Support NeoGAF

[Kon Tiki]

For starters, Otogi 2 is not made by Sega

They are still putting it out for Xbox? That is still support.

 

[jedimike]

In Japan? Are you sure?



Correction, they're already in a huge slump. Still they're the number two national market and likely account for more than a third of worldwide game development... shrugging off Japan is a fatal mistake for any game console. If Microsoft does that, they'll never move out of third place.

I'm quite sure that Europe is currently the #2 gaming market and Xbox has probably moved into the #2 worldwide spot due to the drop in GC sales in Japan and the increased Xbox sales in US.

 

[jarrod]

HeadHunter- Amuse
VirtuaCop3- not being ported
ESPN- Visual Concepts
Otogi 2-From Software
Puyo Pop Fever-Sonic Team, but US release canceled
Spikeout Battle Street- Amusment Vision, this one counts for JP Sega

 

[Kon Tiki]

There goes my short stint as an xbot.

 

[jarrod]

I'm quite sure that Europe is currently the #2 gaming market and Xbox has probably moved into the #2 worldwide spot due to the drop in GC sales in Japan and the increased Xbox sales in US.

I said national, and Japan is still far ahead of the UK. Counting the whole of Europe (which means PAL regions, which also included AU) against just Japan is a bit unfair. Even still though, I suspect Japan houses more developers.

Also looking at the article...

The Xbox has performed better outside Japan. Microsoft said last month it was on track to sell between 13.5 million and 16 million of the consoles worldwide by the end of its business year on June 30. That's roughly on par with the 14.5 million GameCube consoles Nintendo had sold as of March 31. Sony had sold 70 million PlayStation 2 machines as of March 31.

...sounds like MS is still in 3rd and given XBox's truncated lifespan (thanks to Xenon in 2005), I expect GameCube will emerge as the 2nd place console when the generation's finally over anyway.

 

[NWO]

Bottom line: why have backwards compatiblity with a failed console? Hence, Xboxnext is not planned to have it.

So the Xbox is a worldwide failure? Thanks for ending that debate.

 

[jedimike]

I said national, and Japan is still far ahead of the UK. Counting the whole of Europe (which means PAL regions, which also included AU) against just Japan is a bit unfair. Even still though, I suspect Japan houses more developers.

I have no proof, but last year Japan was barely outselling UK in the weekly charts. Given the recent sales in Japan, UK will probably generate more revenue this year.

Japan is still an innovative hot bed of gaming development, but it isn't the Mecca it once was. Even high profile lead designers (Kojima and Itagaki) have stated that developers need to be more innovative and will have to rely on the Western market to survive.

Japan needs to reverse this trend, but it is going to keep declining as long as people are believing that gaming causes you to be retarded.

Also looking at the article...


...sounds like MS is still in 3rd and given XBox's truncated lifespan (thanks to Xenon in 2005), I expect GameCube will emerge as the 2nd place console when the generation's finally over anyway.

We'll find out in a couple weeks

 

[jarrod]

I have no proof, but last year Japan was barely outselling UK in the weekly charts. Given the recent sales in Japan, UK will probably generate more revenue this year.

I'm sorry but you're speaking out your ass here. Show me any significant figures putting the UK (which is roughly 40% of PAL region marketshare) ahead of Japan.

Japan is still an innovative hot bed of gaming development, but it isn't the Mecca it once was. Even high profile lead designers (Kojima and Itagaki) have stated that developers need to be more innovative and will have to rely on the Western market to survive.

Agreed, though ignoring that hotbead is still a bad move, no matter how you put it. Downplaying Japan's market and significance won't help Microsoft in the long run.

Japan needs to reverse this trend, but it is going to keep declining as long as people are believing that gaming causes you to be retarded.

Cultural roadblocks come and go for all regions, this isn't a phenomenon limited to Japan. I think the Japanese industry should focus more on inclusive appeal in software, particularly for the female market (which was particluarly strong on PS1 and more or les dropped gaming with PS2) as well as drawing in new markets. In the coming year that's what Nintendo and SCEI seem intent on doing anyway.

We'll find out in a couple weeks

Well, no we won't actually, as Nintendo's figures will be outdated by then. Best guess is they're probably dead even worldwide, and XBox's short term western gains should push it ahead in the coming year (though GameCube's longer shelf life will probably push it ahead in the end).

 

[AniHawk]

Cultural roadblocks come and go for all regions, this isn't a phenomenon limited to Japan. Well, no we won't actually, as Nintendo's figures will be outdated by then. Best guess is they're probably dead even worldwide, and XBox's short term western gains should push it ahead in the coming year (though GameCube's longer shelf life will probably push it ahead in the end).

I was thinking about that too. The Xbox might just stop at 20-25 million sold. I wonder how MS is gonna handle that. Would they just cut all Xbox development once the Xbox 2 comes around? Price drops would only hurt them even more, and it's not like new software could be played on the Xbox 2.

 

[Kudie]

IMO, the main reason for the failure of Xbox in Japan was due to the lack of Japanese support during the first half-year or so of the console's lifespan in Japan. I know that the Japanese gamers relly didn't give Xbox a chance due to its being an American-made console, but I do believe that if a prominent Japanese game company decided to give Xbox some support early on, especially Square-Enix, the consoles fate would have been much better. The American-made stigma associated with the Xbox would have been put aside by the Japanese gamers in favor of the next FF, etc.; and IMO, Air Force Delta by Konomi does not count because I am referring to a big name game.

The Xbox's complete failure in Japan is really bad news because I feel that the support of Japanese game companies is necessary in order to succeed, not just in Japan. I, myself, could use a good Japanese game in my Xbox for variety and for the quality of their games.

This does not seem like good news for Xbox2, as being primarily a US/Europe console will not do.

 

[GaimeGuy]

IMO, the main reason for the failure of Xbox in Japan was due to the lack of Japanese support during the first half-year or so of the console's lifespan in Japan. I know that the Japanese gamers relly didn't give Xbox a chance due to its being an American-made console, but I do believe that if a prominent Japanese game company decided to give Xbox some support early on, especially Square-Enix, the consoles fate would have been much better. The American-made stigma associated with the Xbox would have been put aside by the Japanese gamers in favor of the next FF, etc.; and IMO, Air Force Delta by Konomi does not count because I am referring to a big name game.

The Xbox's complete failure in Japan is really bad news because I feel that the support of Japanese game companies is necessary in order to succeed, not just in Japan. I, myself, could use a good Japanese game in my Xbox for variety and for the quality of their games.

This does not seem like good news for Xbox2, as being primarily a US/Europe console will not do.

The fact that MS codenamed the X-box "Project Midway" and that the codename got leaked out didn't help them, either. :x

 

[novery]

The August issue of Famitsu Xbox hit newsstands today and has previews/reviews of some pretty good upcoming software.

Here's a glance at some titles due out this year:

GTA Double Pack
Rainbow Six 3
Top Spin
Halo 2
Metal Slug 3
DOA Ultimate
Sudeki
Unreal Championship 2
Phantom Dust
Blinx 2
SpikeOut Battle Street
GunGriffon
Forza Motorsport
Dynasty Warriors (Sengoku Musou)
Metal Wolf Chaos

You know, that's not a terrible line-up. And interestingly enough, half of those are Japanese-developed titles.


-rp

 

[DCharlie]

DOA:XBV has been on the cover of Famitsu Xbox a little too often!

 

[novery]

DOA:XBV has been on the cover of Famitsu Xbox a little too often!

Tell me about it. Actually, this funny. The assistant editor of the mag asked me to guess what was on this month's cover.

"Deus Ex?" I asked.

Him: Nope.

Me: Rainbow Six 3?

Him: Nuh-uh.

Me: What the hell? Magic The Gathering???

Him: It's summer! Think girls in swimsuits!

Me: .......

 

[DCharlie]

... how does he justify everyother month!?

ITS JAN/FEB/MAR/APR/MAY/etc... THINK GIRLS IN SWIM SUITS!!!

 

[novery]

To be fair, it's not the editors of the mag that decide the cover art. Enterbrain decides. I guess based on their research, issues with DOA on the cover sell better.

I'll save my "Instead of DOA, why not push next month's GTA Doublepack for Xbox??!" rant for another time.

-rp

 

[Alcibiades]

Doomed how? I know efrain likes to break out the Sega charts in a pinch, but there are plenty of developers who have had more success on Xbox than GC. Some developers even have more success on Xbox than PS2.

not with Japanese/quirky/different/bizarre/non-violent/etc... games they haven't...

Sure Western developers have, but outside of Team Ninja, Japanese success on XBox has been pretty marginal...

 

[Bishman]

When you think of Xbox in US, you think Halo.

When you think of Xbox in Japan, you think DOA.

 

[john tv]

If they're including PS1 games in the PS2 count (6,000), they may as well include Every System Ever Made for those with modded Xboxen

Xbox: 100,000 +

vs.

PS2: 6,000

Winner: Xbox!

All jokes aside, even if you count PS1 + PS2, I don't think you come up with 6,000 games. Maybe they're counting all the "best" and "ps one books" and "greatest hits" etc. as separate games?

 

[Ozchin]

All jokes aside, even if you count PS1 + PS2, I don't think you come up with 6,000 games. Maybe they're counting all the "best" and "ps one books" and "greatest hits" etc. as separate games?

I think they are counting all the Simple Series and other budget titles + PS1 + Greatest Hits + PS1 books. There is NO WAY they have hit 6,000 games for the PS2 without doing that sort of math... unless they are talking about all worldwide regions or some BS like that.