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Reader Comments (48)

Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:20PM Haggard said

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The 360 is never going to crack Japan. They should cut their losses and concentrate on making a great gaming experience for the west.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:30PM baby sea tuna said

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I still think that one the worst mistakes that MS made with the 360 (and they've made many,) was launching simultaneously in the US and Japan back in Nov 05. While Americans were busy clamoring for (and more importantly, fucking ROBBING people for) more 360s that X-Mas, there were literally thousands of them just gathering dust on shelves in Japan.

I seriously hope whoever's idea that "Worldwide Launch" was, got canned.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:04PM Mmmmz said

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While the 360 is likely to never gain a decent market share it is laying the groundwork for their next system. Microsoft is slowly breaking deep rooted taboos about Western Game Companies taking their business to Japan. Whether that's a good thing or not will be decided "Next Generation"
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 8:19PM gatorboi352 said

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"While the 360 is likely to never gain a decent market share it is laying the groundwork for their next system."

Yeah, wasn't that what the first Xbox was supposed to do?
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Posted: Sep 24th 2008 2:20PM Haggard said

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It worked in the west..
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:27PM McWeen said

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Hurray for them I guess but I really only care if it means better/more games for the US.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:28PM Negativecool said

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It has taken them nearly three years to reach just over 700,000. They still have another 300,000 units to push. How long will it take to reach 1 million given the new 360 sales?
Sorry if that sounds like a cheesy math question, but I'm just curious as to what they think "as soon as possible" means in Japan.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:32PM DericLee said

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Good for them!
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 5:55PM (Unverified) said

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You avatar is pretty darn clever, while everybody here focused on putting the Mario cap on other characters you put another cap on Mario, Fucking Genius.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:05PM Ethan said

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I focused on putting another character on the mario hat.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:34PM verymetal said

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They could give these shits away for free over there and no one would seem to care.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:44PM Boffo the Sock said

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Except for all those consumers who bought every single unit in the country when Tales of Vesperia was released of course.
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Posted: Oct 4th 2008 12:04AM Atsuidesu said

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Sorry verymetal but you got totally owned. Do your research next time before acting like you know what you're talking about.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:37PM falcomadol said

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I'm not sure the Xbox even reached a million in Japan, so getting there would be a pretty significant achievement. Frankly, the number of at least AA (some AAA) titles coming out of Japan for 360, and the number of big million plus selling original titles that have come out of Capcom have justified whatever steps Microsoft had to take in terms of launching worldwide.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:42PM ComicShaman said

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I'm still not sure which is more important to Microsoft -- carving out a place in the Japanese market, or kneecapping Sony by acquiring key JRPG licenses. I tend to think the latter, though they have been working hard on both fronts.

Anyway, the way it stands right now in this generation, the X360 has the strongest RPG lineup. Maybe that changes in a few years, but I certainly never would've predicted it.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:44PM erh said

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Sony's an idiot for not securing Tales of Vesperia for the PS3!

Instead of continuing the path of the PS2 with a strong mix of games, Sony has placed too much focus on competing with the Xbox in the Xbox's home court - hardcore shooters. And in the process, it's letting genres like JRPGs slip into the hands of the other consoles.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:43PM Negativecool said

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Yea. Stupid Sony focusing on the market that they don't dominate...which is exactly what Microsoft is doing by acquiring more JRPG exclusives.

What were they thinking?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:45PM (Unverified) said

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Japanese and their JRPGs, some things never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 3:54PM erh said

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Americans and their FPSs, some things never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:00PM (Unverified) said

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Chinese and their MMO's, somethings never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:06PM (Unverified) said

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I know right? Those Americans really love to shoot things.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:23PM F1 Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu said

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Wii and their shovelware, somethings never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:41PM jtenma said

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I'll put it like this:

Over here (US), do Fps's sell? Yes.
Do RPG's sell? Hell yes.

Over there (Japan), do RPG's sell? Hell muthafukin yes.
So FPS's sell? You are out of your Goddamned mind!

And it is not just fps's that do not sell either, you all know what I'm talking about...Only Gundam games and RPG's sell well (and apparently the DW series as well).

But in the US it is a totally different story, if the game is good, it will sell...most of the time anyway.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 5:55PM erh said

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@Jtenma
That's not true... baseball games also sell very well in Japan. Rhythm games, puzzle games, fighting games, and all things Pokemon have all appeared on Japan's best selling software lists.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:03PM (Unverified) said

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Koreans and their Starcrafts, some things never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:03PM (Unverified) said

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shit
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:05PM (Unverified) said

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Joystiq and their shitty comments system, some things never change.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:14PM (Unverified) said

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LOL!
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:27PM Vidikron said

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Well played, Fenix.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:56PM (Unverified) said

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this was our plan all along... yea....
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:25PM Mr Khan said

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1 million is more significant over there, says Captain Obvious, pointing out there 2/5 sized population

Only 1 GC game sold 1 million + in Japan, out of the many million-sellers it had
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:45PM (Unverified) said

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So at 840 units a week,
http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-197068.aspx?CT=1

that 300,000 will take: 336 weeks (6.5 years). I won't hold my breath...
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:10PM Gun Barrier said

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that link is from 2 weeks ago. Are u a time traveler?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:16PM (Unverified) said

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@Gun Barrier

WHo cares it was 2 weeks old. It's fact. that week Xbox sold 840 consoles in Japan, at that rate it will take 6.5 years to reach 1m consoles...

Sorry that the 360 is so shit, than old dumbass Americans buy them, but facts is facts...
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:45PM Catprog said

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what about the 360?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 9:54PM (Unverified) said

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the reason it matters is that last week they sold over 25,000 360s in Japan.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 10:02PM (Unverified) said

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and to further explain, the reason it matters is because you can't take one isolated week's data and come to any sort of conclusion.

one week, the 360 sold 840. at that rate it would take 6.5 years to hit the million mark.

however, just a week later, it sold 25,000+. at that rate it would take just a few months to hit the million mark.

however, neither one of those statements has ANY MERIT WHATSOEVER, since the 360 is unlikely to maintain sales at either of those numbers... instead, it will rise and fall due to demand, supply, game releases, etc.
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Posted: Sep 24th 2008 3:00AM (Unverified) said

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@josh

Which is why Microsofts constant barrange of "sales have risn risen xx percentage since price cut" nonsense is pure bullshit. These numbers are all based on 1 week sales samples.

I don't see Microsoft posting press releases 99% of the rest of the time, when sales drop over previous weeks.

However this news fools the trailer-park lovin 360 owners...
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Posted: Sep 24th 2008 9:52AM jquadman said

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@DigDug

Wait, are you implying that MS is trying to put a positive spin on its own product? NO WAY!!!!

Josh made a valid point countering your 840 units a week nonsense and you come back with a completely unrelated argument?

Also, invariably, people who live in trailers do not love them.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 4:59PM Brett from Atlanta said

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Are these sales numbers? I'm pretty sure a lot of people over there buy the console for a game, beat the game and then sell it back. I don't think that you can use sales numbers to represent the install base of the 360 when it comes to Japan. Anyone want to clarify?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 5:51PM JRMG said

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Where I live in Japan, I've seen a lot of used DSs, PS3s, some PSPs, for sale. But I've never seen any used 360s--in fact, I barely see more than 10 games on the shelf while the DS has like 4 complete racks all to itself. ditto for the PS2.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:12PM (Unverified) said

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@JRM

You never see any used 360's in Japan for two simple reasons.

1/ They have sold so few of them. You are more likely to find rocking horse sh1t.

2/ Any that were sold have long since failed and gone for landfill.
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 5:45PM JRMG said

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Talk about setting your sights low. I remember when the 360 launched, they said Japan would need to be very strong, and keep up with the Sonys and Nintendos.

one million in 3 years is not very strong, considering one million pokemon games sold in two weeks!
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:08PM Ethan said

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Did the xbox ever do it?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 6:31PM Neverz said

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Since Japan is on the other side of the planet from M$... would this be considered a reach around ?
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 7:51PM (Unverified) said

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So that's what...one million more consoles returned for repairs?

Zing!

/owns a 360 with store warranty.
//happy
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Posted: Sep 23rd 2008 9:57PM (Unverified) said

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MS extended the normal warranty on the 360s for 3 years for no extra cost, why so proud to have paid extra for a store warranty?
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Posted: Sep 24th 2008 9:54AM jquadman said

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To cover problems beside three red lights.
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