The New Japan 360 Plan

Gamespot lays out Microsoft's new plan for the 360 in Japan. They're not taking the initial cool reception for their console lying down. Initiatives include new games, an emphasis on the Live system, and updates on ongoing projects that appeal to Japanese gamers. From the article: "Taking time out from development work on a clutch of Xbox 360-exclusive RPGs, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi gave a progress report on a number of projects underway at his Mistwalker development company. His first game, Blue Dragon, is on track for a 2006 release. Sakaguchi says the game is playable and his team is currently focused on game balance and presentation. Sakaguchi's second game, Lost Odyssey, is slated for a 2007 launch."

Comments

Playing catch up

[ShadowsHawk]

Why does it seem like both Sony and MS are trying to play catch up with each other? At this rate, they will be running in circles while Nintendo walks right on by.

Re:Playing catch up

[Shadow Wrought]

Some points to consider about the Next-Gen war:

1. The 360 and PS3 are vying to have the best graphics and power for a console.

2. The Revolution is avoiding that route with a completely different market strategy.

3. Both iterations of the XBox have performed miserably in Japan.

4. Since the 360 was designed with an eye towards the Japanese market and MS has consistantly stated that the Japanese market is key to them, their lack of success is important.

5. Hence the story about their attempt to "re-"introduce the 360 to Japan

6. Which in turn spawns discussions about how the Next-Gen war will play out. Since GP's position is supported by the above points, it is actually ontopic as to how MS is going to fare.

"New" Plan?

[Kuukai]

How exactly is this different than their old plan? These games have been in development for a while, and they've been "planning to succeed in Japan" since Xbox 1...

The New Japan 360 Plan

[vertinox]

I saw the headlines and clicked the link.

"Nothing for you to see here. Please move along."

"Nice plan!" I thought and then I spontaneously got the joke (albeit unintended) and burst out laughing in a rather crowded office.

Somehow this twist of fate with the server made my day... And got a few odd stares from coworkers.

The Leaked Memo

[shadowmatter]

From: Bill Gates
To: employee-list@microsoft.com
Re: New Japan 360 Plan

1. ???
2. Profit!

360 Potential is HUGE

[MBraynard]

(first, let me surpress the urge to say that the new plan for the Japan Xbox is videogame characters with 'very small penis'. ref: Southpark).

I was pretty skeptical about the potential for this thing - in Japan, the US, elsewhere - because it had a really sucky launch lineup.

But since I got mine on April 2, despite buying three games (COD2, Oblivion, GRAW), I have spent most of my time downloading and playing the demos that are FREE. I'm also a Natasha Beddingfield fan and appreciated the video download of her singing two songs.

If MS can start distributing Movies and TV shows through this thing, that will be HUGE. And it seems like it's just a matter of them negotiating it.

Pretty much

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems like the XBox 360's plan all along, for as long as I've been paying attention to the thing, has been, at some point Mistwalker will release some games, and suddenly ill will and failure will become success and happiness and light, and Japan will love the XBox 360.

I mean, Mistwalker's games will be coming out at about the same time as the PS3 and Nintendo Revolution, and will have to compete for hype time with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (coming soon for the Revolution) and Final Fantasy 13 (coming later for the PS3). But, hey, Blue Dragon is made by a Japanese person! The fact that it was made by a Japanese person means Japanese people will suddenly, instantly love it, right? It must be so!

It kind of honestly seems to me like even now, Microsoft's plans aren't about succeeding in Japan. I mean, I'm sure they'd love to succeed in Japan. But that's not what their main goal is. Their main goal is about projecting the image, in the west, that they're succeeding or about to succeed in Japan. They don't care if it succeeds in Japan, but it is very very important to them that Americans think it's succeeding in Japan. This is just speculation, maybe Microsoft isn't really intending it this way, maybe they really just do believe that two JRPGs, by themselves, are enough to break into a Japanese market that otherwise has shown zero interest in the thing.

But in effect, it looks to me like the chief beneficiary of the XBox Japan strategy isn't Japanese consumers, or even the Japanese XBox sales team. It's just a bone tossed to the Microsoft faithful in english-speaking countries, who can go on message boards and brag, see? See what a big impressive deal the XBox 360 is! It's taking over the markets! It's unstoppable! Even Japanese people love it! Well, OK. They're going to love it. Start loving it. Soon. Soon as that Mistwalker title comes out, they'll instantly go nuts for it. Just trust me.

Re:consumer nationalism

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe this guy is getting modded insightful.

Japanese consumers preferred giving their money to Japanese companies (Sony & Nintendo).

Which is why iPods are selling better in Japan over any other MP3 player, including Sony's. Or why German and French cars are very popular in Japan while American cars don't sell at all.

If Americans gave up on their "oh, it's nationalism" excuse and actually tried to make products to fit the market instead of trying to shove it down their customers, they might actually be able to sell something.

Re:consumer nationalism

[wiggles]

Japanese consumers preferred giving their money to Japanese companies

This has been proven an incorrect assumption by the success of the iPod. Japanese consumers prefer only the best whiz-bang product on the market, and by 'best', they mean 'what everyone else in Japan is buying'. In the US, Sony and Nintendo have approximately equal market share when it comes to the DS vs PSP, but in Japan it isn't even close -- DS is dominating, because 'everyone else is buying a DS'. It means that only the products that can capture the attention of the market will succeed in Japan. If Microsoft can give their console a foothold in Japan, the PS3 will never sell, just like Sony's mp3 player doesn't sell.

It won't work

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, I live in Japan, and have seen how things work here.

Firstly, the Japanese are very collectivist. I don't mean to sound insulting or anything - they just are. They care about what everyone else does and thinks, and very often you see these kind of "collective decisions" being made, seemingly spontaneously across a huge market. That's why marketing is so incredibly important here - to try to influence this silent "decision". You can see it in the very, very high quality of japanese commercials compared to, well, anywhere else. It's really, really important.

Now sometimes this behaviour is good, and sometimes it's bad. It's wonderful when some hot technology comes along and is just adopted by EVERYONE just like *that*. The right people saw it, they bought it, they told some more people, and like a chain reaction everyone loves that new thing. It just happens and it's amazing. The DS is like that. You can't buy one for love or money here in Tokyo.

What you don't want to be is on the flip side of that coin, when your product is rejected by the group. A product at debut, especially a high-status/visibility item like the 360, has maybe 2 weeks to get that snowball rolling after launch. After that, the same effect can be seen, in the negative. The product becomes unpopular BECAUSE it is unpopular. And before you know it, everyone has just invisibly decided your product is a turkey and you know what? It is.

That's what has now happened to the 360, just as it happened with the original. It is a LEPER in japan, there are piles of them sitting in every electronics store. I do not know a single person who has even mentioned them, and I hang around techie types. It is a leper, it will never sell, it has failed, game over, good luck next time.

I should add that the marketing for the 360 was very poor. Seemed cheap and tacky, and the very colours of the 360 seem calculated to annoy japanese - americans might think the "alien green" is cool and x-treme but the japanese just think it's ugly and tacky, and that was yet another blow to the 360's chances right at the critical moment.

Dead. Deceased. Pushing up the daisies. Nothing more you can say.

thanks,

Sho