Microsoft and their box o’ games have established themselves as a force to contend with in nearly every corner of the world. That is, every corner except for Japan. The Xbox 360 has tallied record sales in North America and Europe, and despite extensive efforts to woo the Japanese market, the new system was still outsold by Sony’s 6 year old PlayStation2 in the last week of June by a margin of 20 to 1. In light of these facts, Microsoft Japan President and CEO Darren Huston has had not choice but to admit that he's not confident about the 360’s future in Japan.
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"Globally we are doing very well but Japan has always been tough," Huston said at a company event, according to the IDG News Service. "We launched early and with not enough Japan-specific content."
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Content such as Ninety Nine Nights by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and a graphically updated version of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XI were intended to be the “must own” titles that every Japanese gamer would buy the system to get his hands on. Taking it a step further, MS even employed the help of a Japanese design group to make their system more aesthetically appealing to Japanese gamers.
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Despite their efforts, the results have not been up to expectations. As was made evident in May when Cross Marketing conducted a poll of self-proclaimed gamers in Japan. Of the 366 polled, 256 said they wanted to buy a PS3, 127 wanted a Nintendo Wii, and only 93 chose the Xbox 360. It’s also noteworthy that of those who chose multiple systems, most included the Wii.
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"I can't say I'm beaming with confidence in Japan," admitted Huston.
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Nevertheless, MS is sticking to their guns, and hopes to improve the situation by continuing to produce original content for the region.
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"We need to do deliver more Japanese content that Japanese gamers want. That's why we continue to work super hard with Japanese game developers and publishers. It's why our efforts with Sakaguchi-san and Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are so important," Huston said. "Because those are the kinds of titles that can really drive new users to our platform. [We need to] demonstrate to everybody in Japan that we're very serious about being more successful in Japan. I think our expectations are realistic there; we don't expect to win in Japan but we definitely expect to do better [with 360].”