Microsoft Japan held a press briefing on the the management policies of fiscal year 2014 today, and the journalists in attendance immediately noticed that things didn’t bode too well for the release of Xbox One in the country when the console wasn’t really mentioned during the briefing itself. Yet the Japanese gaming site 4Gamer still managed to grab an interview and to ask what’s up with Microsoft’s upcoming console in the archipelago of the rising sun.
As part of the interview Microsoft Japan President and CEO Yasuyuki Higuchi confirmed that the Xbox One won’t land on the Japanese shelves any time soon:
"For the launch of Xbox One Japan is a Tier 2 country and not a Tier 1 country, so it’ll come with the second wave, that will be delayed a little bit [compared to North America]."
When the interviewer pressed him to confirm that the console won’t be launched in 2013 he did just that:
"That’s right. It’ll launch after the Tier 1 markets."
Luckily, according to Higuchi-san, Japanese gamers should not have to wait too long after the western release:
"It won’t be delayed too much from the North American release."
Microsoft’s executives knew they were walking on eggshells as they talked to the press, since the Xbox brand isn’t exactly popular in Japan, and when the reporter concluded the interview telling Microsoft Vice President and Executive Officer of the Consumer & Partner Group Haruaki Kayama that he’d wait for further information on Xbox One soon, he responded laughing: "Yes, so please don’t report too negatively."
One thing is for sure, while Goichi Suda thinks Japan will soon embrace Xbox, the new console doesn’t exactly seem off to a strong start in the country. At the very least, it’ll be late.
launching late in Japan makes sense. its not a strong territory for them and launching this year isn't going to magically fix that. this way they can focus on the markets where they already have a sizable installed user base. still, they're going to be showing some things of at the Tokyo Game Show so they obviously have a few plans for Japan. be interesting to see what they show and if its anything that will actually help sell the console.
He's probably pretty freaking stupid or deluded if he thinks Zynga stock is worth anything.
Where else are you going to get toilet paper that cheap?
+1
SirUltimosDon't talk, Rusty. Just paint.Registered Userregular
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
The One is such a US focused device, I don't really think MS gives a shit about Asia or Europe.
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+1
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
The One is such a US focused device, I don't really think MS gives a shit about Asia or Europe.
Well, anywhere outside of the USA in general. I honestly think what caused them the biggest concern was the reports stating that they were being outdone on preorders by the PS4 in the US, which is where their main market/strategy was. Honestly, I think if they had been equal to Sony or had a narrow lead/deficit they would have stayed the course, but the 3:2 to 2:1 whipping they were receiving must have shocked them fiercely. I haven't really heard anything now about preorders or similar since they rolled back certain decisions now I think of it. I would really like to know how their change of plans has effected the early preorder ratios.
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are the games that spring to mind. I mean I know they "tried" but still... 2 games isn't going to change how they feel about the shooter-oriented console.
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
edited July 2013
Eternal Sonata.. umm... some other stuff too..
Also Lost Odyssey was pretty great :P I am ok with them trying to kiss up to Japan if it means we get more great RPGs
launching late in Japan makes sense. its not a strong territory for them and launching this year isn't going to magically fix that. this way they can focus on the markets where they already have a sizable installed user base. still, they're going to be showing some things of at the Tokyo Game Show so they obviously have a few plans for Japan. be interesting to see what they show and if its anything that will actually help sell the console.
the problem is that doing this basically guarantees that Japan will remain a weak territory for them, as they are basically slapping the Japanese in the face. Their funeral, but they basically erased any small chance they had of ever breaking into that market.
i don't think the pre-orders play into this decision at all, and if they did it would most likely work the other way. they're going to want tot keep as many units for North America and Europe(US and UK mmarkets particularly), where they know they'll sell. if they thought sales were going to be exceptionally low in those markets, then they'd be more likely to divert some units to Japan for a similar launch window.
pre-order in Japan specifically aren't going to be that high and i doubt MS would expect them to be. they consider Japan to be a 'Tier 2' territory because operating out there costs them a lot of money for very little gain.
launching late in Japan makes sense. its not a strong territory for them and launching this year isn't going to magically fix that. this way they can focus on the markets where they already have a sizable installed user base. still, they're going to be showing some things of at the Tokyo Game Show so they obviously have a few plans for Japan. be interesting to see what they show and if its anything that will actually help sell the console.
the problem is that doing this basically guarantees that Japan will remain a weak territory for them, as they are basically slapping the Japanese in the face. Their funeral, but they basically erased any small chance they had of ever breaking into that market.
eh, now they know how European gamers have felt the last 30 years or so. if they take it as a slap in the face then it says more about them than it does about MS. why get insulted about having to wait for a product that you're ultimately not going to buy? MS tried to woo them last time around and it didn't work. this time they're holding off for a bit and focusing on the markets where they know they can be successful right of the bat.
as for them trying in Japan, they had a few titles yeah. Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Enchanted Arms. but these were all released quite early in the 360s life and unfortunately none of them did all that well. to keep adding to that list would have cost them a lot of money since they would have to have compensated any developer making those kinds of games.
That's about as nice as they could put it, I suppose.
I think referring to them as "Tier 2" is the opposite of that actually. It's fine as a term used internally but you shouldn't classify your customers like that.
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
In hindsight they absolutely deserve the blame. You say they bent over backwards but they only released a handful of Japanese titles over 3 years, gave up and then released absolutely nothing over the last 5 years of this gen. If they really wanted to establish a fanbase there, they needed to play the long game and prove that they were committed to the region. They didn't.
Looking at the situation right now though and yeah, I don't even understand why they're releasing it in Japan. It's DOA.
If Microsoft were to not release in Japan it would make the company look weak.
Even with Japan's console market shrinking it is still considered a major region. Hardware manufacturers have to at least make a play for all major regions.
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Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
That's about as nice as they could put it, I suppose.
I think referring to them as "Tier 2" is the opposite of that actually. It's fine as a term used internally but you shouldn't classify your customers like that.
This. In business, this would be a term you only use internally. Why they thought it was a good idea to publically announce who you feel is top tier...only they know.
I honestly can't blame Microsoft for giving Japan a lower priority. With the 360 they bent over backwards to try and get the thing to sell in Japan and they have essentially nothing to show for it.
In hindsight they absolutely deserve the blame. You say they bent over backwards but they only released a handful of Japanese titles over 3 years, gave up and then released absolutely nothing over the last 5 years of this gen. If they really wanted to establish a fanbase there, they needed to play the long game and prove that they were committed to the region. They didn't.
Looking at the situation right now though and yeah, I don't even understand why they're releasing it in Japan. It's DOA.
And yes, the Xbox One is definitely DOA in Japan, and MS knows that, so they are not even pretending to care this time. With the 360, they gave the bare minimum in efforts. Release a few Japanese focused games, hoped for the short term solution, then gave up when it didn't happen.
Their commitment to the Japanese audience was about as sincere as OJ's testimony.
Don't forget Microsoft couldn't be arsed to actually translate most of the games they released.
They didn't bend over backwards, they bent a couple of degrees.
It could be the only reason they're bothering at all is an attempt to please the Japanese companies that are making 360/Xbone versions of worldwide games.
I don't think they really care about translating games there because they're mostly focused on selling Xbone games to the military folk over there.
There were quite a few games at launch that were localized.
They stopped doing that when even top tier AAA games couldn't break 100k in that region over lifetime sales. There just wasn't money in it.
As a business, they hold no obligation to keep throwing money into a sinkhole. Especially since Japanese companies seem more than willing to put their AAA titles on the xbox to capture sales in other regions.
All Microsoft really loses out on are some of the interesting, niche games from smaller japanese publishers... and it does seem that the venn diagram of "people who only own an xbox" and "people who like Idolmaster and Cho Aniki" probably shows two circles as far away from each other as humanly possible.
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Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Fuck you ubisoft, this is exactly why I didnt want to use your system, or create an account, or use uplay. Now you have been hacked and gave away my information. Die in a fire. (just got the email, no CC or billing info lost)
I'm pretty sure the early 360 games in Japan weren't translated before they went on their weird moneyhatting binge, but of course I can't find links for that right now.
Fuck you ubisoft, this is exactly why I didnt want to use your system, or create an account, or use uplay. Now you have been hacked and gave away my information. Die in a fire. (just got the email, no CC or billing info lost)
Fuck you ubisoft, this is exactly why I didnt want to use your system, or create an account, or use uplay. Now you have been hacked and gave away my information. Die in a fire. (just got the email, no CC or billing info lost)
I'm pretty sure the early 360 games in Japan weren't translated before they went on their weird moneyhatting binge, but of course I can't find links for that right now.
Before xbox 360 even launched, lost odyssey and blue dragon were announced. You also had Lost Planet and a variety of other fairly Japanese oriented games, that had japanese voice acting, japanese menus, japanese demos (I remember creating a JPN XBL account to download some).
That effort stopped within a year or two entirely.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I'm pretty sure the early 360 games in Japan weren't translated before they went on their weird moneyhatting binge, but of course I can't find links for that right now.
Before xbox 360 even launched, lost odyssey and blue dragon were announced. You also had Lost Planet and a variety of other fairly Japanese oriented games, that had japanese voice acting, japanese menus, japanese demos (I remember creating a JPN XBL account to download some).
That effort stopped within a year or two entirely.
The problem was that aside from the exclusives, there wasn't a general welcoming atmosphere for Japanese games on the 360 in the least. Most things were just tossed over from the U.S. with no translation. And the exclusives did very, very little to change that atmosphere. Sure, the translation issue got better afterward, but the fact that it ever existed in the first place was baffling. I'm not sure Lost Planet counts since Capcom was one of the the first companies to embrace western design in general for their releases.
Sure, the exclusive games were nice, but that money would have been better spent encouraging Japanese-style development and localization instead of just expecting them to be happy games got brought over there at all.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Yeah, this is the second time in a year (this exact same thing happened last year. so shame on me(us) I guess)
I'm not sure I'm understanding the logic here. The anger and frustration, sure, I get that. But being mad at a company because they were hacked? Shouldn't you be mad at hackers rather than their targets? It's not like Ubi is the only company that gets hacked.
I really shouldn't have to find out about a hack and that I need to reset a password from a gaming news site or a webcomics forum. Why didn't Ubisoft send out an email about this?
I really shouldn't have to find out about a hack and that I need to reset a password from a gaming news site or a webcomics forum. Why didn't Ubisoft send out an email about this?
They did, people have been posting about how they got an email warning them about what happened.
I really shouldn't have to find out about a hack and that I need to reset a password from a gaming news site or a webcomics forum. Why didn't Ubisoft send out an email about this?
They did, people have been posting about how they got an email warning them about what happened.
Odd, never got an email, even checked the spam folder
I bought 1password a while ago when it was having a really good sale, but have been too lazy since to go through and setup all the password changes etc it needs. Maybe I should finally sit down and spend the time to do it.
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
It's just annoying that people go "fuck Ubi" just because it's Ubisoft. Hack prevention isn't a 100% guarantee. I mean... fuck, I dunno, people get so silly about being angry at companies that are often angered at.
But that said, someone in D&D just said that Ubi is urging people to change their passwords, but the site to do so was taken down by Ubisoft while they deal with the aftermath of the hack. So there's finally some actual fault on Ubi's part here. But really people should be mad at hackers.
Depends on the hack, but the passwords should not have been compromised... If they were better protected the only thing they'd lose is our email address and potentially user information.
Posts
Well that's one way to announce a late launch.
The One is such a US focused device, I don't really think MS gives a shit about Asia or Europe.
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
Well, anywhere outside of the USA in general. I honestly think what caused them the biggest concern was the reports stating that they were being outdone on preorders by the PS4 in the US, which is where their main market/strategy was. Honestly, I think if they had been equal to Sony or had a narrow lead/deficit they would have stayed the course, but the 3:2 to 2:1 whipping they were receiving must have shocked them fiercely. I haven't really heard anything now about preorders or similar since they rolled back certain decisions now I think of it. I would really like to know how their change of plans has effected the early preorder ratios.
Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are the games that spring to mind. I mean I know they "tried" but still... 2 games isn't going to change how they feel about the shooter-oriented console.
Also Lost Odyssey was pretty great :P I am ok with them trying to kiss up to Japan if it means we get more great RPGs
the problem is that doing this basically guarantees that Japan will remain a weak territory for them, as they are basically slapping the Japanese in the face. Their funeral, but they basically erased any small chance they had of ever breaking into that market.
pre-order in Japan specifically aren't going to be that high and i doubt MS would expect them to be. they consider Japan to be a 'Tier 2' territory because operating out there costs them a lot of money for very little gain.
eh, now they know how European gamers have felt the last 30 years or so. if they take it as a slap in the face then it says more about them than it does about MS. why get insulted about having to wait for a product that you're ultimately not going to buy? MS tried to woo them last time around and it didn't work. this time they're holding off for a bit and focusing on the markets where they know they can be successful right of the bat.
as for them trying in Japan, they had a few titles yeah. Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Enchanted Arms. but these were all released quite early in the 360s life and unfortunately none of them did all that well. to keep adding to that list would have cost them a lot of money since they would have to have compensated any developer making those kinds of games.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
I think referring to them as "Tier 2" is the opposite of that actually. It's fine as a term used internally but you shouldn't classify your customers like that.
In hindsight they absolutely deserve the blame. You say they bent over backwards but they only released a handful of Japanese titles over 3 years, gave up and then released absolutely nothing over the last 5 years of this gen. If they really wanted to establish a fanbase there, they needed to play the long game and prove that they were committed to the region. They didn't.
Looking at the situation right now though and yeah, I don't even understand why they're releasing it in Japan. It's DOA.
If Microsoft were to not release in Japan it would make the company look weak.
Even with Japan's console market shrinking it is still considered a major region. Hardware manufacturers have to at least make a play for all major regions.
This. In business, this would be a term you only use internally. Why they thought it was a good idea to publically announce who you feel is top tier...only they know.
And yes, the Xbox One is definitely DOA in Japan, and MS knows that, so they are not even pretending to care this time. With the 360, they gave the bare minimum in efforts. Release a few Japanese focused games, hoped for the short term solution, then gave up when it didn't happen.
Their commitment to the Japanese audience was about as sincere as OJ's testimony.
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That's a pretty big negative for someone that gets a kick out of the over-the-top Japanese style games.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
They didn't bend over backwards, they bent a couple of degrees.
It could be the only reason they're bothering at all is an attempt to please the Japanese companies that are making 360/Xbone versions of worldwide games.
They stopped doing that when even top tier AAA games couldn't break 100k in that region over lifetime sales. There just wasn't money in it.
As a business, they hold no obligation to keep throwing money into a sinkhole. Especially since Japanese companies seem more than willing to put their AAA titles on the xbox to capture sales in other regions.
All Microsoft really loses out on are some of the interesting, niche games from smaller japanese publishers... and it does seem that the venn diagram of "people who only own an xbox" and "people who like Idolmaster and Cho Aniki" probably shows two circles as far away from each other as humanly possible.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Wut
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That effort stopped within a year or two entirely.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
The problem was that aside from the exclusives, there wasn't a general welcoming atmosphere for Japanese games on the 360 in the least. Most things were just tossed over from the U.S. with no translation. And the exclusives did very, very little to change that atmosphere. Sure, the translation issue got better afterward, but the fact that it ever existed in the first place was baffling. I'm not sure Lost Planet counts since Capcom was one of the the first companies to embrace western design in general for their releases.
Sure, the exclusive games were nice, but that money would have been better spent encouraging Japanese-style development and localization instead of just expecting them to be happy games got brought over there at all.
I'm not sure I'm understanding the logic here. The anger and frustration, sure, I get that. But being mad at a company because they were hacked? Shouldn't you be mad at hackers rather than their targets? It's not like Ubi is the only company that gets hacked.
They did, people have been posting about how they got an email warning them about what happened.
Odd, never got an email, even checked the spam folder
But that said, someone in D&D just said that Ubi is urging people to change their passwords, but the site to do so was taken down by Ubisoft while they deal with the aftermath of the hack. So there's finally some actual fault on Ubi's part here. But really people should be mad at hackers.
Very interesting stuff if you're into data security and all that.