With all this talk about the PSP (I’ll admit that I’m probably being influenced by the recent American launch), the hardware sales for the week of April 18-24 surprised me a bit (from The Magic Box):
1. Nintendo DS - 96,191 units
2. PlayStation 2 - 33,080 units
3. PlayStation Portable - 33,004 units
4. GameBoy Advance SP - 10,820 units
5. GameCube - 8,329 units
6. GameBoy Advance - 422 units
7. Xbox - 112 units
This could be a result of the release of NINTENDOGS, which seems to be doing really well here. It’s basically a puppy simulator, not a game. Think Tamagotchi, but with better graphics and more features.
Category: Games • Technology
Why don’t these stats include the dozen Virtual Boys I bought last week?
40/40 in Famitsu: “Think Tamagotchi, but with better graphics and more features” ;)
I know, I saw that (the rating in FAMITSU). I don’t get it.
And Marxy, these are realworld figures, not virtual ones.
X-box only sold 112 units in one week? I had no idea they were so far down the tubes.
The X-Box completely flopped in Japan. There was no interest in it. So with the X-Box 360, Microsoft is making a big point of trying to be attractive to the Japanese market by getting a lot of key Japanese creators to create exclusive games from them. For instance, the creator of the Final Fantasy series is going to be creating a game for it.
the most important (social) factor being the size of the next x box
things will change
Were there any Japanese import barriers preventing the X-box from a fully open market?
Nope. The X-Box flopped mostly because of the game selection, in my opinion. The X-Box really pushes the type of games that are really popular in North America (sports, first-person shooters), which aren’t really big here. I mean, as big a gamer as I am, I’ve never felt that much of a desire to pick one up. Sure, there are a few games that I’d like to play, but nothing MUST-play (for me at least — stuff like HALO, although I’d like to try it out, doesn’t excite me that much).
Sure, the box was big and ugly, but I honestly don’t think that’s the major reason it flopped. It’s all about the software, and that’s what Microsoft is looking to improve the next time around. They’ve signed some top Japanese creators to make some exclusive games for the system.
I would really, really love to get a pass for the invitation-only release party for the system at Roppongi Hills in May.