Xbox 360 launch failing in Japan

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:59 am

http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=25431
I guess this was to be expected. BusinessWeek reports that Japanese customers bought less than half of the available Xbox 360 units available during the consoles debut. Considering that Japan is home to Nintendo and Sony, Microsoft still has an uphill battle with the 360:

Microsoft, which started selling the Xbox 360 in Japan on Saturday, sold 62,135 machines over the weekend, or just 39 percent of the 159,000 consoles it is estimated to have shipped to stores, according to data from market researcher Enterbrain Inc.

The figures indicate a slower start than the original Xbox, which failed miserably in Japan. The first Xbox sold about 123,000 units in the first three days of its launch in 2002, according to Tokyo-based Enterbrain."

Considering that FPS games is not the most popular genre in japan, and Microsoft not having even one games with the japanese market as target, this comes as no surprise, Microsoft has a lot to learn about planning a world wide launch IMHO.

Post by **dann** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 2:55 pm

Good for the Japanese, they're obviously smart. Now wait until the PS3 or Revolution come out; then you'll see mobs world wide!

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:23 pm

dann wrote:Good for the Japanese, they're obviously smart. Now wait until the PS3 or Revolution come out; then you'll see mobs world wide!

Hehe, yeah, you said it Dann

Also, japanese gamers tends to prefer gaming machines from "home", it's almost about pride. And Microsoft is on Nintendo (<-- The king, IMHO) and Sony turf