Xbox 360 launches in Japan to tepid reaction
By Barb Dybwad 
posted December 10th 2005 6:30PM
posted December 10th 2005 6:30PM
Can't say anyone's too surprised, but apparently the general reaction to the Xbox 360 launch in Japan today was lukewarm at best. Microsoft does have first-mover advantage there on the next-gen console playing field unlike last time around, and they're hoping that will be the ticket to increased sales in a market that, if first-day reaction is any indication, may end up preferring to wait for the PS3 or Revolution to arrive next year.
Just my 2 cents
To put this KILLZONE confusion to rest
KILLZONE is RENDERED in REAL-TIME!,but AT 5 FPS then accelerated ("probably as a video im not sure")
on the alpha dev kit running at 2.2 GHZ so, now you can make your own conclusions, My conclusion is Killzone will probably run much faster at 3.0GHz, and maybe they'll scale it down a little, or they'll just write better code.
mmmmmmmmmmm.......
You guys just need to dig up the TGS PS3 footage of the MGS demo. Where they were playing with it in real-time. Showing off the lighting and various other special effects. Snakes mustache alone had more polygons than a soldier in the last PS2 game. It is jaw dropping.
I've said it before and I'll say again:
If exclusive games from Sakaguchi's company can't win over the Japanese, nothing can. Wait for some of Microsoft's exclusive Japanese developed RPGs. If those are any good and they don't move systems, the 360 (and any chances of me getting Virtua Fighter 5 on 360) is doomed.
For MS they would probably deam the 360 a success in Japan if it manages to sell a million units over its life time there, I think that would mean that it sold over 10 times as many as the previous xbox did.
In my opinion MS dont need market share as much as they make out, perhaps they shouldn't make such a big deal over Japan as it seems people use it as amunition to knock the 360 in the markets where they have a chance of being number 1!
Of course if the PS3 only sold 1m in Japan it would be an unmitigated disaster for Sony!
strife
thats so typical of sony isn't it!, get a demo running at 5fps video it and push fast forward while showing it off and hope no one notices!
For the record, it'd have to run at 30fps to look convincing and running the cell at 3ghz rather than 2 isn't going to make that much difference certainly not 10x faster! (maybe 10-20% faster based on experience with upgrading PCs).
Next time I see some PS3 footage i'm going to take it with a pinch of salt! Wehn are we going to see some proper IN GAME footage??!!!
Microsoft won't win Japan, thats a moot point. They can make their biggest impact here in the United States, and possibly, Europe. Hopefully the PS3 launches on schedule and then things will really get interesting.
Microsoft won't win Japan, thats a moot point. They can make their biggest impact here in the United States, and possibly, Europe. Hopefully the PS3 launches on schedule and then things will really get interesting.
I think MS will do better with the 360 in Japan than the Xbox (it'd be hard to sell less than 500,000 in 4 years). The "worldwide release" gains some nice publicity for MS, but the feasibility has proven it to be a poor decision. The fact is, launching in Japan without any games geared for the Japanese market is a bad move. Delay the launch until the spring when the 360 has Nintey-Nine Nights, DOA4, and Oblivion and then people will actually purchase. In the meantime they could have sold those 360s here in the stateside rather easily. Supposedly, every video game market in the world will have 360s within 6 months of the inital US launch and that alone is an amazing accomplishment. Rushing to Japan proved nothing, other than the lack of local interesting games.
FYI, Microsoft has a handful to a dozen Japanese developers on board, so it'll be intersting to see the games that come out for the 360 (nothing yet). But even so, if they go from .5 million to 2 million that's hardly a dent in Sony or Nintendo.
Those handful of Japanese developers are mostly start up companies run by people who have left or been kicked out of major software Developers,Them actually making a game that will sell 360 in Japan is a very longshot.It's a lot about brands too.I'm not interested in any of these so called next gen systems.I might wait until Xbox 720 and PS4.I'll probly buy a Nintendo Revolution for my kid though.
For those who are Sony fanboys:
"According to a 1up.com video post, Hideo Kojima has admitted that the Xbox 360 is capable of running the Metal Gear Solid 4 real-time demo. Despite the PlayStation 3 propaganda on display throughout the demo, Kojimas comments reaffirm many gamers opinions that the two next-gen consoles arent separated by much in terms of sheer graphical power. Todays lesson: Dont be a victim of hype."
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000883068264/
Point is: Who cares about the system? Content is key. I for one look forward to owning both systems. From a hardware perspective, I'm excited for the PS3 because of Blu-Ray. For the xbox 360, I love the integration with my pc and other peripherals not to mention the great online aspect.
By the way, the killzone "demo" may have looked great but can we all remember that Killzone on the PS2 scored an average score of 72% according to gamerankings? This includes a 60% from gamespy, 75% from IGN, and 69% from gamespot. If anything, I'd be more excited by the next warhawk game.
For those who are Sony fanboys:
"According to a 1up.com video post, Hideo Kojima has admitted that the Xbox 360 is capable of running the Metal Gear Solid 4 real-time demo. Despite the PlayStation 3 propaganda on display throughout the demo, Kojimas comments reaffirm many gamers opinions that the two next-gen consoles arent separated by much in terms of sheer graphical power. Todays lesson: Dont be a victim of hype."
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000883068264/
Point is: Who cares about the system? Content is key. I for one look forward to owning both systems. From a hardware perspective, I'm excited for the PS3 because of Blu-Ray. For the xbox 360, I love the integration with my pc and other peripherals not to mention the great online aspect.
By the way, the killzone "demo" may have looked great but can we all remember that Killzone on the PS2 scored an average score of 72% according to gamerankings? This includes a 60% from gamespy, 75% from IGN, and 69% from gamespot. If anything, I'd be more excited by the next warhawk game.
8. Posted Dec 10, 2005, 7:19 PM ET by Shade
The XBOX 360 is too large to sell well in Japan, where space in the home is at a premium.
what are you talking about? the ps3 looks just as large and is akin to the likeness of a george foreman grill. still gonna get both tho.