Japan to get the 360 price cut we all knew was coming
by Justin McElroy 
{ Oct 22nd 2007 at 10:10AM }
Forget about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, Microsoft is slashing prices on them. You want three chairs for $20? Done. You want four for $25? You got it. You want to pay 34,800 yen ($304) for your standard Xbox 360? Then it's yours! ... What's that Japanese consumer? ... You just want some chairs. ... Oh, OK, sure. No problem. Chairs it is.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
FordGTGuy @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:21AM
That picture is really disrespectful to all the fictional characters that died with the titanic.
umm....hello??? @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:01AM
you're retarded (read: SLOW). it's called "comedy" or "satire". if you want politically correct gaming news, go somewhere else.
ThornedVenom @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:10AM
Oh come on, Rose survived that crash and lived beyond a hundred years! On the other hand, Jack got frozen and got revived in Titanic 2. =P
Trailer => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iOuYkbrx4w
ThornedVenom @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:11AM
Dear Mr. umm.... hello???
It is best not to lecture upon such notions of "comedy" and "satire" when one "does not get it".
KTHXBAI.
Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:12AM
He's not retarded. He was being just as sarcastic and satirical as you were attributing to the article. Notice the word "fictional" on there. Pretty funny, if you ask this guy.
thedonandmikeshow @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:41AM
That was funny Ford, and the best part was all the dumb asses who didn't get your jest. SquadXp Podcast 4 evar!!!
NATO_Duke @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:08PM
umm....hello???
Whens the next MENSA meeting swifty? Quite the lecture from someone who couldn't see what was an obvious and funny joke.
Trismegistos @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:22AM
Might increase sales a bit but they are never going to break into the Japanese market.
copa @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:33AM
Desperate price cuts ain't gonna sell the 360 in Japan, and they ain't gonna sell PS3 in the States.
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:16AM
yeah, the japs are too big of sony fanboys
kip @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:39PM
I'm pretty sure the term "japs" is kind of offensive..
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:12PM
isn't gaijin offensive too?
32_Footsteps @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:23AM
Qucik, can someone tell me how easy it is to get American games working on a Japanese 360? Doing the math, I'm thinking the cheapest way to get a 360 would be to just import one.
Though I'd appreciate the irony of an American going through an importer to buy a console made by an American company.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:30AM
I think the 360 is region free.
Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:13AM
That IS some delicious irony!
Blast Processing Megadrive @ Oct 22nd 2007 8:17PM
360 isn't region-free. However, developers do have the option of region-locking games or not.
Play-Asia has a list of games that are/are not region locked (note that not all games have been fully tested yet).
And, well, importing a system is never cheap.
megaStryke @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:28AM
It's like a liquidation sale over there!
ukickmydog (NDF - Earth) @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:32AM
xbox 360 is a good system, i love mine more than the wii at the moment, but japan will be a tough nut to crack, probably will be a loss this gen, but maybe next time
ukickmydog (NDF - Earth) @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:35AM
*note to self, use less commas; more periods
jsn @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:34PM
Microsoft said as much a year ago. they knew it was going to be a slow process to break into the Japanese market and would take several generations to grab mind share over there.
Konny @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:44AM
Japanese retailers are probably still selling through their launch inventory.
rTwelve @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:44AM
My heart will go on~~~~~~~~~~~!
Karen @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:11AM
I hate you. Now I have that crappy song in my head.
ThornedVenom @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:12AM
Make that two, you Celine-Dion-song necromancer.
baka_07 @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:52AM
This will help Xbox 360 in japan for sure, even if only 1-2 thousands more Xboxes.
Biggie @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:53AM
Now if only they would cut the price of the 360 in Canada! We're paying $415 US for our Pro system, a $65 premium. This discrepancy looks really bad in light of Sony's decision to make the price for the PS3 the same in the U.S. and Canada. Making the PS3 a far better deal for Canadian, shame it has no games that I want to play. If MS does adjust pricing before Christmas I know what I'll be putting under my tree.
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:11AM
you anywhere near the border? you could come down here for a weekend
Karen @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:17AM
I want a price cut too but right now you can get Guitar Hero II for free along with Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate alliance when you buy the system at Future Shop.
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10095080&catid=
Snatcher (MDF - Halo Ring) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:00AM
I bet it's cheaper in Japan because its cheaper to ship. It is made in the region. Just a thought.
Slaziman @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:21AM
Thanks for your thoughtful observation! Although I think they also cut the price to break through in the Japanese market.
timnc @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:22AM
Kudos!
Cellien @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:17AM
It's just crazy how much Japan rejects American consoles.. Best games on the market, good price, lots of 3rd party support.. That's what MOST people base their opinions of a good console on. Over there.. they base everything on whether or not it's a Japanese console.
Slaziman @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:23AM
Well most of the 360 gems do not appeal to Japanese culture, so I think your comment is pretty dumb. The Wii and the PS3 have more games that appeal to the Japanese people. So in conclusion, although your comment contains a grain of truth, it is not THE reason the 360 is failing in Japan.
Phranctoast @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:28AM
They could be relating it to reliability. If is indeed that, they are justified. Maybe there are a lot more horror stories about having to deal with the returns when living in japan. idk, just speculating.
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:30AM
don't they like metroid over there? if so, i don't see why they wouldn't like halo
Broken @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:41AM
Not really. Japanese people base their opinion on the "high rates of failure" and "FPS murder games" from the 360 as depicted by the media. Unlike the Japanese, US consumers have a much higher tolerance for failure and murder.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:47AM
Get ready to be flamed for being ignorant.
iPods have no problems selling in japan, as well as American Music and Movies.
Contrary to what you think, Japan actually LOVES american stuff. The problem with the Xbox360 is the marketing. It has 2 pretty big JRPGs, with Square furnishing at least 1 more in the near future. Right now the PS3 has what, Zero JRPGs on it.
The PS3 has more western centric games on it than the 360 has. The only reason 360 doesn't sell is because nobody knows this fact.
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:57AM
the japanese didn't have any problem killing chinese by the thousands in the 40's, i doubt they've changed that much in 60 years
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:21PM
ooh check out the hot sellers in japan last week:
1. DS Nishimura Kiyoutarou suspense new detective series Trap of Kotou murderous intent of the Kyoto & Atami stopping sea
2. Dragon ball Z sparking! Meteor
3. Gundam battle chronicle
4. Exploratory party at the time of Don John of ポケモン wonder
5. ????
6. Exploratory party of the Don John darkness of ポケモン wonder (sounds a lot like number 4?)
7. RISE FROM LAIR (ライズフロムレア)
8. アルカイック sealed heat
9. Foundation Japanese Chinese character performance test association official recognition Chinese inspection DS2 + usual Chinese character dictionary
10. The DS insight which forges the power which you see with practice (メヂカラ) training
one ps3 game, 2 ps2 games, and the rest are portables
Cellien @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:21PM
@Crono: Thanks for not reading. It helps when you read my comment and noticed I said nothing of iPods or any other product and clearly pointed out only consoles. Call me ignorant? Say what you will, but you can't read. :)
That said, I agree with you that the marketing could possibly be off over there, but unless you know exactly what their marketing strategy is and provide proof, then I am forced to believe you are just spouting gibberish based on what YOU think is the case in that region as opposed to what the popular belief is.
@Slaziman: You might fail to realize the 360 has more JRPGs than the PS3. The PS3, as Crono also states, has very Western-centric games which makes your statement incorrect.
Slaziman @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:20PM
Because JRPG's are the only games that appeal to the Japanese amirite? Games like Heavenly Sword, Lair, Folklore, and the Gundam games (I believe one of the Gundam games (Musuo?) even caused a spike in sales) appeal more to them than Gears, Halo, Bioshock.
And much like the majority of PS3 owners on this site, they probably bought the PS3 based on what (they hope) is coming, or in other words, its potential.
ferrarimanf355 @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:34AM
Justin, it would help a lot if you just admit that you hate the Xbox 360, because the bias is clearly showing in this "news article".
Jerk Face @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:38AM
OMG JOYSTIQ IS TOBIAS!
gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:43AM
who's Tobias? i thought the author of this post was Justin
Cellien @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:25PM
Tobias is one of the creators from the Mortal Kombat series. His name backwards is Saibot in which the character Noob Saibot was formed. Boon, was the other creator from the MK franchise, his name backwards is Noob, the first name of Noob Saibot.
An MK founder now works at Joystiq? Jerkface said it first!
ferrarimanf355 @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:57PM
Jerkface, your screenname is so appropriate...
Slaziman @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:26PM
Welcome to Joystiq ferrarimanf355 (wtf?)! Please note that Joystiq is a blog that loves making little jokes about EVERY console, when the chance is there. They make as much jokes about the 360 RRoD and its failure in Japan as the jokes they make about the Wii's lack of games, horrible minigame fests, and graphics. And the PS3 gets constantly burned on this site.
So please, keep your ignorant JOYSTIQ IS TEH BIAS comments to yourself.
baka_07 @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:37AM
Those who says that xbox lack of success in japan is not because it is a US console, please tell me is there any Western games that succeeded there?
The main reason xbox keep on faling in Japan is because it is not JAPANESE!!!!
Cyro @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:58AM
That is so true. Japs dont like anything thats not Japanese. That's why No one should buy the stupid PS3/Wii in the US. Oh wait a second. No one is buying the PS3........
Just a tiny bit of flame bait there sorry. :)
0ldb0y @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:40AM
The costs of the price cut will be partially offset by the decline in the value of the US Dollar. Win/win really for MSFT and Japan. That is IFF Japanese people start picking it up.