The Future of Japanese Gaming
Is the Xbox 360 doomed in Japan or can Microsoft jump-start its presence? What Japanese games are worth your while in the West? IGN reports.
by Douglass C. Perry
June 27, 2006 - Unlike the original Xbox, Microsoft built the Xbox 360 as a worldwide gaming hardware unit. Different than its first box, the Xbox 360 was forged with careful planning, whether we're talking about aesthetics, technical capabilities, or the potential wealth of software from American, European and Japanese developers. While Bill Gates' company was unable to capitalize in any significant way with the original Xbox on the Japanese market, Microsoft surprised everyone with its big catches for Xbox 360, from Square Enix to Q Entertainment to Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Then the system launched in Japan. Nobody would have dreamed the Xbox 360 would sell worse in Japan than the original Xbox. With Peter Moore, Microsoft's executive vice president of interactive entertainment, heading efforts in Japan, corralling developers and wooing big-name designers over to the Xbox 360, things seemed bright. With Square on board with Final Fantasy XI, with Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi lined up, with Capcom, Tecmo, Flagship, and Namco on board, man, you would have thought that Microsoft had all its ducks lined all in a row. On paper, and for all intents and purposes, it had. Yet, the Xbox 360 launch in Japan was an unmitigated flop.
Every Party: Not the kind of game that stokes a console launch.
Given the soft launch on December 10, 2005 -- replete with weak games (did anyone really need to play Ridge Racer 6? TetrisÂ…a launch title? And the unimpressive Every Party), the delay of Dead Or Alive 4 -- and less than 100,000 units sold through by January 2006, Microsoft has found itself in a bind. This particular bind is both short and long term. In the short run, Microsoft's Japanese launch showed little reason to buy the system, and most gamers, publishers, and analysts saw that the surprisingly poor performance as a potential problem. But game sales change everyone's minds. If the system could just get enough good games on retail shelves, the sleek, off-white Xbox 360 could perhaps gain that all-important foothold it needs to be a truly successful worldwide console manufacturer.
Right now, the numbers just don't add up. With weekly sales of Japanese games ranging from a stunningly low 15 to 20 units per week through June, things have gone from bad to worse. Is Japan unbreakable, finicky, or apathetic? Can Microsoft really pull this thing off? Theoretically, yes it can; anything is possible. Microsoft remains optimistic. While the Japanese launch wasn't terrific, many more games are in the development pipeline. In fact, the really crucial games haven't even shown yet. Japanese publishers used to look at Japan as the primary and only valuable gaming market. But times have changed since the PlayStation heydays. Several long years of a rough economy have hurt arcades and console sales. As a result, in part, Japanese developers have merged. Witness Konami's purchase of Hudson (among other companies), and Square's and Enix's merger. Games now cost tens of millions to create, with teams of 100-plus people per title, so larger companies are a safer bet than smaller ones.
Chromehounds: Big mechs shooting each other. Awesome or average?
Looking at Microsoft's picture from a bigger perspective, it appears as if some companies are giving the 360 the cold shoulder. Sure, Microsoft has definitely done good work by securing solid, quality titles from companies such as Namco, but on the other hand, these same companies have given bigger franchises to Sony instead. The 360 gets Ridge Racer 6, yet the PS3 gets Ridge Racer 7 and Tekken 6? It's no wonder the kids on the Internet are shouting "sabotage!" Could it be unwavering nationalism rearing its ugly head? After all, Microsoft is an American company. That doesn't seem to be the case, at least according to some developers. One problem is simply a lack of awareness of the international market. At least one developer has stated that the problem isn't system loyalty or some sort of perverted racism. It's simply a lack of knowledge on the part of the Japanese developer -- although admittedly, Microsoft hasn't been a shining beacon of intelligence in Japan either. "Go High Def", anyone?
Nationalism, lack of awareness, poor start, whatever the case may be; the long term picture looks brighter than the short. There are some heavyweight titles coming from and to the Land of the Rising Sun, and each one of these has the potential to kick-start Xbox 360 sales in Japan. If you look closely, you'll see that Microsoft, in lieu of strict dependence on Japanese publishers to support its cause, is publishing a significant number of games in Japan by itself. In some cases Microsoft has persuaded Japanese developers with a powerful machine and a leading-edge online component. In other cases, it's providing eye-popping publishing deals that are more likely than not impossible for Japanese developers to turn down. Either way, the next two years of development should benefit Xbox 360 fans on both shores greatly.
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