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Microsoft: Japanese Xbox 360 Sales “Expanding”
Japan’s general manager for Xbox, Takashi Sensui, says he’s happy with the Xbox 360’s current performance in Japan.
Speaking to Famitsu in a retrospective interview shortly after Microsoft sold its millionth Xbox 360 in the country, Sensui recounted forming plans to penetrate the market.
"The original Xbox came out 2002 [in Japan], but we had already started moving on the 360 by the following year," he said, according to a 1UP translation. "We talked with developers and spent a great deal of time discussing how we could make the 360 something that could satisfy gamers.
“The 360 has a wide range of large-scale RPGs in its library now, something that started with Blue Dragon, but I don't think that would have been possible without those discussions. Releasing all those huge projects took more time than we planned, but I definitely believe we did the right thing with them,” he said.
And while Xbox 360 is generally comfortably outsold by rivals PS3 and Wii on a weekly basis in Japan, Sensui said that he was pleased with the system’s consistent performance.
"I really feel like we're expanding now. It's selling in a way that consoles never sold before. Back in the day, hardware would sell a huge inventory at launch and then quickly settle down, but seeing how the 360 has expanded its sales every year makes me very happy. I truly appreciate the support of the users and the perseverance of all the game developers that made it possible."
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
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Everything is relative. The 360 was never expected to beat the wii or ps3 in Japan, however it is still regarded as a great success as it is consistantly selling in decent numbers there, again relatively.
Yeah...but not enough.
Yeah, you're right. They've only been outselling the PS3 worldwide since December '08 they need to get their act together.
Not sure if you missed it in the title, but this article is referring to Japan specifically, not the whole planet.
Brian
www.brianwoods.com
and I seriously question the December 08 claim for worldwide sales as well.
Seconded.
My bad on the reply citing worldwide claims when the story and post I replied to were for Japan (which I agree the 360 could do better). But as far as my claim the 360 has outsold the PS3 worldwide since December '08 I stand by. Here is are my sources for my claim. 3 of them.
http://www.vgchartz.com/
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Seventh_generation_of_video_games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_selling_consoles
According to those sources, the 360 has outsold the PS3 worldwide since December '08 by 700k.
edit:
This link shows a bar graph of all 3 console sales since the beginning of December '08 to the beginning of May '09. http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&co...
Oh dear, suddenly VGChartz becomes a reliable source when it swings in favour of the 360.
I knew someone would say that. If it's not reliable then ALL the numbers would be too high, not just the 360's. And the numbers have been in favor of the 360 since the PS3 launched, that's not some new occurence. They'd have no reason to alter the number's in the 360's favor just for the last 4 months, they've always been ahead.
VGchartz may not be super accurate, but they're most likely close-enough. I can't imagine the actual numbers so different that it would reflect anything different than a very close worlwide monthly taly of the two HD consoles. Even with that, my point is still valid. Sony's not getting any closer to the 360 at its current price point.
Wow Nick starting to get deep into the fanboy arguments arent we ? Well for me the Ps3 has the MUCH better game library so therefore the better system. From the top notch exclusives to the more diverse library I have already run out of reasons to own my 360 I beat Gears2 Halo3 playing Fable 2 and playing Halo Wars other than that the exclusives on the system are subpar and to few and to far in between looking to get inFAMOUS which has been proved to be another AAA exclusive and if you seen the new uncharted gameplay on GT youd know that the PS3 is easily the superior system just read the many reviews for the exclusives Sony continues to set the bar higher and higher and the 360 has yet to pass the first bar so all the fanboys talking sales Im talking games graphics and gameplay which the PS3 is by far the winner so keep playing your sales while I play my exclusives.
Hey Ryda,
Na, not fanboy argument. My original point I was trying to make is that Sony needs to cut the price sooner rather than later based purely on how the PS3 has sold over the last 7 or so months (this month in the US it only managed 120k, one of its lowest monthly totals ever). I never said one system was "better" than the other or had better games, I was just stating the fact that the PS3 has been stalling lately and I didn't think Sony could afford to wait much longer for a price drop. I'm sure the PS3's game library is just fine and will continue to be, I wasn't referring to quality games in my post, just console sales.
This "argument" got where it did because people couldn't accept the fact that the PS3 isn't doing any better worldwide console sales-wise than the 360, even considering the microsocopic Japnese gaming market where the PS3 has a 2 million console lead over the 360.
Well said but overall I believe it is still doing well and at less than 50 thousand units difference and at a significantly higher price point isnt it valid to say that the 360 could also be doing much better exspecially when worldwide the tide seems to be slowly turning in Sonys favor.
It's doing great considering its closest competitior has a unit that is up to 300$ cheaper and plays all multiplatform titles out the box. (Arcade vs. 160 gig PS3 model). And, MS has been offering free game pack-ins now for 4-5 months with the elite now having Halo 3 and Fable 2 packed-in at no additional cost. It's a wonder the PS3 is doing as well as it is looking at what's stacked against them. A $100 drop I think would have the PS3 beat the 360 the first month the drop's effect on sales is recorded.
I don't think it's impossible for Sony to catch the 360 overral, improbable yes, but not impossible. I would be shocked if Sony doesn't announce a drop at E3 in June going into effect at the time of announcement. It's the biggest stage in gaming and will get the most headlines. The question is, when will MS be willing to drop the 60gig 360 to $199, drop the 60gig HDD peripheral to $50, lower the Arcade to $149, lower the Elite to $299, and lower the 120gig HDD peripheral to $100. I think if MS sees the PS3 start to edge them out like it did early last year I wouldn't put it past MS to lower the price again.
As someone said to me recently in these forums, "If the PS3 starts to outsell the 360, MS will start giving away the Arcade version to anyone who buys Halo 3." Classic.