[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Yep. Microsoft needs to woo the Japanese market on that market's own terms, which means advertisements you may never see here in the U.S. What can work is them establishing a culture of gaming on Xbox that they can't otherwise experience on PS3 or Nintendolution.

Exactly trepsie, a mistake Microsoft committed last gen in the Japanese market. From the American-sized console design, to the way they approached the Japanese developers, it really alienated most of the Japanese market. It seems this time, Microsoft is more careful about the Japanese tastes, judging by how they approached the publishers, and how they have designed the console to be smaller in size. Also a plus is getting Japanese loved developers to make exclusive games for the system. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out in Japan.

[SakSquash]

Like the said, the Japanese won't buy an xbox because it wasn't made in Japan, and that's the bottom line. I remember reading an interview done with the guy who made Metal Gear, and he said he wouldn't be making MGS3 for xbox becasue "The controller is too big." I was like


Mind you, this is after controller S came out. It's that sort of stupidity that will keep microsoft out of Japan.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

That had more to do with being released a year later then PS2 than it had to do with Japan. And what's wrong with second place? The xbox wasn't a failure by any means.

Oh yeah, and the PS2 library had a lot of shit in it.

I don't think MS joined the console race to keep losing money and be in second place. Although it is admirable in setting its foot into the console race, the company obviously has much bigger plans in expanding its market. Timing was definitely a factor, but it is mainly the PS2s diverse library that made it appeal to more gamers.

And yes there is shit in the PS2 library, but you also have games like Devil May Cry 3, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid 4, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Katamari Damaci which a lot of westerners also enjoy.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

The Japanese market is racist. They wont support anything from a western country.

There is actually some truth in that. The Japanese are a nationalisitc and proud culture and will support their own at the expense of eclipsing other cultures' offerings.

It is true that Japan's nationalism is becoming more evident and obvious to the world. What is not clear, however, is if Japan's nationalism is a new phenomenon, or if the rest of the world is only now awakening to a Japanese nationalism that has been brewing for decades, if not longer.

What is misunderstood is that Japan, even in its most strident moments of extreme pacifism, has had a strongly nationalistic citizenry, struggling with a deep need to be unique and powerful and to matter in the world. What should concern observers now is not a supposedly new Japanese nationalism but rather the radicalization of an otherwise stable and healthy Japanese nationalism that increasingly resents the ongoing subordination of its sovereignty and interests to its former conqueror and Cold War ally, the United States.

Nationalism: Old News or New Worry?

More here.

Ironic is how American popular culture has been successfully integrated into Japanese popular culture. But notice that much of the acceptance is by younger people, the children and grandchildren of WWII parents (though there are probably young groups discovering Japanese tradition).

Oh yeah, and the PS2 library had a lot of shit in it.

You're ruthless.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

I don't think MS joined the console race to keep losing money and be in second place. Although it is admirable in setting its foot into the console race, the company obviously has much bigger plans in expanding its market. Timing was definitely a factor, but it is mainly the PS2s diverse library that made it appeal to more gamers.

And yes there is shit in the PS2 library, but you also have games like Devil May Cry 3, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid 4, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Katamari Damaci which a lot of westerners also enjoy.

I'd argue about whether or not Tekken is still considered a popular franchise, but i'll pass. You forget that most of the stuff that came out on PS2 also came out for Xbox with better graphics and upgrades. I don't seem them as having many exclusive must haves.

Not to say I don't like PS2. I'd get one if they were cheaper if only to play Guitar Hero.

[lykinsscs]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

Why would I? Those things are shit. I'm glad I didn't get one now, despite what you say, i'm sure you've been having problems with freezing on yours.

Best radio, best driver, best tires on a Yugo still makes it a Yugo. Core or not... It's still a xbox

[Maquisard]

What a saddening cultural reference.

[SakSquash]

http://blogs.msdn.com/xbox/

Recall Rumors are 100% False: The nastiest RUMOR that’s making the rounds is that Microsoft is going to do some sort of a recall of the Xbox 360. Several forum threads I’ve seen are talking about folks going into retailers, only to be told that there will be no more units coming because of a Microsoft recall. NOT TRUE! If you're told this by a retailer, let me know.

Replenishment Units Are On The Ground: Also, there are reports of some retailers saying they won’t have units for weeks or months. Also not true (in most cases). My theory is that some people might be tired of the constant calls, so they’ve made something up to get people to quit calling. We are shipping units constantly (we have chartered 747’s regularly flying in with units). Some retailers have a backorder wait list, and might not have units that will be on shelf for some time, and some retailers might allocate more units to one store over another, but all stores that have placed orders are getting replenishments regularly.

In fact, we have confirmation that units are on the ground and on their way to retailers this week. When those will go from our warehouses to retailer warehouses, then to retailer locations is largely up to those retailers, so there’s no easy way to say which store will get product on which day. You should call your local retailer to find out. We remain on track to ship 2.75 to 3.0 million consoles in the first 90 days.

Hardware Replacements in as Few as 5-7 Days: I saw a couple of posts where people with problems were postponing calling 800-4MYXBOX. Not sure if it’s because of long wait times (now the rush of launch is beginning to die down, those are diminishing), or that they think they might be weeks without a console. Truth is that we’re turning around replacement/repaired units extremely quickly, in as few as 5-7 business days. Our support reps have been trained to troubleshoot your problems over the phone. When a return is necessary, we overnight a prepaid box to you, which allows you to overnight your console back to us. In most cases, we troubleshoot/repair/replace your Xbox 360 in 1-2 days, and we overnight it back. We planned for world-class customer satisfaction, and have plenty of consoles, parts, and trained employees to handle the volume.

We're Not Holding Back: I’m continue to see comments/questions about Microsoft holding back inventory to keep the price inflated/keep hype going. We have shipped every console we’ve made, and we’re making more as fast as we can. Fact is, there is significantly more demand than supply, and will be for some time. We’re all gamers, and we all understand how frustrating it is to wait. We’re doing all we can to get Xbox 360 controllers into the hands of those that have waited so long. But believe me when I say, we aren't holding units, and we're not creating hype for hype's sake. There's no good economic justification for that (but that's the subject for another blog post...).

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yesterday I stopped in a my local Gamecrazy and they had the 360 hooked up to an HDTV to play with in a kiosk. There was some kind of first person shooter demo, I think it may have been Quake IV. So I took the controller. It felt good in my hands, a little smaller than the current Xbox one. But I couldn't play it. The screen was frozen! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

*ahem*

Anyway, I asked the guy behind the counter about it. He said, "Yeah, it froze up again." I giggled and said, "Yep, I heard about that."

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Yesterday I stopped in a my local Gamecrazy and they had the 360 hooked up to an HDTV to play with in a kiosk. There was some kind of first person shooter demo, I think it may have been Quake IV. So I took the controller. It felt good in my hands, a little smaller than the current Xbox one. But I couldn't play it. The screen was frozen! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

*ahem*

Anyway, I asked the guy behind the counter about it. He said, "Yeah, it froze up again." I giggled and said, "Yep, I heard about that."

Guinea Pigs

[Intrepid Homoludens]

AWWWWW!!!! < drops dead from cuteness overload >

I want floppy eared midget rabbits myself.

[tabacco]

We’re doing all we can to get Xbox 360 controllers into the hands of those that have waited so long.

Which is true, I guess, because the controllers are really easy to find at retail

[Intrepid Homoludens]

LOL!!! Yes it is, Doug. At the store yesterday I saw a bunch behind the counter.

And a shelf full of empy Xbox 360 boxes.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by tabacco

Which is true, I guess, because the controllers are really easy to find at retail

Ohhh snap! Nice one.

[squarejawhero]

I've seen tons of kiosks playing the EU demo disc, upright within a plastic bubble and watched playable demo's for over 20mins/half hour (waiting for someone who was late) and nothing happened.

There's always a lot of noise about consoles that don't work on every launch. If problems were as widespread as some claim, you'd be hearing a whole lot more noise than we are now. Naturally if there's a defect for whatever reason that affects a batch in a similar way then there'll be a few, normally distributed within the same area, which will replicate the same problem.

[hengst2404]

Okay, for starters, the 360 was not recalled. If you didn't read the earlier post with all of the infio, the 360 was not recalled. End of story there, I love how people start throwing around terms from rumors before they have the facts.

Second, show me specifically where it syays that MS lost 4 billion dollars on the XBOX. I am guessing you won't find it. MS was open about taking a loss this last gen, but 4 billion dollars? No publicly traded corp could take a loss like that without serious negative side effects. MS is taking a somewhere between 75 and like 125 dollar loss on each unit this gen. this sounds like a lot except when you look at having like 2 million subscribers to LIVE paying like 50 bucks a year not to mention the software, extra controllers and other peripherals.

[Kolzig]

Actually, many sites have reported that MS loses $150 on every manufactured Xbox360.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/24/tech...box_loss.reut/

But, as it always is, MS (and Sony) will turn the console losses into an overall win with the game and other sales.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by hengst2404

Second, show me specifically where it syays that MS lost 4 billion dollars on the XBOX. I am guessing you won't find it. MS was open about taking a loss this last gen, but 4 billion dollars? No publicly traded corp could take a loss like that without serious negative side effects. MS is taking a somewhere between 75 and like 125 dollar loss on each unit this gen.

Here

Is Forbes a good enough reference for you.
And for a company that makes 40 billion dollars in revenue, 4 billion dollars is not that much. You are really undermining how huge microsoft is, when its founder alone has more than 40 billion dollars.

[SoccerDude28]

And here comes the lawsuit

[Intrepid Homoludens]

blindedbydahaze, welcome to the AG community.

Originally Posted by blindedbydahaze

Whoever thinks the 360 is crap are the same people who waited in line just not to get 1!!!!

A case of sour grapes, I suppose.

The people talking it down are a bunch of trader jap lovers.

Please, we don't need any racist remarks in this community.