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Gamesarefun.com Article

According to Bloomberg Japan (care of gamesarefun.com), Sony holds 82% of the Console market in Japan, selling 1.6 million PS2s and 110,000 PSOnes in the first half of this fiscal year, which is April 2002 - September 2002.  Nintendo's Game Cube only garnered 14% with 304,000 consoles, despite the fact that the GameBoy Advance owned the handheld market with 1.8 GBAs sold, 89% of that market.  Microsoft, however, is failing miserably in Japan, holding only a meager 4% of the market and selling 88,000 consoles.  They have struggled to unseat the Japanese gamemakers, and their games don't appeal to Japanese audiences.  However, I wouldn't count Microsoft out of the mix yet - after all, the great foriegn power Nintendo did unseat the Atari back in the 80s, and Sega gave Nintendo quite a run for their money as well in the early 90s, so who knows.  A corporation like Microsoft is capable of anything.



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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

I don't think so. Frankly speeking, the X-Box sucks. It has a sad game selection, even though it has been out for a very extended period of time, [the number of games released for the X-Box: little over 100. Number of Games for PS2: Almost 400]. Second, PS2 comes DVD ready. X-Box? N'yet[thats Russian for no.]. PS2 is made by Sony, a company that has been in the console business for many a years. Micro$oft is a Virgin to the console. Sony is a company gamers trust. Micro$oft, well, not really, no. I think Micro$oft should cut it's loses, and Fold on the X-Box. If the gameing community will notice, well, you decide.

I don't think Microsoft is gonna fight this one off, to be honest. The Japanese just don't seem interested in the product, and I think they're more wary of the outsider in this situation. Microsoft can't force their way into the gaming industry because, unlike the case of the Windows OS, a gaming platform is not necessary to function properly with the rest of the world.

I get the feeling that Microsoft doesn't know what it needs to do to market itself well in the Japanese market. It seems that the product isn't all that bad, so SOMETHING else must be driving the slow sales.

And, as a final thought, what if Microsoft doesn't care? The X-Box has been marginally successful in the American market, so does it really matter to them if the Japanese are lukewarm towards the product? We might be seeing apathy for the sake of focus in this situation. I'm just not sure.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Even if the X-Box is doing poorly in Japan, it's not like Microsoft is going to have sleepless nights over it.  The X-Box is like a side project for Microsoft. They're not like Nintendo who is soley a game company.  Microsoft has all the money it needs and it will get much more, with or without the X-Box.  I mean, the funding for the project overall was probably what they have left over from parties.  The X-Box is not like Windows.  If they don't have Windows, it's over.  If they don't have X-Box, they could really care less.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

Remember that Microsoft made spent a big, big load of money developing the Xbox, and though it's doing worst in Japan, it's not exactly going down a storm anywhere else.  They'll be very lucky to break even on it, unless all the developers they're spending yet more cash on do the business.

But it's true that it's hardly likely to put Microsoft in any real financial trouble.  Then again, noone thought FF:TSW would mess Square's nest as much as it did.

And you can't really blame it on them being a newcomer to the console market.  Why was the PS2 successful?  Because of the PS1... which was Sony's first effort.  If you want people who've been in the business a long time, you buy Nintendo.  It can't be that.

Japanese consumers are loyal to their own brands, though, and some of the apathy in Japan can be explained that way.

Well, you can also look at Sega.  How did its first system (Master Drive or whatever the hell that thing was) do compared to the Genisis?  I think Microsoft is trying to establish themselves as a major player in the future of the video game market, and I think the XBox is a good product - not the best out there, but with a few more good software licenses, who knows.  And, remember, MS has the financial cushion to experiment a little with the video game market.

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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

Both the Master System and Mega Drive (Genesis) outsold their Nintendo counterparts in Europe, the third most important territory, and did respectably elsewhere.  And even then, look where Sega's hardware business is now.

Like I said, Microsoft isn't going to die, or even be crippled, but as console competition goes, it's done terribly here.

I agree with Kappa. Microsoft probably doesn't care about what happens in Japan. It's making an overall profit, since it's selling pretty well here, so I'm sure Billy doesn't mind. It's a side-project. But, I also agree with Gerad. What Microsoft lacks in this business is experience, and they are gonna get just that. Their next system will be much better. Right now, it's looking bleak for Nintendo, as they're a video game company. Sony and Microsoft have other ways to make money.

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Lou: There's a couple of guys fighting down at the aquarium, Chief.
Wiggum: Do they still sell those frozen bananas?
Lou: I think so.
Wiggum: Let's roll.

I'm really not surprised at Microsoft's poor sales, considering the dearth of quality software for the X-box platform.  There really isn't very much to appeal to a gamer, and the few playworthy titles that Microsoft has churned out are those in genres which can be found and/or are better-produced elsewhere.

Really, I'm not impressed at all with Microsoft's efforts.  They may have an obscene amount of money to throw around, but that means little if the games that they are producing continue their downward spiral into oblivion.  The X-box isn't doing terribly well anywhere, really, and I must say that I'm glad.  I honestly don't think the X-box deserves success.

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"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

Quote (Jlombardi13 @ 9 Oct. 2002, 01:24)

Right now, it's looking bleak for Nintendo, as they're a video game company. Sony and Microsoft have other ways to make money.

You're forgetting that Nintendo completely dominates the handheld market.  The Game Boy product line has kept them afloat through poor N64 sales, and should the GameCube do massively badly, it'll tide them over that as well.

I think the main reason Microsoft hasn't been doing so well is their image.  Overall, they've been known for their %&#%%-y operating systems, and that image has carried over to their venture into the world of video gaming.

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Visit my useless site!
http://areldyb.tripod.com

What kind of journalism is this?! And you used the first person in a news articles!! Honestly, didn't you take any objective writing courses in school? ^~^

Anyway, I found it pretty interesting - keep us posted if Microsoft makes any advance into the market. (Not that I'm rooting for it... I just want to laugh if I hear that it doesn't make any progress.)

-Phoenix

This post has been edited by Phoenix on 23rd October 2019 03:31

Quote (Phoenix @ 16 Oct. 2002, 16:11)

What kind of yellow journalism is this?! And you used the first person in a news articles!! Honestly, didn't you take any objective writing courses in school? ^~^ Anyway, I found it pretty interesting - keep us posted if Microsoft makes any advance into the market. (Not that I'm rooting for it... I just want to laugh if I hear that it doesn't make any progress.)

He's a finance major. If anyone is qualified to turn this story into an editorial, I'd bet it's him.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Quote (Phoenix @ 16 Oct. 2002, 17:11)

What kind of yellow journalism is this?! And you used the first person in a news articles!! Honestly, didn't you take any objective writing courses in school? ^~^ Anyway, I found it pretty interesting - keep us posted if Microsoft makes any advance into the market. (Not that I'm rooting for it... I just want to laugh if I hear that it doesn't make any progress.) -Phoenix

My objective was simply to summarize the article, then give my two cents on it, which I think I did a pretty good job of.  If you want the unbiased version, read the Gamesarefun.com Article.  That's why the link is there.  However, my summary is completely unbiased.  Usually when I don't have an opinion on the article, I don't comment on it, I simply summarize it.  You must also remember that this is a discussion forum, so after I was done summarizing the article my main objective was to stimulate conversation and posts by the members, which I think was quite successful as well.    

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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

Quote (Gerad @ 17 Oct. 2002, 02:27)

My objective was simply to summarize the article, then give my two cents on it, which I think I did a pretty good job of. -Gerad

Granted, just gotta say something about the news section.  (And, of course, contribute to that stimulated conversation.) ^~^

Ahhh, I'm sure something will happen...Microsoft have that annoying ability of coming up with something that everybody will laugh at a bit, fail, refail, then get something REALLY good noboddy else have.


Or something like that.