I'll be honest. For the longest time I have stuck around the XBOX forums hoping that more fans will accept a more diverse XBOX game lineup, even if they may not be the epitome of amazing graphical wonder. I have defended, Japanese games primarily, from the default assault that come from the XBOX graphic whores.
But as of late, I have come to realize one thing. That even if the XBOX 360 will produce the best games in Japan, the Japanese will never buy it. Even if Hironobu Sakaguchi will make the best RPG that we have ever seen, the Japanese will never buy the XBOX 360. Why? Because the XBOX 360 will never have the sheer quantity of Japan centric games when compared to Sony or Nintendo. The XBOX 360 will not have 50 default mediocre RPGs but instead will just have a handful really good ones. To the Japanese, its quite simple and practical...quantity is greater than quality and the top 100 Famitsu game list proves that.
And that's the sad part. I saw the top 100 game list of the Japanese and I realize that me believing that the XBOX 360 can dominate in Japan is nothing more but a deluded fantasy that can never happen. Looking at how the Japanese lined up to buy a gadget they already own, albeit its smaller version, the Nintendo DS makes the launch of the XBOX 360 very unflattering.
But I also began to realize another thing.
That despite everything else, the XBOX 360 is a very good console. While the Japanese may shun it because it may not coddle them as much as Sony and Nintendo with Japan centric games, the whole world wont. The audience of the XBOX brand has always been about the worldwide market and not the Japanese. Sony and Nintendo only care about the Japanese but for Microsoft it's the whole world.
And Microsoft has started to ‘pull-out’ of Japan for the meantime, considering there are no new games, news or even updates for the Japan XBOX 360 market. Is it wrong for Microsoft to do this? I feel sad for the Japanese XBOX 360 gamers but from a business standpoint its certainly cutting back on their losses.
While I care about Japanese gamers considering the XBOX 360 has a pretty good but small Japanese community, news such as the one above is rather depressing.
I have come to accept that the casual Japanese crowd are just 'different' and their tastes in gaming are different. The games they want to play may not exactly be what the world normally does. Considering how fashion-centric Japan's culture currently is, a chunk of those people lining up are probably just there to pick up the newest coolest little thing in town.
The news about the Korea and Mexico launches redeems the XBOX 360 in a strange way but it also shows one thing about the Japanese gaming culture...that whatever the XBOX 360 dishes out it will not be as well received as other platforms simply because it will not have more games that they like...and I'm not just talking about RPGs here.
If the XBOX 360 gets worldwide acclaim, Japanese developers have little choice but to support the console considering that the true growth of the videogame industry is going further and further from Japan. Well...at this point let us all hope for the best.
I also am beginning to realize that perhaps its only right for “Microsoft” to lower their support for Japan, for the meantime. The Japanese will not bother with the XBOX 360 until they can actually see that the home country favorites, PS3 and Nintendo Revolution can offer. And chances are they will prefer those platforms more since it is tailored more to their tastes. Microsoft should shift its focus to regions where there is actually a demand for their console. They should shift their focus in solving the shortages in the United States rather than hosting parties in Japan.
I feel bad for the Japan XBOX community, most of which are great and challenging gamers, if Microsoft does decrease their support in
Japan.
But hopefully when Microsoft does come back in
Japan, they will carry with them the support of the whole world, a market that no Japanese developer can turn down.
Now I will campaign for one thing. It's about damn time that people wake up and realize that Japan is no longer the same market that it has been in the eighties. This time around a platform does not need to form massive lines in Japan in order to be recognized as a good one. This time around, I believe that the diversity of games that I am talking about can be extended to western developers and publishers who are bold enough to try new ideas and no longer just the Japanese.
Hironobu Sakaguchi, and the rest of those Japanese devs who are strong enough to face the challenge of the XBOX 360, no longer has Japan as its sole market for the true market of the XBOX 360 is the whole world.