History of Xbox Success and Failure in Japan(from Japanese gamer view)

(Xbox Era) "Why can't Halo sell big in Japan?"
(Xbox 360 era) "Why isn't Xbox 360 selling well in Japan?"
Some gamer seem to wonder why Xbox sales are so low in Japan. Sometimes such news was translated into Japanese and became a topic of conversation in Japan. (The most recent one was CNBC)

Why Japanese gamers don't buy Xbox

For a long time, I wanted to answer the question myself, translate it into English, and see how gamer react, so I wrote this article.I'm not good at English, so please tell me if there is anything difficult to understand. I'll try to fix it.

This is based on what I feel as a player, not the common perception of Japanese gamer.  But I think there is some validity. I wrote what I think was the biggest element, so it's not exhaustive.
Before I get into the text, I'll write a little about myself. I've been playing games since NES and now I'm a Japanese professional game writer for smartphone games(and has own blog). I bought the original Xbox and Xbox 360, but not the Xbox one. I like MS, my first Xbox is signed by Bill Gates, the cloud drive I use is One Drive, and my mobile PC is Surface (Many Japanese don't buy anything because it's a Japanese product. They usually buy anything if they think it suits them).

Japan at Xbox launch

The Xbox went on sale in tough times. The rivals PlayStation 2 (PS2) had the advantage of successful in previous console generation. At the time of PS2 release, Japan was in a period of transition from VCR to DVD player. The PS2 became a huge hit product not only for gamer, but also for non-gamer as inexpensive DVD player.
When the PS2 launched in 2000, Sony announced that it sold 980,000 units in 3 days. That was the highest number of game consoles sold in Japan at launch. When the Xbox debuted in 2002, the PS2 dominated the market.

However, Xbox received some attention. Microsoft's entry into the console was big news, and the Xbox was seen by some as an alternative to the Sega console after Sega pulled out of Dreamcast. 'jet set radio future' 'Panzer Dragoon Orta' and other maniac games were scheduled for release on the Xbox.
The Xbox debuted with the attention of core gamer. I bought it almost at launch and was excited to buy the signed version of Bill Gates.

After Xbox's launch

The original Xbox launched in the limelight, but it wasn't for Japan.

*The controller was too big for Japanese hands.
*The main body was big and it was not easy to put in a Japanese house.
*The main body is heavy and the box is not suitable for carrying by hand.
(They don't go shopping by car in urban areas in Japan.)
*There is no system-seller to sell in Japan.

In the U.S. and Europe, 'Halo' was a system-seller. But when the Xbox debuted in Japan, FPS was considered a geeky genre. So Halo was "A game made by an unknown developer and not made for Japan".
In Japan, 'Dead or Alive 3' was defined as a system-seller, but it did not have the strong impact of 'Halo' in the United States.
Microsoft had other games from Japanese developers. But many of them  were not for Japanese gamer or for core gamer. There are no games significantly increased Xbox's market share.

In addition, a "DVD Played by Xbox Is Scratched" problem occurred shortly after the launch. MS did not respond saying, "DVD can play even if scratched". Of course, the response was unpopular. Microsoft later replaced and repaired the game console and DVD, but it was too late.

In the end, the Xbox sold 500,000 units.
I got the impression that the Xbox was not designed for Japan and had poor support. It was recognized that only maniacs buy it in Japan.

Xbox 360 launch and PS3 slump

The Xbox's negative image started the Xbox 360 with a handicap. The Xbox 360 was released 1 year ahead of the PS3, but the PS2 had the advantage of dominating the previous generation's console market, and many gamers stayed on the sidelines until the PS3 came out.

But with the release of the PS3, things changed for the Xbox 360. The PS3 was expensive, had a poor software lineup, and didn't sell well. PS2 sold 980,000 units in 3 days, while PS3 sold 88000 units in 1 week.

In terms of software lineup, the Xbox 360 was almost even with the PS3. Microsoft has announced that it will develop blockbuster games for Japan, and a growing number of games have been released for Japan. Even before and after the PS3's release, Japanese big players such as Capcom and BANDAI NAMCO promised exclusive games that added a sense of security.
A genre like FPS, which was not popular with the previous generation of consoles, began to be accepted in Japan, and games like 'Call of Duty' started to sell well.
Because of the difficulties in developing games on the PS3, multi-platform games were often first released on the Xbox 360, later than the PS3 version. It became a weapon for the Xbox 360.

The online experience and achievement system were impressive, and the experience of buying games on the Xbox Live Arcade seemed future experience ( Steam wasn't popular in Japan). Until the PS3 went on the offensive, some gamer predicted the Xbox 360 would be "PS3 could lose".

Challenge of 'Blue Dragon'

Microsoft needed its own blockbuster for Japan to sell the Xbox 360 in Japan. The company invited Akira Toriyama, who designed the character for Japan's best-selling RPG 'Dragon Quest', and Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of 'Final Fantasy' to develop 'Blue Dragon' and 'Lost Odyssey' as exclusive RPG.

The advertisement for 'Blue Dragon' was big. Game magazines had special features before their release, anime was broadcasted after their release, and manga based on Blue Dragon was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, the most subscribed comic magazine in Japan (If my remember correctly, Dragon Quest is the only game comic that was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump other than Blue Dragon.).

Microsoft was desperate to make 'Blue Dragon' a blockbuster and seemed to be doing what it could. As a result, the Xbox 360 console was known to core gamer, while 'Blue Dragon' was also known to non-core gamer.

However, a headwind blew when 'Blue Dragon' was released. Nintendo has released a new game console Wii. The Wii, which went on sale in November 2006, quickly became a hit due to the novelty of motion control. And the 'Blue Dragon' Xbox 360's biggest strategic software, which debuted in December 2006, lost ground during the holiday season. As a result, 'Blue Dragon' sold only 200,000 bottles in spite of the large-scale promotion.

More specifically, the precious 2 + years from 2006 to the end of 2009, when the PS3 software shortage was conspicuous, was the Wii boom. I think the Xbox 360's unfortunate loss of presence due to the Wii was. In the end, when 'Final Fantasy XIII' was released exclusively for the PS3 at the end of 2009, the PS3 regain momentum in Japan.

The number 200,000 was a success for the Xbox's history and helped fuel the Xbox 360's momentum. But at the same time, I seems the number determined the limit of the Xbox 360.
Sales of RPG for the Xbox360 from 2008 to early 2010 also capped sales at 200,000, same as 'Blue Dragon'. On the Japanese Xbox 360, 3 RPG titles, 'Star Ocean 4', 'Tales of Vespelia' and 'Blue Dragon' recorded 200,000 sales which is the 1st to 3rd selling record of  software sales.

RRoD

The Red Ring of Death is the Xbox 360 hardware trouble that suddenly stops working. The timing of that occurrence was not good even in the history of the Japanese web. At the time, malicious gossip sites were the most popular, dragging down game sales.

A malicious gossip site is a site that targeted hardware fanboys and earns money by gaining web traffic. Gossip sites of the time got the game magazines before the release date and posted the information before the game magazines were released (It is not so now.). Gossip sites were the earliest source of information about games these days, and core gamers were watching them. And because the gossip site was maliciously distributing Xbox information to gain web traffic, the Xbox's image deteriorated.

As a result, the Xbox has been dubbed "× Box (Sometimes X in Japan means bad, so it's not a good name.)" and "Let's Throw Bad Box Away in the Trash" and other online memes that make fun of the Xbox have been born and spread. Some people used "oh my god" as casually as "Let's Throw Bad Box Away in the Trash". I think this has actually hurt the image of the Xbox 360, which has been plagued by hardware problems.

Xbox 360 Still Encouraged by Gamers

Since 360, the Xbox 2009 has been positioned as the console of choice for core gamer, with no chance of a comeback to main stage. However, the owners' evaluation was still high. The achievement system and Xbox Live Online system were great , and the Xbox 360 ran more smoothly than the PS3 when it came to playing the same game. The Xbox 360 controller was fantastic. In addition, core gamer's favorite games such as shump and fighting games were released.

As for the software lineup, in the latter half of the year, the company acquired a monopoly in core games such as 'Monster Hunter Frontier Online' and new players entered the Xbox 360. There was a noticeable increase in Xbox 360 fans, a lot of support sites and a vibrant community at the time.

*MS was able to present a sufficiently attractive lineup of games
*In Japan where Steam is not popular, the live arcade of Xbox 360 was attractive.
*the gaming console's performance was recognized by gamers
*Online feature enhancements received favorable reviews
*As for the hardware, I got the impression that there are many failures.

The Xbox 360 ended up selling about 2 million units, creating fans, and was quite successful compared to the previous generation. Although the Xbox 360 lost its hard-share battle in Japan, there were possibility of success on next gen console.

Xbox One pre-launch failure

The Xbox 360 was a success. But Microsoft made a mistake before hitting the Xbox One. In 2011, Microsoft started focusing on the Kinect controller. However, using Kinect required a large room, and many players couldn't play well in the Japanese housing situation, making it difficult to hit.
Xbox360 has stalled because Microsoft couldn't offer Kinect-free games for Japan.

At the same time, since the end of Xbox 360, Microsoft's support has been a small disappointment to the community. There was a sense of confusion after the 'Torch Light Cancellation Case (※ 1)' in 2011 and the 'HALO4 Voice Actor Case ' in 2012.
It was around this time that speculation began to circulate that "Don't focus on Japan in the next generation".

*1: Microsoft announced, 'Torchlight Japanese version' was supposed to be released on April 9, 2011 In Japan. But Microsoft cancelled the release on the day of launch, saying "Difficult to localize". Later , the president of the developer said "Japanese version has never been developed." so it became a problem that a false notification was made among fans who were looking forward to 'Torchlight'. In addition, MS apologized to overseas for false report, but did not apologize to Japan, which caused a great distrust to fans.

*2: The change of voice actor of the main character of 'HALO4' was announced in Japan. There was no convincing reason for the change. Fans protested directly to MS headquarters, but the change of voice actor was not canceled.

The Xbox One gave the impression of ignoring Japan

In that situation, MS makes a big mistake. Japan's launch of the Xbox One was put on the back burner worldwide, seven months behind the PS4. And the Xbox One initially pushed the Kinect. This convinced Xbox 360 fans to "The Xbox One won't focus on Japan".So many of fan bought the PS4.

In the PS4 and Xbox One generation of consoles, there was no big difference in the third-party software being released. That's why players who like overseas games and chose the Xbox 360 were happy with the PS4. The difference in online features was smaller, and the PS4 had an advantage in that it had a lot of Japanese friends and easy matching. The PS4 also outperformed the Xbox One in performance.
A lot of Xbox supporters didn't come back from the PS4.

The Xbox One launched in September 2014. However, there were no big launch events or prominent TV commercials. Microsoft was quiet enough to make you wonder if the Xbox One really went on sale.
And there were no big ads after that. Today, the average young gamer may not even know that the Xbox One has been released, and small game stores often don't even have an Xbox One gaming section.

Too few Xbox One games

With the Xbox One not selling well, there are fewer games coming to Japan. For example, 'Monster Hunter World (MHW)' is not available in Japan for the Xbox One.
People say "The Xbox One X is the highest-performing console game console. Playing MHW with Xbox One X, which is popular in Japan, is comfortable." but MHW is not officially sold in Japan.

The Xbox One focuses on indie games. In Xbox 360 Era, indie games are weapon for Microsoft.
But now, PS4 has good online store and Steam becomes more famous than Xbox 360 Era. Core gamer who buy an Xbox have good PC and PS4. The Xbox One needs indie games that can't be played on a PC or PS4.

Microsoft exclusive games, and Kinect games, would be reasons to buy the Xbox One. But now that we can play 'Forza' and 'Gears of War' on our PC.
Kinect can not become system-seller in Japan from housing reason. Japanese gamer are less likely to buy an Xbox One.

*PS4 Dominates Ad Strategy
*Early Kinect announcements were downright negative (※ 3)
*Xbox One did not have a big promotion in Japan
*Too few game to buy the system

*3 kinect is great, and the dedicated software is interesting. Some people love it. However, Japanese many houses are not suitable for playing.

If Microsoft wants to succeed in Scarlett, it must show its willingness not to withdraw by offering exclusive games to Japanese fans.
Personally, I am looking forward to a high-quality Japanese localization. (Another disappointment with the Xbox One generation was that Gears moved from dubbed localization to subtitle localization.). I want the next generation of Scarlett to change that.

I think it is hard to sell Scarlet in Japan.
But Phil Spencer, the current head of the Xbox, is the hope of gamer from the Xbox 360 era, and his announce re-challenge to Japan is also drawing attention.
It's not a start from scratch.

I think some core gamers are hopeful. I'm one of them.