The Console Who Stole Christmas

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Only 1 in 10 consumers who want an XBox 360 will get one in the United States this holiday season. In Japan, only 1 in 10 consumers who COULD purchase an XBox 360 have chosen to do so. This is a direct result of Microsoft's poorly thought out global launch for the next generation console. The decision to take units that could have been sold domestically and ship them to a country that simply does not purchase foreign console games is one that will be scrutinized when it comes time to look at Q4 profit and loss statements for the entire gaming industry. Electronic Arts and Activision both were forced to tell stockholders that they lost money. Part of this is the fact that with the XBox 360, PS3, and Revolution on the way, consumers are not willing to purchase titles for the old and busted current consoles.

The Japanese Launch of the XBox 360 was completely unnecessary for at least 2 reasons. First, the console that will crush the 360 in sales in Japan, the Playstation 3, will not be ready for launch for at least 6 months, perhaps longer. Microsoft had time to replace the Asian units they could have sold in North America with future production. Second, several of the launch titles that were being counted on to drive 360 sales were delayed. Dead or Alive 4, and to some extent Elder Scrolls: Oblivion are just two of the games that are still being waited on. Microsoft had to have noticed, and certainly could have used this in conjunction with the first listed reason, to hold off and boost numbers here in the US. But, like the villain of the Dr. Suess classic, they have ruined Christmas for many children. You're a mean one, indeed.

 

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Original Comment by: NOBs
http://nobs.thenoodleman.com
The XBox 360 in Japan will also miss out on a ton of XBox hits like Halo, Halo 2, and Crimson Skies. Backwards compatible with more everything else that wasn't a mainstream hit.

 

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Original Comment by: Munir

It all simply illustrates how MS really don't have gamers' best interests at heart at all, no matter how much J Allard tells us so. I suppose it's something we should just accept that all huge companies, Sony included, are so intrinsically uncompromised in their quest for expansion that they are so removed from human thought and common sense. Every line they've been selling us - "People want a global launch and don't mind the shortages" and "High-definition won't make games more expensive and harder to make at all" is such rubbish, but still marketing will always win the minds of the majority. And that's exactly who they want to convince, not gamers. Personally, I welcome a world where games are a more ubiquitous form of expression and entertainment, but this is not the way to bring it about. The idea is to do something that people want first and reap the benefits after, but it seems large companies are so paranoid they can't fulfil this that they try to preordain the result first.

J Allard has been preparing the lines, "It's what gamers want....it's the right thing to do" for so long I think he even believes it himself. I suggest the good people at MS just stick to what they do best and do it well. If Japanese consumers like what they do, they'll ask to buy into it themselves. I think the Japanese launch was necessary if only to convince more people of what's really going on. Who actually thought anything J & Co had to say at E3's presentation was in the best interests of gamers? And who remains unconvinced? It's such a shame, and unfortunately I feel Sony will go the same way with PS3. Let's just hope game developers can save both the platforms.

 

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Original Comment by: Patrick Dugan
http://www.kingludic.blogspot.com
Whats really going to hurt MS in the long run is that they're confused about the boundary between the elusive "mainstream" and the gaming hardcore. The press coverage of the 360 launch so far has evaluated the box as a toy, late night hosts joke about people camping for the console as having slept with other people for the first time. The mainstream is not biting the hook, and this is largely because the mainstream isn't interested in the sort of titles provided at launch, they never really have been. Nintendo, on the other hand, really stands to court the mainstream with the new controller, provided developers take advantage of it in innovative ways; Nintendo also has a de facto following of hardcore gamers because of its tried and true franchises.

i really liked the water balloon figth commercial, but no amount of clever marketing is going to open Interactive Entertainment to the mainstream; for that task entirely new forms of challenge and gameplay are required.

 

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Original Comment by: D

Indeed! It's obvious to even the most soft-core of gamers.. folks that have been playing games a few years and aren't in the hard-core column, that microsoft really screwed the pooch on this one. They obviously thought that by limiting the 360's available here in the US would create "buzz" and a "news story". They also thought it would help to contribute to the "desperation" of folks hungry for a new console, which would in turn boost sales. Of all of these things they've so dastardly done, in the name of business, they've lied about. They claimed they didn't realize they'd sell so many, blah blah blah. Seems that microsoft has been getting it's marching orders from the bush Junta.. "no matter what people know, no matter what people see, no matter what people say, deny deny deny". I bought an xbox original upon it's release, and have been fairly disappointed ever since, save for those few gems that have crossed it's threshold.
I'm still hoping that PC games shape up to not so closely resemble console games... and if that doesn't happen (and I'm not holding my breath) I'll buy a freekin' PS3!

 

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Original Comment by: Slartibartfast

Yeah, the only people who have really benefitted from the 360 launch are those who sold them on ebay and the pooch who, according to D, got screwed.

 

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Original Comment by: andrew
http://dignifieddevil.wordpress.com
If MS hasn't put region locks into the 360s they could have taken Japanese 360s and shipped them to the U.S. the comment about Japan not being interested in foriegn consoles though seems a bit misleading. For the most part Western companies haven't tried to market forieng consoles in Japan (how many are there anyway? Nintendo, Sony, and Sega are all Japanese after all). It took some time but Japanese people buy foriegn games in fact I'm in a computer bar in Taiwan sorrounded by WoW and Counter Strike players right now, although Taiwan is surprisingly open to the Xbox. I haven't seen it anywhere in Asia (in Korea it was hard to find), but in HK and Taiwan the original xbox seems to have done rather well at least if Carre Four's stocking of it above the PS2 is any indication.

peace,
A

p.s. have tried at least 6 times to get your anti-spam code right and can't using a chinese keyboard that set for english letters.

 

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Original Comment by: AngelOfDeath71
http://fablesoft.blogspot.com
I can't believe that you're all so clueless.

Do you really still believe that Microsoft shipped fewer consoles than they could sell, just to create market hype? Everyone knows that its better to have money in the bank now, than hope to create future sales at a later date.

Was the decision to do a global launch the right one? Based on the results, maybe not - but if the stars had lined up properly, and a kick-ass RPG and DOA4 were ready on time, the X360 may indeed have sold out in Japan. Without these traditional Japanese mainstays, it was a tough swim. I certainly can't fault Microsoft for trying, and even if they had brought those 150K consoles to North America - they definitely would have sold them, but wouldn't have reduced the demand very much.

One interesting thing that the articles always mention is how much money Microsoft is losing on each console, but I noticed that almost all of the accessories have been sold out as well. The margin is definitely higher on those, and I'm sure they're making a good profit on those pieces, so could it be that they actually haven't lost as much as people think they are? I know I bought an (overpriced) wireless gamepad, a (overpriced but solid) wireless networking adapter, not to mention 4 (overpriced) games too. That's about $500 (CAD) dropped on games / accessories beyond the console, and none of it third-party stuff. I have to figure MS made back at least $250 on that.

AoD71