Not big in Japan: Xbox 360's price tag

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Sep 1st 2008 at 12:30PM }

The Xbox 360's continued struggle to win the hearts, minds and tightly shut wallets of Japanese gamers is not without benefits for tardy adopters. Microsoft has announced a new price drop for the system in the region, with the Xbox 360 Arcade model costing 19,800 yen ($180) as of September 11th. The nearly 30% drop will make the system the cheapest of the current-gen bunch -- and yes, that includes the Wii, you snarkastic lot sitting at the back.

In addition, the 60GB Xbox 360 will be introduced to Japan at 29,800 yen ($270), while the Elite will have its price chopped to 39,800 yen ($370).

[Via Engadget]

Tags: BreakingNews, Desperation, Japan, Microsoft, Price-Drop, Xbox-360, Xbox-360-60GB, Xbox-360-Arcade, Xbox-360-Elite

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Akamaru @ Sep 1st 2008 12:34PM

That's great. Does anyone know if I can buy a Japanese Xbox and play my US games on it? I know my PS3 is really import friendly but what about the 360?

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:05PM

I think so. Unlike Europe and Australia which runs on PAL's, both Japan and US are NTSC.In all technicality you should have a problem playing American Discs on a Japanese Console.

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:07PM

*shouldn't have

Joystiq should have an edit button. Then again if that happened, ever major troll around here would need to be QFT'd ever he wrote something.

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:09PM

* every time

I think I have dyslexia...

Cody @ Sep 1st 2008 2:06PM

Yeah you probably could...but IMO it would cost to much to import the thing. Unless you go to Japan...in that case TAKE ME WITH YOU...please? :) J/K

mcatrage @ Sep 1st 2008 2:35PM

There is actually NTSC J and NTSC U so for some games they will not play on a NTSC J system if you bought the NTSC U game version.

See below,
http://forum.xbox-sky.com/xbox360_regional_compatibility_guide/

Cyro @ Sep 1st 2008 12:36PM

This should increase the install base in Japan. Hopefully.... :/

OMGOMG @ Sep 1st 2008 2:51PM

I doubt it. The Japanese still think the thing just has a bunch of FPS's and won't care.

13alder @ Sep 3rd 2008 10:32AM

it doesn't have just a ton of FPS's? i love my 360 but pretty much every game i play on there is in the first person... Not that there's anything wrong with that, and the fps rpgs are really good but still.

HB96st @ Sep 1st 2008 12:37PM

Dope... But the Japanese will still hate on M$... Wake up!! The 360 is THE console to own!!

Cyro @ Sep 1st 2008 12:44PM

Why did you have to go and use the freaking "M$" ! -10 because of that.

maylon @ Sep 1st 2008 1:04PM

Right, we really need to put $ to rest.

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:10PM

I AM A MASSIVE TROLL, PLEASE ASK ME LEAVE JOYSTIQ.

...sorry, couldn't resist.

j.howlett @ Sep 1st 2008 1:14PM

why do some people get so pissy about the $. i have seen it used for years about microsoft, way before they wanted in on consoles.

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:55PM

....because Microsoft is as much of a company/corporation as Nintendo and Sony, only more successful?

I don't see people saying stuff like $ony or Yentendo although the latter is far more successful than MS will ever be(Gaming-wise).Using M$ is both stupid and pointless...

Vcize @ Sep 1st 2008 2:04PM

"Yentendo"....LOL

Saeth @ Sep 1st 2008 2:35PM

"Yentendo"

Hahaha, classic.

Noshino @ Sep 1st 2008 3:01PM

HB96st,

It isn't really THE console to get, it is harder to tell which is the best console this time around.

Anyway, no, the 360 is far from bein gthe console to get for the japanese crowd, lower pricepoint won't do much.

They need japanese oriented games, and they need to market them AS SUCH, they have done so for the US, I don't see how in hell is it that they don't understand that.

Jakka,

"I don't see people saying stuff like $ony or Yentendo although the latter is far more successful than MS will ever be(Gaming-wise).Using M$ is both stupid and pointless..."

It has nothing to do with success, it had more to do with Microsoft's often rumored/reported practices. But yah, it got boring a long time ago, it is easier to type S than $...

Wiinterfang @ Sep 1st 2008 3:20PM

Yentendo huh? I hope it catch up.

Thomas @ Sep 1st 2008 12:37PM

You'd think with this price drop and the growing number of JRPG's on the 360's library it would start to sell but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

flameofdoom666 @ Sep 1st 2008 12:40PM

It is still sold out in all of Japan.

If you ask me- that's a good start!

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 1st 2008 1:32PM

"... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

You are new here??

HB96st @ Sep 1st 2008 12:42PM

Region locked... But where are you?? Wherever youre at, you can get it for a good price.

As for the ps3, the games arent locked I assume, but the movies are -go figure.. -But there are more movies out for the thing, so its good that the games arent locked.. Ya'll need all the games ya'll can get!!

Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 1st 2008 1:12PM

For the record, Japan and US are in the "same region" if that's what you were talking about.

Iwa @ Sep 1st 2008 1:16PM

Japanese Blu-Ray movies aren't locked out from the US. They share the same region, which is A.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 1st 2008 1:44PM

"For the record, Japan and US are in the "same region" if that's what you were talking about."

Though by trivially including only Jap translation onto the game disk, it suddenly becomes "region locked".

Few Japs would want to play game in English. Even fewer from US - in Japanese.

turkeybaster @ Sep 1st 2008 2:02PM

I am simply DYING to get my hands on new PS3 games. No remarkable multiplatform titles, exclusives, or downloadable games have been released since November of 2006.

In all seriousness, whoever trots out that argument anymore is either extremely ignorant or is trying to troll.

zuburi @ Sep 1st 2008 2:36PM

You are aware that "Jap" is a racial slur, right?

Haggard @ Sep 1st 2008 7:07PM

Seems more like an abbreviation to me.

Wiinterfang @ Sep 1st 2008 12:54PM

Microsoft sure want people to buy their console :/. is cheaper than the dreamcast when it was introduced.

I heard the arcade version had some kind of waggle and unlike the wii you can upgrade it to look great on HD and buy it a hard drive for cheap ( 60 dollars used).

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 1st 2008 1:48PM

If only MSFT would complement console by cheap games...

Xbox lacks flood of cheap shovelware. All games try to pretend to be gems, but really few (and in few genres) deliver. That means that game development is expensive => games are expensive.

Though I'm sure MS has always and option on table of opening up a bit the consoles to wider market. I doubt that would happen any time soon - they are doing pretty well atm.

Haggard @ Sep 1st 2008 2:01PM

Exactly. Console games are way too expensive (although maybe I'm just used to paying a little over half for PC games) because someone, somewhere down the line decided that £40/$60 was acceptable.

Vcize @ Sep 1st 2008 2:09PM

Considering that MSRP for retail games has gone up a whopping 10 dollars in TWENTY FIVE years in spite of inflation and a HUGE increase in development costs, I'd say that bitching about the price of games is pretty darn ridiculous.

Given the changes to the industry and inflation, games SHOULD cost around $150 apiece by now, so pay your $60 and be happy about it. Or, if you're that tight for cash, buy them for cheaper in one of the absurd number of ways to do so. Gamestop has a 25% off coupon on 360 used games right now, stack that with the Edge discount and you can get many fairly new games for $20 or less, and nearly brand new games for ~$40. Or try ebay. Or craigslist. Or goozex. Or gamefly.

Or, just sit around on the internet and bitch about it.

Luke @ Sep 1st 2008 2:38PM

Some games on the snes were $80 or more.

maylon @ Sep 1st 2008 1:01PM

This won't help one damn bit, mark my words.

mewoks @ Sep 1st 2008 1:05PM

The Japanese would rather buy a second PSP or DS than a 360.

I'd buy a 360 for $180 if it included a hard drive.

nick @ Sep 1st 2008 1:39PM

This is a start. I've always maintained the 360 should be cheaper in Japan. I don't believe the 360, in it's current incarnation, will ever make huge inroads in Japan, but I think it's about building momentum. You need to lay the groundwork for a future generation.

What I think would make the 360 more successful in Japan, outside of killer software, would be a hardware redesign. Make it smaller and introduce the hardware redesign there FIRST.

mike shea @ Sep 1st 2008 4:26PM

they love anything mini!

DiggerDaniels @ Sep 1st 2008 1:41PM

NEWSFLASH: Since the price drop sales of the 360 in Japan have doubled. Last week they sold 17 units...

LOL...

Vcize @ Sep 1st 2008 2:24PM

I saw you posted this on Engadget as well.

Maybe if you go around and copy/paste it onto a few more blogs, you'll find ONE person that will chuckle a little bit.

Maybe.

Saeth @ Sep 1st 2008 2:48PM

LMFAO [sarcasmoff]

Sigh, it was only a matter of time.... Sorry but those jokes were only funny with the original Xbox.

Now they're just redundant and immature.

Metal_Gear @ Sep 1st 2008 1:47PM

"...and the growing number of JRPG's..."

Yes, becausee all the Japanese play are RPGs, just like all the US and EU play are shooters ¬_¬

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Sep 1st 2008 1:56PM

I guess every mass market has its standards.

JRPGs are often made after manga and anime (or vice versa) meaning that lots of people are familiar with the setting and characters. Also, social factor of JRPGs reflects social structure of their society.

FPS is truly European (and US) thing. This is our upbringing, our education and our society: alone against everybody else.

Games generally reflect on the people who play them. Or vice versa.

zuburi @ Sep 1st 2008 4:45PM

Ihar, I worked for a Japanese gaming magazine. Your generalizations, while amusing, reek of a freshman-level "ANTHRO 105 - Intro to Asian Culture" syllabus.

Vcize @ Sep 1st 2008 2:11PM

What the 360 needs more in Japan than a price drop is more perverted anime child porn games.

Fenix @ Sep 1st 2008 7:02PM

Affirmative...

MetalGearsOfSolidWar @ Sep 1st 2008 3:08PM

Do you guys honestly think price matters in Japan? Most of them are rich. If they can afford PS3, Wii, DS, PS2, and some PSP every week a price drop really won't affect them.

Japan HATES the X-box 360, sure they'll fangasm over it for every little jrpg released on it but then everything will go back to normal.

If Microsoft REALLY wants 360 sales in Japan then they should secure some exclusive(not timed) jrpg. Infinite Undiscovery is a start.

Look at Scea Japan, they're 1st party jrpg games look/are amazing.

Its not the price of the system, its the spiky haired, big sword, anime looking, rpgs that Japan wants.

And so far 360 is delivering that but for how long, and if you are patient. Sony is delivering that as well, only in a better fashion.