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XBox (Games)

Tomorrow's Xbox 360 Japanese Launch 31

Posted by Zonk from the not-going-to-be-any-shortage-problems-there dept.
rAiNsT0rm writes "The BBC has a great story covering the looming Xbox 360 launch in Japan tomorrow." Next Generation is reporting that, while there are no firm numbers yet, the 360 likely sold about 320,000 units in its first week on the retail shelf. From the BBC article: "Pre-orders on the internet look solid, but I don't think the retail stores will sell out of Xbox 360s in the first day ... Serious game fans will likely rush to buy them, but I think most people are going to wait and see."
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Tomorrow's Xbox 360 Japanese Launch More

Tomorrow's Xbox 360 Japanese Launch

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  • If they don't have any in stock bar the first 15 the shops sell, it's kinda meaningless really..

    (still waiting for the UK to get some more.. :( )

  • I wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by amrust ( 686727 ) <marcrust.gmail@com> on Friday December 09, 2005 @12:21PM (#14220255) Homepage
    Will the Japanese have the same problems with bundling, like those that purchased their 360s at Best Buy, in the USA?

    Do retail outlets even DO bundling over there? I don't know.

    • Re:I wonder... (Score:3, Informative)

      by badasscat ( 563442 )
      Will the Japanese have the same problems with bundling, like those that purchased their 360s at Best Buy, in the USA?

      Highly doubtful as nobody's expecting a sell-out as it is. With low demand, forced bundling would just reduce sales further. A customer can just walk out of the store and buy somewhere else, which was not really an option here.

      Do retail outlets even DO bundling over there? I don't know.

      I have never seen stores do it (factory bundles like pack-in games that come in the box are more common th
  • Not really all that shocking considering the XBox only sold 10,000 units. I can't be the only who thinks $400 is way too much money to pay for a console. I certainly won't be looking at any of the next gen machines until they hit around $150-200.
    • I second that notion. I bought my Xbox about 2 years ago now and it was only $150 and came with three games. Its still fun and several games have come out that are enjoyable to play. Until the 360 drops to $150 or so, that money will stay in my pocket.
      • The point is that the extra two years of system linked Halo and the year of Xbox Live titles would be worth the extra $150. If it wasn't for you, then great. But looking at it the way you are isn't really looking at it fairly.
  • I already HAVE a network-enabled gaming machine with a harddrive that is based on MS. It's my PC. If I'm going to shell out for a console, why not, you know, spread the love around?

    Looks Japaneese gamers might be coming to the same conclusion.

    Also, how dumb does a company have to be to under-stock just before Christmas [shamusyoung.com]?

  • huh? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by the computer guy nex ( 916959 )
    I can't be the only who thinks $400 is way too much money to pay for a console.

    You do realize that the Xbox 360 is the cheapest major console ever to be release, when adjusted for inflation? You are paying less of your disposible income for this than your NES, SNES, Sega, PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, etc.

    • Re:huh? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      So the $200 I spent on a Gamecube in 2002 is more than $400 in 2005 dollars.

      Right?
      • It is more than the base console, which is only $300. The $400 version comes with about $220 extra accessories.

        • Re:huh? (Score:5, Informative)

          by badasscat ( 563442 ) <basscadet75@@@yahoo...com> on Friday December 09, 2005 @12:58PM (#14220647)
          It is more than the base console, which is only $300.

          $200 in 2002 dollars is $213.49 today, according to the inflation calculator here [westegg.com]. So, no, the GameCube was not more than the base X360 console.

          The Dreamcast also cost $199 when it was launched in 1999, and that's only $228 today.

          The Xbox 360 core system is not really more expensive than most, but it is hardly the cheapest ever at launch.
          • We can keep going back. $199 in 1991 dollars is only $280.82 today, and that got you an SNES, two controllers and Super Mario World. And you didn't even need two controllers for a two-player game of SMW.

            $199 in 1986 dollars ($340.89 today) got you an NES, two control pads, a Zapper, and the venerable Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cart. If you wanted the Deluxe set with R.O.B the Video Robot, that finally pushes things over the X360's price tag.

            Sure, it's not a Saturn or a PlayStation 2, but...
    • obviously then the Revolution will be the cheapest major console ever to be release when adjusted for inflation as it will most likely be 200 bucks or 150...you've got to be kidding me...

  • From Japan... (Score:5, Informative)

    by dancingmad ( 128588 ) on Friday December 09, 2005 @12:31PM (#14220352)
    The Xbox 360 is set to make exactly the same splash in Japan that the original Xbox made. Which is to say, not very much.

    There are ads for the 360 around - mostly in convience stores (Lawson's and 7/11, that I've seen). These are more like general stores in Japan - you can get games at some convience stores, its not considered a real hardcore gaming place. And the ads aren't even that big.

    I recently purchased a DS and in actual game stores there is next to nothing about the 360.

    On TV I've seen the commercial for Resident Evil 4 for the PS2 a dozen times in the last few days. I've seen exactly one Xbox 260 ad (for Perfect Dark) and that was at 3 a.m. (granted game commercials play mostly at those times, but I saw the Resident Evil/Biiohazard commercials during prime time too).

    The DS on the other hand is eating up the game market. It looks to be the next PS2 (and that is still running strong out here).

    I read the BBC article right before it was posted to slashdot and I don't think hardcore gamers here will buy the machine. There are zero Japanese interest games for the machine. Without even Dead or Alive, the machine's sunk. There's no interest that I can see here (granted I'm outside Osaka, and not Tokyo, but even considering Denden town, there's no interest).
    • "The Xbox 360 is set to make exactly the same splash in Japan that the original Xbox made. Which is to say, not very much."

      Yes, but are we surprised? Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies. Microsoft is an American company, perhaps an iconic American company.

      Something tells me that if Nintendo released the XBOX 360 (with a different name) of course, same name, same specs, same launch titles, it would do well in Japan, SIMPLY because of the name Nintendo.

      And that, my friends, is when you know that you have
      • You're right that if Nintendo released the Xbox 360 here, it would probably do well. But saying "simply" because of the name neglects the finer points of why the names Sony and Nintendo sell consoles.

        The reason why Sony and Nintendo as brands sell consoles is because they have a history of making good ones. The NES and SNES were killer, and while the N64 did not fare as well as its predecessors one need only peek into the windows of university clubrooms to see groups of people huddled around TVs playing Gol
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • While the Japanese are accuse the Xbox of being underpowered in contrast to the up and coming still vapourware PS3, they couldn't use that argument for Xbox vs. PS2 - knowing the Japanese you'd have to assume bias there.

        You don't have to assume bias there. You could, instead, assume that Japanese people looked at the shitty and miniscule game lineup, with a new game coming out every month or so (it seemed), and realize that the product wasn't worth buying.

        If you want to accuse Japanese developers of not ju
        • It seems entirely possible it wasn't even bias on the part of the developers, but instead could have just been that the Japanese developers didn't like the way Microsoft did business.
          • True. I certainly didn't mean to say that Japanese or US developer racism was a highly likely factor, just that I don't know enough about the developer end to argue either way about the subject, but on the consumer end, it was certainly not racism that kept people away from the XBox, but awareness of the dearth of games.

  • Money making opportunity. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rowan_u ( 859287 ) on Friday December 09, 2005 @12:32PM (#14220367)
    Yea, the good news is, after the the Xbox 360 launch fails miserably in Japan. I can import hundred of Japanese 360's (with Final Fantasy XI preinstalled), and make a fortune on EBay. Of course the unsuspecting buyers will have to . . . err . . . import all of there games from Japan as well, but a small price to pay for 4x full scene anti-aliasing.

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