the more tpyically Japanese stuff out on its platform. Every small bit helps.

Finally, you'll find out for sure what is keeping people from getting the system. If you're sure its not the price, then you can work on the other problems for the future.

 

[SugarCoat]

Its not a lost cause it just takes time to change peoples views about imported products. One could easily compare this to the introduction of Japanese cars imported into a market dominated by home built Ford and GM in the 70s. Look what's happened there over the last few decades. If Microsoft wasnt dedicated to consoles and was planning to pull out then i'd fully agree, write off Japan. That however doesnt appear to be the case.

 

[pipo]

Upon further review that may not have been excactly what pipo was saying but still, not sure that effort or performance in any one region is related to another.

The way I see it MS is pumping a lot of money in Japan (from the start) and the US.

I feel Europe is the real battleground for them this gen and although the 360 is getting more time on TV and radio it's nowhere near what they've done for the other areas (pricing / commercial activities / limited editions).

I mean, they're even skipping X07. It got pretty good media coverage last year...

 

[borowki]

Japan is indeed a lost cause. They could be giving them for free and still they would not be doing more than PS3 numbers I don't even know why they bother, especially after their talk on concentrating on Europe where they at least do stand a chance to do well. On the other hand it is a valid point that Rangers brings up. When you sell close to nothing you don't loose too much money even if you have to go way bellow the cost of the product, still I would like to see them going for Europe more...

Pulling out of Japan means pulling out of East Asia altogether. With the explosive potential growth in China, Microsoft would be crazy to leave. They might not be winning the war, but their presence in Japan is a solid beachhead on that continent.

 

[TheChefO]

Pulling out of Japan means pulling out of East Asia altogether. With the explosive potential growth in China, Microsoft would be crazy to leave. They might not be winning the war, but their presence in Japan is a solid beachhead on that continent.

I don't think pulling out of the region is intended or wanted. However, dumping large sums of money into the region for a lost cause? That's a dumb move at this point.

MS should stick it in cruise control in Japan and let the devs come knocking. Meanwhile, focus thier money/resources on a region with a chance for success: Europe.

 

[pipo]

I couldn't agree more.

I'm wondering if they have a lot lined up for the end of the year in Europe. Arcade push? More localized stuff? And where's that Video marketplace?

There's still a thing or two they could learn from Sony.

 

[TheChefO]

There's still a thing or two they could learn from Sony.

Hopefully for all of us, arrogance isn't one of them.

 

[scooby_dooby]

BD and Trusty Bell ought to have been attractive to the market going by normal reason, but they've failed to make a significant impact.

This isn't really true. If you look at both of these games, and the sales/week that followed their release they certainly did have an impact, especially Blue Dragon.

Blue Dragon - Pushed 360 sales to 30k for the week, and seems to have single handidly doubled weekly sales for the system ever since. Before BD it was around 1k/week, and afterwards, it has been consistently >=2000. That's not an impact?

Eternal Sonata - Not nearly as impactful as BD, but still provided a fairly large boost to sales at release, and 360 sales continue to creep higher slowly since it's release.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

MS has to stick it out in Japan. Just for the publisher support even. Capcom and Namco would not be as supportive as they are if it weren't for MS sticking to their guns in Japan. That's important to some gamers in the US/EU. A lot of people want DMC4, RE5, Ace Combat, etc... It improves the X360 brand to have that variety.

I think MS would gladly lose another $100 per unit to gain a million sales in Japan ($100 million). The losses are negligible really.