Blue Dragon helps boost 360 in Japan

by Kyle Orland { Oct 19th 2006 at 11:20AM }

Let no one doubt the power a popular anime artist and a popular RPG developer can have on a system's success in Japan. 1up is reporting that pre-orders for the 10,000 limited edition Blue Dragon Xbox 360 bundles are selling briskly, with some retailers running out of stock within minutes. This is the same console that barely sold 2,000 units in the country last week, making the healthy interest all the more surprising.

Is this sales surge a temporary blip due to a collectible bundle, or will Microsoft be able to parlay the interest into a sustainable market share in the country? Either way, we'd advise Microsoft that a boob-filled bundle for Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 couldn't hurt in the land of the giant huggable Kasumi pillow.

Tags: blue dragon, BlueDragon, Japan, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

AZ I BORICUA @ Oct 19th 2006 11:30AM

GO MICROSOFT. I KNOW MICROSOFT HAS BEEN HARD AT WORK AND IS HIGHLY REJECTED IN JAPAN. THIS IS GOOD NEWS. hARD WORK PAYS OFF.

Allen @ Oct 19th 2006 11:30AM

Good ol' RPGs. :)

The Intangible Fact @ Oct 19th 2006 11:33AM

About damn time the 360 got some support on the RPG side of the world.

benjamin @ Oct 19th 2006 11:32AM

You know, I *hate* DBZ, but I love Akira Toriyama's designs.

Given that I enjoyed the newest DQ as well, I think I'll pick this up when/if it comes state-side.

jayntampa @ Oct 19th 2006 11:32AM

If Microsoft wants to be competitive in Japan, the better damn sure have a plan of following Blue Dragon up with regular content that the Japanese want to buy. If they linger with no good releases (like they did here) they'll lose Japan for good.

However, when Blue Dragon sells well in Japan AND the US -- more Japanese developers will realize that programming for the 360 is a wise move. Look at Capcom counting all the case for Dead Rising ... and then again for Lost Planet.

Lord_Satorious @ Oct 19th 2006 11:34AM

All I have to say is never underestimate the power of an RPG on the Japanese gaming community.

jojo29 @ Oct 19th 2006 3:07PM

How many of those copies are for NEW 360 users and not NEw buyers is the real question

crono141 @ Oct 19th 2006 11:39AM

Its too early for me to say anything I'd like to say (about how sony is boned in japan now too), but I think it could happen.

Scott @ Oct 19th 2006 11:44AM

Isn't this what everyone has been saying all along? The reason the Xbox and the 360 haven't been selling well is that they've had no Japan-centric titles?

Now with Japanese-centric titles like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey coming out sales should pick-up. The only question is does MS have anything else in the pipeline for the Japanese market to keep the interest going?

computer gamer @ Oct 19th 2006 11:51AM

Blue Dragon is looking like it's going to be very special, a lot of western gamers will want it to. If the Japanese gamers have finally woken up to games over brands then great.

The 360 is a machine, nothing more nothing less, it doesn't matter where it's made or who by. If it has a game like Blue Dragon exlusive for it then any discerning RPG fan is going to look into picking one up.

let's hope it's the start of good releases for the east and not a one (or two) off.

Ironhide Delta @ Oct 19th 2006 11:55AM

This is excellent news. The only thing that has stopped many Japanese developers from doing content for 360 has been the market size. With the only direction as going up available, not to mention that MS is truely catering to the Japanese tastes, with real games that appeal to the loyalty groups (I.E. RGP fans that flock to a creator's product).

This is the same kind of devotion that sells systems. Playstation one would not be where it is now without Squaresoft-Enix, simple as that. As one Japanese gamer was quoted; "We go where the games go." That sums up this startling 360 interest quite well.

Andrew @ Oct 19th 2006 12:01PM

Note to Microsoft:

Make more limited edition bundles.

Steve2 @ Oct 19th 2006 12:30PM

Also, Nobuo Uematsu did the music, he did the music for most of the FF series.

I don't know where the above posters got their numbers, but Capcom isn't making bank off 360. Yes, Dead Rising sold out. Most stores only had 5 copies though.

Blue Dragon could be a different story though, if it sells units, then it raises the number of consoles for developers to sell to in Japan. Will it raise it enough? The answer is probably no. If this is a success, MS has to follow it up with another hit, quick. Then MS will start to get somewhere.

JJ @ Oct 19th 2006 12:17PM

Well this IS a good boost... but its going to take more than 10k units, much mroe, for them to make a healthy impact on that market. Heck i'm willing to bet there's more 360's in the state of michigan at htis point.

This is definately a step in the right direction, but 2 rpgs aren't going to have much of a lasting effect. They need to sustain those numbers and keep releasing japanese centric games so as to show that country MS means business.

They also need to work on creating a bunch of niche titles like the PS2 did....which is why the PS2 won the console war. It didn't have just the big games like GTA and FInal Fantasy, it had tons of other games too.

Personally i think thats the one stigma with the Xbox... unless all you do is play madden or Halo... there's nothing on the system you cant get more of elsewhere. They need to fix that first and foremost

JJ @ Oct 19th 2006 12:17PM

Well that and anything with Akira toriyma in it is like gold to the japanese... DB and DBZ are still some of the most popular franchises over there too.

Colonel Angus @ Oct 19th 2006 12:18PM

you can't just sell the same crap in a limited edition bundle. They did that numerous times with the first xbox in japan. Yeah they'll sell out, but the majority will also end up on ebay for US buyers to get. I remember seeing those crystal xbox flood ebay after they were released in japan.

Making better games for japan is how you get their attention.

Gary @ Oct 19th 2006 12:22PM

Triple word score to Joystiq for working in the improbable phrase, "boob-filled bundle."

"I'd buy that for a dollar."
-Robocop

David @ Oct 19th 2006 12:24PM

It's great news, and shows that original IPs that look interesting will generate interests even on an American console. If Xbox 360 has a true Dragon Quest sequel, it'll generate even more interests in Xbox360 than Blue Dragon did, because DQ is the biggest game in Japan. Hopefully, MS keeps wooing Square Enix to release their biggest guns in 360.

epobirs @ Oct 19th 2006 12:30PM

The Japanese market has shown repeatedly that it will turn out in large numbers for a single game. The trick is keeping up the release schedule with desirable items so that those machines will remain with their purchasers rather than flooding the secnd-hand stores a few months later.

The timing for the release of Trusty Bell/Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, and other titles will be critcal to sustaining this growth. It is going to take over the market but having a strong niche is a big improvement over their previous status.

The goal isn't to win Japan but rather to provide Japanese developers with local response for their efforts while they look to the global market for the profits. They don't have to make their money in Japan but they do need that feedback from the people they see as their peers to gain the feeling of accomplishment that sustains creative effort.

Enycma @ Oct 19th 2006 12:37PM

This looks bad for Sony. If Xbox starts to pump up more content like this, the japanese gamer won't need the PS3 anymore. Square will only need to port FFXIII and there goes Sony. I mean, why buy an expensiver system if this one is cheaper and you can play the same games. (Only without the Suxass Controller)

But then again, I doubt that Square's allegiance will be broken that easily... but then again, they broke theirs with Nintendo.

Roger T @ Oct 19th 2006 12:38PM

Well, I for one, am happy with the news. It was embarrassing how poorly the xbox 360 was doing in Japan.

JJ @ Oct 19th 2006 12:54PM

but eny you could say the same thing about current gen stuff. Why buy a more expensive console when the PS2/xbox/gc do just fine now?

One game is not going to change the market. It'll sell a few systems sure, but its not going to theoretically change anyones mind that was going to get a PS3 anyway.

I mean just look at the numbers, sure 10k units is a lot... but the 360 sells more a month in the states than it has in a year in Japan. ANY increase can be lauded as a Great game release i'm guessing, the problem is, will it be sustainable?

This is helpful, but its not like its amazingly great news either.

Magic Ketchup @ Oct 19th 2006 1:34PM

I wonder what kind of benefits did Microsoft give to the studio that makes the game Blue Dragon. I am pretty sure that no game studio besides Tecmo would make games for Xbox given its dismal sales. Same as Nintendo, how did they get Capcom to make Resident Evil "exclusives"?

logikil @ Oct 19th 2006 1:49PM

If Blue Dragon is the RPG that Xbox360 owners and RPG fans think it will be, it will be enough to sustain interest up to the release of Trusty Bell (the next RPG in the trio that is in the pipeline.) If that also manages to be a decent game then you have additional interest leading up to Lost Odyssey. This is all good.

My worry is complaceny. MS needs to continue to court Japanese developers. European and American devs already dig the 360, no question, the need is to get the same kind of love from Japan.

Also, as stupid as it sounds to us, get the dating sims, and the horse training game, pachinko, etc. There is a market for those games in Japan and MS needs them to continue to gain any kind of support.

Good show MS, and hurry up and bring Blue Dragon to the US.

Oh by the by, Enchanted Arms got a really bad rap. I think it's actually a pretty cool and nice looking JRPG.

logikil @ Oct 19th 2006 1:53PM

Magic Ketchup:

MS fronted the costs. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are not exclusives because MS paid a company to make them exclusive (like the res evil deal you mentioned.) Both those games were comissioned by MS, which is why they will be published under the MGS banner.

kftgr @ Oct 19th 2006 3:19PM

Steve2,
It's true that Capcom doesn't have much Dead Rising in Japan. But Capcom sure is making a bundle with it in the rest of the regions.

Much looking forward to Blue Dragon. Perhaps even Red Dragon, Diamond Dragon, and Pearl Dragon. :)

BTW, any guesses on how badly the next two months of X360 sales reports are going to suck in Japan? The BD bundle is less than 5000 yen from the price of a Wii!

VampireHunter Z @ Oct 19th 2006 3:19PM

MSFT doesn't need to be a knockout success in Japan. Right now they are selling about 2000 consoles a week there. If they could get that number up to 10K - 15K a week they can be a competitive force there and drive more developer support. As said above they have to drop titles like this back to back and keep a constant flow.

Lefty @ Oct 19th 2006 3:26PM

jojo29

its a bundle with a 360 not just a game

theres 100,000 and 10,000 of those come with little figurines of the characters

you get a core 360 and bludragon for 250 bucks. theres also a bundle with i think enchanted arms and ninety nine nights for 268.00.

FSK405K @ Oct 19th 2006 3:48PM

I will by a 360 if the Blue Dragon bundle...with cool faceplate and all...comes to the US. Not before.

Happy @ Oct 19th 2006 4:41PM

Japan is stupid. People all over the world seem to like these boring japanese rpgs, but people in Japan shun games that we like.
Also, Blue Dragon looks like crap.

Lefty @ Oct 19th 2006 5:11PM

FSK405K

sorry to hear it cuase its very unlikley to be bundled over here for anything close to that price

Happy

i donlt know what game ur looking at but its freaking sweet and smooth. every one who played it at tgs loved it. and its from the animator of dragonballz. so its right up my alley.

also at tgs is had a 2 hr line biggest for any game at tgs. this is not a suprise at all. only question is what else ms has in the pipeline for japan gamers. they better have something or they will lose this momentum lost oddyssey and blue dragon has drummed up

Ironhide Delta @ Oct 19th 2006 7:21PM

***MS fronted the costs. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are not exclusives because MS paid a company to make them exclusive (like the res evil deal you mentioned.) Both those games were comissioned by MS, which is why they will be published under the MGS banner.
***

Oh please, if that's your strongest argument, then the same can and will be said to Sony and Nintendo. You think those guys doing Lair are doing it out of the goodness of their heart or that they truely believe the PS3 is better? It's money plain and simple. Sony dumped a bathtub full of money on thier collective laps.

Mist Walker was funded by Microsoft to make the games to appeal to Japanese audiences. If Mistwalker sees profits from this, then guaranteed there will be many more Mistwalker games for 360. All conveniently enough, exclusive.