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Microsoft Plans More Japan-Specific Xbox 2 Games

Posted by simoniker on from the distribution-of-wealth dept.

Thanks to Bloomberg.com for its report discussing Microsoft's plans to recruit local developers to help the Xbox 2 succeed in Japan. Norman Cheuk of Microsoft Japan indicates: "A lot of what we're doing today is to position ourselves. We're looking at the future generations where we'd like to be successful", though efforts to encourage more Japanese Xbox exclusives (following on from Tecmo's Dead Or Alive 3/Dead Or Alive Ultimate) have recently been stymied: "Capcom Co., Japan's third-biggest game maker, has turned down offers from Microsoft in recent months to help pay distribution and development costs in return for more exclusive games for the Xbox, said Kazuhiko Abe, head of Capcom's corporate strategy division, without giving details." Abe also stated Capcom "isn't interested in developing more" Xbox titles, simply saying: "There are no plans... It's just not profitable enough."

2 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. If I were Japanese... by lunarscape · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If I were Japanese, why in the world would I buy an Xbox when the JP-PS2 has more than 10 times as many titles as the JP-Xbox?

    In the U.S., a person who can only afford the hardware and games for one or two systems has a more difficult decision to make between the Big Three. While the PS2 does win in sheer size of its game library, the Gamecube and Xbox have better games in certain categories.

    In Japan, where Sony and Nintendo have been household names for decades, it'll be much more difficult for an American company with a smaller game library to find a place in the market.

    So unless Microsoft makes some shady exclusivity deals with a good number of developers over there, I just don't see Xbox [insert number here] doing well at all in Japan.

    1. Re:If I were Japanese... by Lynxara · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And Microsoft is not likely to get the exclusivity deals they need (even shady ones) unless they're willing to absolutely hemorrhage money at Japanese developers. Why should Japanese manufacturers want to make games that will be exclusive to a highly unpopular console unless they're guaranteed to turn a profit before development even begins? Especially when other Japanese companies will probably bribe them more simply not to take MS's bribes?

      MS doesn't seem to have done anything to persuade the shrinking Japanese gaming industry that they should be allowed to have a share of the profits, anyway. Until MS is willing to play ball with the companies already there, the doors they need open to make the X-Box big in Japan will not be opened. The "lone cowboy with the biggest technical specs and his own proprietary apps" schtick isn't going to fly in the incestuous Japanese economy.