Japan's electronics store chain Yodabashi Camera has less than two dozen stores, but they're all huge. To call them the Best Buy of Japan is an insult. Think bigger. My favorite, the one that towers over you as you come out of Akihabara Station, has nine floors, packed with everything you could imagine. Not just cameras: speakers, mp3 players, televisions, games, and much more. But it seems that they're out of Xbox 360 consoles. Wait, what?
CheapyD of CheapAssGamer tells us that the Yodabashi Akihabara store has sold out of all versions of Xbox 360 consoles. He's guessing that the release of Tales of Vesperia might have something to do with that. I'm thinking he's right. Cheapy notes that Amazon Japan is also sold out, so something is up.
If this truly is the case, I can't blame Japanese gamers for being excited about the title. But I don't think an RPG would cause console sellouts here in the US. It's instances like these that remind us of how different our gaming preferences are.
What do you think? Did Vesperia have anything to do with this? Or are Japanese all suddenly Halo/Madden fans?
[Via CheapyD's Twitter. Yeah, that's right. I said Twitter]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
9:19 AM on 08.14.2008
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nanowerx, no one here said it was a big deal.
Blue Dragon, FFXII and Mario Galaxy was way too different for them for gods sake. Let alone games like Shenmue that bomb completely.
Not saying "westerners" don't have the same issue with some genres and (especially) sports games cough cough madden cough cough Fifa, but we also buy games like Braid, Psychonauts and Bioshock that are at least trying to take "games to the next cultural level." Even the Fps market has to constantly innovate and push the boundaries or it's a no sale in the west - see Haze vs Cod4.
Hey Microsoft, just give the Japanese their Snes games again and they'll eat it up. And let's not forget - "the sequel bias" works just as well both here and on the other side of the pacific.
xbox is gay
sony owns sorry
Dude, go back to ign.com.
WAIT WHAT?
While I personally prefer the PS3 over the 360, Sony doesn't "own" anything. Get out of here.
JAP JAP JAP JAP JAP JAP JAP JAP JAP!
Wow, if the 360 version sold so well, I can't wait to see how many units ToS2 shifts on the Wii.