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The Omniscient
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Dec 14, 2005, 6:44 PM
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Xbox 360 Japanese Debut Terrible
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The Xbox 360 video game console did not explode in its Japanese debut with fans buying fewer than half the games available in stores. Microsoft, which started selling the Xbox 360 in Japan on Saturday, is trying to break into the world's second-largest video game market and challenge the longtime dominance of PlayStation.
Microsoft sold 62,135 machines over the weekend, or just 39 percent of the 159,000 consoles it is estimated to have shipped to stores, according to data from market researcher Enterbrain. The first Xbox sold about 123,000 units in the first three days of its launch in 2002, according to Tokyo-based Enterbrain.
The Xbox 360 debuted last month in the United States to winding lines of customers to snag machines and top billing on Christmas wish lists. Japanese gamers may still be waiting to see what Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 looks like. Seems to be a smart choice, the PS3 dominate over and above Xbox last time, and the xbox 360 doesn't seem to offer anything that thte PS3 won't be able to match and beat.
Sony has locked up about 80 percent of the Japanese market, compared with Xbox's 5 percent, and is planning to release its next-generation PlayStation 3 early next year, although a date has not been announced.
Some stores reported customers canceling pre-reserved Xbox 360s because of the postponed release of the popular game "Dead or Alive 4." Still, despite the slow start. Microsoft is planning to release 10 titles in Japan this month and has 100 in development. Only 10 games may have hurt their position.
Microsoft Japan President Darren Huston told The Associated Press Saturday his company aims to sell 1 million Xbox 360s in Japan by mid-2006. That compares with just 1.8 million original Xbox units sold in Asia, including Japan, in its first three years. Worldwide, Microsoft is aiming to ship between 2.75 million and 3 million machines within 90 days of the U.S. launch.
Microsoft's first Xbox got off to a rocky start in Japan, where some of the world's most dedicated and finicky gaming fans were turned off by its design, limited game selection and perceptions of shoddy quality.
Microsoft has made a point this time of signing on designers popular
here to make games exclusive for Xbox 360, such as "Final Fantasy XI."
The company also redesigned the clunky black case, with help from
Japanese teams, to create a streamlined, pearl-white look that is more
appealing to Japanese tastes.
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