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New Western Xbox Titles For Japan Announced

Thanks to The Magic Box for their report that the first set of earlier rumored Western titles for the Xbox are being released in Japan this October. According to the site, "Microsoft announced they will release the Xbox World Collection series for Xbox in Japan on October 23, five titles will be available, and a total of 20 titles will be released by summer 2004." The first five titles unveiled are Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, Inside Pitch 2003, NFL Fever 2004, Outlaw Golf, and Outlaw Volleyball, as Microsoft tries to expand their Japanese Xbox support by importing a mass of American/European titles.

24 comments

  1. ehh.. who cares? by gl4ss · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    not to be a total flame but seriously, who cares? any japs here that care, seriously?

    why weren't they originally then slated for release there like most console games are(because of the big market)? if xbox had been more popular there they wouldn't have been published there to boost it's popularity, eh?wtf? wouldn't there have been more business sense then to publish them if they were in the game of MAKING MONEY and not trying to pull the good old ms-101 tactic on whole console industry?

    -
    all that being said xbox game copying is even more rampant than dreamcast copying was, and it's even more convinient to get an modchip even if you buy the games(because of hd install)..

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  2. Good old strategy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    From the McDonalds school of overseas business expansion I see.

    "Quick, get a million units from the States and put them *everywhere*! The bastards won't be able to escape us now!"

  3. Is it me... by JFMulder · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... or the problem with the xbox over Japan is exactly that, western games? I don't think that this method of throwing more money at the problem will resolve it, especially with games like Outlaw Volleyball. Since the Japanase are suckers for special editions (see all the incarnations and skins for GBA), why not re-release DOA:Extreme Volleyball in Japan, since it's the most popular Xbox title over there, in a silver box with a hologram of one of the girls breasts bouncing up and down? I'm sure the Japanese will be all over it like Ben Affleck on a stripper.

    1. Re:Is it me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Even better, release a special edition of the Xbox itself and rename it "PlayStation". Or "Game Boy".

    2. Re:Is it me... by Rayonic · · Score: 1

      ... or the problem with the xbox over Japan is exactly that, western games?

      Apparently the Japanese market didn't like the good Western games they brought over before, so they're going to try bringing some bad* Western games over. To tell the truth, this doesn't sound like a bad idea.

      * (Note: I hear Outlaw Volleyball is actually pretty good, gameplay-wise. Better than the volleyball portion of DOA: Extreme Volleyball.)

    3. Re:Is it me... by gamgee5273 · · Score: 1
      I think you mistyped above - Halo is a singular game, not plural (as in "games"). Thus, there haven't been good Western "games" brought to Japan for the Xbox...there's just been a good Western game.

      When KOTOR gets over there, then you can add the "s."

    4. Re:Is it me... by MMaestro · · Score: 1

      "why not re-release DOA:Extreme Volleyball in Japan, since it's the most popular Xbox title over there, in a silver box with a hologram of one of the girls breasts bouncing up and down? "

      Step one : Put girls with bouncy breasts in game
      Step two : Put girls with bouncy breasts on cover
      Step three : ?
      Step four : Profit!

      The only thing thats probably keeping Microsoft from doing this is the censorship in America. Seriously, DOA:Extreme Volleyball caught enough protest just by being released with bouncy breasts in the game, can you imagine the outcry if Little Billy saw a game with a holographic image of a girl's breasts bouncing?

    5. Re:Is it me... by JFMulder · · Score: 1, Redundant

      can you imagine the outcry if Little Billy saw a game with a holographic image of a girl's breasts bouncing
      <sarcasm>Yeah, it's sooooo much worse than seeing some guy with gun pointed at someone else.</sarcasm>

      I just don't get it. What's more harmfull? Breasts or guns? Last time I checked, nobody got hurt from a pair of breasts.

    6. Re:Is it me... by MMaestro · · Score: 1
      Well considering they censored the art statue in the game Maniac Mansion, as noted in a previous article, yes. I do have to say breasts do cause a lot of outcry in the U.S.

      As for guns on video game covers, I dare you to take a screenshot of a cut up, shot person from Soldier of Fortune 2, with gore on, print it out and show it in a public area. Its just a screenshot of the game, but I doubt you'll be able to show it to a police officer without him tailing you until you leave area.

    7. Re:Is it me... by zonker · · Score: 0

      throwing money at the problem is what ms knows how to do best. they should be in gov't. oh wait, they are...

      ms is a stranger in dodge city, and they don't like strangers... perhaps it's time for them to cut their losses and get the hell outta dodge. ;P

  4. Just what Japan's missing! by DarkGamer20X6 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft: bringing America's 'greatest' games to the entire world!

    Honestly, with the exception of Tao Feng, those are all sports games...very, very American sports games.

    Is Microsoft retarded? (Rhetorical question /.ers, rhetorical... We all know the answer to that one.)

    1. Re:Just what Japan's missing! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I knwo golf is quite popular in Japan, but only with the business segment. It is considered an elite sport, place to conduct business away from office.

      Volleyball is popular in most of Asia.

      Baseball is popular in Japan, I believe. We have quite a few imports from the japanese leagues.

      "American" Footbal? Doubt anyone there cares, or would spend the time to fully understand the rules.

      I am still surprised that a stripped down PC as the XBox is would have so few games available. Theoretically, to move a game from PC to console, all you have to do is rework the controls.

  5. Very American sports games--- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And they're terrible. They're all awful. Last I checked Deer Hunter-level crapware was not remotely popular in Japan. Poor chaps.

    1. Re:Very American sports games--- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What else is MS supposed to do with all their leftover shiteware? Better to mail it off over seas than plug it into a landfill here. I don't want my great great great great grandkids digging up this sort of garbage and assuming that these were the types of games we loved back in the 2000's.

      Really what they should do is ship them off to the martian market. The distance is still pretty short right now so there has never been a cheaper time to launch garbage at another planet.

    2. Re:Very American sports games--- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why That Won't Work, explained in two words: Region Lockout. But hey, thanks for playing.

    3. Re:Very American sports games--- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      um yeah obviously the post above you was being totaly serious.

      Grow a sense of humor and then return....jack ass

    4. Re:Very American sports games--- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Likewise. (Are you a teenager or something?)

  6. Fist of the Lotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Man, that sounds like the name of an asian-themed hardcore porn flick.

    1. Re:Fist of the Lotus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, it was thought up by some American dumbass, what would you expect?

  7. Gee, how about releasing some GOOD games? by MikeyNg · · Score: 1, Informative

    Star Wars: KOTOR may be rather problematic as far as the localization will go, but that'd be one awesome product to get into the Japanese market. They enjoy the Star Wars universe at least comparably to Americans. It's an RPG, and it's a damn good game to boot.

    Maybe instead of shovelling crap over to Japan and then wondering why it doesn't sell, they should be sending over some of the better games to Japan. I understand that there are some cultural differences to work out, but at least send a good representative!

    --
    Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
  8. Western titles: "Tao Feng: First of the Lotus" by KNicolson · · Score: 1

    It's ironic (yes, I'm using it wrongly, just to annoy all you're grammer Nazis) that the first title is some sort of Chinese-themed beat-em-up, a genre that was invented in Japan.

    1. Re:Western titles: "Tao Feng: First of the Lotus" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's ironic (yes, I'm using it wrongly, just to annoy all you're grammer Nazis) ...

      BTW, we are grammar Nazis. Spelling mistakes also annoy us.

  9. Ummm, here guys have some, um games. by superultra · · Score: 1

    Well, after canning nearly the entire Japan MS staff, I don't think that this is a way to seduce Japan into buying Xbox games. I see this as merely a way of tossing a proverbial bone, as if to say, "Here guys, we're still interested in you...a little." For all sakes and purposes, I really think Microsoft has pretty much written off Xbox as being any kind of viable system in Japan and is hoping for a revamp with an Xbox2

    Which is a shame, because the Japan office managed to snag Otogi as an Xbox exclusive. I'm playing through that bastard of a game, and boy is it good. Makes up for Sneakers at least.

  10. KOTOR wouldn't sell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They don't like non-linear RPGs over in Japan. KOTOR would tank.