So why are people looking for an excuse to blast the Xbox? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Bardon]

I'm actually starting to get a little sick of people trying to decry the Xbox as a failure, especially in Japan, so quickly. The thing has been out here for three months, and in Japan for TWO WEEKS-give it a rest! We don't need to have sales stats thrown at us daily, and not every announcement from the competition is Microsoft's death sentence. Is it that people are afraid of the box? Is it that they're afraid to like something from Microsoft? Is it that they want to see Microsoft fail? I just don't get it, but there's an inordinate amount of hostility towards the big black box, and I just don't get it.

 

[Michael_Dal]

X-Box will be successful in Japan, it will just take time and the right games. Its a little unfair to call the X-box a failure so soon. The current game line-up in Japan is especially weak, from reports it seems that DOA3 is the only X-box game that has much interest in Japan, hardly enough to spur a large number of console sales.

X-box has a huge tech advantage over the other consoles and once games are released that take advantage of the technology and appeal to Japanese tastes the X-box will start selling in large numbers over there.

 

[Brion Lydon]

I agree. I'm getting sick of people saying that the Xbox is a failure. It reminds me of when DVD first came out and there were laserdisc people saying how DVD was a failure. And the only reason they were saying that was because they were afraid that DVD would take off. It seems like the same thing is happening here with the Xbox.

Just my $0.02.

Brion

 

[Kelley_B]

People in general don't like change. Hell the average videogame shopper/player have been just as happy playing something like MGS2 on the PSOne as they were playing it(and for MGS2 I use the word playing it very loosely) on the PS2....that is if there were no PS2.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Compared to the abysmal launch of the GameCube by Nintendo (who is a BIG company in Japan), MS has failed thus far. They can dig themselves out, and it will take time to do so, but as of right now they are failing or have failed.

The GCN had a horrible launch, but did 3x better than the X-Box. That says something.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I'm actually starting to get a little sick of people trying to decry the Xbox as a failure, especially in Japan, so quickly. The thing has been out here for three months, and in Japan for TWO WEEKS-give it a rest! We don't need to have sales stats thrown at us daily, and not every announcement from the competition is Microsoft's death sentence. Is it that people are afraid of the box? Is it that they're afraid to like something from Microsoft? Is it that they want to see Microsoft fail? I just don't get it, but there's an inordinate amount of hostility towards the big black box, and I just don't get it.

Unfortunately, despite a youthful audience the gaming industry is notoriously conservative when it comes to "unfamiliar and different" and that's certainly a characterization that could apply to the Xbox. It's more comforting for the fanboy on the street to believe that Sony and Nintendo are superfly hippers and hoppers compared to Bill Gates and Microsoft, and when you factor in how many complaints Windows gets I think it tends to create a pretty heavy double standard that's going to take a lot to overcome. Fortunately for Microsoft, they've got lots and lots of money, so assuming they're willing to continue spending it (and their history suggests they probably are) this can be overcome given time. As long as Microsoft sticks to its guns and and keeps getting good games to appear on the Xbox, they'll be able to gradually chip away at that anti-Xbox hysteria but it's just going to take a while.

 

[Eric Nees]

Yes, people don't like Xbox. They've been with Nintendo or Sony and they don't like to see someone else trying to muscle in on that territory. It's called brand loyalty and it happens with plenty of other things, cars, home theater equipment, etc.

As for Xbox in Japan.. I guess it would be early to call it dead, but it's in serious trouble. Historically, the Japanese haven't been too keen on buying American consoles (along with other non-videogame related products). This is the first strike on Xbox.

A much bigger deal though is the fact that it has no games that have massive appeal to the Japanese audience. Dead or Alive is selling so-so and everything else is just plain not selling. It's true that both Gamecube and PS2 didn't exactly have the most stellar launch titles themselves, but both had bigger guns on the way. Where is Xbox's Smash Bros or GT3? At it stands right now, I see nothing that has a good chance to sell a million+ games (and consoles!) coming out for Xbox.

No one is going to catch Sony in Japan, so all that leaves for Xbox is the Gamecube. But while Xbox is sitting around waiting for appealing games, Gamecube is busting out with Resident Evil (500k in sales), Mario (million+), Starfox (500k+) and Zelda (million+). All within the next 9 months! So who is going to pick up an Xbox when the cheaper Gamecube has all these much more appealing games?

That is why, in my opinion, the Xbox is close to death in Japan.

 

[Camp]

It works both ways. I dislike these pro-Xbox threads just as much as I hate the anti-Xbox threads.
To me, any time you defend or attack a console you're wasting your time (and playing the fanboy game). A console cannot be summarized by virtue of its launch or its advertising campaign or even its design. The console is just a vessel for games.
Those of us who claim to be console agnostic should prove it by not letting these threads get to us.
There's a certain Zen to this whole "it's about the games" rant I've been on for the past several months. -either that or I'm a total dork.

 

[Kelley_B]

Knowing that I have all next-gen consoles makes me feel good. I can play any game that comes out....after all:

"It's All About the Games"

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The console is just a vessel for games

I hope you don't see this as taking that quote out of context, but as I see it, most people are saying "the X-Box has very few good games compared to the other consoles and has no reputation to run on to be successful" rather than "X-Box sucks." So people aren't just being loyal to one console or another, they are pointing things out that others don't want to see because they might not like it.

 

[Camp]

Morgan,

I see what you're saying but, in my mind, that's still the same thing. It's a subtle twist on on a common plot.

 

[Romier S]

Those of us who claim to be console agnostic should prove it by not letting these threads get to us.
There's a certain Zen to this whole "it's about the games" rant I've been on for the past several months. -either that or I'm a total dork.

 

[Calvin Watts III]

You know, I was going to come up with something decent to say, but Romier & Kelley already did.
Camp makes a good point also..the bashing works both ways. I personally think that MS needs some decent games specificially tailored for the Japanese market for it to take off. Some exclusives would work as well - either games and/or addtional content.
(Imagine the next Dragon Quest solely on the XBox....that would help a lot.)
Simply being the most powerful system isn't going to do it.
(Remember when the PS2 was released? It was bought there by many people simply because it was the cheapest DVD player at that time...)
I still think the Xbox is going to be okay overall. But with Sony's & Nintendo's recent news (about online gaming & FF coming to the big N),that the videogaming field is still wide open.
Which means more goodies for us!
Well.in theory.....
Calvin

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I'm the Mr. Know-it-all of gaming (I know, its sad that they rely on me for info) in my grade (only a few people are as into games as I am) and when people say which console I think is best, I say 2 things: the X-Box is hands-down the most powerful but the PS2 has the most games, so the PS2 is the best right now. I try to make sure that whoever I'm talking to knows that the X-Box, given time and games, could be the best console (though best doesn't mean most popular or successful). I also point out to people that if I had the free/spare cash, I would buy an X-Box, but only for Halo and JSRF, nothing else.

So I try to inform people of the positive and negative aspects of the X-Box and its current state. If I ever say anything bad about it, its because there are no games for it, I don't bash the system from being from MS or being American or anything like that.

 

[Gary King]

Before everyone gets their panties in a bundle over Xbox sales in Japan, I read an interesting tidbit the other day (I can't verify if it's accurate, but it came from a guy who knows his history) -- the Xbox had a more successful Japanese launch than the Playstation.

Granted, the Playstation wasn't up against a different console with a 4M+ installed base, but it's interesting none the less.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The PlayStation also was from a company that was making a console because everyone was doing it. The PlayStation also didn't have as many companies signed on to it as the X-Box does. The PlayStation also didn't have a $500 million budget for advertising. The PlayStation also wasn't the most powerful console around at the time.

The X-Box has an advantage right now over what the PSX had at its launch. No wonder it did better.

 

[BrianB]

The PlayStation also was from a company that was making a console because everyone was doing it. The PlayStation also didn't have as many companies signed on to it as the X-Box does. The PlayStation also didn't have a $500 million budget for advertising. The PlayStation also wasn't the most powerful console around at the time.

I think you need to go check your history, Morgan.

 

[MikeM]

To me, it seems like there are far more pro-Xbox threads here, than anti-Xbox threads.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

What you're forgetting is that they'll buy an X-Box, play Dragon Quest, and then sell it back to the store for PS2 games

Happened with Zelda 64

Comparing X-Box to Playstation is totally apples to oranges. XB is NOT a quantum leap over what was before like PSX was to SNES or PC Engine

 

[Neil M]

I think a lot of people miss the point when talking about success or failure. The fact is that all of the systems are doing very well from a sales point of view. When people say the x-box has failed in japan, it is a relative failure. Microsoft spent lots of money to heavily market their product and the results are successful in some regards but not in the battle for this generation of consoles. Microsoft is the new player so they have the biggest hurdles to overcome. They spent a hell of a lot more money than either sony or nintendo and they are selling the same amount of systems or maybe a slight bit more. Should that be considered success? No. The X-box was doomed from the beginning. It costed too much to develop and market. But, the positive thing is that microsoft has put their foot into the industry. You can't expect to do this and be #1 right away. The X-box may be the best system technically, but it is not going to be the best system of this generation. That honor will go to playstation 2, but only because they had the head start. Nintendo could easily dethrone them with a good group of high profile games.

It's going to be a very difficult road for microsoft. They have competitors that know the industry well. Nintendo has already lost to sony before by thinking they were the shit and thinking everyone would support them just because they made mario. They won't let microsoft beat them this time. And Sony is the current leader, they don't want to lose that spot. Nintendo hasn't made its roar yet but they have managed to sell a good amount of systems. Once resident evil, mario sunshine, metroid prime, star fox adventures, and the whole plethora of popular games come out, Nintendo's sales will go through the roof. And with this new Square deal, microsoft must be crapping a load.

And to address the issue that this thread actually brought up-I don't think there's anything wrong with people calling a system a failure, even after a few weeks. These few weeks are the most critical for the x-box. That is the indicator to software companies about whether people want games for it. The japanese have made a statement. They don't want an American system unless you got games for it. And microsoft didn't have those games on the launch. But things could always change. Microsoft will learn and their next system could be the most successful system ever. However, i don't see the japanese market changing their opinion of the x-box. People will attack me for everything i've said in this post but it is only honest. Depending on how you look at things, microsoft can be considered relatively successful or just a relative failure. There's no denying this.