The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This could be all made up for all I know, but this is copied from a user of cube-europe's message board who copied this off www.gamers.com
It's no secret that the Xbox hasn't exactly been flying off shelves in Japan. As Gamers.com has reported in the past, interest in the Microsoft console has sunken with each passing week since its release. Now it seems things have fallen to a new low for Xbox in Japan.
Sales tracking firm Media Create reports that in the first week of April (4/1 - 4/7), Microsoft sold an abysmal 2,179 units, a number that in and of itself is astonishingly low for a newly-released console system. But when you examine sales of some of the other hardware on the market, the news gets even worse. In the same week in April, Sony's seven-year old PS one platform sold 3,959 units. And get this--Sega's discontinued Dreamcast console even managed to outsell the Xbox with 3,427 units purchased by Japanese gamers. As for the other next-generation platforms, the PS2 and the GameCube sold 80,734 units and 15,068 units respectively.
Clearly, Japanese gamers are not taking well to the American-made gaming console. Many analysts are calling for Microsoft to drop the Xbox price in Japan, but others say it's not the price, but the Xbox games that are simply not appealing to the market.
Then there's the issue of faulty Xbox hardware in Japan. Though Microsoft isn't commenting publicly, some storeowners in Japan have revealed that Microsoft is carefully replacing potential faulty Xbox units before they are sold to consumers. Though this move, if announced publicly, could possibly help instill more faith in the Xbox name in Japan, Microsoft is reluctant to address the subject for fear of having the replacement labeled a recall.
If there's a glimmer of hope for Xbox in Japan, though, it's this: up until now many of the software titles available for the machine have been developed with primarily American gamers in mind. As more Japanese-themed Xbox games become available, sales should hopefully increase accordingly.
Let's hope so, because thus far Xbox sales seem awfully reminiscent of those of the 3DO and the Jaguar - two other American consoles that performed poorly in Japan.
Very interesting if that is true.
It's no secret that the Xbox hasn't exactly been flying off shelves in Japan. As Gamers.com has reported in the past, interest in the Microsoft console has sunken with each passing week since its release. Now it seems things have fallen to a new low for Xbox in Japan.
Sales tracking firm Media Create reports that in the first week of April (4/1 - 4/7), Microsoft sold an abysmal 2,179 units, a number that in and of itself is astonishingly low for a newly-released console system. But when you examine sales of some of the other hardware on the market, the news gets even worse. In the same week in April, Sony's seven-year old PS one platform sold 3,959 units. And get this--Sega's discontinued Dreamcast console even managed to outsell the Xbox with 3,427 units purchased by Japanese gamers. As for the other next-generation platforms, the PS2 and the GameCube sold 80,734 units and 15,068 units respectively.
Clearly, Japanese gamers are not taking well to the American-made gaming console. Many analysts are calling for Microsoft to drop the Xbox price in Japan, but others say it's not the price, but the Xbox games that are simply not appealing to the market.
Then there's the issue of faulty Xbox hardware in Japan. Though Microsoft isn't commenting publicly, some storeowners in Japan have revealed that Microsoft is carefully replacing potential faulty Xbox units before they are sold to consumers. Though this move, if announced publicly, could possibly help instill more faith in the Xbox name in Japan, Microsoft is reluctant to address the subject for fear of having the replacement labeled a recall.
If there's a glimmer of hope for Xbox in Japan, though, it's this: up until now many of the software titles available for the machine have been developed with primarily American gamers in mind. As more Japanese-themed Xbox games become available, sales should hopefully increase accordingly.
Let's hope so, because thus far Xbox sales seem awfully reminiscent of those of the 3DO and the Jaguar - two other American consoles that performed poorly in Japan.
Very interesting if that is true.
Page:
From cube-europe
Week 4/8-4/14, Japan Hardware Sales
PS2: 55,000 units (total this year: 1,323,000)
GBA: 31,000 units (total this year: 969,000)
GameCube: 10,000 units (total this year: 510,000)
PS1: 3,000 units (total this year: 74,000)
WonderSwan: 2,000 units (total this year: 11,330)
Xbox: 1,800 units (total this year: 169,000)
Dreamcast: 1,500 units (total this year: 12,000)
Looks like Dreamcast is doing nearly as good as the X-box!
Week 4/8-4/14, Japan Hardware Sales
PS2: 55,000 units (total this year: 1,323,000)
GBA: 31,000 units (total this year: 969,000)
GameCube: 10,000 units (total this year: 510,000)
PS1: 3,000 units (total this year: 74,000)
WonderSwan: 2,000 units (total this year: 11,330)
Xbox: 1,800 units (total this year: 169,000)
Dreamcast: 1,500 units (total this year: 12,000)
Looks like Dreamcast is doing nearly as good as the X-box!
poo-willy-bum face.
It's not really Deja Vu. It's a totally different situation this time round.
Ok, so it's Nintendo and Sony who are competing in Japan at the moment, but Sony has already the 'cool' image Nintendo never really had in the past. It's only now things are starting to change.
Ok, so it's Nintendo and Sony who are competing in Japan at the moment, but Sony has already the 'cool' image Nintendo never really had in the past. It's only now things are starting to change.
So PS2 has only Gamecuibe left as compotiaiton - and I would say it's probably got the advantage.
Considering past experiences and the different market's of both consoles Id's think PS2 would come out on top.
Deja Vu?
Considering past experiences and the different market's of both consoles Id's think PS2 would come out on top.
Deja Vu?
It looks like XBOX is gonna be another victim of SONY and they will stop making it by the end of 2003 so i will say goodbye then.
dream cast is still not a bad console and it has an amazing amount of japanese games especially fighting games, with the price gone down its still a tempting console to buy.
It's probably a load of rubbish about the Atari, however, the Dreamcast has picked up in popularity since production stopped. Infact didn't Sega produce extra consoles for the Japanese?
BS
xbox is being outsold by the atari jaguar! now wonde rits getting beaten by dreamcast, the consoles better than ps2 and 1/4 the price!
lol
Page: