Fats
04-03-2006, 04:10 PM
Microsoft always faced a tough battle in bringing the Xbox 360 to Japan, vying for attention with Sony and Nintendo on their home territory was never going to be an easy task. However if reports coming from German website GameFront are to be believed, MS is planning a major relaunch for the console in the Land of the Rising Sun beginning on June 29.
GameFront quotes Japanese retail sources who say MS is planning a second launch for the 360, to coincide with a number of big name game releases around that date, to give some much needed momentum to the console.
Apparently just over 27,000 Xbox 360s have been sold in Japan since Christmas, which must be a very disappointing total for the Redmond giant, given that Sony and Nintendo sell more than that in a week.
Significantly perhaps, four major games which are perceived to be more 'Japanese-friendly' including Sega's CHROMEHOUNDs, Ubi's Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter, Idea Factory's Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage and AQ's Bullet Witch have all just had their release dates shifted to June 29, so this is one rumour which may indeed have legs.
However what the 360 really needs in Japan is quality home-produced titles like Ninety Nine Nights to appeal to a market which is notorious for being quite inward looking. When those kind of titles arrive it should help drive more Japanese sales of the 360. However with the PS3 arriving in November and Revolution probably even sooner, the clock is most definitely ticking for MS and even a massive Japanese relaunch may be just delaying the inevitable.
www.computerandvideogames.com
GameFront quotes Japanese retail sources who say MS is planning a second launch for the 360, to coincide with a number of big name game releases around that date, to give some much needed momentum to the console.
Apparently just over 27,000 Xbox 360s have been sold in Japan since Christmas, which must be a very disappointing total for the Redmond giant, given that Sony and Nintendo sell more than that in a week.
Significantly perhaps, four major games which are perceived to be more 'Japanese-friendly' including Sega's CHROMEHOUNDs, Ubi's Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter, Idea Factory's Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage and AQ's Bullet Witch have all just had their release dates shifted to June 29, so this is one rumour which may indeed have legs.
However what the 360 really needs in Japan is quality home-produced titles like Ninety Nine Nights to appeal to a market which is notorious for being quite inward looking. When those kind of titles arrive it should help drive more Japanese sales of the 360. However with the PS3 arriving in November and Revolution probably even sooner, the clock is most definitely ticking for MS and even a massive Japanese relaunch may be just delaying the inevitable.
www.computerandvideogames.com