Why Does The Xbox 360 Never Do Well In Japan?

[Perfect]

Well the Wii has sold more hardware and games than both the PS3 and 360, so I'm surprised we haven't seen very many games on there.

[sangofe]

Calm down, I was only making a (bad) joke

An extemely bad one...
As for the question in the topic... I also wondered about this, maybe it is because ps3 has a lot more RPG's?

[dbboxkaifan]

It might be that these games also sell well outside of Japan. Dragon Ball does a fanbase outside of Japan and they do make money off of games from overseas. Which is why all of the games since 2008 have been on the 360 since the 360 is one of the best selling systems in the US. The other games other then Sagas never been on the original Xbox since the original Xbox was not as popular compare to the PS2 at the time.

Agreed. The Dragon Ball Z fanbase outside Japan isn't as huge as it was years ago back in the 90's, but it's still pretty solid.

The YouTube DBZ fans keep their fingers crossed for a DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3 HD Remake on Xbox 360 and PS3 with online gaming. Eh, the online probably would suck as it does with the current DBZ games.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Namco Bandai make an exclusive game for the Kinect?

It might be that these games also sell well outside of Japan. Dragon Ball does a fanbase outside of Japan and they do make money off of games from overseas. Which is why all of the games since 2008 have been on the 360 since the 360 is one of the best selling systems in the US. The other games other then Sagas never been on the original Xbox since the original Xbox was not as popular compare to the PS2 at the time.

I have no solid numbers to go by outside of the Japanese figures SuperSayianPrime posts, but I was under the impression the the PS3 version always did better in the west as well. Yes the 360 itself does better in the US but I don't see a lot of anime based games selling well on the platform. However, most developers go multiplat anyway because there are more potential sales. For example even if the game does bad on the 360 but stays the same on PS3 they are making more money then if they just sold the game on the PS3(same works if it was originally on the 360 first). However, even with the 360's success we are talking about the Kinect. That is a small population within the 360; Dragonball fans with Kinects are an even smaller group.

[Hellspawn28]

It might be that these games also sell well outside of Japan. Dragon Ball does a fanbase outside of Japan and they do make money off of games from overseas. Which is why all of the games since 2008 have been on the 360 since the 360 is one of the best selling systems in the US. The other games other then Sagas never been on the original Xbox since the original Xbox was not as popular compare to the PS2 at the time.

Agreed. The Dragon Ball Z fanbase outside Japan isn't as huge as it was years ago back in the 90's, but it's still pretty solid.

Yeah since I think Bandai Namco still releases the games in the US since they know that they can still make somewhat of a profit of the games since they know that the fans will still buy them. Burst Limit did well due to the good word of mouth and that game came out a few years after CN ended DBZ on TV (I remember they ended the Ultimate Uncut episodes in 2005 and I think that was the last time that we see Dragon Ball on TV until Nicktoons aired episodes of DBKai).

[dbboxkaifan]

I don't know if FUNimation could re-release Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit as "Dragon Ball Z Kai: Burst Limit", but in case they could, it'd be great because it's somewhat the official game of Kai.

Plus, an updated version would mean DBZ Kai voices on BL which I'd love to hear them.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

I don't know if FUNimation could re-release Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit as "Dragon Ball Z Kai: Burst Limit", but in case they could, it'd be great because it's somewhat the official game of Kai.

Plus, an updated version would mean DBZ Kai voices on BL which I'd love to hear them.

FUNimation has absolutely no control over the distribution of the games. Also, don't count on it. Burst Limit was published by Atari in the US and there are probably a lot of legal issues holding the game back from being re-released in any fashion.

[Kid Buu]

I think it is because 360 has a reputation of being more of a FPS system, the 360 only receives a sales spike when a new JRPG for it comes out. I think PS3 overshadows it due to having more games that appeal to the Japanese mass, also keep in mind FFXIII was PS3 exclusive in Japan for a while.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Reading these responses, it sounds like my culture-centric take was in the minority!

[GS7X7]

I know they hate American consoles, but do they at least like some of our games? (Like Skyrim)

From what I've gathered, Japanese gamers that have a preference for American games tend to be a fairly rare breed there.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Funny thing about Skyrim is that it was the first western game to get a perfect score by Famitsu. I'm sure they find enjoyment in some western games but the audiences are very different. In the same why that it's harder to find a western fan of Monster Hunter, you aren't going to find as many Call of Duty fans in Japan.

[GS7X7]

Skyrim is indeed a beautiful world.

I guess stuff like all the war games or GTA are considered ugly to most Japanese gamers.

[Super Sonic]

Funny thing about Skyrim is that it was the first western game to get a perfect score by Famitsu. I'm sure they find enjoyment in some western games but the audiences are very different. In the same why that it's harder to find a western fan of Monster Hunter, you aren't going to find as many Call of Duty fans in Japan.

Given that a lot of that series takes place during WWII, are you really surprised?

[GS7X7]

That makes a lot of sense.... I mean, how many American games are about the War of 1812 or Vietnam?

Still, I'm curious, do our WW 2 games sell well in Germany?

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

Funny thing about Skyrim is that it was the first western game to get a perfect score by Famitsu. I'm sure they find enjoyment in some western games but the audiences are very different. In the same why that it's harder to find a western fan of Monster Hunter, you aren't going to find as many Call of Duty fans in Japan.

Given that a lot of that series takes place during WWII, are you really surprised?

...I was talking about the Modern Warfare games that propelled the era of endless brown FPS games... not the first two games from like 7+ years ago.

[dbboxkaifan]

I know they hate American consoles, but do they at least like some of our games? (Like Skyrim)

From what I've gathered, Japanese gamers that have a preference for American games tend to be a fairly rare breed there.

From the Japanese hardware sales I've seen, they like international countries' games as well.

FIFA (Football), Modern Warfare (FPS), can't remember more titles now..

[Super Sonic]

I know they hate American consoles, but do they at least like some of our games? (Like Skyrim)

From what I've gathered, Japanese gamers that have a preference for American games tend to be a fairly rare breed there.

From the Japanese hardware sales I've seen, they like international countries' games as well.

FIFA (Football), Modern Warfare (FPS), can't remember more titles now..

ISn't FIFA soccer though?

[dbboxkaifan]

ISn't FIFA soccer though?

If you live in America you'd probably call it that dimwitted term.

FIFA:

Federal
International
Football
Association

Football = Use your foot to kick the ball therefore football.

"Soccer" is an obsolete term to define football, though US still uses it. *sigh*

[MarcFBR]

"Soccer" is an obsolete term to define football, though US still uses it. *sigh*

You realize... it's not an obsolete term when you give an example of millions of people who use it on a normal basis (and the US isn't the only country that still calls it soccer.)

[dbboxkaifan]

You realize... it's not an obsolete term when you give an example of millions of people who use it on a normal basis (and the US isn't the only country that still calls it soccer.)

I wouldn't count on millions, maybe thousands because football in US isn't much known like in other countries.

There are millions of Football fans, Spain, Portugal, UK, Germany, France, Poland (+ other EU countries), Saudi Arabia, etc.

Real Madrid x Barça never gets old.

It's funny people in US think "futbol" is the correct way of spelling football, lol. ^^"