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Xbox Japan Boss Explains New Price Cuts

Posted by simoniker on from the it's-like-this dept.

Thanks to 1UP for their article covering Japanese Xbox boss Yoshihiro Maruyama's comments regarding yesterday's significant Xbox price drop in Japan. Maruyama explained that the price cut wasn't a reaction to Sony's Japanese PS2 price drop: "This discount was in the works for the end-of-year shopping season before SCE's announcement. The timing was on our own terms, and we aren't simply following the leader here." He also tried to explain why the Japanese videogame market is shrinking, suggesting: "You see companies in the U.S. using a multiplatform strategy, developing games for several consoles at once, with Electronic Arts leading the way. However, Japan concentrates all its development on the top platform alone, so it's easy to run into dead ends."

6 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Not really... by Bagels · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It goes without saying that the top console in Japan right now is the PS2. But hardly all of the development goes solely towards the PS2 - Nintendo's gotten a fair number of exclusive titles for its system (primarily from Capcom), and will be getting some more in the future (FF: Crystal Chronicles, anyone?). Sega has made some good GCN exclusive games (Billy Hatcher, the Sonic series, Super Monkey Ball), too. So what's Microsoft's excuse now?

    --
    --- Bwah?
    1. Re:Not really... by Babbster · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I think you missed the crux of his point, which is that non-Japanese developers/publishers tend to put out each game on multiple platforms. This means that Splinter Cell, for example, saw sales on all three platforms because anyone with a game console could buy it. On the other hand, Super Monkey Ball hasn't sold even one copy to non-GC owners (ignoring portable releases) despite the fact that it could probably make a nice chunk of change with a PS2 port.

      Of course, while this perception is indeed factually correct, the motive for pointing it out is obvious. More than the other three consoles, Xbox has the most to gain from multiplatform releases since, besides the political issue of online capability (see EA and others), multiplatform releases can look and play better on the Xbox due to its superior hardware. Sony doesn't benefit as much since they already get the lion's share of releases and Nintendo gains little because most GC owners bought the console in order to play Nintendo first-party games.

      It's chicken and egg. Developers are reluctant to publish games for the Japanese Xbox market because there are so few Xbox owners. There are few Xbox owners because there aren't enough compelling Xbox games for the Japanese market. The best Microsoft can hope for now is that they get enough Japanese gamers to provide decent word of mouth when they release their next console. I suspect this is the reason they've decided to send over a lot of non-regionalized titles. They're hoping that enough English-speaking gamers in Japan will be interested in a few of these games to get a better spark for the next round. It'll be fun to see how it turns out.

    2. Re:Not really... by unclethursday · · Score: 2, Insightful
      More than the other three consoles, Xbox has the most to gain from multiplatform releases since, besides the political issue of online capability (see EA and others), multiplatform releases can look and play better on the Xbox due to its superior hardware.

      I'll give you the look part, most of the time. I'll say the sound better part is there, even though you didn't mention it. But play better? I would say that is false. Most multi-platform games are designed with the PS2 in mind, and the PS2's controller as well. With the Xbox not having as many shoulder buttons as the PS2, it automatically loses functionality for games designed around the PS2 controller. Same with the GC.

      A perfect example is the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. The GC and Xbox versions look much better than the PS2 version; but the game was designed around the PS2 controller, so it PLAYS the best on the PS2.

      This is true of 9 out of 10 multi-platform titles. They'll look better on the GC and Xbox, but generally be easier to use on the PS2, meaning they play better on the PS2. Graphics don't determine playability, nor does superior hardware, but the control interface the game was designed for.

      The only real exception I can think of is Splinter Cell, which was designed for the Xbox first, and then ported to the other 2 consoles. Thus, it most likely plays better on the Xbox than the other 2.

      Thursdae

    3. Re:Not really... by HalfFlat · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can't believe games like Ikaruga or Soul Calibur II are ported to the GC... (And the fact that SCII on GC outsold the other versions shows that play control simply isn't that important to many gamers.)
      A percentage of people who take SCII seriously, play it with a joystick. In this circumstance, the default GC controller isn't important.

      Don't know how large this percentage is, but it's certainly large enough to make it economically feasible for Hori to make a GC-specific SCII arcade stick.

      For people who have access to both a PS2 and a GC, and who take fighting games seriously enough to use a stick, the only reason to buy the PS2 version over the GC version would be in the situation that they already have an arcade stick for the PS2 and don't want to buy a second for the GC. In every other respect (ignoring console specific characters, blech) the GC port is superior: better graphics, and, most importantly, free of the slowdowns that plague the PS2 version in some stages.

  2. For the unbias... by MMaestro · · Score: 3, Insightful
    For those who could care less about the Xbox vs PS2 vs GC war, heres a basic summary of why they cut the price.

    CHRISTMAS SALES. Anyone in retail knows what I'm talking about. The only one I don't see doing a price cut is GC and thats because they're already cheap and they're using the free game trick.

  3. Re:Price Cuts by drewmca · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you haven't tried them, Sega's sports titles are defintely worth a go. the football game is probably the best I've ever played. Sure, you can't change the price of hotdogs like you can in Madden. But the gameplay is dead on, the presentation is fantastic with its espn trappings, and the online play is nice. It's on both xbox and ps2 and probably worth at least a rent.