When a Japanese friend of mine said that he couldn’t find a xbox 360 in Tokyo this week I have to admit I was a speechless. After doing some online searching we found that the only place we could buy a 360 from was the very expensive Amazon.jp. Game informer even hit a small story about it, even though I think it is not quite as clear cut as they state. So why exactly have the Japanese become so interested in the 360?
Even though Japan is cut off from the rest of the world, it is not completely dumb and cut-off like most people think it is. The hardcore gaming market is having problems in Japan, real gamers have hit a real drought of games they can buy over the last year and half. Most of the hardcore bought a PS3, but with very little coming out for the PS3 the Japanese are having to look elsewhere for hardcore games.
The new 360 ‘Value pack’ that hit Japanese stores recently has created a bit of a buzz, not only because of it’s cheap (20GB Value Pack retails for ¥34,800 ($306) and comes with Viva Piñata & Forza Motorsport 2) but also because it has a HDMI port, heat sink and it has been proven by xnews that this console also comes with the new 35nm chip (which runs colder preventing the system from failing). Many Japanese have heard about these upgrades and now seem to put down the hard-earned cash into it and seeing that games such as Ace Combat are coming out at the same time it seems like the perfect time to pick up a console.
Microsoft have always claimed to have had a plan in Japan, but we were all waiting for it to emerge – did we just witness it? Lets remember, Lost Odyssey is around the corner and from what I have seen of it, it looks great – whether it has enough in it to do well here is another thing!
When in Yodobashi Camera on Friday and they had no 360 stock at all. I think it is great that the Japanese are getting into the 360. Though Japanese gamers are pretty good and the thought of me getting arse whipped in Halo 3 by a Japanese kid will be hard to take. I suppose at least he won’t swear with a high-pitched voice while t-bagging me!
Image from http://www.dsliteblog.com/
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , Japan gamer, Japanese gamers, Losr Odyssey, xbox 360 outsell ps3 in japan, Yodobashi
