XBox 360 launched in Japan

[Heian-kyo]

Xbox360 sales are...disappointing? But they've sold the majority of their first shipment now IIRC.

The first shipment was rumored to be ~150-160k units, and as of this last chart they've sold less than 80k since launch just over a month ago, with DOA4 out for two weeks.

IMO, and with all due respect to the 360, the Japanese launch has been a disaster. The original Xbox sold more in it's first week than the 360 has so far. I don't think even Blue Dragon can save the system now, as it's doubtful in my mind that it'll even release before 2007. MS needs to announce some big games specifically for Japanese gamers before the PS3 Conference next month or the 360 will completely fade from gamers minds' and continue to drop week-on-week, likely hitting below 1k before the end of the year.

They need to go all out these next couple months, or just pull out for good.

 

[Mmmkay]

Roughly 28k a month, right? Better than Xbox, but still way too close to launch and DOA4 release to gauge anything meaningful...

The Xbox topped 120,000 in its first week, of course that was February and not December, but it is trending in a similar fashion (i.e. not in line with the holiday). Sales rose from 5,674 to 12,300 on the week of Dead of Alive 4. It shows us, if anything [and you're right, in the grand scheme of things it is very little], that there was not a significant affect on Xbox 360 sales brought about by DoA4. However, I would say comparatively it is doing worse than the original Xbox.

 

[Sis]

The Xbox topped 120,000 in its first week, of course that was February and not December, but it is trending in a similar fashion (i.e. not in line with the holiday). Sales rose from 5,674 to 12,300 on the week of Dead of Alive 4. It shows us, if anything [and you're right, in the grand scheme of things it is very little], that there was not a significant affect on Xbox 360 sales brought about by DoA4. However, I would say comparatively it is doing worse than the original Xbox.

I'm not talking the first week, I'm talking about the weeks after launch. Do you have those numbers?

(My "better than Xbox" was a somewhat throw-away comment about current sales, or even recent sales. I did not mean overall.)

 

[Mmmkay]

I'm not talking the first week, I'm talking about the weeks after launch. Do you have those numbers?

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=15959

I can't comment on the source's integrity myself [I don't visit the place] but the numbers seem thorough enough:

Xbox
Feb 24 - 120,000
Mar 03 - 37,000
Mar 10 - 10,930
Mar 17 - 7,292
Mar 24 - 5,200

Versus.

Xbox 360 (Numbers from http://game-science.com/ )
Dec 11 - 43,970
Dec 18 - 8,623
Dec 25 - 5,674
Jan 01 - 12,300
Jan 08 - 7,477

 

[dantruon]

i feel kinda sad now seeing how xbox360 is selling in Japan because i want some level of competition so that customer can benefit but as of right now i cant see any competition.

 

[seismologist]

i feel kinda sad now seeing how xbox360 is selling in Japan because i want some level of competition so that customer can benefit but as of right now i cant see any competition.

how would the customer benefit? It's better for me if I only have to buy one console next gen.

 

[dantruon]

how would the customer benefit? It's better for me if I only have to buy one console next gen.

go back to the economic class !!!

 

[Hardknock]

how would the customer benefit? It's better for me if I only have to buy one console next gen.

You were only going to buy one anyway

 

[rabidrabbit]

i feel kinda sad now seeing how xbox360 is selling in Japan because i want some level of competition so that customer can benefit but as of right now i cant see any competition.

Nintendo?

 

[seismologist]

You were only going to buy one anyway

That's a good point. I need the 360 to fail as much as possible so more games will end up on the PS3. I see Nintendo giving Sony a run for the money in Japan next time anyway. But at least it wont become a battle for exclusives.

 

[mckmas8808]

That's a good point. I need the 360 to fail as much as possible so more games will end up on the PS3. I see Nintendo giving Sony a run for the money in Japan next time anyway. But at least it wont become a battle for exclusives.

I'd put $100 that the Revolution has close to if not basically the same sales as the PS3 in Japan. I personnally don't think Nintendo will screw up as bad in Japan as they did with the Gamecube.

 

[dantruon]

Nintendo?

well, the revolution might be a miss or a hit so i dont know but judging from the mentalilty of the Japanese market right now i say it will be a hit, and if that is the case then that is good for consumer-low price on game console and software.

 

[scooby_dooby]

That's a good point. I need the 360 to fail as much as possible so more games will end up on the PS3. I see Nintendo giving Sony a run for the money in Japan next time anyway. But at least it wont become a battle for exclusives.

I don't know how any true RPG fan can pass up on the 3 Mistwalker titles coming up, the genre is stale with only a few developers really releasing great RPG's.

Not too mention the Mass Effect trilogy, KOTOR 3, Jade Empire 2, Fable 2 and Oblivion. IMO, you already need to buy 2 systems.

The japanese #'s are pretty poor that's for sure, but it's too early to count anything out. in the last 3 weeks 360 has sold about 20% of what the xbox sold over it's entire lifetime, it really depends on MS's big guns, the next year should see:
- Mistwalker(Sakaguchi) - Blue Dragon
- Q Entertainment(Tetsuya Mizuguchi) - Ninety Nine Nights
- Game Republic (Yoichi Okamoto) - Armored Core 4
- Team Ninja - DOA4

These are the men that MS has bought, to make 360 a success in japan. If 360 is too have any success in Japan this year, it rides on the shoulders of those developers, DOA is already out it's very good, but it's not enough.

They can also hope for some success with Saint's Row, or Crackdown, which are both exclusives, japanese seem to like GTA type games. Maybe some other 2nd generation western titles will help them as well, hard to predict the japanese consumer

 

[expletive]

For those who still care:

PSP 132,757
DS 91,379
PS2 80,886
GBASP 17,443
GC 13,423
GBM 11,818
Xbox360 7,477
GBA 564
Xbox 156

http://www.m-create.com/jpn/s_ranking.html

I thought they stopped tracking the original Xbox, guess not.

Xbox360 sales are...disappointing? But they've sold the majority of their first shipment now IIRC.

Are there really 80K people who didnt have a PS2 that now are buying one for the first time? I wonder if a lot of these people are buying 2nd systems, cheap DVD players, replacing old broken ones, etc?

 

[AlphaWolf]

Are there really 80K people who didnt have a PS2 that now are buying one for the first time? I wonder if a lot of these people are buying 2nd systems, cheap DVD players, replacing old broken ones, etc?

I can't believe anyone is purchasing a ps2 to use just as a DVD player.

 

[Almasy]

I don't know how any true RPG fan can pass up on the 3 Mistwalker titles coming up, the genre is stale with only a few developers really releasing great RPG's.

I consider myself a true RPG fan, but first let´s see if those games are any good, no?

 

[mckmas8808]

Are there really 80K people who didnt have a PS2 that now are buying one for the first time? I wonder if a lot of these people are buying 2nd systems, cheap DVD players, replacing old broken ones, etc?

They could be buying those PS2's as a extra machine. Maybe they are buying them for their 7 year old cousin, which has 3 brothers that already had a PS2. Who knows, but we do know that most aren't replacing broken ones.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I consider myself a true RPG fan, but first let´s see if those games are any good, no?

hopefully we'll see soon enough!

 

[Powderkeg]

I'd put $100 that the Revolution has close to if not basically the same sales as the PS3 in Japan. I personnally don't think Nintendo will screw up as bad in Japan as they did with the Gamecube.

I'll take that bet.

I'll bet you $100 that 6 months after both systems have launched, the PS3 is outselling the Revolution by at least 2:1.

 

[scooby_dooby]

It's on.

You guys, I can hold the $200 in my paypal accoutn for you, give it to the winner. you know...just to make sure there no funny business :smile: