http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/699/699490p1.aspx - the original Story.

It seems tha MS is going to get some more attention for it' s system in June - check the original story

I guess they weren' t satisfied with the ass-kickin Japan gave them during the first launch and are looking for yet another one, which will surely come Microsoft, you can bank on that.




Unless....... The relaunch is going to include Final Fantasy XI

check the link - there are some japanese games planned for that " launch"

It' s a good idea - they shouldn' t give up :)

Do you actually think they' re going to care about the games listed so far for the relaunch??


I' ve got a better idea for Microsoft,,, Fund the development of some Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy REMAKES. Those will have a much better effect

I think the one things microsoft has failed to do, is support the company that made me get an xbox in the first place.

Sega, the most powerful software company on the planet.

If there were more then just a few minor exclusives available for the 360, microsoft would make a killing world wide.

Square might sell playstations, but overall sega sells everything.

Yeah i agree,the only way to sell in japanese marketr is to have sega exclusive titles.

I hate saying this but it has to be said.
Given that Sega of Japan couldn' t make a killing with the Dreamcast even with the huge amount of 1st party games it had I SERIOUSLY doubt a bunch of Sega exclusives would endear the Xbox 360 that much more to Japanese gamers! *runs to wash his mouth out with soap!*

It' s easy to say, " they should just have all of (insert fanboy software developer here) games!" It' s just not that easy to make happen. I don' t think it' s really ever enough, either. Look at some of the things MS has done.

• They bought Rare (when this happened, people thought the world was on fire)
  
• They just bought Lionhead Studios (I think)
  
• They sign indie developers to release games over XBLive
  
• They get PS2 exclusives released early on the XB
  
• They had Sega make a couple of exclusives for the 360
  
• They sign a couple of high profile developers to make exclusives for the 360 (think Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey)
  
• They have Team Ninja making exclusive titles for them
  
• Ubisoft creates games for the Xbox first, and then ports them to " lesser" systems
  
• They had Shenmue II!
  

As you can see MS has done a LOT (more than my list, actually) to woo developers and gamers to their side. The result with the Xbox is the number two spot in worldwide sales with their FIRST console! That' s pretty strong, but the Japanese market will be resistant for a while. I still say MS will gain some ground in Japan this time around, but I still don' t give a rat' s ass!! As long as we keep getting titles that I like, I don' t care what happens in Japan! Hell, if they do poorly enough over there maybe they' ll buy Square Enix! F*ck it, just buy Sony and Nintendo!!

Microsoft has done lots of stuff but compared to what Sony has got to offer in Japan it' s simply not enough.

Terry, they made a killing over here.
And if you remember, the dreamcast did very well in japan on launch day, so much so they ran out of stock with in the first few days.

And last time it was the unknown threat of the ps2, but this time microsoft doesn' t have to do anything to thwart sony, because sony is doing plenty to thwart themselves, and even the tamagachi brained japanese are starting to catch on.

Lots of american companies have done poorly in japan, at first.
But if you give them time they always warm up, and i think sega is the way to the hearts and minds of the japanese.

It' s strange how often i have to repeat this...

All Microsoft need is Virtua Fighter 5 exclusivity, and 360 would sell out within hours...

very true indeed.

You want to know something? (Probably not) I don' t think Japan is cool whit us. We need an expert. Get Hideo Kojima to Make MGS5 a 360 Exclusive. I won' t give a rats ass and microsoft will PWN in japan. Just forget I said anything. MICROSOFT DOESN' T READ KIKIZO FORUMS, BUT THEY SHOULD. Now I just have to go to that place and run around in circles. [:' (]

Terry, they made a killing over here.
And if you remember, the dreamcast did very well in japan on launch day, so much so they ran out of stock with in the first few days.

1. There was a SEVERE Dreamcast shortage in Japan when the system launched on November 28, 1998. Only 160,000 units were sold on Launch day.. Sure they sold out their launch units that day but 160,000 is hardly an impressive enough figure worth sneezing at.. A very impressive figure was the Dreamcast' s North American launch sales. Another Impressive feat was that it took the U.S. Dreamcast several weeks to accomplish what the Japanese Dreamcast could NOT do during its entire year on the market, and that was sell 1 million units. The U.S. Dreamcast barreled through the 1 million mark while the Japanese version just chugged along slowly, eventually reaching that point.

2. Like you said, they did very well over here in the U.S., but unfortunately the U.S. is the only territory in which they did so well in and had a couple platinum selling titles. It was like the Sega Saturn-syndrome but reversed in that the Saturn did really well in Japan but tanked here in the U.S. and Europe. The Dreamcast did great in the U.S. but came up short in Japan and especially Europe.

All Microsoft need is Virtua Fighter 5 exclusivity, and 360 would sell out within hours...

That would work. but it doesn' t have to be VF5.

The only way microsoft is going to see a huge leap in sales in Japan is to secure the sequel to a highly revered series exclusively.

I' ll say it again SEQUEL. Not a remake, not a re-release. They' ve got to get one of the big names to completely commit to them for all new content. New franchises simply aren' t going to get people to pick up the console over there, no mattter who' s making them.

Gamers follow their franchises. If the only way to play the next FF or Dragon Quest or MGS was on 360, 360' s would move.

That' s how Sony did it. They made sure the games the Japanese where going to buy anyway were on their system.

....how is it possible to re-launch a console.....?

...are they gonna issue a recall on all sold units and games??....

Aggressive campains maybe. " Re-launch" is just a word Microsoft is using for " okay we failed the first time but let' s try one more time now that we actually have some titles worth buying."