XBox 360 Continues to do well in Japan: What Does it Mean?

[takavach]

The Xbox 360 has once again beaten out the PlayStation 3 in Japan. This has been a continuing trend in the Japanese markets, ever since the 360’s price cut a few weeks ago.

Though the Wii and Nintendo DS have more than double Microsoft’s sales, the fact that the 360 is moving forward looks promising. But what does it mean for Microsoft and gamers?

Let’s consider the facts:

1. The Xbox 360 price cut has already bolstered sales in Japan, and rumors have it that Microsoft may cut the price of the 360 Elites even further, as well. We saw what two weeks of sales did for Microsoft. Of course, those sales were not only helped by the price cut, but also by the release of Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery, two exclusives for the 360.

Now that the immediate surge is over, the 360 has once again fallen to fourth place in Japanese sales (behind the DS, Wii and PSP). Yet hopefully, this next round of price cuts should once again raise the 360’s sales.

2. Much of the reason behind the Xbox 360’s drop in sales in the past two weeks seems to have been due to Microsoft’s failure to meet the demand for the 360. Corporate Vice President, John Schappert, told Reuters: "We’ve done better than we forecast. We are finding that we have a shortage of hardware."

Star Ocean: The Last Hope, another Microsoft exclusive weapon.
3. Many new (and exclusive) titles for the 360 will be targeted towards Japanese audiences. Over the next year, the 360 has three new Japanese games coming out (Vampire’s Rain, which will come out for the 360 and PS3, Cry On and Bullet Witch, both 360 exclusives). In addition, Microsoft will be releasing several RPGs in Japan, including The Last Remnant, Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope and Fable II. This should help to push 360 sales, since good RPGs tend to do well in Japan.

4. As of right now, Microsoft has "no plans to launch Final Fantasy XIII in Japan." In a recent interview Takashi Sensui, the head of Microsoft in Japan, stated that although they were going to release a good amount of RPGs in Japan, Final Fantasy XIII was not among them.

If Microsoft is smart, they will soon change their minds and release FFXIII in Japan, since it’s an extremely popular game. And if they really want to boost their Japanese sales, this may be one of the best moves that Microsoft could make. But what do I know?

So while it seems that the Xbox 360 may be moving up in Japanese sales charts, it’s by no means guaranteed that this will continue. Things look promising for now, but price cuts and a couple title releases won’t keep the Japanese consumers content for long. The 360 needs to do something big (or get more, better exclusives) in order to overtake the Wii and DS. Though I do think it’s safe to say that they’ll stay on top of the PS3 for quite a while. More PlayStation 3 News...