Microsoft Targets Europe After Failing to Woo Gamers in Japan Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Microsoft Targets Europe After Failing to Woo Gamers in Japan Posted by XanTium | September 21 11:26 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From bloomberg.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft Corp. will target video gamers in Europe after failing to take advantage of a one-year head start on rival consoles from Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. in Japan's $5.9 billion gaming market. ``The No. 1 objective is to win on a global basis and that may mean winning some markets and losing others,'' Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's group product manager for the Xbox game console business, said in an interview at the Tokyo Game Show yesterday. ``Europe is our priority focus right now.'' The comments suggest the Xbox 360 maker may be running out of ideas to woo players in the world's second-largest gaming nation after the U.S. Even after cutting prices and increasing the number of local game titles, Microsoft's console is outsold by about eight to one by Nintendo's Wii and three to one by Sony's PlayStation 3 since the Japan launch in December 2005. ``It's difficult to see Microsoft capturing a significant share'' in Japan, said Hiroshi Kamide, a Tokyo-based games analyst at KBC Securities Japan. ``After two years on the market, Xbox's position in the country is such that it makes you wonder whether further efforts are even worth it.'' [/QUOTE] Full Story: bloomberg.com

[jwin767]

about bleeding time i say

[twistedsymphony]

cue all of the "just forget about Japan" comments...

[skx]

You all wonder why Xbox360 is not that excepted in Europe and Japan?

Microsoft has a very bad capitalistic Image over here and Japan.

[steveju]

They've been ripping us off and using that money to woo the japanese gamers and just now (after 2 years) they decide it's time to give us some attention and move out of Japan... I'd say that's pretty bad PR right there.

[mcklain]

Oh! Thank you MS, it was about time!

Well, now FY. FY and your stupid obsession with Japan.

[Master Reefed]

Fuck Japanese gamers anyway, what do they play over there, blue dragon? Pokemon?
maybe we will get more good games now that they arent wasting time on the east.

They knew it was a lost cause from the get-go... the only reason they even tried was cause they (M$) have money to blow.

bet they still sell lotsa Winblows over there tho.

[bucko]

They only need to release things the same time on Market Place as USA and Video Market Place needs a launch date among other things, 360 is well known here in the UK the thing that bothers me is things like a 120GB hard drive for £120 and the 360 Elite that I'm gonna buy is £299 them type of things don't add up.

[nha]

Great news! Does this mean we will see more releases - more work for games companies in the uk for example and cheaper games? Lets hope so!! Go MS europe is waiting!

[[TR]]

I was starting to wonder how many consoles it would take them to realize this.
Still, saying this at the Tokyo Game Show is ironic, if nothing worse.

[jonny_eh]

Japan doesn't know what they're missing. They should have used a Japanese brand name like Toshiba to sell the system.

[modifiedbears]

cue all of the "just forget about Japan" comments...

Sony PS2

HARDWARE
Japan - 24,760,000
North America - 46,530,000
Europe - 44,070,000

Japan doesn't have the population to match North America or Europe, so from a business standpoint they don't really matter much. They only reason to win over Japan is so you can get more Japanese developers on board. Companies like Capcom are starting to see the global picture though.

[Software2]

Stop region locking Japanese titles and I'll bet you my 360 that you'd see a huge jump in game sales overnight.

Dammit! I want my high-def aquarium!

[kermit007]

Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, and more. Japan has quite a few long standing games that sell in the US what few games outside of Halo 3 will match. Microsoft will never capture a small percentage again in Japan if they screw the Otaku & developers who bought into the Xbox, got meager support, and now get royally screwed with the 360.

And yes Japan sells fewer consoles, but their attach rate with NEW games is exceptionally higher. Whereas where you look at the US & Europe who all too often don't usually own a whole lot of games purchased new if they do purchase many games. Hell look at the people on this site. Large chunks are those too cheap to actually pay for a game who use the rationalization that they backup games with the laughable excuse that they're games may get damaged. 360s don't damage disks anymore, and we're not in the flaky 5.25" & 3.5" flaky floppy drive days anymore people. Which brings out another thing, Japanese have a little more honor about such things. You get looked down upon for really even buying used or backing up something, and listening/playing it that way outside of it being an out of print game you have to buy at a used shop. Does help motivating people into a much higher new game attach rate at the end of the day with a whole lot of dollar signs behind it no company should be dumb enough to pass on.

[0794]

Japan doesn't know what they're missing. They should have used a Japanese brand name like Toshiba to sell the system.

exactly, that market is eerily loyal to manufacturers regardless of what kind of strange game genres that one would produce...well, anyways, to each his own...