Japanese Xbox 360 sales fall back to Earth

by Kyle Orland { Aug 22nd 2008 at 10:30AM }

Well that was fast. It seems like just last week we were reporting the bizarre news that the Xbox 360 had suddenly leapfrogged the PS3 in weekly Japanese sales, selling nearly 25,000 units on the strength of Tales of Vesperia's release. Things are back to normal this week, though, with Microsoft's system once again sitting comfortably in last place with 7,258 units sold. Don't get us wrong, this is still a relatively strong number considering the system's historically low sales and reportedly widespread supply problems in Japan. But anyone hoping that last week's numbers were a sign of a permanent realignment in the Japanese console market might want to return to reality's cold embrace.

Tags: japan, japanese-hardware-sales, tales-of-vesperia, xbox-360

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

rivaldi22 @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:32AM

Sweet photoshopping.

FOXHOUND @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:56AM

...and now it's my new wallpaper for my PSP. :d

copa @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:32AM

For anyone hoping that last week's numbers were a sign of a permanent realignment in the Japanese console market: Also, Santa doesn't exist.

Duke @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:11AM

Can't sell what's out of stock.

arrrgh @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:32AM

+1 there. shelves are empty

Phinehas @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:25PM

Exactly. If demand is still high, but supply is constraining sales, then some sort of permanent realignment may still be in the cards.

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:44PM

"Can't sell what's out of stock."

Dunno, somehow Nintendo is managing.

Tiptup300 @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:21PM

This is just a guess, but i think Nintendo would have more Wiis available in japan then Microsoft with 360s.

phr3qu3ncy441 @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:37AM

well, maybe with infinite undiscovery and last remnant coming out soon... we may see a return.

PeacefulOutrage @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:39AM

Supply problems meaning none in the entire country. I think that would have an effect on sales. I don't blame MS, though, because I'm sure they allocated the other systems to territories they thought the system would actually sell in. Not a bad problem to have.

If the rumored price drop is real, I wonder what effect that would have on Japanese sales, especially considering what is releasing there soon.

Zertoss @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:39AM

What?!

...

Heh heh, I only exploded a little that time!

Andrew Yoon @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:41AM

That is one very creepy avatar you have. I approve!

zuburi @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:44AM

You're going to make Samfish cry with that avatar!

Zertoss @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:44AM

Everybody approves of naked Peach.

samfish @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:54AM

We're forming the nakedPeach Brigade.

Soon, everyone on Joystiq will have a nakedPeach avatar! MWA HAHAHAHAH!

Jacksons @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:58AM

So much for super sonic.

Arttemis @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:24AM

You can control that with medication.

Zertoss @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:35AM

Don't worry, Jacksons. Super Sonic will live on in all of our hearts, at least until I decide to change back to that avatar.

Yourself @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:37PM

Naked Peach: eh... kinda weird
Bondage: eh... kinda awesome
Zertoss: Ballsy. I like it.

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:49PM

"Naked Peach: eh... kinda weird
Bondage: eh... kinda awesome"

Dunno, bondage may start with clothing, but it's kinda lame if it ends that way. So either way, Peach is naked.

♫ Millions of peaches, peaches for me, millions of peaches, peaches for free...♪

Yourself @ Aug 22nd 2008 12:54PM

Ah, well, sort of more what I meant was weird was a video game icon I remember from my childhood being naked.

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:00PM

"Ah, well, sort of more what I meant was weird was a video game icon I remember from my childhood being naked."

That could be an indication that you're too normal for this crowd. If I had any artistic talent I'd be crafting my own line of Precious Moments® erotica.**

**All figurines are drawn 18 and up.

Immortal Technique PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:06PM

moving to the country
gonna eat me a lot of peaches

peaches come from a can
they were put there by a man
in a factory downtown

Jakka(Naked Peach Defence Force!) @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:46PM

Samfish, I like that. Gonna put it in my name.

Joystick Hero @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:40AM

Couldn't the low sales be indicative of shortages of the system? I seem to recall a story not too long ago stating that the system was becoming hard to find over there.

Matt @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:30AM

its not hard to find. I live here. all of those stories are highly exaggerated to create demand perhaps.

Tales came out last week and it is a popular title so it helped push more 360s. Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remnant and Star Ocean 4 should do the same.

Brandon @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:54PM

@Matt
Probably depends on where you live in Japan.... where I live theres a metric shitton of Wiis and Wii fits.. though in the next city over they're completely sold out

tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:40AM

I guess I could say I feel bad for anyone who didn't see this coming, but then I'd be feeling bad for stupid people and I just don't do that.

tifosiotaku @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:40AM

With articles like this, no wonder GAF wordfiltered Joystiq. That, and the childish comments.

(Flame away!)

Vidikron (FU) @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:16AM

LOL... GAF. A forum fool of tools anyway.

Vidikron (FU) @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:17AM

*sigh* Now I look like an idiot. That should obviously be "full". I was thinking about "fools".

Wiinterfang @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:25AM

Don't worry, I get it the first time.

borland502 (SDF Macross) @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:04PM

I'm not a member, but from what I hear NeoGAF isn't exactly a bastion of maturity. Dude, most of us are adults playing games engineered for a younger crowd. A gaming blog isn't the NY Times; it's got too much integrity for that.

tifosiotaku @ Aug 22nd 2008 6:43PM

99 percent of responses to blogposts here seem to indicate otherwise...

samfish @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:50AM

In fairness, MS said they were sold out of 360s in Japan and ToV sold something like 19,000 copies this week, too, if I'm not mistaken.
Had they been prepared for this, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the 360 above the PS3 again.

Fenix @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:07AM

Yyyyuppers.

TheGadgetGuru @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:52AM

You do realize that even 7k units sold still ads up to the total amount in Japan. Microsoft is slowly adding its installed user base in that country- something that they had planned all along.

Kevin @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:58AM

Along with Sony and Nintendo.

Top Cat @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:04AM

As opposed to the companies that aimed to reduce their user base?

The difference is, Microsoft is doing this worse than everyone else.

Boffo the Sock @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:54AM

Didn't Joystiq just report two days ago that the Xbox 360 was sold out in Japan? It would be hard to sell any systems when there aren't (m)any to sell. For all we know, those low sales figures could still be every console on the market in Japan.

This post just seems kind of pointless. It's like reporting that you drank Windex before bed, and then reporting that you woke up with some serious diarrhea the next day.

Jacksons @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:04AM

Not to mention the blue urine. Man, that was a weird day.

Noshino @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:23AM

Problem is, the actual news of 360s being sold out across Japan is older than 2 days...

xGeneral DEATHx @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:23AM

...but at least you got to stay out of work!

Boffo the Sock @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:28AM

@Noshino

You're right...it's 3 days old.

http://japanese.engadget.com/2008/08/19/xbox-360-9/

Noshino @ Aug 22nd 2008 1:55PM

No, not really, there have been rumors about it for a while...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=12223138&postcount=304

...an about 5 or so days ago some stores had mentioned being out of stock. If Im not wrong, even CheapyD mentioned some time ago (once again, about 5 days or so) that the 360 was completely out of stock on the biggest store in Akihabara...so yes, Microsoft WAS aware of this problem long ago.

Boffo the Sock @ Aug 22nd 2008 2:12PM

Ok, I concede your point that rumors of the shortage existed before the articles verifying the shortage were published, but I fail to see how that changes anything regarding my original post.

Joystiq did in fact report this only two days ago; a shortage will always result in lower numbers, and drinking Windex will always give you the bubble guts.

Noshino @ Aug 22nd 2008 2:47PM

My response was in regards of this statement

"It would be hard to sell any systems when there aren't (m)any to sell"

Microsoft was aware of this problem, they most likely restocked retailers right away, so there should have been units available.

Thing is, you make it seem that since Joystiq posted this news 2 days ago, they (Microsoft) hadn't been aware of the problem and didn't have enough time to get units to retailers, and like I mentioned above, that isn't true.

Boffo the Sock @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:26PM

You mentioned that Microsoft had plenty of time, but you didn't support your claim with any evidence. You linked a post on a forum from three weeks ago regarding a rumor of an impending shortage, not any sort of official verification to your claim. I never implied that I had any prior knowledge of the shortage, nor pretended to have knowledge of how quickly Microsoft found out or how quickly they could respond. All I did was state when the shortage was officially reported.

Can enough Japanese Xbox 360s be manufactured in 3 weeks to meet the unexpected leap in demand? Microsoft doesn't seem to think so since they said they are doing their best to get units to Japan some time in September.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/900/900488p1.html

You need to understand, that there aren't very many systems in Japan right now, so they are hard to sell. I'm sure that if Microsoft could have willed enough systems onto shelves to meet demand in three days, or even three weeks, then they already would have already done so.

XDragon @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:02AM

Don't expect to see high numbers for 360 in Japan on any sort of regular basis. It will happen every time an exclusive JRPG comes out and it will be limited to that new release time frame. Hopefully MS has learned their lesson and they will have more inventory available to support those high demand new release titles. If they keep on getting more exlusive and good JRPGs as well as the ones released on the other systems, then they might gain some ground in Japan.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Aug 25th 2008 8:52AM

It strikes me that PS3 has literally no {J,S}RPGs. Wii has only handful of PS2/GC ports too.

I wonder what's wrong with the current generation of consoles.

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