Final Fantasy creator takes aim at Sony and Microsoft Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Final Fantasy creator takes aim at Sony and Microsoft Posted by XanTium | May 2 13:54 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From gamesindustry.biz: [QUOTE] Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, has criticised the PlayStation 3 for being difficult to develop for - and accused Microsoft of failing to promote Xbox 360 effectively in Japan. "Microsoft has to change its marketing strategy in Japan. There are a lot of excellent games on the 360, far better games than what's on the Wii or PS3. But not a lot of people in Japan have a clear idea what games like Gears of War are all about," he said. And it's not just the marketing for Xbox 360 which Sakaguchi feels is lacking: "Just look at the Windows Vista commercial - it's terrible," he stated. [/QUOTE] Full Story: gamesindustry.biz

[NumarkTTX1]

yay! first post for meeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!11

btw.. fock joo shony!

[batmike1990]

and we wonder why the wii is sellin like hot cakes in japan

[compton]

what kind of shitty interviewer doesn't follow up with a question about him saying he 'doesn't like Kutaragi.' statment. I would like to what his reasons are, just to satisfy curiosity.

I am usually a fan of 1up and egm, hell i've seen them link to xbox scene for a couple of modding stories, but they dropped the ball on this interview. I can think of a million better questions to ask the guy.

other then that he is absolutely correct about his assesment of japan. the commercials are weird and have very little to do with the product. this works well in the USA, because we know what to expect from xbox. M$ need to show Japan what they are offering, not show a bunch of choreographed teens dancing and then flash a 360 logo. They have the best RPG out there (blue dragon) but most people don't see the point with so many good rpgs being released on the ps2. They need to be sure that blue dragon isn't the only attraction. wait till Trusty Bell, Infinite Undiscovery, Two World, Mass Effect, and Lost Odyssey drop. if there isn't a strong rpg line up on the wii or ps3 by this point, japan will have to take a second look at the 360.

[bigmac_375]

i agree with him on the japan issue...

[ShadowmanX]

Microsoft should hire "SEGATAN SANSHIRO!" Then the Japanese would buy it like hot cakes!

[TexT]

02/05/2007

[Ryansc]

02/05/2007

or is it 05/02/07

[DeMoN_DARREN]

The 360 is THE dominated next-gen console for games, as it should be with a 2 year head start. I think Microsoft are a bit lacking in advertising and would love to see them crack Japan. A big hit now while PS3 is "weak" and has no major games to crack Japan is needed

[sinister slipknot]

or is it 05/02/07

It depends, most americans put it month/day/year whereas alot of people from the rest of the world (especially in Europe) put it day/month/year.

Anyways.. on topic: Finally someone that makes sense, this guy is totally right.

[halofun121]

Microsoft could learn a thing or two from this guy. However, the Xbox 360 is never going to do extremely well in Japan. I still blame ugly nationalism as a big chunk of the problem. People in Japan like to support their own countries products more than anything else.

[danejadee]

yep promotion is the key in japan,bout two years when i was living in japan I remember seeing a bloody long lineup for a ps2 game (sengokumuso-dynasty warriors ) at a suburban denki-ya(electronic store) just coz it was the limited special gold edition of the game that had been blasted all over the tv the previous week! Nothing really special (no real difference in game/play) just heavy thought out market aware advertising(and a gold box).
M$ just hasn't done enough homework on how to promote their other games for the x360 in japan, apart from blue dragon which if you look at the good marketing mix for that it worked out great--remember the pre-orders for the again "special edition version" x360 bundle w/blue dragon included basically sold out!
The convenience stores had flags and posters promoting it even in manga comic magazines they were slogging it --I don't think national pride plays such a big part in the selling of video games anymore in japan (alot of young adults tune up American and euro cars as their hobby too!, personally id buy a Toyota The ultra fast internet broadband services in japan should be used as a plus when promoting it there,as one of the 360s greatest attributes is its online gaming capabilities--which is growing more and more in japan as it plays catch up to Korea and other Asian countries in this field.
Come on M$ you know what to do- get the the blue dragon team out there to promote ALL your GOOD games ...Leave all that silly abstract crap advertising at home.

This post has been edited by danejadee: May 3 2007, 12:21 AM

[thechosenone]

how about an official petition to do away with the core system?

[danejadee]

great idea --sell the the reminding units at a heavily discounted price! Get more people on board

[jaygould30]

I read this interview a while ago. It was on gamespot I think. Don't remember. But it was a very good interview and I agree with EVERYTHING this guy has to say.

If MS could make their advertisements make absolutely no sense to North American consumers then it would no doubt make sense to Japanese consumers.