Victory!

[L33t 4g3nt]

X-box 360 A Sales Disaster In Japan, Only 39% of Units Have Been Sold

TOKYO Dec 13, 2005 ââ,¬â€ Microsoft Corp.'s new Xbox 360 video game console got a lukewarm welcome in Japan on its debut weekend with fans buying fewer than half the games available in stores, a market researcher said Tuesday.

Microsoft, which started selling the Xbox 360 in Japan on Saturday, is trying to break into the world's second-largest video game market and challenge the longtime dominance of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation.

Microsoft sold 62,135 machines over the weekend, or just 39 percent of the 159,000 consoles it is estimated to have shipped to stores, according to data from market researcher Enterbrain Inc.

The figures indicate a slower start than the original Xbox, which failed in Japan. The first Xbox sold about 123,000 units in the first three days of its launch in 2002, according to Tokyo-based Enterbrain.

The Xbox 360 debuted last month in the United States to winding lines of customers to snag machines and top billing on Christmas wish lists. Japanese gamers may still be waiting to see what Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 looks like.

Sony has locked up about 80 percent of the Japanese market, compared with Xbox's 5 percent, and is planning to release its next-generation PlayStation 3 early next year, although a date has not been announced.

Xbox had been hoping its earlier release would win converts.

But Enterbrain said some stores reported customers canceling pre-reserved Xbox 360s because of the postponed release of the popular game "Dead or Alive 4." Still, despite the slow start, Enterbrain said there was still "plenty of room" for Xbox 360 to increase its market share as more titles come to market.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is planning to release 10 titles in Japan this month and has 100 in development.

Microsoft Japan President Darren Huston told The Associated Press Saturday his company aims to sell 1 million Xbox 360s in Japan by mid-2006. That compares with just 1.8 million original Xbox units sold in Asia, including Japan, in its first three years. Worldwide, Microsoft is aiming to ship between 2.75 million and 3 million machines within 90 days of the U.S. launch.

Microsoft's first Xbox got off to a rocky start in Japan, where some of the world's most dedicated and finicky gaming fans were turned off by its design, limited game selection and perceptions of shoddy quality.

Microsoft has made a point this time of signing on designers popular here to make games exclusive for Xbox 360, such as "Final Fantasy XI." The company also redesigned the clunky black case, with help from Japanese teams, to create a streamlined, pearl-white look that is more appealing to Japanese tastes.

The first Xbox's tendency to scratch disks also ruffled feathers in Japan. While the problem didn't affect the game's performance, it was viewed as a symptom of poor attention to detail.

It is unclear how Japanese might react to reported problems in the Xbox 360 that cause it to crash in the middle of games.

Huston said Saturday those incidents are "quite isolated" and added that there is a Japanese hot line for customers to call if they experience problems and that the company will replace free-of-charge faulty equipment.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1400531

[CaptBrenden]

take that microsoft!  I never was a fan of the x box.. halo and doom 3 were its only saviors.  Thats what they get for putting so much useless shit in it and making it cost so damn much because of it.

[L33t 4g3nt]

then of course you can get halo and doom on pc...who needs the actual console?

[CaptBrenden]

halo 2 isnt for the pc yet....

[L33t 4g3nt]

it will be out eventually, but if you would spend money on the console and only buy halo 2, then i would call that a waste

[CaptBrenden]

well sue me for being a fan. An x box is cheap enough now to get for 3 really good games. and I mean they are really good games.  I was one of the ones waiting up at midnight for halo 2, baseball bat in ahd incase someone tried to deny me my copy or tried to snatch it away

[L33t 4g3nt]

really? if that baseball bat part you actually did, then i take back (some degree of) what i said.

[Q4(V)]

sony is the best ... nuff said

[panda]

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html

Apparently, it has been discovered that playing a Sony DRM'd Cd in a computer installs a root kit on the computer, a very poorly written one at least. Poorly written that it hides any file starting with $sys$. This is also illegal, and there is no way to uninstall it without rendering your CD-ROM drive useless. But, just read the article.

[Q4(V)]

Panda i can't see ur link

[Darknight_88]

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html

Apparently, it has been discovered that playing a Sony DRM'd Cd in a computer installs a root kit on the computer, a very poorly written one at least. Poorly written that it hides any file starting with $sys$. This is also illegal, and there is no way to uninstall it without rendering your CD-ROM drive useless. But, just read the article.

yeah, i heard that also. Those programs come with some music CD's, and its nearly impossible to uninstall them...who said microsoft was evil?
xP

and,...i never had a console, so i'm not on any side (maybe microsoft, despite the fact that is evil, i have 3 PC with Win XP  ;012). And by now, there's no signal about a release for Halo 2 in PC =(

[panda]

I know, I was sure Halo 2 for PC would be out for the holy-days (I can't spell).

[CaptBrenden]

humm ill need to upgrade before my computer can run halo 2 properly even if it does come out

[panda]

you should wait till Vista comes out, and BTX for non-intel comp.s

[Q4(V)]

BTX wht it abt errr can u give a link abt it plz