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Oh the surprise! The terror! The black voodoo! Could any of us have seen this coming a bloody mile away? Xbox 360 games don't do very well ... in JAPAN! That's right, try and repair your collective ribcages after your heart exploded out of your chest in astoundment and attempt to comprehend it. Capcom's hugely popular Lost Planet and Dead Rising games sold a bucketload over in the US and Europe, but only 10% of their overall sales came from the land of samurai and sexism. Sarcasm aside, as unsurprising as it is, the idea of Capcom not even shifting 100,000 units in its home country is, quite frankly, abysmal. I'm no fan of either game, but both have enjoyed huge critical acclaim and popularity elsewhere in the world. When you think that Lost Planet and Dead Rising garnered 810,000 and 730,000 sales in the USA respectively, that's a pretty marked difference. Whatever reasons you might give for the Japanese ignorance of the Xbox 360 and its games - be it the fact it's basically called The 'No'box over there, the idea that the console's too big or that Japanese gamers are just exhibiting their custom xenophobia and won't put their hands on non-Japanese merchandise, I think most of us could agree on one thing -- they're just being very silly at this point. [Via Evil Avatar]
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If xenophobia is the issue, sure they're being silly.
Although the PS3 isn't anything special, I wonder if Capcom makes good on their multi-platform claim (I'm aware they have said that they wouldn't make Lost Planet and Dead Rising on other platforms but Lost Planet's on PC soon and it's always possible) and release Dead Rising in Japan. If sales shoot up somewhat, then you can pretty much call Xenophobia and it's their fault and problem for missing out on a couple of good games.
WTF Japan? Don't you know he's covered wars?
I meant, if they release it on PS3***
He can dress up like megaman! PEW PEW?! QUE!?
you know, i seem to remember a certain respected japanator(no relation to site, my word for the mega-nese)said the Ps3 was suffering from xbox syndrome as well i.e its too fuckin big and jap gamers(dude my dad was not in the war blaim King Of NewYork for my obvious racial ignorance)dont like big shit. so who cares if it didnt do well, the problem is ps2 outsells both systems in japan anyway and thats something to give 2-poo's a'boot.
Why should we care what a country who loves enema porn thinks? Eff them! More for us.
The size excuse is bullshit. If the Xbox 360 is too big, then the PlayStation 3 must be enormous, considering it's roughly the same size as the original Xbox, which I remember not selling well in Japan for this same bogus 'size' issue. Get over it Japan, consoles are becoming more and more like computers with every generation, soon they'll be the size of a minitower.
Also,Cocks
Japanese gamers are dumb as fuck. I don't even feel the need to back that up with any kind of reasoning, they just plain suck.
@lord
I see the reverse happening where all systems are built in options when you buy super hi-vision monitors, kinda like the panny pro series with slots for upgrades like extra hdmi ports(which it doesn't come with in the first place!)only your game system will be the equivelent of a graphics card with unlockable advances and games obtainable through download.
My impression was always that native Japanese tend toward a certain, hmm, homogeneity. Not a size thing, nor a xenophobic thing, just a tendency to go with the crowd. If something isn't marketed properly and it fails to give the impression that everybody wants one or has one, then given product won't sell. Make it "cool" to own one, and the Japanese will buy it in spades. At least, that was always my completely and utterly unqualified belief.
I'm currently in South Korea, but I was in Japan for a bit last week.
As far as I can see, the PS2 and the DS Lite still reign supremacy over there. Akihabara shops all have their DS and PS2 koisks displayed prominently in their stores, with the Wii and PS3 being a little bit more downplayed. The 360 is stuck in the back wall of shops, with one of two people browsing it's wares once in a while. The original X-Box is gone. History.
I probably have to stay there longer to get a better grasp on what's REALLY popular in the land of the Rising Sun, but that's what I've seen so far.
Absurdly, cell phone games are a huge rage right now in Asia. Considering the fact that every schoolgirl, businessman, and Buddhist monk has a celly, it's not very difficult to imagine.
Strange considering a firm in Osaka, Japan, called Hers Experimental Design Laboratory had major input on the 360's external design in order to create a 'peaceful, pure design' that would be to the Japanese liking.
I think it's simply because it is a foreign entity and that they will always be loyal to their local brands.
Thats strange. Considering how well I hear Gears of War did over there... and this is Capcom, too. The same people that sell them the same Mega Man game 50 times over per month. :/
At Haley:
Awesome, now you said it first, I won't worry about cutting loose the next time I post about Japanese gamers. :)
I have to second xenophobia, it is known that Japanese people doesnt accept forreigners in any way back then. Try to bring foreign religions to Japan , they try execute all believers. Try to establish a home as foreigners there with many of your peers, be prepare to be attack, arrest, abuse, torture by citizen and authority. Try to trade with Japan, they will unload s**tload of goods on you but buy also nothing from you especially if your country is in the west, in other word if you are caucasians. These are some of the example of the past. I guess it is in human genetic to hate anything different even if it is as minor as skin color.
Ask your fellow American and Caucasian who visited Japan, im sure most of them can tell you that they got some stink eye contact.These Pro- Japanese people still exist and probably in a bigger number than all KKK, skinhead, and all king of Pro-White combine. My believe is only based on the statistic that their rape rate is so much higher than almost all western civilizations.
oh god, I hate all pro-race moron. I am an Chinese-American, and I am proud to believe that not everyone is a complete racist frantic.
Frankly I could care less what people in Japan are playing. In a country where titles like Gundam #135, Brain Training #5 and shit like that sells in record numbers it`s obvious that their taste on videogames is somewhat abstract, if not totally fucked up. MS, get out of there now and spend the money elsewhere in countries where people appreciate good games and consoles. As long as Japans still get a new Gundam and Wii Mini game every month they won`t even notice.
The Japanese are just far too steeped in tradition and their own culture. They DO embrace a lot of American pop culture stuff, but when it comes to Tech they seem to keep it at home. Keep in mind that the Japanese made games what they are and the North American take-over of gaming is only a very recent development. It"s gonna take some time for them to warm up to the idea that maybe their game development faves are becoming second-tier. They"ll either come around or slowly dwindle into obsolesense(sp?).
this seems kind of like captain obvious material.
Infinity:
See: Tag.
blasted tags and their fine print...
Port 'em to PS3 and Capcom should do just fine.
This "news" is crap news.
Halo 3 is in the top 20 most wanted games in Japan. Gears, an american game, sold better that Lost Planet and Dead Rising. So where is the Xenophobia there?
The 360, and to a lesser extent the PS3, are selling poory in Japan because culturally, the Japanese are generally not into that direction in gaming.
Japan has a different culture than other countries. That's why they call it "Japan" and not "Europe" or "the United States".
So they have the tendency to dig different sorts of games over there. So what?
False when Dead rising came out in Japan it actually sold out it's first run.
Chill out guys. We did vaporize two of their cities. I'd be a little distrustful of outsiders too. I think the Japonese culture is great. All that weird shit they pull is right up my alley. I would like to live their for a few years. I've also heaqrd that as a race they are more likely to expirience motion sickness when playinf FPS's, but that could all be bullshit as well.
@ michiyoyoshiku: Yeah, its first run of five copies. Don't forget that the PS3 also sold out of its first run too, and most Atlus games also preform similarly. It means nothing when they produce so few to begin with.
@Rich - Then we rebuilt them, allowing them to become the most technologically capable country in the world, and one on the cutting edge of culture on the global stage.
@Jim - Japan isn't the land of sexism, that's the middle east.
I think it's a big knee-jerk to call this Xenophobia; it's more likely that even 360 owners in Japan are propelled to easier titles. There's no argument that Dead Rising's relentless zombie hordes and unforgiving save system make it a real challenge. I personally think the game is impossible without saving and starting over to advance Frank's skillz. I've read on here more than once that even with the Japanese disposition for super-twitch pew-pews, they by and large prefer easier games than the average american gamer. I'm going to say that the difficulty of these games relative to say, Gears on casual is what's causing the Japanese sales slump.
TheStripe: They're a pretty chauvanistic culture. Just look at all the rape pr0n and hentai they have, that's the tip of it.
yes ???? them JP! they dont know about gaming! not like they came out with nintendo or playstation games/consoles, or any handeld game/system, who do they think they are??? pfft, /rant /rant.
/end sacrasm
im sorry to go against the little crowd here but some people need to pull their heads waaayyyy out of the horses ass. who cares if they dont play certain games. Those games dont catch my attention one bit, guess what, im not JP. I like to save my 120$+tax on something else tvm.
@ Sterling- "Just look at all the rape pr0n and hentai they have, that's the tip of it."
You say that as if it's a bad thing.
@ Jim - Yeah, but they don't advocate female circumsision or deny their women rights like getting a driver's license or talking to men they're not married too. There was a time when porn was an illicit industry, but it's turned into one of the only matriarichal industries in the world. Women hold all the power in the world of porn today. Granted, there are still instances where some girl who's horny and wet behind the ears doesn't get paid like she should because she didn't read her contract well before signing it, but that happens in every industry. Japan's culture isn't any more phalocentric than the US, IMHO, they just lack all the crybaby women's lib organizations bitching about problems that don't really exist.
@ TheStripe - agreed
I also submit, BUKAKKE FTW!!!!!!!!!!
This is just one of many examples of typical Japanese arrogance. American gamers buy tons of Japanese games, but the Japanese treat anything produced outside of Japan like they'd treat a diseased scrotum. It's no wonder their gaming market is shrinking so rapidly.
TheStripe: Granted, Japan is not as bad as Africa or the Middle East, but they live in the fucking dark ages anyway and if you're legit claiming that the US is more a chauvanistic society than Japan, then you're simply wrong. We in the west didn't invent bukkake, tentacle rape and all the other fucked up shit that goes on over there. They're also yet to move away from the "woman stays at home" philosophy.
It is harder for women to find employment in Japan because of the belief they're all due to get married and will be staying at home. It's certainly more than an uphill struggle to get any kind of promotion, and the idea of them getting any equal pay to a male is laughable. Aaaand that's not even going into the high rate of sexual harrassment, both physical and verbal, that is far more prevelant than in a western society and which is harder to seek retribution for due to the fact that Japan's messed up society is going to criticise the "troublemakers" that report such harrassment.
Now I'm an equalist and as such hold no believe in woman oriented organisations looking out for one gender specifically at the cost of another, but you can't go claiming that the problems don't exist. They do. Japan is an inherently sexist, as well as racist, culture, moreso than western counterparts. It's straight up fact.
Japanese people only know how to play with their
Pokemans
That kindof struck me funny. Americans accusing another nation of being arrogant.
Zing!
@Jim - You make a lot of strong points, and I'm willing to admit that among civilized, modern countries, Japan has some significant ground to cover (moreso than Europe and the west) on the way to gender equality. However, the life of a japanese woman is a shoe-shopping-spree compared to Iranian or Saudi women's lives.
"It is harder for women to find employment in Japan because of the belief they're all due to get married and will be staying at home. It's certainly more than an uphill struggle to get any kind of promotion, and the idea of them getting any equal pay to a male is laughable."
These issues are still prevalent in American professional society, as well. It's a non-issue is countries that have instituted Sharia, because women get married whether they want to or not, and are generally not permitted to have a vocation outside the home. Couple that with the genital mutilation, honor killings, and the mandatory wardrobe, and you're going to have a hard time proving (to me, anyway) that Japan is any more inherently sexist than all the countries that use a brutal sexist religious ideal to browbeat women into property.
I guess what I'm saying is that perhaps the American women's lib organizations that are upset because a woman makes 70% of what a makes in the united states should probably start in the middle east and start convincing them to stop chopping off infantile clitoris before they head over to Kyoto to protest fictional depictions of tentacle rape.
TheStripe:
Look, I see what you're saying about Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, but you can't use them as a comparison here on the basis that we're not talking about them. Answering the statement that Japan is sexist with the argument of "Well they're not as sexist as THESE guys" doesn't refute the truth of the original statement.
I'm well aware of clitoral circumcision and the practices of the Middle East. I've written a lot about Islamic countries and arabic cultures in the past, but just because one culture is more sexist than another, doesn't make it any less distasteful.
HNNNN Tentacle Rape? Thank you for my new porn finding expidition to be launched immediatley after work today.
One more point.
For all I know, Sterling could have a wife and 4 kids, but my guess is that he hasn't been with a woman long enough to develope a nice healthy hatred of the female species, like most men.
Can somebody get on the phone to nintendo, I cant wait too use motion control in a Hent@i game.
No idea why anyone cares what Japan thinks about anything... they can make my phones and TV's but they certainly don't have to buy the games I play.
Seriously, why are game companies so set on trying to conquer the land of the rising sun? When systems like the PS2 and the DS are the most popular forms of entertainment over there its a wonder why MS doesn't just pull out or drop a significant amount of support for the Japanese market, since all the Japanese market does is kick MS in the teeth when they try to go out of there way to do cool and innovative things SPECIFICALLY for them.
Maybe it is Xenophobia, but like most people have been saying... at this point, who really cares? Theres far larger markets with people that love this form of entertainment. The bigger question is, 'Is Japan still relevant to the gaming culture'?
We should all probably stop seeking validation through Japanese acceptance.
@jim - Fair Enough. I just have a hard time feeling much of anything resembling pity for women who can't get jobs when there are women out there who can't leave the house and might just be murdered (within the confines of the law,) for talking to the wrong person. Yes, it's awful that anyone is discriminated against on the basis of their gender, religion or race, but it's impossible to talk about women's issues internationally, even "solely" Japan, without bringing to light the ordeal of women globally, as well. It is in fact less distateful to me that japanese women have problems getting reliable, long-term employment relative to Saudi women having their bodies brutalized at birth.
If you want to get technical about it, why are we talking about women's rights in a post about Japanese gamers not knowing what's best for them? (Read: Dead Rising and Lost Planet.)
I'm thinking that Apple should capitalize on the "size" issue in Japan and begin development on the iBox, which is essentially a gaming system the size of a credit card. That should appease the Japanese gaming culture, and allow Jobs to jab Gates one more time!
If you're trying to tell me that America isn't a sexist country , you're out of your mind! Bukkake, Oral Gang bangs, Facial abuse, shit-eating, and general "we're better than you because of our cocks" mentality is just as prevalent in the States. THe Japanese may have created some of those things, but the Americans definitely took the ball and ran with all those things and made them the norm beyond your basic bangbros porn.
One thing I've notice about the English is a pretty healthy spot of racism towards the Japanese and their culture. I'm not saying that the Japanese don't have some women's rights issues, but so does North America, South America, A LOT of Eastern Europe, and ALL of the Middle East. To single out Japan is ridiculous. TheStripe DOES make valid points because Japan isn't nearly as bad as MOST countries. Just because whitey has created the illusion of equal rights and tolerance doesn't mean it's all encompassing. I live in Canada and I've watched my girlfriend struggle to find work in a male dominated workforce. I work in kitchens, and the amount of blatant sexism in my industry is disgusting, and isn't that where they say women belong?!? Sorry, I know my comments are all over the place and this ISN'T the right place for this discussion, but hey! That's the beauty of talkbacks!!
Brits hate the Japs because the Japs love the Yanks. The Brits hate the Yanks because the Yanks won the war.
I always love to insert the revolutionary war into arguments between ourselves and our friends across the pond. It's nonsense but it really enflames the agressiveness of the participants.
DickBlock, it's not about war or ethnocentrism; trying to make this more conflagrated isn't productive, so thanks for nothing.
Certain things are harder for certain people. Thus is life. There will always be sexists and racists, and no amount of distaste is going to make that go away. I don't have as much of a problem with employment and wage differences, because all of those (Japanese, European, American) women still have their clitorises (clitori?) and don't have to cover themselves in a black towel from head to toe whenever they're not servicing their husband alongside his three other wives. Once the largest problem facing any woman on this planet is limited employment opportunities, expect me to care more about that issue. As long as warlords are brutalizing infant girls, I could really give two shits about the fact that you can't get a job that you want.
If it weren't for America, Japan never would have "westernized" and would still be craawling with samurai and bandits. Also, other than X-Japan, they're music is really really bad.
Is this a "hardcore gamer blog" or a fucking sociology class? Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Quit the bitchin' and get back in the kitchen (Cooking Mama's Kitchen that is.)
@ fatbologna,
I think what ur trying to say is:"This whole world is F???ed up, live with it"
Then you are correct, sir.
I look @ this topic in a inverse way:
JP: "Those NA, wont play our hello kitty, they must commit Harakiri!"
EU:"???? JP & NA, We need to come up with our own system, so NA n JP can go eat bill cosby jellow!"
I'm not saying that America and Britain are perfect when it comes to gender - of course they're not. Nobody's perfect right now. The thing is, we're heading in the right direction, and Japan, as advanced as it is, should be joining us. The reason why I'm juding Japan harshly right now is because they should be BETTER than Saudi Arabia and all the countries that revel in how ass-backwards they are.
And that's not giving a free pass to all the fucked up medieval countries out there. As I've said, I have no love for Arabian culture at all. But I think Japan as a modern country should really adopt a less introverted, more progressive culture by now.
My point is, Stripe, is it somehow not possible to care about clitoral circumcision and brutality agains women and STILL give a shit about Japan's sexist culture? You seem to imply that you can only exclusively care about either one, and that's not the case at all. I feel very strongly about the fucked up shit that goes on in the Middle East toward women, it disgusts me thoroughly. I'm just saying, Japan's culture is quite backwardly sexist. That's all I'm saying.
Also, I'm not racist, whoever said Brits were racist regarding Japanese because they love America. I actually am very fond of America and want to live out there, so that's not my reason for being critical of Japanese culture. So yeah.
TheStripe-
Excuse me for trying to insert a little levity into your clitoral mutilation and tentacle rape convo with Sterling. Please, procede.
Am I... am I allowed to comment on this? My bias should be obvious enough.
I'm not exactly sure how we got on the subject of sexism and fucked up porn... but the levels of sexual repression in Japanese society have never been argued. However, repression doesn't intrinsically equal sexism. Repression inheritly creates a breeding ground where sexual expression becomes extreme and subliminal.
For perspective, ever hear of the Victorian Era? Coming off of the Restoration's high sexuality, the Victorian era was a period of prudery. The focus on morality and religion didn't keep them from being sexual, it just meant they figured out other ways of expressing it... like writing dirty letters.
I'm not talking penthouse forum, I'm mean letters so base and perverse they'd make grown men blush.
@FatBologna: Haha, yeah, sexism in kitchens is great. Most of it came from the women too. Ass grabbing, half serious invitations to go home with them. It would have been great if they'd been under 40 or at least monetarily endowed.
But on the topic. Japanese gamers just play different games. I don't think Gears/Halo/DeadRising/LostPlanet do well over there because it isn't a game type they have been cultured to play. Doesn't make them any better or worse, but inversely they might be wondering why Dragon Quest 8 didn't sell hard Stateside.
I'm now curious to look up numbers on a lot of our "big hits."