Slashdot Mirror
The Xbox 360 and Japanese Nationalism
Ant writes "4 Color Rebellion has a transcript of a segment included with its recent Podcast. The piece concerns the launch of the Xbox 360 in Japan, a launch that's amounting to one of the weakest in Japanese gaming history. The authors look into the reasons behind the failure, and try to dissuade gamers from some poorly thought-out rationalizations for the console's lack of success." From the article: "McDonalds knew that some of its tastes would not appeal to the Japanese so they changed their menus. Along with the standard Big Macs and fries they also have Teriyaki burgers, fried shrimp burgers, and other things for the Japanese pallet. They didn't force the American tastes on the Japanese and thus, they thrived. Now look at the Japanese Xbox 360 launch lineup. First person Shooters, sports and car games. Games that sell really well in America but other than the car games are not to the Japanese taste. Had they launched with RPGs, simulation games, party games, gambling games and fighters, they might have done a whole lot better. McDonalds changed their company for the Japanese taste. Microsoft tried to change the Japanese taste for their company."
I'm also disappointed with xbox360's launch titles being mostly FPS, sports, and racing.
Microsoft has released a bunch of games that appeal to the "frat boy culture." I don't know the best way to describe Japan, but I don't think they're real heavy on that.
So there should be all sorts of 360's just collecting dust on store shelves over there, right? But is there? Or have they sold as many as they released?
I pre-ordered mine on the hopes that i'd get Oblivion on launch. Even the dudes from bethesda were claiming at E3, TGS, and X05 that it was a launch title. One month before launch, the delay was announced... I have a 360 collecting dust on my desk at home, and a Oblivion pre-order in my wallet. I don't know about MS, but I think they had better get in the habbit of developing first party games of ALL genres if they wish to compete globally in the console wars. Cause the third party developers aren't gonna cut it for them, especially if all they cared about was porting over old gen titles or old series sequels.
If i wanted to hear bullshit, i'd go to church.
I guess Japanese Pallets are smaller than Western ones?
Oh, you mean palette!
how's this any different from usual microsoft behavior ?
this kind of arrogance is not a MS exclusivity. wall-mart had a really hard time here in brasil before they aknowleged the local culture and adapted. it took wall-mart some 5 years to get it right. lessee how long it take microsoft
What ? Me, worry ?
I, for one, don't welcome our 360 overlords. I am not a PS2 fanboy. I LOVE my XBox and for the longest time I refused to name it favorite. I was sold on the graphics, library, and XBox Live interactivity, not to mention you DON'T NEED A FRIGGIN' MULTITAP ("Multi-pass") for 4 player fun! But what the heck WAS with the 360? Who cares if they staggered supplies, demanded on retailers like Wal-Mart a sales quota... It just had nothing I wanted. Where's HALO 3 Bill? Huh? There, buddy, where's the Master Chief upon whose shoulders your gaming empire reigns? There's a reason Halo 2 isn't on PCs yet. Because Gates nigh-Lucasian empire of videogaming goodness would topple without console sales of Halo 2. Okay, to be fair, I completely pulled that out of me nethers and it's not true... But I'm a Halo fanboy above and beyond any rootkit viruses or Machiavellian marketing ploys. Americans have been demanding XBox role-playing games since the inception of the big black box. We haven't been heard. Where are the epic Square-style RPGs that will tie me up for hours. What, I get a shitty port of Elder Scrolls and a buggy Star Wars game? Now, Knights was AWEsome, but had its little burps now and again. Fine, regardless, the game is for rpgaming what a Lambo is to car buffs. All the launch of 360 brought to the party was a movie game, we all know how those turn out, a WW2 game... I'm more sick of these than I am of Kathy Lee Gifford. And it's kind of disrespectful to make war games in the first place... We're glorifying or making trite the death and sacrifice of thousands of real people that fought those wars. This aside, I still prefer killing aliens to people. Scroll back, remember, I LOVE Halo. And, lastly, a racing game. Great. Another racing game. O, not to forget, Perfect Dark Zero. Quite aptly named. You cannot build upon Rare achievements. Frankly, if the releases for 360 continue in this track, I must quote Maynard James Keenan here, the 360 is, "One great big festering neon distraction," and, "I've a suggestion to keep you (360 fanboys) all occupied: learn to swim."
All the world's a stage, all the people but players.
They should have used better Japanese advertising, such as: "XBOX 360 - Beautiful Happy Exuberance Maker!!"
Perhaps now people can see why Nintendo isn't (completely) mad, when it comes to the Revolution. They don't need the best graphics or a million button control pad, they just need something that has interesting and easy to access games.
American, and to a large degree European gamers seem to be interested in graphics, action and above all easy games. Most western games now are little more than interactive movies, very easy to complete (except on the hardest mode which is often impossible, 100x harder than normal). You just play through the story line and set pieces.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Teriyaki and Fried Shrimp face plates for XBOX 360. Thanks for making me hungry with your analogy, jackass.
FTS/A: "[McDonalds sells] other things for the Japanese pallet"
The Japanese pallet? Stuff for Japanese straw beds? Huh. I knew the Japanese have some strange boudoir practices (to my sensibilities, anyway), but McD's?
Oh, wait... palate misspelled... I see.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Ironically, it took McDonald's years to allow U.S. customers to order "whatever they want however they want" instead of pulling an already made item that's been sitting under the heat lamp for hours. Nothing ruins my cheeseburgers than finding a pickle in the middle.
And all that without even going on about the badly chosen name. To someone in Japan, "X" means failure, and is pronounced "batsu", which is a penalty you have to take after a failure. And the kanji for bad luck (kyou) is an "X" in a box. Yeah, let's slap a 360 on it, to make it sound like "failure comes around again". And release it with weak software support so that it really is the "penalty box".
Hell, if no other reason, they should have delayed the Japanese release to make sure there weren't any hardware problems, like, say, overheating? Hardware problems with the initial run of Xbox systems, and Microsoft's failure to respond properly, was one reason the main reasons behind the Xbox failure.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
This also isn't a strictly-Japanese thing. In the early 2000's (from the Super NES onwards), there was this perceived slight in the U.S. over Nintendo, before Sony and Microsoft took over the game console market. Nintendo of America was, functionally, a branch office of Nintendo of Japan (where the translators worked). Sony and Microsoft read more correctly what American gamers wanted — and Sony is a Japanese company. I believe NOA has more input into the process now. Not that this stopped them; NOA still successfully brought over Mario Party, Pokémon, and Harvest Moon --> Animal Crossing.
It's interesting to note that "The Last Samurai" wasn't received well in theatres on this side of the pond. It did well because it had Tom Cruise in it, before he went psycho.
Kudos on the "Japans can be racist too" comment. Japanese have a low level of memory and anger about Hiroshima. There's magnitudes more anger at Chinese. See this article for more insight.
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
I submitted this back when it was posted and got rejected. Grr. Grr, I tells ya! Now my heart is filled with a bitterness that only trash talkin' Zonk can cure.
There must be some reason why koreans love Starcraft while the west liked and moved on.
The article does however make a couple of mistakes. It somehow credits McDonalds and Apple with getting it right. Sorry but McD learned the hardway and Apples success with the iPod is just lucky that western tastes and japanese tastes happen to match up in this instance. If Apple really had a clue they would have insisted on all their content deals for iTunes to be international. Selling song X to a world audience must generate larger sales then just to a fraction considering there is no extra cost.
One thing however that most people forget is how that the japanese in general SUCK at english. Yeah yeah and americans suck at japanese BUT the americans have the advantage of their main language being THE international language. Americans can afford to be lazy.
I am currently watching far to much japanse idol tv (Morning Musume) and while teenage girls are never a good indication of a country's education it becomes pretty clear that there english skill are very poor if compared to the english skill of mainland europeans. If you don't believe me use google. http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=ayaka/ should give you a bunch of short clips showing a member of the group who was born and raised in hawaii giving english lessons to the japanese members.
Considering they are around the age of 16 on average it is nothing their english teacher should be proud of.
Learning a new language, especially one that has no common root, is hard. The hardest part is getting the basics, if you do not understand a simple sentence you do not use the language so you never get experience so you never learn to understand a simple sentence so you do not use it. ETC ETC. Japan probably isn't like holland were people of my generation had a choice, you watch american tv shows or you go play outside. If you didn't like the american show on then that was though, we had 1 tv station.
I think the problem is two-fold, MS being a bit of the typical arrogant american, and the japanese being just a little to snobbish to learn the international language of the world. Oh well at least this might mean Europe becomes a less neglected market.
Oh and if anyone wishes to point out that chinese is spoken by more people then english, I didn't say that. I said english is the international language. More people speak english as their 2nd or 3rd language then any other language. It is the language two people with different mother languages are most likely to have in common. Yes even the french. They all speak perfect english, they just enjoy being rude to americans. Who doesn't.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I generally agree with the article. I, myself, am disappointed by the crap available for the Xbox360, which really reflects the American gaming market in general. On the otherhand, it's not like Japan is the pinnacle of gaming variety. They've got their own generic crap, it just so happens that what is overdone there is in a different genre than what we have here. We normally get the best the Japanese market has to offer.
As for the failure of the Xbox360 in Japan, I agree that it's due to Microsoft's complete lack of understanding of that market. I really don't understand how they didn't see this coming. That said, if the Xbox360 and PS3 were released on the same day, with identical line-ups and at the same price the Xbox360 still would sell badly. Unlike Americans who generally would choose the foreign product, Japanese would overwhelmingly gravitate towards the Japanese product.
I wouldn't say it's xenophobic, necessarily. That's just how they are. They still have nationalistic pride I suppose, something Americans are sorely lacking. The foreign products that do well are generally fashionable or luxury items. European luxury cars are always popular, as are european fashions in general. Hip hop culture has certainly had a big impact, although it's been diluted and changed in a way that renders it unrecognizable.
Apple products have been successful for a few reasons. First of all, Macs have always been popular because of their ease of us. Japanese consumers are generally not inclined to deal with anything complicated. This is different from elsewhere in Asia, like Taiwan and Korea where PCs dominate the market. In those nations they want something that does it all that they can tinker with. It's why consoles are still so important in Japan and virtually no existant elsewhere in Asia.
iPods have the advantage of being easy to use and very fashionable. And given how much disposable income Japanese have, buying an iPod is nothing to them. That, however, doesn't stop Japanese companies from trying to make an iPod rival, or a rival for anything foreign. And they often try to prove that their products are superior, whether they are or not.
Again, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It just shows that they've got pride in what they do. Not just the manager, or the engineer, but the guy working on the factory floor, when it isn't a robot doing the job also cares about his job. It isn't like the US, and most western nations where workers are out for themselves and could care less what happens to the company.
And it's not Japanese corporations that foster this attitude, it's the culture itself, because managment generally treat their workers like crap. They do so in ways that would be considered illegal in the US. Japanese managers are known to be abusive with employees. It doesn't happen everywhere, but it's common enough.
Japanese generally don't treat foreigners well. They avoid sitting next to foreigners on trains, I think mainly to avoid being stuck in some potential uncomfortable situation. For a society who's young people have been drawn to hip hop they still manage to gawk at black guys. I've had numerous friends who've been rejected apartments for no reason other than being a foreigner, and the landlord was very direct about the reason. It's common to walk into a store and have the employees stare at you. Some Japanese just think foreigners buy weird stuff and are compelled to follow them around the store. They also like making sweeping generalizations about foreigners, usually based on what they see in movies.
Then there are all the laws that generally give foreigners a hard time. And unlike the US where the government is excessively easy, even on illegal immigrants, in Japan even a minor infraction can be enough to get a foreigner deported.
It's true, you encounter this sort of thing all over the world. But the reality is that Japan is especially bad. In Taiwan, by contrast, they're far more comfortable with foreigners, being very open towards them. It may
If all you need to do to appeal to the Japanese consumer is throw some teriyaki on it and fry some shrimp. I think McDonald's is a little patronizing or stereotypical to offer those choices on the menu.
But true, Microsoft has failed again to wow the Japanese market which continues the entire lackluster roll out of the Xbox360. They aren't wowing North American audiences with their overheating and locking up problems either.
The question is, why is this Microsoft's fault? Where are the Japanese game developers and why aren't they developing more Japan specific titles? Microsoft is releasing the hardware, they have offered an Xbox360 development kit for over a year now, so why can't the dedicated game houses in Japan pick up the ball and start making the Xbox360 an attractive game console for their own markets? Do they have to wait for Microsoft to ask them to make a game?
Anyways, I think Xbox360 failures is just because MS rushed it out the door. Both Quality Control and title support were lacking in all markets, MS could have waited for a few more months for more RPG's to hit the market and they really should have beta tested the platform better. But I mean, MS isn't the only software vendor for the Xbox platform, so the lack of interest in Japan isn't entirely all their fault.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Right. That explains why the Japanese hate the iPod and are buying Sony Walkmen.. wait, they don't hate the iPod.
Or why they hate McDonalds... wait, they don't hate McDonalds.
Or why they hate the US... no wait, they don't hate the US.
Call it for what it is, Microsoft mis-stepped. They didn't have any compelling games for the Japanese market. Japanese games like Katmari Damacy, DDR, Lumines, DOA, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc.
You've proved nothing because Nintendo or Sony DIDN'T release a console with the same launch titles and do better. When the DS was launched, there was the Mario games, there was the quirking date-sim games, there was the Meteos puzzle game, etc. When the PSP was launched there was the Metal Gear Acid rpg game, there was the Lumines puzzle game, etc. Where are the puzzle games for XBox 360? Where are the dating sim games for the XBox 360? Where are the RPGs for the XBox 360?
GPL Deconstructed
RPGs, party games, etc, sell well in Japan. Sports games do not. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any big sports games from Japan. But out of America, you have annual releases of EA everything: FIFA, NCAA, NFL, etc. Contrast that to American and Japanese RPGs, for example. From the US you have the Elder Scrolls series (which is the only reason I have right now to buy a 360, and I'm beginning to question whether it's enough,) and the Bioware games (ie Baldur's Gate and Star Wars KOTOR, which I think are too repetitive and suck.) The list from Japan are endless, and begin with MANY from SquareEnix than you can find from the US put together, (ie. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, etc.) That's evidence that Microsoft isn't catering to Japanese tastes, but rather expecting Japan to buy imported American tastes. Now, onto your statements. The FACT that XBOX 360 with the SAME launch titles would have done much better if it simply had a Nintendo or Sony stamp on it PROVES that the Japanese are closed-minded when it comes to the video game market. How is that a fact? And if it isn't actually a fact, then doesn't that mean it doesn't prove anything? Maybe there is a strong anti-American bias, or a strong pro-domestic bias, but you haven't provided any evidence to support it.
Of course japanese play US games.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Sorry. I forgot my HTML.
RPGs, party games, etc, sell well in Japan. Sports games do not. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any big sports games from Japan. But out of America, you have annual releases of EA everything: FIFA, NCAA, NFL, etc. Contrast that to American and Japanese RPGs, for example. From the US you have the Elder Scrolls series (which is the only reason I have right now to buy a 360, and I'm beginning to question whether it's enough,) and the Bioware games (ie Baldur's Gate and Star Wars KOTOR, which I think are too repetitive and suck.) The list from Japan are endless, and begin with MANY from SquareEnix than you can find from the US put together, (ie. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, etc.) That's evidence that Microsoft isn't catering to Japanese tastes, but rather expecting Japan to buy imported American tastes. Now, onto your statements.
The FACT that XBOX 360 with the SAME launch titles would have done much better if it simply had a Nintendo or Sony stamp on it PROVES that the Japanese are closed-minded when it comes to the video game market.
How is that a fact? And if it isn't actually a fact, then doesn't that mean it doesn't prove anything?
Maybe there is a strong anti-American bias, or a strong pro-domestic bias, but you haven't provided any evidence to support it.
They knew they didn't have a shot at competing with Nintendo/Sony in Japan, so they didn't try.
Only a few games are actually in Japanese, there was absolutely 0 marketing, and very few consoles shipped over there. The Xbox trying to conquer Japan is like Hitler invading Russia. Just 'aint gonna happen and Billy boy knew it.
Meanwhile you still can't find a 360 in America after over a million have been sold. PS2 sold 200,000 in the first 3 months as a comparison.
That was is SO ironic considering teriyaki is something that Japanese resturants, almost exclusively, do not serve. It exists, it's a real Japanese word, but you won't find Teriyaki ANYTHING *except* at McDonalds.
and tell me that there is a lot of "Japanese nationalism" there. If you find ONE Japanese movie that is almost considered odd. American films through and through.
It could just be that the XBOX doesn't appeal to Japanese tastes. End of story.
Monstar L
Along with the standard Big Macs and fries they also have Teriyaki burgers, fried shrimp burgers, and other things for the Japanese pallet.
I didn't know there was anything that made Japanese pallets any different from American ones. Maybe you meant palate?
I don't think you can conclude much from the McDonalds example.
From the article: Along with the standard Big Macs and fries they also have Teriyaki burgers, fried shrimp burgers, and other things for the Japanese pallet. They didn't force the American tastes on the Japanese and thus, they thrived.
Well I'm happy for McDonalds, but take another example: Starbucks. It does very well in Japan (every location I've seen in Tokyo is equally busy as locations in the U.S. and Canada). And Starbucks did not alter its menu. There are no Japanese beverages, no Japanese dessert squares or mochi balls, no decent quality Japanese loose-leaf teas -- only the same stuff that's served in North America. Everything down to the model of tables, chairs, wall murals, signage, shelving are identical.
So the simpler and more intuitive explanation I offer is that McDonalds didn't change to become any less American or any more Japanese: McDonalds had to change to just suck less in general. (I'm sure their Japanese fare would be well received in North America also.)
Extending this reasoning to Microsoft's experience in Japan is left as an exercise to the reader.
"Where are the puzzle games for XBox 360?"
I thought they were on Live Arcade?
Mind you, after Meteos, I just don't want to play a puzzle game without a stylus.
While it's true that the XBox 360 launch in Japan has been dismal, the idea that Microsoft isn't trying to cater to Japanese tastes is totally false. In fact, MS has been trying to do just that ever since the original XBox came out, and they're finally beginning to succeed. The 360 is going to finally get some exclusive Eastern RPGs from a noted developer. There's going to be a port of Final Fantasy XI. They have significantly better Japanese third-party support in general than they did before.
Now, is the XBox 360 going to be a huge success in Japan once these games come out? Probably not. But the weakness of the launch lineup has nothing to do with ignoring Japanese trends and everything to do with simply not getting the slated Japanese games published in time.
Rob
While it's true that the XBox 360 launch has been dismal in Japan, the idea that Microsoft has not been trying to cater to Japanese tastes is totally false. In fact, MS has been trying to do just that ever since the original XBox came out, and they're finally beginning to succeed. There are finally going to be exclusive Eastern RPGs from a noted developer. There's a port of Final Fantasy XI coming out. There is significantly greater Japanese third-party support in general than there was before.
Now will the XBox 360 be a huge success in Japan when these games come out? Probably not. But what's going on right now has nothing to do with not following Japanese trends and everything to do with these games not being published in time for launch.
Rob
Microsoft kept asking 'Where do you want to go today?'
Apparently they never bothered listening.
And they said zombies weren't real!
Microsoft rushed the 360 out the door. Many of the games, as most of us know, were still undergoing certification as they were being manufactured. And that's from MS and other American publishers. The Japanese publishers have a longer learning curve and are taking longer to get their product out the door. But DOA4 has been released and others are coming quickly.
I'm not an MS fanboy. I own neither an XBox nor a 360. I think MS just over-reached. They should have kept the launch in US and Europe and waited on Japan until they had more appealing Japanese games. That would have given them better numbers and more positive press. Now, will the 360 ever dominate the the Japanese market or compete on an even foting with PS3 over there? I don't think so. But I do think it will do much better than the original XBox. (Can't do much worse...)
Remember the MS rule of three. First version stinks. Second version competes. Third verion dominates. Sony is tough competition and know the Japanese market much better than MS and it's no foregone conclusion who will win. But don't count the 360 out just yet in Japan.
Unfortunately this echos the GM vs Toyota war a bit too much. I'm neither Japanese nor American, but I acknowledge that the Toyota and the Playstation are both superior products. They both have a very strong foothold in N. America mainly for their quality. Meanwhile GM cars and the Xbox are being force-fed to Japan for Americans to feel the 'me too' factor. Microsoft being the 'me too' guy in case of Xbox.
Maybe we shouldnt check the products being sold in America or Japan, but rather watch a third country pick up these products.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
It means you can save all that money you'd waste on a 360, and instead get a Revolution or something else much better :)
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
"You've proved nothing because Nintendo or Sony DIDN'T release a console with the same launch titles and do better. "
So you honestly think that if it was Nintendo XBOX 360 with the same launch titles that it would NOT be a glowing success??
Your other examples are not about the video game market. I was only referring to the video game market and how the Japanese automatically hate anything in the video game world that isn't Japanese. Do you have any evidence of an American based puzzle/RPG that does well in Japan, regardless of platform?
Does the Sims, the best selling game of all time for the PC, do well in Japan, or do they prefer some Japanese knock-off SIMPLY because it's Japanese.
You really need to open your eyes to this. The Japanese are notorious for automatically hating American games and consoles.
I can give you examples of anime and video games that do poorly in Japan but do well here... due to differences in culture.
Metal Gear Solid was not so hot in Japan, such that Metal Gear Solid 2 was released in the US FIRST. Likewise the anime Escaflowne did poorly in Japan but well here in the US.
The Japanese may be racist, but so are Americans, what with their preferences for Detroit steel and stuff. Whatever. Everyone is subtly, grossly, or contextually racist, but that's not enough to kill a product. If the XBox 360 had compelling games, then it will succeed DESPITE Japanese racism.
I actually don't think that an Nintendo XBox 360 launched with Project: Gotham Racer, Need For Speed, Call of Duty, Kameo, Criminal Intent, or Gun would do well. Nintendo would, I think, launch with at least Mario/Link/Samus product, probably a Pokemon title, three puzzle titles, a voice activated dating sim, some kind of wacky Para Para game, and probably a fly fishing game, and that would be a big hit.
Keep track of this, in a year. We'll see what Nintendo launches with, because this is what kind of games they launched the DS with.
GPL Deconstructed
Ok, granted, I haven't read the article, so take this for what it's worth.
I was reading weekly famitsu (largest gaming magazing in Japan) the other week, and they had a new years special about the next gen, and what people were looking for. From their website poll, the thing that ranked second on everyone's minds was the Xbox 360. People are interested in this console. Then why the lukewarm reception?
In the reader comments sections, some of the issues were
* Didn't give a crap about HD
* No good games at startup (but wants to wait and see)
* The commericals don't show screenshots. They have no idea what the next gen games look like.
However, everyone expressed hope that the Xbox would get some good games out. People are not looking to hate this console because it has an X on it, or because it's made by america, or some other sort of nationalism. They just don't have a compelling reason to buy one. As for it not selling out, I tons of DSs and PSPs on the shelves two days after launch -- it may just be my experience, but I don't notice wide-spread shortages of new products like in America.
I still wonder at all these people shouting racism about the Japanese culture. I think there are few countries in the world that are more forgiving to foreigns (at least western foreigners). I wonder if these people are coming from an informed (live in Japan & can speak Japanese) perspective, or something that they heard from people who went to Japan 30 years ago.
--------
Nothing can be done before the tremendous power!
RabidComics
Microsoft needs to buy some companies who are making and selling the kind of games that are popular in japan.
Most of those companies are either loyal to Sony or are platform neutral. If microsoft could buy up some japanese developers and make their games 360 exclusive, japanese gamers (especially fans of whatever games/companies are now 360 exclusive) would start buying.
I was at a tech preview for the original Xbox about 5 years ago. One of the speaker's boasts (I completely forget who, but it was one of the product managers) was that they would launch with a strong lineup of the "most popular titles." Which, of course, were "sports, racing, fighting, and ... other" in that order. Admittedly, this was before FPS was the xbox game of choice. Basically the kinds of games everyone else plays weren't even on their radar. By sports games, of course they meant football, basketball, and golf. AMERICAN football. All games that were only popular in America. Nascar and street style racing.
No soccer or cricket. No rally racing or F1 racing. They sat in their Seattle ivory tower like everyone else was just another one of them.
Hell, I could see back then that Japan was a lost cause. He didn't even say "RPG" once during the whole presentation when any armchair analyst will list Squaresoft moving to Playstation as one of the reasons for Nintendo's downfall. Sure, Ninty did the whole cartridge thing that caused them to do it, but as evidenced by gameboy sales the cartridge format isn't dead or at all incompatible with the RPG genre.
I figured, hey, maybe they are going to buy Squaresoft and just let them figure out how to win Japan. Maybe they should have back when Square was struggling under the Spirits Within financial burden. They sure as hell couldn't have done any worse than they have.
But no. They didn't learn one bit. The Xbox 360's launch lineup was even WORSE than the original Xbox's. They didn't even have Sega backing them up with Jet Set Radio Future, much less the kinds of titles that regularly top sales charts in Japan.
I can name atleast one sports franchise that's critically acclaimed that comes out of Japan.
Winning Eleven. It's THE best footy game out on the market by far. Fifa sucks balls.
Not to mention Fire Pro wrestling or Gran Turismo.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
The FACT that XBOX 360 with the SAME launch titles would have done much better if it simply had a Nintendo or Sony stamp on it PROVES that the Japanese are closed-minded when it comes to the video game market.
Unfortunately, your fact relies on counterfactual history (the XBOX was not released with the same launch titles but branded by Nintendo) makes your whole chain of reasoning very shaky.
When the policeman of the tie, rule you violate, hello punishment of the kitty?
Never ascribe to conspiracy what could more easily be explained by incompetence.
Considering the troubles Microsoft has had trying to get their product to the American market, how can you expect them to have done their homework on the Japanese market?