Dead or Alive 4 delay weakens Japanese 360 launch

by Jennie Lees { Nov 28th 2005 at 4:30PM }

Things are looking pretty sorry over in Japan. Despite a shiny Xbox 360 lounge and exciting commercials, Japanese gamers just aren't too enthused about the 360. We've already seen the sparse number of backwards compatible games and complete lack of RPG titles at launch; now a further nail has been added to what is already a rather impressive coffin.

The latest news is that Dead or Alive 4 has been delayed until December 17, slipping to a week after the console's launch date of the 10th. As well as entirely contradicting previous announcements, this leaves the launch line-up looking decimated compared to the titles available elsewhere. Microsoft are hoping to make a big splash in Japan with the 360, but they may be sorely disappointed.

[Thanks, James Orry]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Frank @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

yeah they might as well forget about Japan and send us some more freakin systems!!

Jabari @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

yea, microsoft is not gonna have a good launch in jp but..in the long run it will be a sucess....at least more of a sucess of the original xbox

Keith Sheehan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Microsoft's track record seems to be that they've always been successful with the third iteration with something (i.e. Windows 3.0, Windows CE 3.0[aka Pocket PC 2000], etc. ). Therefore, I expect the Xbox 720 to be the dominant console in Japan once it arrives in the fall of 2010.

Embassy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

yea japan is a lost cause...i dont think any american console will ever have a chance in japan...i think they need to focus on dominating europe and the U.S....

Oshi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Just wait til the DoA movie comes out. Bleugh!

Jeremy Wright @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Y'know, I'm sick of the sarcasm coming out of Joystiq towards the 360. I'm not a fanboy, but declaring the 360 dead in Japan after only a week?

C'mon.

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

"yea, microsoft is not gonna have a good launch in jp but..in the long run it will be a sucess....at least more of a sucess of the original xbox"

...and you know this how? Last time I checked the currently released up-coming games list, most of the games are western-centric which means they probably won't be system sellers. Sure there might be games from some known and respected developers but that won't make people spend a couple hundred bucks just to play a small handful of games.

In case some of you guys are too dense to figure this out, I'm not bashing the system...I'm just pointing out one of the problems that the original Xbox had and it "seems" like they are making that mistake again.

I could be wrong tho but this is just my observation.

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

quit being such a fanboy, jeremy. any american console would do poorly in japan. it's just a major culture and style and preference difference. the 360 hasn't even launched in japan yet.. joystiq is jsut speculating on something that's been expected since the beginning.

seriously though. i wish MS would just spend more time concentrating on the American and European markets rather than wasting efforts in Japan.

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Well if they want the system to be #1 then they have to at least try and focus on the Japanese market.

DigitalStupor @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

How is a week delay a big deal? I mean, are we that superficial?

But seriously, maybe MS should have spread out the console launch between all these regions to make up for the lack of units on the store shelves. I mean, if they launched in the US, Japan, and Europe, and went for a month of time between each launch, you would still have an impressive international launch, and probably have larger unit availability. I'm still not sure why this launch was crammed into a 6 week period?

prooie @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Just as I'm disappointed in Europe about them hyping oblivion which is now delayed until April. Or Ridge Racer which for idiotiv marketing readsons is delayed until end of January here. On the other hand, with MS getting the console ready for production so late it'll be March anyway until the 360 is generally available.

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Jago: yes, you're right.. the shortage is just frustrating :).

...

not like i can afford one right now anyway, though..

Guslav @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

people who write off the importance of the japanese market don't get it: japan's publishers will make more quality games for a system that sells well in japan than one that tanks. and last time i checked, konami, capcom, square-enix, etc. are pretty damn popular here as well as over there. if the 360 can't dent the japanese market, and it loses the support of everyone over there except for team ninja (again), that is a HUGE advantage for the ps3 both domestically and internationally.

that said, the 360 doesn't need to beat sony in japan to count its strategy as a success. it just needs to grow in popularity and place a respectable 3rd (as opposed to xbox's dismal 3rd) and keep those japanese developers on board while it takes a hard charge at sony in north america (the biggest market) and europe (a big third market)...

mike @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

i think MS will be waiting fdor the 99 nights bundle to kickstart japan it looks sweet

watership @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

#4

Japan is a lost cause? What cyrstal ball are you looking aat? PS2 launched with like 10 games in 2000 and most of them were crap. Let's wait and see what happens.

Jeremy Wright @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Rare Hare: I'm not a fanboy. There's a difference between saying "it looks like MS still won't be the first American manufacturer to make a dent in Japan" and saying "wow look at these 300 things they've done wrong that no Japanese person could ever stand... THESE are why MS will fail in Japan".

I buy that Japan's culture is incredibly different, and when Sony is the "home team", I get why getting another company's console would be silly (especially when the other company isn't serving your needs).

But Joystiq saying "Things are looking pretty sorry over in Japan" and "sparse number of backwards compatible games" and "a rather impressive coffin" just doesn't paint that kind of picture.

I'm not a 360 fanboy (don't own one, I'm waiting for an actual playable PS3 before making my decision), but I'm just sick of the sarcasm towards MS and the downright deference towards Nintendo and Sony.

All the companies (especially MS and Sony) have made massive mistakes this year, and they deserve to be called on them. Sarcasm's even fine with me as long as it's meted out to everyone on a regular basis. But the constant sarcasm (ahem, remember the 13 posts saying that the 360 launch shortage was faked for marketing purposes?) is getting old to me.

Joystiq is free to be Joystiq. Others are free to like it. I'm just letting the authors know that I, personally, as a long-time Joystiq reader don't appreciate it and if they do want to keep me as a reader (which may not matter to them) I'm just asking them to either tone it down a bit or dial it up so that they're sarcky to everyone a bit more.

I'm Canadian. I love sarcasm, but I don't enjoy watching a dead horse get beat to death.

Besides, is this really a story? Isn't EVERY delay a weakening to a certain degree of every console?

*sigh*

Gonna go for a walk now. Self, they're. Just. Games.

Cyberclaws @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Anyone know if 360 will have a MMOG in the making?

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

FFXI is being ported to it but other then I am not aware of an original MMO being made for it.

jl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Jeremy: I see where you're coming from. This article works in contrast to a previous one we ran about the efforts MS are putting in in Japan -- http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000460067469/ -- depending on which evidence you select to look at, it could either fail dismally or succeed spectacularly, but it's hard to tell which will happen as of now.

Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Jeremy: while it was wrong of me to immediately assume that you are a fanboy of any kind.. how can you POSSIBLY say that Joystiq shows any kind of favoritism when it comes to nintendo or sony??

every fan of one company or the other has said the same thing, only in the case of their chsoen company being the victim. have you already forgotten that Joystiq has a separate blog dedicated SOLELY to the Xbox 360??

give me a break, dude.

Black Guy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

The industry as a whole gives too much significance to Japan. A system success or failure in Japan is not indicative of its worldwide position nor can can it serve as precidence for its future outcome. Example: 1) Sega Saturn was a hit in Japan but it didn't fair very well in other markets. 2)The Xbox 1 was hardly recognized in Japan but it still managed to become a powerful brand particularly in the US and it managed to outsell Gamecube in terms of worldwide sales which is a significant achievement.

I for one can care less about Japan. I have a 360 and after spending hours with this bad boy I can attest that this is truly a great system with a lot of potential. I'm not a fanboy, this is my objective opinion. I don't care what some non-gamer at CNN says, or other reviews from dumb-ass reporters just printing something to pull readership, this is the most polished product ever out of MS. If the Japanese gaming community can't see that, can't get past their own predjudice, refuse to acknowledge a product because its not from their "home team", its their loss. I mean what the hell is Japan suppose to be, some kind of hub for the f****** world or something?

The 360 lack of games at the moment, so what? No system in history has ever launch with an entire lineup of AAA blockbuster genre redefining hits. Gamers should really stop having such unrealistic expectations. If they want to change that, then don't buy the 700th Madden, Splinter Cell 30, Final Fantasy XXXXXXXXXXXXXVVVVVVVVVVVV and pick up someting original. Only then will developers change... anyway....

Sony should stop being so arrogant and making outlandish claims about the PS3 supposed capabilities and start concentrating their efforts on something more substantial; like showing live footage instead of videos. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I'm willing to bet Sony is worried... I believe if MS does this right, they have a good chance of throttling back Sony's lead or even assume market leadership.

Killian @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Are you kidding, Joystiq? They're launching with a new Tetris title in Japan. Playable over Live!, I might add... /sarcasm

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BPJTLA/250-7534077-1194623

THIS is why they can say that it's not going to sell, at least right away, for everyone who's questioning it. That kind of stuff (along with lack of backwards compatibility) is just straight up half-assed, and they deserve to lose marketshare for it.

Geof @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

I think Guslav said it perfectly. Read his post. (#13)

While wining the console race in Japan would be a huge plus for MS (its not going to happen), I think they know they can't win. Get a decent number and not be shunned like the xbox, and get more and more of those japanese developers.

Good post Guslav.

Pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

MS should just give up in the Japanese market. They shouldn't have tried the whole global launch thing unless they had concrete Japanese games in gold before even thinking about launching. If they want to succeed in an RPG market, they need an RPG. The Japanese launch was dead before the DoA delay.

In saying that, I'm still waiting for my 360 Microsoft. Ship some of those over here instead.

Don @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

I'm sorry, but if Japanese developers neglect the 360 like they did the Xbox, I won't be buying one. I can't stand you people who don't care about the Japanese. Don't you realize that of the greatest games of all time, almost all are Japanese? And of course, Japanese developers are more willing to make original games. Look at the DS releases, notice how Japanese developers are making great, original titles, while all we have seen from American developers are some crappy ports?

Maicca @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

....this is the most polished product ever out of MS.
>>>> That's saying a lot about Microsoft's quality control. (ahem)

If the Japanese gaming community can't see that, can't get past their own predjudice, refuse to acknowledge a product because its not from their "home team", its their loss. I mean what the hell is Japan suppose to be, some kind of hub for the f****** world or something?
>>>>Out of the 20 highest selling games OF ALL TIME, **FIFTEEN** were made by a Japanese company.

>>>>Imagine if the launch titles for the XBOX 360 in America were a dating simulator, a horse racing game, a chess game, a pachinko game, an RPG, a train designing game, a virtual pet game, and a DDR-type game.Would you still be waving the 360 flag so high? What? You mean you can't recognize the *quality* of those games? Because all of those that I mentioned would actually sell well in Japan, because they cater to their desires, just as the US titles do to American gamers. The Japanese will just as soon eat a microwaved pseudo-burger (XBOX360) as you would a day-old piece of sushi.

Stephen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

I agree with Don.

If XBOX 360 doesn't penetrate the Japanese market, it will end up being the same as the old XBOX. It will not have many good Japanese titles. I won't be getting a 360 for sure if this happen. Pretty much all my my PS2 and Gamecube games are made by Japanese developers. I pretty much have no games made in America except for Blizzard's PC games.

If MS really wants to win against Sony, they need to realize this fact. It's cool that MS is getting 99 Nights, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, but it's not enough to turn the tide.

Jeff @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

"The industry as a whole gives too much significance to Japan."

Pretty much impossible, as it's literally about 50% of the total market, depending on what set of numbers you use (in total sales domestically and worldwide by Japanese developers, publishers, and manufacturers, it is literally *more* than 50% of the market).

The Japanese domestic market *was* shrinking for a while but is now growing again. But the domestic market is not really why Japan is so important. The domestic Japanese market is a gateway to the worldwide market. Dominate Japan and you have a leg up on dominating the world.

"1) Sega Saturn was a hit in Japan but it didn't fair very well in other markets."

That's your one example. That's everybody's one example when they make this argument. Meanwhile, the following consoles all launched to great success in Japan and only *then* launched to great success in the rest of the world:

* The NES
* The SNES
* The N64 (believe it or not, this system sold 36 million units worldwide)
* The PlayStation
* The PlayStation 2

Can a system be "successful" in the modern (post-crash) era without Japan? Not really. Let's look at your next point.

"2)The Xbox 1 was hardly recognized in Japan but it still managed to become a powerful brand particularly in the US and it managed to outsell Gamecube in terms of worldwide sales which is a significant achievement."

It also LOST FOUR BILLION DOLLARS.

Why not go and look up how much money Nintendo made from the GameCube over that same period?

MS lost a *huge* amount of money BECAUSE THEY FAILED IN JAPAN.

First, they lost the direct sales of the system and games - so about 1/3 of the total worldwide sales they had originally expected. Second, they lost developer support as a direct result of that, which further suppressed both worldwide sales and royalty revenues.

Every system has a break-even point. MS had original planned to be successful in Japan with the Xbox and they had planned for the Xbox to be profitable in the third year. Well, four years later, and with only about 500,000 sales in Japan, they are four BILLION dollars in the hole. Do I really need to say more?

I will anyway.

Sega has had a couple of consoles that were marginally successful in Japan and more successful in the US. It put them in an awkward position, just like the Xbox has with Microsoft. With the Genesis, Sega was left supporting a system that was doing well in the US and Europe but was losing badly to the SNES in Japan. Again, with only 2/3 the anticipated sales but 100% of the overhead, they had to act. Their reaction? Rushing the Saturn out the door.

MS is now in the same position with the Xbox as Sega was with the Genesis. Their reaction? Rushing the Xbox 360 out the door.

There are two ways you can go about approaching Japan:

1. Go after them with all your might, trying to secure the all-important Japanese developer support in the process, in order to get both the Japanese domestic market and the increase in sales those games will cause worldwide...

or

2. Ignore the market completely. Stay out, and accept that you will never have those developers, and you will never be able to compete with Japanese manufacturers either on their home turf or anywhere else.

You can take option 1, but you *must* be successful. Once you commit, there is no alternative but to succeed. There is no "well, Japan's not really that important" after you fail. FOUR BILLION DOLLARS says it's important. Nintendo's and Sony's contrasting profits over the same period says it's important.

Ok, I'm done.

Jeff @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

btw, in my first paragraph up there, substitute the word "industry" for "market". Too much damn wine tonight.

ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Once again I'll say it: Screw Japan. While I like the Japanese, and I love their country, I don't think it's necessary to conquer Japan's gaming scene for a console to be a success.

And I'm really, really sick of Japanese-style games. I'm pretty sick of Japanese developers, anime-style characters, and Japan-style RPGs. We've had several generations of this stuff, and I'm happy to see a western company and western developers supporting those of us who remember when gaming was ONLY an American industry, the days before Japan used their amazing skill at duplicating other nations' technology better than the originators turned the gaming scene into a field full of super-deformed, anime, fighting, rpg, otaku-friendly conversions of three-year-old Japanese games.

I'm not against Japan in any way. I'm just against any one nation dominating gaming and turning the whole scene into a stagnant pool of repetitive crap (like anime has done to the bulk of animation in the world). Japan isn't the home of video games, and I'm glad for that.

As far as I'm concerned, MS can abandon Japan and concentrate on the Americas and Europe. Let the Japan gamers have their same-old, same-old regurgitations of Japanese pop culture in video game form. Except for the rare gem (Katamari Damacy, for example) most Japanese games are starting to blur together from generation to generation.

Do we really need DOA 4? It's no different than DOA 1-3. Same with Soul Calibur; A great game in the first and second iterations, but now it's getting kind of old.

I miss the days of innovative stuff like Castle of Doctor Creep, Mail Order Monsters, Archon (I & II), Impossible Mission, M.U.L.E., Ancient Art of War, and other games of the early 80s. The NES came along and effectively dumbed-down the gaming that we westerners were already doing on our Commodore 64, Atari, and Amiga computers.

NES was fun. What sucks is that the industry assumed that if a Japanese company can make fun games like those on NES, then ALL games must have to be Japanese (or Japan-styled) in order to be marketable. They were wrong.

People hate on EA, but I have to say I'm glad they're still going strong. EA, LucasArts, RockStar, Atari, Naughty Dog, and all the other western developers & publishers make me happier than Namco, Nintendo, Square, or Sony of Japan ever have.

Do I want Japanese games to go away? No. I just want some balance in the market, and I want to see the video game industry lean away from trying to please the Japanese gamers. They have VASTLY different taste than Americans, and we can't keep aiming for that market and ignoring the western market. If that means the Japan launch of the 360 will make the otaku unhappy, so be it. Let them play Call of Duty 2 instead. We had to suffer with an abundance of Japanese games on every console until the Xbox, so as I see it, turnabout is fair play.

Let the Japanese buy the next Nintendo or Sony offering. Who cares? I think the west has enough people to make up the difference on the 360.

And before any of you dipwads flame me: I have Japanese friends. I like Japanese people. I have no problem with them or their culture. I'm only talking about GAMING and the unusually high number of Americans who buy Japan's old kids' cartoons and toys, and everything that looks even slightly anime-styled in order to seem cool and trendy. Get over it. You were born in the west. You aren't Japanese. It does not make you cool to act like a 13-year-old Japanese schoolgirl.

Johan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Good post Jeff.

CrAzY American @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

While I agree Japan is important, you have many flaws is your post.

First off, Japan is not the biggest market, the US is. Im not going to look it up, but it is.

2)How would the xbox doing better return a profit instead of a four billion dollar loss? The quote you took talked about brand recognition, not profit.

3)I don't understand how they lost developer support? They never had it to begin with (a lot of the japanese developers)

4)Why do ppl keep saying the 360 is rushed? How was it rushed? They got ready, and they launched. The ps2 launched a year before the xbox, and was that rushed? (The answer is no)

5)And i disagree with your "two ways of going about things"-like Guslav and Geof said, Get the developers. Go after Japan, but not with all of your resources, money, etc. If the 360 did decent (third place, but with medicore sales) in Japan, It would be huge. Not because of the sales (even though it would help) but because more developers would get on bored the 360.

Its all about the games, and you don't have to completely dominate Japan to get more developers, they just have to make some sort of stand.

CrAzY American @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

correction:

2)How would the xbox doing better IN JAPAN return a profit instead of a four billion dollar loss? The quote you took talked about brand recognition, not profit.

matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

rofl 360 is gonna do horrible in japan why try microsoft

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

The 360 will FLOP in Japan, just like the Xbox did, and I for one will be laughing my ass off!! :-D

Microsoft sucks and the 360 is lame. It offers absolutely NOTHING over the Xbox (which I own) besides prettier graphics. *yawns*

I have been so unimpressed with the 360 that I went out and bought a Nintendo DS because I wanted something FUN. Also, I've spent around $500 on games this holiday season (mostly PS2 and a few for my Xbox). In other words, I would have a 360 if I wanted one, it's certainly not about money.

The fact is, I DON'T WANT A 360!! Maybe in a couple of years when it's $150 and has at least 5 decent games available.

Actually, my fondest wish would be for Microsoft to get the hell out of the video game industry. Leave gaming to companies that actually care about making FUN GAMES. Sony and Nintendo are both awesome companies and even Sega was much better than Microsoft.

Getting back to the Japan thing. Failing there again (which they most certainly will) guarantees that the 360 will be (at best) second again. Microsoft will NEVER finish better than second without doing well in Japan. That's a fact. Sorry Microsoft fanboys.

jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

"I'm happy to see a western company and western developers supporting those of us who remember when gaming was ONLY an American industry"

Ummm...you do know it was AMERICAN gaming companies that basically destroyed the game industry right?

Some of the THE BEST games in the history of gaming are Japanese AND alot of them appeal to EVERYONE from all regions.

If the Japanese can make games that appeal to people from all 3 markets then there must be something wrong with Western developers then.

Plus you say that Japanese games are just repetitive crap. Have you taken a look at what games American/European developers make? They're sure are lot of "me too" urban/hip-hop, GTA-style, etc. Instead of actually using their IMAGINATION they are just making games based on either the re-hashed fantasy theme (orc, humans, etc.) or urban-themed junk (Getting up, True Crimes, Bulletproof, etc.)

ill trooper @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

I agree with Jeff on this.

Some simple google searches reveal the importance of the Japan/Asia market, as, in reality, expected GROWTH in in the video game industry in those regions is speeding up, while it's currently slowed in North America:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/pwc/talking_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000642643

It's also worth pointing out that the people who post here are some intense video game players and enthusiasts. Not necessarily the average consumer of these products - so while you may not like Nintendogs or something, it has just sold over 1 million units in Europe since it came out on Oct. 9th. That's a lot of people willing to go for something 'Japanesy' despite what three or four people type here.

While you may say 'it's about the games,' the popularity of a system has a very strong corrolation on what games are made for it. While you're right, dominating Japan isn't necessary, a much higher percentage of the market is. In a Wired magazine article a few years back, they discussed the bold move Microsoft made in paying Bungie to keep Halo exclusive to the xbox - at the time, the PS2 was at 80% market share. That meant a developer not writing for the PS2 was turning away 80% of the market, or conversly, why would small developers stress supporting a machine with approximately 10% market share? I'm sure Microsoft wants to avoid such daunting numbers for developers this time, and even-out global market share up higher to appeal to on-the-fence devs.

Also, a four BILLION dollar loss is still massive, even if it's microsoft losing it. It's a testiment to how far Microsoft will go to get market share. That's how much the tobacco industry spends on advertising every year - 11 million dollars a DAY for one year. A lot of fucking money. The link above talks about the US gaming industry in 2003 generating 7.6 billion dollars a year from software and periphrials. For microsoft to lose 4 billion over the life of the first Xbox is total madness. Only Microsoft could call that 'an investment' and get away with it.

So if it is an 'investment,' or building 'mindshare,' It's important the 360 does well in EVERY market, but the Asia market could be one of the most important, according to the PriceWaterhouse report heavily summarized in the link I posted above: In 2008, they estimate the US to be at $15.3 billion, while the Asia/Pacific region is expected to boom to $23.8 billion that year.

No one wants to miss out on that market, especially after investing/losing so much money to get involved.

Disclaimer: I'm not hating on Microsoft here, I love my Xbox360, it's the best thing Microsoft has ever done, and I really think it's a major turning point for them in terms of 'usability,' easily on the level with my favorite company for 'usability,' Apple. Just trying to point out that while you may not think that certain markets are important, the industry itself does. Microsoft did go for a 'global' launch, afterall.

AF4180 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

hey the xbox 360 has just been out for a week. It will be awhile before we could see, which company is number one.

judging a system will flop after a week it came out is so unprofessional. before some of you people hitting me back with all that FANBOY crap, let me tell you this: i have xbox, ps2 and a good gaming pc.... currently, i played most of my games on PS2. and the last game i played on the xbox was SSX On Tour (a month ago) while on the pc was half life 2(waaaaaayyyy back, months ago)... i admit, playstation has the best library of games out there. but i dont believe it will be the same when most game companies are going multiplatform in the next generation hardware. look at square enix...

lets be conservative here...reserve the judgement till all the next generation consoles are in the market.

however, for now there are things i have to say in the upcoming hardware wars is this

1. 360 launch in japan is weak without japanase games to cater the japanese market

2. the RSX specs seems unbelievable. 1.8TFLOPS is off the charts if that RSX is truly based on the nvidia G70, UNLESS they put 2 GPUS on the PS3. sort of like, SLI version of gaming console.

3. nintendo? weird...
they will stay in number 3 with that controller, but will survive for a long time.

Guslav @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

damn...there's actually some considered and intelligent opinions on here for once! props to geof, jeff, and crazy american, as i agree with stuff you've all said.

let's put it this way: ignoring or giving up on japan is not quite suicide, but it's like stabbing yourself in the foot before running off to battle.

at the same time, japan IS the 2nd largest market, and america the 1st. but, correct me if i'm wrong jeff, your point was that the proportion of the INDUSTRY made up by japanese console and game makers is more than 50%. am i right? if so, i would tend to agree.

where i part ways with jeff is on the reason why msft lost $4 billion. i would guess that has as much to do with the exorbitant cost of the xbox console versus the relatively inexpensive cost of producing a ps2 or revolution as it does with losing game license fees from japanese publishers.

microsoft has a soon-to-be-cheaper-to-manufacture console; now it needs to go in and grab market share in japan to keep those developers and publishers on board. if it can do this, and place a respectable third there, it has great chance of (very) significantly eroding sony's market share in north america and europe, and even a shot at overtaking the ps3 in north america (though doubtfully in europe, and even more doubtfully worldwide).