DVD Lamer

I would like intelligence industry speculations and analysis on the Xbox's launch in Japan in February.

My speculation is that it will have a very difficult battle and here's why. For the Gamecube, the new Resident Evil/Biohazard 1 remake is due in March.

For the Playstation 2, major titles such as Tokimeki Memorial 3, Wild Arms 3, Grandia Xtreme, Xenosaga, and Kingdom Hearts are out or will be out by the February-March timeframe. Kingdom Hearts will have a famous pop idol's song which will boost KH's popularity. Final Fantasy XI makes it debut in the spring and Sony has already started on it's online intrastructure on a level with consumers; hard drives already for sale and consumers beta test online services.

For the Dreamcast, the highly popular Sakura Wars 4 makes it debut in March. Plus, many items are sold at slashed prices; an irresistiable deal.

The Xbox has a much better launch lineup in Japan than here, but absolutely no major titles. Dead or Alive 3 will likely be the top seller for that system, but no other highly anticipated Japanese genre games, such as RPGs and simulations, are availabe or will be soon available in the end of March. I don't see a game similar to a love simulation game called Triangle, which is in development for the Xbox, out soon.

The Xbox and PS2 systems are sold at a fairly even price. Plus, there is a sense of patriotism. For the Japanese consumers, the choice wouldn't be that difficult to make.

I am upset that Japan already being treated better than us. No special limited editions and not the greatest lineup was given here.

Many where ports and too American and too PC-ish. Azurk was close to what I would want to an adventure/action game but it was similiar to a Cyro/Dreamcatcher type game on the PC.

These were smartly removed from the Japanese lineup. Take out the garbage; trim the fat. Sadly, Kabuki Warriors stayed. Even I, with very strong Japanese gaming tastes, would prefer to swap Kabuki Warriors with Halo.

Anything else I'm missing let me know or provide comment on a particular part or parts.

Note: I did type correctly in the topic and don't know how it got screwed up.

Flay

I don't think Japan is being treated better than us. We get all the great games at the Japanese launch at the same time. If you want to be jealous of a better launch, just take a look at the awesome titles that will be released at the European launch.

The quality of launch titles may be slightly better in Japan, but the quantity is lower. They get 12 games, 3 of which we had in our lineup.

JSRF - Jet Set Radio Future: AAA title. We will get it in the U.S. at the same time. I wager this will be Halo in Japan.
GENMA ONIMUSHA: Already on the PS2, yet this will be enhanced. Kind of like us getting Tony Hawk 2x.
Silent Hill 2: Already on the PS2, another enhanced port.
DOUBLE-S.T.E.A.L: This will be an excellent game. Same thing as Wreckless.
AIR FORCE DELTA II: This is a stinker in the U.S., but it may find a home in Japan.
HYPER SPORTS 2002 WINTER: No idea about this one. Doesn't sound too appealing.
ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002: ESPN titles are just ok.
Nobunaga's Ambition: Chronicles of Chaos: No clue, but it sounds like Onimusha.
Nezmix: For the kids, I suppose. It's that mouse game.
Tenku: Freestyle Snowboarding: Sounds just like Amped, just with a different name.
Project Gotham Racing: Great Title, and could sell very well.
DEAD OR ALIVE 3: Another best seller in Japan with the extra add-ons.

PixyJunket

must.. contain.. self.. wait.. almost.. over..

DVD Lamer

They get a limited edition Xbox available for the consumers unlike in the US. The US launch wasn't impressive to me, and I did not see 30 games out. I still don't see 30 games on store shelves. The Japanese got fewer games out initially but higher quality stuff, even if a few are enhanced ports. As of today, only Dead or Alive 3 and Silent Hill 2 for the US Xbox library interest me enough to buy. The Japanese version of Dead or Alive 3 will have extra items which I don't know but hopefully sexy new outfits and a replacement for the Aerosmith tracks. If these changes between the US and Japanese versions of the launch isn't evidence of Japan receiving better treatment, then I don't know what is.

Tuan Jim

I may be misunderstanding you, but I'm pretty sure Double Steal is the game where you take turns playing the robber escaping from the cops (shooting through the rear window), and the police trying to catch the criminal. Completely different from Wreckless.

Nobunaga's Ambition: IIRC, the original was on SNES and was supposed to be an excellent strategy game. This is at least the 3rd or 4th in the series I think.

The Japanese might not be too hot for shooters, but with a game as good as Halo, I'm surprised they're not taking a shot with it. Are they planning on introducing it later?

Tuan Jim

Flay

The limited edition XBox is cool looking. But there are a total of 37 games for the XBox in the U.S. Check out my XBox release date thread. There will be around 50 by the Japanese launch.

Quote:

If these changes between the US and Japanese versions of the launch isn't evidence of Japan receiving better treatment, then I don't know what is.

Well if they are, it's a good thing. American XBox owners want to see the XBox do well in Japan. That just means more Japanese developers making more games.

Tuan Jim

I'm pretty sure the updates to DOA3 will be available to US customers as well. It'd be interesting to see what music they replace Aerosmith with. I actually like the one main theme song quite a bit. Wish they coulda had something different for the credits though.

Tuan Jim

Flay

Oh, I don't know. If you look under IGN's preview of Wreckless, it was previously called Double Steal. I just assumed it was the same game.

Quote:

The Japanese might not be too hot for shooters, but with a game as good as Halo, I'm surprised they're not taking a shot with it. Are they planning on introducing it later?

Halo is headed to the XBox over there. Just not at launch. They got a good response with Halo at the last show in Japan.

Flay

Tuan is exactly correct. The updates for DOA3 will be downloadable when MS brings up the Online network, if I'm not mistaken.

Itaki (sp?) promised the U.S. users wouldn't be left out with the new stuff.

Tuan Jim

That long? I was under the impression we could get free cds with the info on it.

btw. You're right. I was getting Maximum Chase mixed up with Double Steal/Wreckless.

Tuan Jim

Flay

I don't know about the free cd's. That sounds expensive for the makers of DOA3. And how would you be able to tell who bought the game? They would have to allow people to send away for them. Heck, they will probably end up on Ebay.

Maybe both ways would be the best solution. And Maximum Chase looks pretty sweet too.

darkside

No RPGs for a Japanese system is a dangerous thing. Ask Nintendo. However, I think the Xbox launch looks decent and I'm sure the RPGs will come eventually. Jet Set Radio will probably have a big impact and I think that will be the biggest selling title in Japan for the Xbox.

Tuan Jim

I don't know too many other systems that "launched" with big RPG's. PS2 didn't, Gamecube didn't, I don't think Dreamcast did either. I wonder if Morrowind will be ported -- should be out by then -- and if a game like that would be popular over there?

Tuan Jim

Gallant Pig

When does it launch in Europe? I'm interested in importing the region 2 DVD dongle so I can watch region 2 DVDs on it.

Naan

Gallant Pig,

Have you already put a Region 1 dongle on your Xbox?

-Naan

Centurion

I don't believe there are plans to bring this game as well as Project Ego to Japan.

Gallant Pig

Yeah.

Gallant Pig

That's a shame, too much text/vocals? Maybe they'll license it out to a small Japanese developer?

darkside

True enough, the development time is a killer for RPGs. Like I said the launch looks decent and getting Sega on board with an A+ launch title is a good start.

Flay

March 14th of 15th I think.

Tuan Jim

By dongle, do you mean the bit that sticks into the controller port or are you talking about something else?

Would you really be able to get by region encoding just by plugging in a different "dongle"?

I supposed even then you'd still have to worry about PAL/NTSC encoding for your tv though.

Tuan Jim

Grimfarrow

Considering how badly Jet Grind Radio for the Dreamcast sold in Japan (less than 100,000 copies), exactly how do you surmise that its sequel will be Halo in Japan?

There's only one title at X-Box's launch that will interest Japanese gamers, and that game is Dead or Alive 3. But considering that none of the games in the DOA series ever sold more than 500,000 copies, that's not much of a confidence booster either.

Moreover, everyone was expecting a big news of MGS X-Box version being unveiled yesterday. This never materialized, and many now wonder if the game is even being released this year.

Without a big exclusive from a major Japanese company at launch, the X-Box will not being selling many copies at all.

Flay

Got a current link to back that up?

Quote:

Moreover, everyone was expecting a big news of MGS X-Box version being unveiled yesterday. This never materialized, and many now wonder if the game is even being released this year.

Without a big exclusive from a major Japanese company at launch, the X-Box will not being selling many copies at all.

LOL! I never heard about MGSX supposed to be announced yesterday. Frankly, I really don't care at this point. I'm too busy playing other games. It can get here whenever.

As far as how the xbox sells in Japan, I don't think either of us can make a prediction on that one. Let's just wait and see what happens.

Grimfarrow

Link on Jet Sert Radio sales in Japan:

http://www.geocities.com/segastar1/news1.htm

Also check out www.the-magicbox.com's Japan sales charts archive.

It's a well-known fact that the game did not sell well at all in Japan:

http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech.../gam071600.htm
"For whatever reason, early sales in Japan, where the game is called Jet Set Radio, have been tepid"


http://www.myvideogames.com/myreviews/myreviews_12.asp
"When "Jet Grind Radio" came out in Japan, critics were wowed but sales were slow."

Outlaw

Argh! I was hoping JGR did better in Japan so we could get tons of sequels and cool merchandise to import.

But yeah, I can't really see people in Japan playing Halo, FPS games are just not their thing. In fact, the awesome goldeneye which was rating very highly in the States got pretty bad scores by Famitsu. Although there are exceptions, in Japan they tend to go for "character" based games which is why RPGs are so popular. I'm talking like Pokemon size popular(well maybe not that big but close). They like characters they can see, draw fan art of, draw comics of, dress up as (the latter was pretty big when I was there). Having been to Japan last winter I can say that you'd be amazed on how different their playing habits are and the cool stuff they get. It seems weird when your sitting here, but when your there it all seems natural...it was strange at first but you fall into it pretty quickly.

The ultimate store for gaming in Japan is a store called Gamers and they have tons of dojinshi, models, posters, soundtracks, everything video games. Its pretty easy to see what popular there from the store or their magazine. But the games that I noticed that were the most popular were(and I'm going off from the characters I recognized here): Dragon Quest (warrior), SNK games like KOF and Samurai Showdown, Virtua Fighter, Final Fantasy 6 and 7 (there was practically nothing there for 8), Street Fighter, a lot of tokimemo type games I didn't know. There were more but I couldn't recognize including a lot of monster catching/training games. The only sports game I noticed that was popular was some Horse Derby Simulation game. It is nuts there are tons of those games there and they're always high on the charts. Anyway those are the games I saw the most merchandise of.

With that said, the japanese lineup looks a lot better to me than the US one, but maybe its because of my playing habits, I'd rather play JGR or dating sim anyway. (note: I was joking about the last one.........seriously! )