Phil Spencer Chimes In On Why Xbox Doesn't Sell In Japan

Megalith

Megalith

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I used to think that Xbox fared terribly in Japan simply because they didn’t want to see an American console do well, but I guess that is irrational based on the success that many US brands do manage to find over there. Spencer thinks the Xbox just needs Japanese franchises, but I think the key is to bring out the really weird stuff, like pigeon dating simulators and anime karaoke.

Japanese people prefer to play games made in Japan, primarily role-playing games, visual novels, and just about anything Nintendo puts out. They don't like shooters. This is a mystery to no one, including Phil Spencer himself who gives his two spence (no applause, please): "I feel that a lot of the games are not games that the Japanese public would play." Spencer admits they tried to boost sales for the Xbox 360 with exclusives like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, which did sell well. Even the huge franchise Idolmaster had its first two major console titles exclusive to Xbox 360. Similarly with this generation, Microsoft reached out to major Japanese developers like Keiji Inafune and Hideki Kamiya to bring ReCore and Scalebound, respectively, exclusively to Xbox One.
 
Bring some of those weird Steam Indie titles to the XBOX and it might sell better there.
 
Considering 8 of the top-10 Japanese games from 2016 all appear to be Mobile titles (3DS, Wii or Vita.....and Dark Souls III on PS4 of course), Phil may be a little delusional about the prospects of success for any Western electronics, particularly game hardware.
 
360 had a couple of Japanese hidden gems but this gen Steam has been killing it with all of the good vita ports and other quirky games not on PS4. Xbox should just focus on the Dorito and Mountain Dew type games that the Xbox brand is built on, been having a blast with Forza Horizon 3 and Gears 4 on my bros Xbone.
 
cageymaru said:
Bring some of those weird Steam Indie titles to the XBOX and it might sell better there.
Click to expand...

I would say the same thing about Steam. Bring (as in take with you) the crap ton of crap anime games that revolve around uncovering the special prize woman that are currently flooding my Que over on Steam. Don't ever hit Like on the Witcher 3.... Steam will then know, despite having your age/sex and a plethera of other things about you, that you may indeed enjoy adult games.
 
Not surprising really. I like tons of Japanese games and Xbox never has them. It's usually on the Playstation. The only couple that they did have that I liked was Idolm@ster and Oneechanbara. Which is on the Playstation for this generation.
 
The issue is two-fold.

One is the titles. It's not enough to have RPGs, puzzle games, or simulators, you need Japanese franchise versions of RPGs, puzzle games, and simulators. Take Mass Effect. Great RPG. However it's not a Japanese RPG with all that a Japanese RPG has to offer, which are lots of non-story based minigames and quests. Take Final Fantasy as the example. Ultimate weapons and chocobo breeding are not necessary to beat the game, and for the most part aren't even a part of the game's story, but Japanese gamers love spending hours and hours grinding out all of these absurdly long/minimal benefit minigames just to say they did it.

The other side of things, as mentioned here, is mobile. In Japan you spend so much time commuting, at work, at school, and lots of places that aren't your home. It's hard to bring an Xbox with you on a train.
 
Well the stereotype of Xbox is that is just mainly focus on FPS games. We are so hungry for warfare and blowing shit up.

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