GCN Outsells 360 in Japan

whereswarren (King_Vegeta)
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September 8, 2006 - Microsoft may have a hit on its hands with Xbox 360 in America, but the same cannot be said of the console's presence in Japan. Not only did the next-generation system debut in the Land of the Rising Sun to less than spectacular numbers, but overseas gamers have -- despite Microsoft's best efforts - continued to shy away from the system in 2006.

In fact, an analysis of the Japanese videogame hardware sell-through up until the end of August, 2006, courtesy Enterbrain's F-ism marketing data service, shows that Microsoft's console has been outsold by Nintendo GameCube of all systems.

Microsoft has sold 75,837 Xbox 360 units in Japan in 2006 so far, according to Enterbrain's data. Nintendo, meanwhile, has sold 77,124 GameCubes during the same period.

It's a close race and Microsoft is gaining steam. During the last several weeks, Xbox 360 has outsold GameCube by as many as 200 or 300 units per week in Japan, narrowing the sales gap. And yes, we're having difficulty not laughing as we write this stuff.

The best-selling home console in Japan for the year is the PlayStation 2 with 1,061,563 units moved. However, the big winner is the Nintendo DS, which has sold through 5,208,404 units in 2006 alone. By comparison, Sony's PSP has moved just 1,332,773 units.

Microsoft has made attempts to appease the Japanese gamer, enlisting the aid of top local developers, which may be why the console is enjoying a very slight, but nevertheless increasing lead of month-to-month sales over GameCube. Of course, this lead may also have more to do with the fact that the Big N has all but abandoned its current generation console in the homeland, choosing instead to focus on DS and its upcoming Wii system.

We'll monitor the situation for any late-breaking improvements, but for now it is unlikely that Xbox 360 will give either Wii or PlayStation 3 a run for their money when the systems debut in Japan this holiday-
IGN

Not suprised, but interesting none the less.
 
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Nothin but interesting I say.
 
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Those japanese are such smart consumers. This isn't surprising at all to me. ^_^
 
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this reminds me of when the dreamcast outsold the xbox on xbox's release day in japan, the system wasn't even being made anymore! ah well, those japanese and anti xboxness, i guess i'll be the only one enjoying ramming shower heads into zombies skulls.
 
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Maybe people will stop all the garbage claims regarding the XB360's claim to the throne of the next-gen race--like I've said in numerous other threads, it's going to boil down to PS3 vs. Wii, with both dominating in specific types of games. The XB360 isn't even a real contender.

Considering how few units Gamecube has sold compared to previous Nintendo systems, it's really sad that even Gamecube is outselling the XB360 in Japan.
 

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The 360 isn't a contender? In Japan, no question about it, but on the world stage, I'd beg to differ.
 
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You can disagree.. but think about how many of the major game developers are Japanese. Considering the Japanese as a whole are apprehensive about investing in Microsoft's console, not only from a developer's standpoint but also from a consumer's standpoint--do you think it'll be able to actually compete with the more powerful, much more popular and capable PS3 as well as the far cheaper, 'innovative' Wii?

The XB360 can't do anything special--and it doesn't have nearly as many platform exclusives the other two companies have had. The GCN outselling the XB360 is just foreshadowing of the 'battle to come.'
 
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i dunno you guys, in the end i think it will be 360vs wii, the xbox has alot of potential, and is gonna get a 3rd party boost in the near future, and as far as the ps3 goes, i really wouldnt waste my money on it, the news from japan doesnt really say anything, they are just looking at the previous gen, which the xbox was imo a failure...kk
 

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SailorAlea said:
You can disagree.. but think about how many of the major game developers are Japanese. Considering the Japanese as a whole are apprehensive about investing in Microsoft's console, not only from a developer's standpoint but also from a consumer's standpoint--do you think it'll be able to actually compete with the more powerful, much more popular and capable PS3 as well as the far cheaper, 'innovative' Wii?

The XB360 can't do anything special--and it doesn't have nearly as many platform exclusives the other two companies have had. The GCN outselling the XB360 is just foreshadowing of the 'battle to come.'
Not having much Japanese support will hurt the 360, there's no question about that. But, truth be told, I'm very ignorant when it comes to Japanese Games - What games do they even have that the U.S market is interested in? Final Fantasy, MGS, and what? The PS3 will do very well in America, there's also no question about that, but I don't see it blowing away the xbox this time around. The 360 can and will do well in the U.S without major Japanese support, I think the success it's having right now shows that.

As for the PS3 being much more powerful, I don't know. The MGS creator said that technically the next MGS could run on a 360. I think the argument that the PS3 is much more powerful then the 360 doesn't hold any water.

Imo, we're going to have a very close console race this time around. The wii and PS3 will dominate Japan, the Wii, PS3 and 360 will all have their place in the U.S and the Wii and 360 again will dominate Europe [Delay = death for Sony in European market]. It'll be interesting. To say the 360 isn't a competitor is foolish though, i think.


Other than not having Japanese support, what reasons do you have that the 360 isn't a competitor?
 
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thats sad :laff: i always thought it would be about the ps3 and wii this generation anyway :]
 
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Sub said:
As for the PS3 being much more powerful, I don't know. The MGS creator said that technically the next MGS could run on a 360. I think the argument that the PS3 is much more powerful then the 360 doesn't hold any water.
Kojima said a slightly comprised version of the (inferior to most recent!) TGS trailer could run on 360. The camo that's going to be in the game and was in the E3 trailer was confirmed by him to only work on PS3.
 
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Sub said:
What games do they even have that the U.S market is interested in? Final Fantasy, MGS, and what? The PS3 will do very well in America, there's also no question about that, but I don't see it blowing away the xbox this time around. The 360 can and will do well in the U.S without major Japanese support, I think the success it's having right now shows that.

As for the PS3 being much more powerful, I don't know. The MGS creator said that technically the next MGS could run on a 360. I think the argument that the PS3 is much more powerful then the 360 doesn't hold any water.

Imo, we're going to have a very close console race this time around. The wii and PS3 will dominate Japan, the Wii, PS3 and 360 will all have their place in the U.S and the Wii and 360 again will dominate Europe [Delay = death for Sony in European market]. It'll be interesting. To say the 360 isn't a competitor is foolish though, i think.


Other than not having Japanese support, what reasons do you have that the 360 isn't a competitor?
The XB360 has the same fundamental flaws the Xbox had.

1)It was expensive (but not prohibitively so)
2)It didn't have Japanese-game support
3)It didn't have strong third party game support

And the XB360 doesn't support true HD, or any next-gen format (without paying more money which will end up costing as much as the PS3--except that it still can't display it in full 1080p anyway).

Whether or not one specific game can be run on either system doesn't mean that one isn't more powerful than the other. My PC can run a snes emulator--but that doesn't say anything about what more it can do.

And I apologize for sounding anti-European, which I'm not (I've spent a majority of my life living in Europe), but Europe has traditionally been screwed over by their refusal to confirm to the NTSC standard.. Europe doesn't have one standard--PAL, SECAM(I'm pretty sure there's one or two more), as compared to Japan and the US's (the origin of the majority of games)' NTSC standard. Thankfully, this won't eternally be a problem as HDTV formats (1080p/720p) are a worldwide standard.

Sub said:
The 360 can and will do well in the U.S without major Japanese support, I think the success it's having right now shows that.
And what success is that? You mean the success of having a massive shortage of launch units, which also overheat and fail? The sales-chart typically being dominated by DS and PS2 games? The less than five quality games (out now) worth owning? When my friends get together to play games, they're on PS2 or Gamecube. Not XB360.

I think when people see the difference between XB360 and PS3 when it finally comes out, most of the argument is going to disappear.
 
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Nuts to Japan, I say. They didn't make my computer, and they didn't make any of the games I play, so they can all go take a running jump.

As for the 360's poor performance, I think that it's something we are going to be seeing accross the board pretty soon. Things were hyped to critical mass months ago, and none of the consoles are about to live up to the promises. The PS3 was (and still is, by the ad in the other thread) made out to be some kind of godmachine, and the Rev's unique features will be put to waste by Nintendo, who seem to enjoy targetting the 10-12 age range. I'm sure the drunken games of Mario party will be great, and the high-poly HD Final Fantasy girls will have the palms of geeks everywhere sweating, but other than that I don't see a whole lot to look forward to.
 
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360 fails, ive said it since the first xbox. all xbox has is sports games. yeah you can get some dumbass americans to keep buying madden games every year but that doesnt hold true for any other country. not to mention xbox really doesnt have anything interesting. xbox cant do rpg's because the major companys that do rpgs are japanese, xbox cant do fighters cause one again its japanese, xbox cant do music/rythm games such as bemani series, because one again its japanese. the japanese produce a arge flow of anything decent game wise. sure you can play your "fity cent" games on your xbox and grand theft auto but really thats about it. oh and you madden games.....


xbox is like the macintosh of the console world. sure i can play games but there arnt really any thing worth playing on one.
 
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Nuts to Japan, I say. They didn't make my computer, and they didn't make any of the games I play, so they can all go take a running jump.
Amen.

The only things I see come out of Japan confuse and befuddle me. Honestly the game market doesn't sit there anymore, no matter how you slice it. Maybe for consoles but thanks to the PC and more serious games we now have two classes of video gamer: the "Stupid American" as Pineapple puts it, who wants to play everything BUT dancing games, RPGs, and Fighters; and the "Crazy Weird Japaninite" audience, who like things only if they are completely alien to all sense of reality. That divide has led to two very niche markets -- and personally I'm glad I'm not a part of the Dance Dance Revolution side of the fence.
 
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xbox is like the macintosh of the console world
It's not quite fair to call them that until they start providing PS3 support. *cough*Intel*cough*
 
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ive said it since the first xbox. all xbox has is sports games.
really in th elast couple years i've played my xbox far more than cube or ps2 and ihate sports game.

xbox cant do rpg's because the major companys that do rpgs are japanese
A japanese rpg style rpg form the people who made crono trigger is schedules as an xbox 360 only title. And they just came out with enchanted arms.

xbox cant do fighters cause one again its japanese
really, i guess my MvC2, CvS, street fighter anthologies, guilty gear, and dead or alive are just imaginary.
 
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tolore said:
really in th elast couple years i've played my xbox far more than cube or ps2 and ihate sports game.



A japanese rpg style rpg form the people who made crono trigger is schedules as an xbox 360 only title. And they just came out with enchanted arms.



really, i guess my MvC2, CvS, street fighter anthologies, guilty gear, and dead or alive are just imaginary.
Note that I didn't claim what Pineapple said, however those are the exceptions rather than the rule. "Enchanted Arms" has been hailed as a pretty mediocre RPG--(7.1/10 gamespot, 7.6/10 IGN, even 'Official X-Box Magazine' rated it as a 6.5/10)

Also note that the fighting games you mentioned, with the exception of DOA4, are either remakes or clones from other systems.
 
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Yeah but there's still no need to be so cold about it the way Pineapple was, man. If that were me or you talking about the Nintendo, we'd be on the chopping block.

I think the Xbox has a lot of decent stuff to offer, if you aren't a weird japanese fan. I mean at least it's not complete crap.
 
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SaiyanPrideXIX said:
Amen.

The only things I see come out of Japan confuse and befuddle me. Honestly the game market doesn't sit there anymore, no matter how you slice it. Maybe for consoles but thanks to the PC and more serious games we now have two classes of video gamer: the "Stupid American" as Pineapple puts it, who wants to play everything BUT dancing games, RPGs, and Fighters; and the "Crazy Weird Japaninite" audience, who like things only if they are completely alien to all sense of reality. That divide has led to two very niche markets -- and personally I'm glad I'm not a part of the Dance Dance Revolution side of the fence.

Heh, the only game I want thats comming out on the 360 is blue dragon, which is a japanese rpg =/ by no means does that mean i like dancing games.

We can see how culturally diverse people are on here... ruling out games because of where they come from is rediculous, there are gems everywhere. Whats so weird and detatched about the japanese? is it because they dont use the same 5 plot lines for everything and anything? Because they try to come up with innovative idea's? I think the more alien sense of reality is that everything has to follow a certain readily established line of thought before you'll even consider it relevant. Games are about having fun, not making sense, scince when did space invaders make sense? If you're not able to appreciate an entire nation's achievements, because of your firmly held beliefs on what is considered normal, you're the only one missing out I guess.

There are actually a few titles im a little interested in for the 360, but it's nothing like what i'd expect from the PS3 or Wii, maybe i am a "crazy weird japaninate" or I just see from the games that came out on the xbox, and now the games produced for the 360 just make me realise what a waist of my time and money a 360 would be for me. Shame though, i really want Blue Dragon.
 

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