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Xbox Live Expands Into New Asian Territories

Posted by simoniker on from the one-country-at-a-time dept.

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for its story discussing Microsoft's further expansion of their Xbox Live online service into Asia. The piece notes "plans to launch the... service in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore this April... following last October's launch in South Korea", and points out: "These regions are among some of the most broadband-enabled in the world, and online gaming on the PC is already a hugely popular pastime, a fact which Microsoft hopes will play to its advantage and give it an edge over Sony's PS2 in the territories." It goes on to mention that "the launch of Xbox Live in South Korea... has not been the massive sales catalyst that Microsoft might have hoped for", and ends by reporting that Xbox managers intend to "work with game development studios in Korea and Taiwan who are creating content that is more relevant to their local markets."

12 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. American made games by LordNimon · · Score: 2, Interesting
    One of the reasons I got an Xbox instead of a PS/2 is that I don't like Asian-made games. Too many of them feature child or child-like characters, which I can't stand. Sure there are exceptions, but I get the impression that Xbox games are more geared toward "older players" (i.e. close to age 30) than PS/2 games are.

    I hope that trend continues. Fortunately, I just got my Xbox, so I have tons of games I can still buy.

    --
    And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
    To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
    1. Re:American made games by StocDred · · Score: 2, Funny
      but I get the impression that Xbox games are more geared toward "older players"

      Congratulations, you've fallen for their marketing! Now go pick up a copy of Pac-Man World 2 or Blinx the TimeSweeper or Sneakers.

    2. Re:American made games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      One of the reasons I got a Gamecube is because I can't stand games geared toward "adults". The way I see it, I grew out of Jackie Chan and boobie movies when I was a teenager. I'm also not interested in that same sort of stuff in my video games.

      To each his own, I guess....

    3. Re:American made games by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Well, the marketing in this case is correct.

      Xbox games usually are aimed more toward an older population, that is why I'm a big fan. And, they are usually aimed more towards Americans- another point for me.

      The original poster was right- they games are marketed toward a particular group, which I am part of. I have no interest in Japanese RPGs, or anything with little kids with blue hair, and huge eyes.

      You mentioned a few examples of games not marketed toward older gamers. You are right on some of those, but generally, the number of games marketed towards kids is smallest on the Xbox.

      I would like to argue though that Pac-Man World 2 is targeted toward a mature gamer. It is all about nostalgia- it is also a crappy game...

      --
      No reason to lie.
    4. Re:American made games by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Well, we can look at this a couple of different ways.

      First, my statement can be taken literally. Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids, because it has the smallest number of games total (comparing all 3 consoles). Gamecube has approx 400, while Xbox has 'over 300'. Playstation has many more than that, I do not know the number.

      Second, once again really only comparing Xbox and Gamecube, you can look at the ESRB ratings of the games for each system.

      Xbox list

      Gamecube list

      I did not include Playstation, because I wasn't going to look through the sheer volume of games there, to get a percentage. You can figure it out yourself.

      So, in sheer numbers, Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids. Also, when comparing the ESRB ratings, once again, Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids.

      Now, pretty soon you should learn how to look up facts for yourself. It is difficult being an educated person, when you need other people to do all of the research for you. Or, even better- when something is a generally known fact, sometimes it is okay to just accept it, rather than being a pain in the ass and demanding proof.

      --
      No reason to lie.
    5. Re:American made games by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 1
      "First, my statement can be taken literally. Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids, because it has the smallest number of games total (comparing all 3 consoles). Gamecube has approx 400, while Xbox has 'over 300'. Playstation has many more than that, I do not know the number."
      Only an idiot would suggest we look at raw numbers. Obviously we want to discuss percentages. Why would you even suggest this?

      "Second, once again really only comparing Xbox and Gamecube, you can look at the ESRB ratings of the games for each system."
      Does an ESRB rating of E really mean that a game is being marketed "towards kids"? I don't think so. There are plenty of games on those lists you linked to that are rated E and are not specifically meant for children.

      " I did not include Playstation, because I wasn't going to look through the sheer volume of games there, to get a percentage. You can figure it out yourself."
      But you made the statement and based a purchase on your belief in your statement - shouldn't you already know these numbers?

      "So, in sheer numbers, Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids. Also, when comparing the ESRB ratings, once again, Xbox has the smallest number of games marketed towards kids."
      Merely repeating it does not prove it.

      "Now, pretty soon you should learn how to look up facts for yourself. It is difficult being an educated person, when you need other people to do all of the research for you. Or, even better- when something is a generally known fact, sometimes it is okay to just accept it, rather than being a pain in the ass and demanding proof."
      Why the rude tone? Now, the simple fact is that just because what you are spouting may be a perceived fact - that does not mean it is true. Can you not consider the idea that perhaps you've been lied to and that through some clever marketing you've come to believe in what you are saying?

      You have taken a very childish tone. Correct that.

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
    6. Re:American made games by StocDred · · Score: 1
      Great replies, AD. You've punctured the balloon of his pomposity.

      What these guys should be saying is: "The Xbox doesn't have a lot of games featuring characters with blue hair and big eyes, and that appeals to me." But because they want to throw in a few jabs and prove they're on the winning team, they equate blue-hair-and-big-eyes to "non-adult" games, which is asinine. Whether or not you like games from Japan, or games with blue hair, or however you want to call it... that's a personal choice and has nothing to do with a game being "mature" or not. I'm sure if we would have kept this line of thought up, we'd eventually slide into the old line about how the Mario / Zelda / Sonic / etc games are all somehow specifically made for children.

      They have completely fallen for the marketing message, and all else is to be ignored.

    7. Re:American made games by StocDred · · Score: 1
      Rainbow Six 3 has over 100,000 people playing AT A TIME over Xbox Live.

      Not according to this article citing Microsoft as a source.

      "Microsoft celebrates its busiest weekend ever largely attributed to the consoles recently released Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 videogame. Over the weekend a total of 24,478 gamers signed into go head to head in gun blasting covert ops action. Microsoft reports counting 6,731 people simultaneously playing the latest hit from developers Ubisoft at one point during the weekend. Totals for all games on the Xbox Live service show up to 83,652 players signing in and spending a total of 262,268 hours playing."

  2. Umm, smart move? by irokitt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It makes sense. Asia is a big market. But the thing I wonder about is whether Asia will really buy American-centric X-Box games. They're mostly a rts/rpg crowd from what I understand, and the X-Box is sold on the premise of "HALO RULES D00D!" So Microsoft will have to throw some energy into making Asia work for them.

    --
    If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    1. Re:Umm, smart move? by paulcammish · · Score: 1
      So Microsoft will have to throw some energy into making Asia work for them.

      Erm, I think you misspelled 'Money'.

  3. Good! by Mechanik · · Score: 1

    I am sick to death of having to hear the usual 10 year old idiots swearing up a storm and calling everyone a faggot over the headset. Now I can hear them do it... in Cantonese!!!

    Somebody eviscerate me with sharpened stick please...


    Mechanik

  4. More people does not equal more sales by MMaestro · · Score: 1
    I think major companies need to stop looking at China as "the untapped gold mine of the world" or something along those lines unless they sit down and seriously think about what they're going to do. The PS2 gets used mostly in Hong Kong because something like 99.9% of them are bootlegged, pre-mod chipped, and cost less than half the official one is, plus chances are they'll give you like 2 free games of your choice.

    Modded Xbox means no Xbox Live so that means they pretty much alienate their entire audience, not to mention doesn't even phase their target audience since no one wants to pay extra for an official system which won't even play their bootlegged games. I've been to Hong Kong, and in terms of U.S. dollars, video games are CHEAP. A bootleg copy of Final Fantasy 9 went for roughly $20 USD the same month it came out while a legal copy went for $50 in the U.S. This applies for PC games as well. (I went there the same time of Diablo 2's launch date, imagine my surprise when I found they were selling copies for roughly $10 USD right next to a computer running the game as a display.)