Microsoft Struggles to Adapt Xbox One to Japan

[lacktheknack]

Here's an idea, MS: DROP THE FUCKING MANDATORY KINECT!

I suppose you wanted Nintendo to drop the Wii-mote as well...? Because that's essentially what you're demanding Microsoft to do.

Well spying and privacy reasons aside, the Wii remote doesn't require as much space as the Kinect does and IMO Nintendo has been more successful with its motion sensor controls than Microsoft has been with the Kinect.

The "spying and privacy" issues are largely paranoid rantings invented by people who, for whatever reason, don't want Xbox One to succeed.

I'd normally agree with you in technicality, except for <link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.820366-Xbox-One-Designed-With-Advertising-in-Mind>this mind-boggling announcement which lends it all too much credence.

Also, "turning off all data collection" sounds like BS when your dashboard is based around advertising. There's going to be loopholes, otherwise their design goes in the toilet.

 

[UnnDunn]

It doesn't? I'll admit, I've only been skimming XBone news since I've already written it off as being an inferior product, but I had assumed when I read that it could be turned off, that it could be turned OFF off. So then what does turning it 'off' actually do then?

You can turn off all the data collection functionality relating to Kinect. The biggest thing is the voice sample data Microsoft uses to improve its voice recognition algorithms.

You can't turn off Kinect and operate the console by itself. If the console is on, the Kinect will also be on.

 

[veloper]

Much as I love to join the Xbone hate party, I see nothing terrible here.

Japan is Sony and Nintendo: good consolemakers on their own home turf. Failure is guaranteed even if Xbone didn't suck. Every dollar spent on xbox promotion in Japan could've been better spent in the US, or pretty much anywhere else. Even tier 2 may be too optimistic.

 

[UnnDunn]

For Xbox One, Kinect 2.0 is the "main controller". That's the whole point. It isn't an accessory anymore.

It's an accessory. 99% of all games are still going to be multiplatform. That means they're going to be designed for primarily gamepads and all Kinect features will be neat little gimmicky add-ons to the main product. There's no way Bioware are going to design all the next-gen RPGs with the kinect as the main input because they'll be locking themselves out of millions of fans with the other consoles, when it's much easy to just use the tried and tested gamepad.

They're trying to sell it as a main controller, but even in their own first-party demos with only seen ancillary gimmicky uses of it. I doubt it's even going to be the main TV remote

Kinect isn't an accessory anymore. Understand this. Multiplatform games on WiiU still make extensive use of the WiiU Gamepad. They will also make use of Kinect.

 

[UnnDunn]

Here's an idea, MS: DROP THE FUCKING MANDATORY KINECT!

I suppose you wanted Nintendo to drop the Wii-mote as well...? Because that's essentially what you're demanding Microsoft to do.

Well spying and privacy reasons aside, the Wii remote doesn't require as much space as the Kinect does and IMO Nintendo has been more successful with its motion sensor controls than Microsoft has been with the Kinect.

The "spying and privacy" issues are largely paranoid rantings invented by people who, for whatever reason, don't want Xbox One to succeed.

I'd normally agree with you in technicality, except for <link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.820366-Xbox-One-Designed-With-Advertising-in-Mind>this mind-boggling announcement which lends it all too much credence.

Also, "turning off all data collection" sounds like BS when your dashboard is based around advertising. There's going to be loopholes, otherwise their design goes in the toilet.

If you're that worried about advertising, you should stop using the Internet immediately.

 

[BrotherRool]

Kinect isn't an accessory anymore. Understand this. Multiplatform games on WiiU still make extensive use of the WiiU Gamepad. They will also make use of Kinect.

I'm very happy to leave this here because in a year I know that we'll all have seen the Kinect and realise that it is indeed an accessory. I mean the fact that Microsoft have failed to provide a compelling demo of it's capabilities in their own games is damning and I'm completely confident that soon as people start playing with it it's accessory nature will become a well-known fact and it will be regulated to just a step above six-axis controls.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

...and zero fucks were given by the Japanese consumer base, because nothing of value was lost.

Agreed. MS hired that one company to make games for that market. Like Infinite Undiscovery, Blue Dragoon etc but then nothing else.

 

[Verlander]

Seems like a good business move to me, establish in NA/EMEA before trying to tackle the home advantage of Sony. They know that trying to launch full steam into that market is unlikely to work, and so they'll ease in. Don't see the problem myself.

 

[Vivi22]

So basically, they really only planned on targeting one market? North America. Everyone else is an after thought. Anyone surprised by that?

No they planned the top 20 Xbox Markets, Japan is not in the top 20 of the previous console.

Considering most of these new TV features they're pushing so hard likely won't even work in any country other than the US, their inability to adequately plan for markets outside of America has absolutely nothing to do with which markets were their top ones with their previous consoles.

 

[thisbymaster]

Not shocked, the 360 did poorly in japan anyway as most of the games on it are western titles that don't appeal to most people in japan.

 

[Calamity]

It doesn't? I'll admit, I've only been skimming XBone news since I've already written it off as being an inferior product, but I had assumed when I read that it could be turned off, that it could be turned OFF off. So then what does turning it 'off' actually do then?

You can turn off all the data collection functionality relating to Kinect. The biggest thing is the voice sample data Microsoft uses to improve its voice recognition algorithms.

You can't turn off Kinect and operate the console by itself. If the console is on, the Kinect will also be on.

I really can't fathom why you are trying to sell us on the Kinect and Xbox so damn hard here. (please do explain if you ever take a break from your blind fanboyism)

If you think their going to use that "voice sample data" for only improving it's systems, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. I'm sure you're just going to write me off as a "conspiracy nut" but I think we have enough past evidence of Microsoft's actions to make it a credible concern.

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

The XBOX 360 was already struggling and ultimately failed in Japan.
The XBOX One already has less going for it. I'm sure plenty of people in Japan got wind of the One's DRM policies. And Japan loves its used games, even more than the United States and Europe. They also love old models, Japan loves physical media more than the West does. If there's anyone who would have had more outrage about the DRM the XBOX One had that the West, it would be Japan.

There's absolutely no way to keep the XBOX One afloat in Japan at this point, unless Microsoft went after Japan viciously, to a degree it never went after Japan with the XBOX 360. I'm talking many more millions of dollars of investment into the Japanese market that they never spent on the XBOX 360.

In the end, I think that that won't happen. And the XBOX One will fail so hard in Japan it won't be on store shelves for longer than a week. I think that Japanese gamers would rather game on the PC than deal with the new XBOX.

 

[subtlefuge]

Microsoft can change whatever they want, but if they don't make steps to acquire the kind of games that the Asia/Pacific market likes, they aren't going to have any traction in this generation either.

 

[UnnDunn]

Here's an idea, MS: DROP THE FUCKING MANDATORY KINECT!

I suppose you wanted Nintendo to drop the Wii-mote as well...? Because that's essentially what you're demanding Microsoft to do.

Except it's not, because the Wii-mote and the Kinect are two completely different items in terms of functionality.

You're only looking at the very basic level of "they both detect motion". You're ignoring the fact that the Kinect is quite literally a camera that watches you, whereas the Wii-mote is about as effective for spying on people as a concrete brick.

Japan was never a traditionally big market for Microsoft to begin with, and on top of that, they highly value personal privacy as a culture. Which is why the original Kinect did rather poorly in Japan, to say the least. The Xbone will not sell in Japan so long as it maintains this obsessive connection to the Kinect.

It'll have to abandon the Kinect in Japan if it hopes to get any sales. And since they won't do that....they might as well not even bother with Japan at all.

You're missing the point. Xbox One is designed specifically to be used with Kinect, the same way the Wii is designed specifically to be used with the Wii-mote. There is no Xbox One without Kinect just as there is no Wii without the Wii-mote.

If you don't want a Kinect, don't buy an Xbox One.

I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to grasp. There is no Xbox One without Kinect.

 

[UnnDunn]

I really can't fathom why you are trying to sell us on the Kinect and Xbox so damn hard here. (please do explain if you ever take a break from your blind fanboyism)

If you think their going to use that "voice sample data" for only improving it's systems, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. I'm sure you're just going to write me off as a "conspiracy nut" but I think we have enough past evidence of Microsoft's actions to make it a credible concern.

I really can't fathom why everyone is so hell-bent on jumping to knee-jerk, erroneous conclusions about Xbox One. This isn't even about fanboyism. This is about setting the record straight. But everyone is steeped in blind hatred for anything and everything Microsoft.

Personally, I really couldn't care less whether you buy an Xbox One or not. But for God's sake, stop saying stupid shit about it based on nothing but wild-ass conjecture.

 

[lacktheknack]

Here's an idea, MS: DROP THE FUCKING MANDATORY KINECT!

I suppose you wanted Nintendo to drop the Wii-mote as well...? Because that's essentially what you're demanding Microsoft to do.

Well spying and privacy reasons aside, the Wii remote doesn't require as much space as the Kinect does and IMO Nintendo has been more successful with its motion sensor controls than Microsoft has been with the Kinect.

The "spying and privacy" issues are largely paranoid rantings invented by people who, for whatever reason, don't want Xbox One to succeed.

I'd normally agree with you in technicality, except for <link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.820366-Xbox-One-Designed-With-Advertising-in-Mind>this mind-boggling announcement which lends it all too much credence.

Also, "turning off all data collection" sounds like BS when your dashboard is based around advertising. There's going to be loopholes, otherwise their design goes in the toilet.

If you're that worried about advertising, you should stop using the Internet immediately.

I don't care if they know where I browse. I care if they make snap judgements from my face posture and appearance and start trying to shovel ads at me based on that. It's one thing to datamine my web browser, it's something else to datamine ME.

 

[UnnDunn]

I don't care if they know where I browse. I care if they make snap judgements from my face posture and appearance and start trying to shovel ads at me based on that. It's one thing to datamine my web browser, it's something else to datamine ME.

How exactly do you think this will work? You think Kinect constantly watches your face and builds a file counting how many times you smile in 1 hour, or something?

That isn't how advertising works.

 

[Signa]

I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to grasp. There is no Xbox One without Kinect.

How about the concept that none of the other systems have a Kinect equivalent, and no one considers it a boon to the console's abilities? The console can exist without it, its competitors are living proof. Why is it so hard for you to understand that people do not want this. This isn't like the WiiU pad that people looked at and wondered how they were going to use it, and then lost interest. This is something that people actually don't want in their house. Now with the nature of exclusive titles for any console a potential buyer might not want, it becomes an unnecessary battle between wanting an exclusive game or buying something they don't want to get something they do want. How is that a pleasurable concept? No one else is making consumers make that choice.

It may be true that there is no Xbone without the Kinect, but instead of making the argument of "taking your ball home" for not playing by their rules, how about you try explaining why their rules are going to be helpful to everyone. People have raised their concerns about the rules, and "it won't be so bad" isn't a very good argument. Try again.

 

[UnnDunn]

I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to grasp. There is no Xbox One without Kinect.

How about the concept that none of the other systems have a Kinect equivalent, and no one considers it a boon to the console's abilities? The console can exist without it, its competitors are living proof. Why is it so hard for you to understand that people do not want this. This isn't like the WiiU pad that people looked at and wondered how they were going to use it, and then lost interest. This is something that people actually don't want in their house. Now with the nature of exclusive titles for any console a potential buyer might not want, it becomes an unnecessary battle between wanting an exclusive game or buying something they don't want to get something they do want. How is that a pleasurable concept? No one else is making consumers make that choice.

It may be true that there is no Xbone without the Kinect, but instead of making the argument of "taking your ball home" for not playing by their rules, how about you try explaining why their rules are going to be helpful to everyone. People have raised their concerns about the rules, and "it won't be so bad" isn't a very good argument. Try again.

I could explain why I think Kinect is a good thing, but you and everyone else will simply ignore it and go back to characterizing Kinect as some sort of HAL-9000 device, or other such nonsense.

Bottom line: if you don't want Kinect, don't buy an Xbox One. If that means you miss out on games you want to play, so be it. Sucks to be you, I guess.