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Phil Spencer Is Back in Japan: “Strong Energy and Excitement Here About Gaming’s Future”

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Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
I read about Phil doing his annual trips to Japan every single year and all that comes out of it are a bunch of trailers at E3 for new multiplatform releases from Bandai Namco.

Yet people love to speculate that Microsoft is going to acquire dozens of japanese exclusives lol

Xbox is a non-existent brand in Japan, they can only talk with third parties who have an interest to bring their games to a worldwide audience from the get-go which as we all know they aren't that many there.
 
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Dabaus

Banned
The thread is about Japanese games not Japanese exclusives.

And Phil working to get third party games on Xbox is not port begging to Sony because Sony didn’t make those games right?

I dont need xbox trolls like you to tell me what this thread, or any other thread is about. I can read, thank you. Phil is absolutely going to Japan to port beg.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Just as I said. GAF can only defend Switch’s Japanese library by combining it with PS4’s.

Whenever you try to have an apples to apples comparison some unfocused lad starts lobbing oranges.

Never fails.
I dont give fuck about "system Wars" currently I have both Switch and PS4, both give exclusive Japanese games, What MS gonna give me to even think about buying their next gen system?

he thread is about Japanese games not Japanese exclusives.
Then I just get on Playstation while still get exclusives like the upcoming Granblue Versus and Relink, why should I even bother with Xbox if all its getting is multplatform games?
 
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Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
So Nier, Code Vein, Monster Hunter World, the complete Final Fantasy collection, and Yakuza are on Switch?

That’s funny I can’t seem to find them on the eshop but I do see all those on Xbox.

Why don’t you post a link so that we can support these major Japanese releases on Switch?

On Switch you get stuff which is still extremely cool and you can't find elsewhere: stuff like Daemon X Machina, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Rune Factory / Story of Seasons, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Astral Chain, Bravely Default II, etc.

He's making a point i can very much relate to:

Both Switch and PS4 have exclusive japanese games, if you own both systems you're covered on everything.

Xbox doesn't have japanese exclusives, so what you can have there, you can also play it on PC or PS4.
 
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Elenchus

Banned
I dont give fuck about "system Wars" currently I have both Switch and PS4, both give exclusive Japanese games, What MS gonna give me to even think about buying their next gen system?


Then I just get on Playstation while still get exclusives like the upcoming Granblue Versus and Relink, why should I even bother with Xbox if all its getting is multplatform games?

So you respond to my post that Xbox’s Japanese library is arguably superior to Switch’s and then get upset when I rebut and back you into a corner?

Lol. Unbelievable. Since you’ve conceded the point we have no need to discuss anything further. Have a good one my guy.
 

Elenchus

Banned
On Switch you get stuff which is still extremely cool and you can't find elsewhere: stuff like Daemon X Machina, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Rune Factory / Story of Seasons, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Astral Chain, Bravely Default II, etc.

He's making a point i can very much relate to:

Both Switch and PS4 have exclusive japanese games, if you own both systems you're covered on everything.

Xbox doesn't have japanese exclusives, so what you can have there, you can also play it on PC or PS4.

That’s not an apples to apples comparison and I think I’ve explained that already. Read above.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
That’s not an apples to apples comparison and I think I’ve explained that already. Read above.
So tell me, is Phil putting that much effort in Japan just to get multiplatform Japanese games? Aren't they already doing that with Xbox One? What currently Xbox is lacking is Japanese exclusives games like they used to have with 360, I bought that system even before PS3 for that very reason.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
If nothing else you gotta give Phil credit for not giving up, seeing as how Japan has largely ignored the Xbox brand. I'm just hoping good things come from it.
 
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Havoc2049

Member
I love Halo and Japanese games, so Phil is doing gods work.

The best days for Japanese exclusive on an Xbox console was during the OG Xbox days. So many awesome exclusives from Sega, Tecmo, Koei and Namco during those days.

Phantasy Star Online is returning to Xbox here soon, so I’ll be a happy gamer. Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, ODST, Reach, Halo 4, Phantasy Star Online Ep. I & II and Phantasy Star Universe probably accounted for 70% of my time on the OG XB and X360.
 

Hinedorf

Banned
Maybe it's Phil Spencer's face but his smug bro-lookalike appearance is just a turnoff in every way. Just give me a douche in a suit to talk about the games.

Maybe I'm a total sucker but Reggie with Nintendo made you believe he gave a shit about Nintendo, I feel like Phil Spencer could literally look the same way as a Starbucks barista.

When you're trying to compete against a competitor that's raked you over the coals for half a decade, appearance absolutely matters.
 

Elenchus

Banned
So tell me, is Phil putting that much effort in Japan just to get multiplatform Japanese games? Aren't they already doing that with Xbox One? What currently Xbox is lacking is Japanese exclusives games like they used to have with 360, I bought that system even before PS3 for that very reason.

Why don’t you ask Phil that on Twitter because that has nothing to do with my post.

Makes sense to me that he would get the third party support first to address the immediate need and work on first party after since that will take longer.

Of course logic doesn’t have much sway around here so I’m guessing you’d prefer the opposite.

Bottom line is that a ton of Japanese games have showed up on Xbox despite the argument from GAF that Japanese devs would have no incentive to bring them over.

Instead of whining about the past maybe offer some constructive criticism about how things could be sped up.

Phil wasn’t calling the shots whenever MS touched you in the place that has you so upset so take advantage of the opportunity to work with new management.

Or keep crying about what happened 10yrs ago. Your call.
 
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Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
That’s not an apples to apples comparison and I think I’ve explained that already. Read above.

That's my point of view not a comparison.

I buy systems to play the games i want: PS4 and Switch have games you cannot play anywhere else, the same cannot be said for Xbox and that is probably not going change unless Xbox starts to gain some interest in Japan.

It's the reason why i've never bought an Xbox console, the only time they had japanese exclusives (early 360 life cycle) i was a PC gamer only and still it was 3-4 games vs dozens on PS3 and Wii. That said though i can play Forza on PC and you know that is still a Microsoft platform after all.
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
I read about Phil doing his annual trips to Japan every single year and all that comes out of it are a bunch of trailers at E3 for new multiplatform releases from Bandai Namco.

Yet people love to speculate that Microsoft is going to acquire dozens of japanese exclusives lol

Xbox is a non-existent brand in Japan, they can only talk with third parties who have an interest to bring their games to a worldwide audience from the get-go which as we all know they aren't that many there.
I don't think Phil gives a shit about the Japanese market. This is all about getting those third parties on Xbox, most likely by just throwing money at them.
 
How so? Name me the last major Japanese AA/AAA game that didn't end up on one of their consoles.

I actually agree with his comment. Sony has really changed in their direction. They don’t seem near as interested in Japanese gaming as they used to. They focus much more on non-Japanese games now.

I understand they generally make more money with Western games, but I hope they don’t continue to ignore the Japanese market because there’s still a respectable sized market available.

Is it any coincidence they moved their headquarters to California and Japanese developers have to seek approval through the West for their games now?
 
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D

Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
I don't think Phil gives a shit about the Japanese market. This is all about getting those third parties on Xbox, most likely by just throwing money at them.

Many japanese studios still live for the japanese market, so being Xbox exclusive means death for them.

Companies like Atlus very much sell games in Japan for Japan first and foremost, the rest of the world is more of an afterthought.

Not that i personally agree with their strategy, but it is what it is.
 
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DanielsM

Banned
Japanese devs/pubs that are targeting the Asian market have little to no use for Xbox as a Hardware (virtually no business there), and absolutely no use for the MS Store i.e. Xbox as a Platform Service, as basically all major devs/publishers avoid that like the plague.

The larger Japanese devs/pubs may deploy to Xbox as a Hardware for global targeted audiences, however, with the low sales number, if that continues... all bets are off. Unless Phil came with cash, there really is no excitement at all from anyone.
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Many japanese studios live for the japanese market, so being Xbox exclusive means death for them.

Companies like Atlus very much sell games in Japan for Japan first and foremost, the rest of the world is more an afterthought.
Who said anything about being exclusive? Even so, if they did want to buy a Japanese studio or secure an exclusive, money would quickly solve any creative differences.
 
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Vawn

Banned
So Nier, Code Vein, Monster Hunter World, the complete Final Fantasy collection, and Yakuza are on Switch?

That’s funny I can’t seem to find them on the eshop but I do see all those on Xbox.

Why don’t you post a link so that we can support these major Japanese releases on Switch?

So Dragon Quest Builders, Dragon Quest XI, All those Atelier games, Disgaea, Persona, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, etc are on Xbox?
 
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Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
Who said anything about being exclusive? Even so, if they did want to buy a Japanese studio or secure an exclusive, money would quickly solve any creative differences.

The non-exclusive games are already on Xbox, but those are games made for an international audience so those studios were already planning to release on more western platforms like Xbox and PC, games like Monster Hunter World.

About the acquistion, it would have to be a specific studio who is already used to release games on PC and rely on those sales. The type of games most of these studios make don't fit with the typical type of contents you see trending on Xbox. Even if you moneyhat them, they'd probably die anyway.

The other thing is that Xbox has already tried multiple times with japanese exclusives on previous systems and it never worked; either they couldn't work well with japanese studios or the games simply didn't sell. (like Tales of Vesperia was a big exclusive and yet it bombed, or Dead Rising last gen or Crimson Dragon)

Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were maybe the best examples, and yet considering the people who worked on these projects you'd expect millions of copies sold.
 
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DanielsM

Banned
The non-exclusive games are already on Xbox, but those are games made for an international audience so those studios were already planning to release on more western platforms like Xbox and PC, games like Monster Hunter World.

Agree there, but he could be trying to convince the fringe global player (developer/publisher) from skipping Xbox as a Hardware, if the sales numbers are not there.. developers/publishers do skip hardware, heck, many big publishers have limited or no support for Nintendo equipment i.e. lack of sales.

To be honest, whatever Phil slipped in Nadella's drink has to be one hellava drug - just not seeing how any of this works out for Nadella service model.
 
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Isa

Member
Well I'm excited. The man's a gamer and appreciates cool new ideas and games, which Japan has plenty of. I own all systems to keep my bases covered but love that Phil is not giving up on Japan but trying to seemingly mend bridges and get stuff done. People seem to be moving goal posts in regards to Spencer's work.

Here is a quote from an interview with Yoshi P (FFXIV), "When the Xbox One launched in Japan there were no TV commercials or advertisements, so I thought they were just giving us a pass this time,” Yoshida said of the brand. Under the leadership of Phil Spencer, Xbox’s attitude towards Japanese games has changed dramatically, with the upcoming arrival of not only Final Fantasy 14, but also Phantasy Star Online 2. “Phil Spencer had made such an effort to make this possible, and now it’s cool to see it becoming a reality.” I can only imagine what it must take try and convince not only those pubs and devs but also his own higher-ups that continuing to invest and expand Japanese/Asian software output on Xbox must be like.

Plus X019 when Phil said that they hear us and know we want more Japanese content on Xbox and are trying to work on that. They're listening and this stuff takes time. I really hope it comes to fruition in a big way. Plus the market is changing and a lot of people seem to not realize that. With Gamepass more people are likely to give something a shot, and having a more diverse portfolio is a good thing. I mean just imagine some older Atlus, Squeenix, and Falcom stuff being on both Xbox and PC. Now selling in Japan is another thing entirely but for the long term goal I think its a smart move. I wish him the best and can't wait to try the new content in FFXIV when it hits Xbox.
 

DanielsM

Banned
Plus X019 when Phil said that they hear us and know we want more Japanese content on Xbox and are trying to work on that. They're listening and this stuff takes time.

Yeah, like in 2015 when he said they were working on all these first party exclusives? and in 2017 said they were working on all types of new Japanese games? Or like when he said he they wouldn't kill the Kinect, than he killed the Kinect? Or like that time he said they were going to fix the MS Store? And then a few years later said they were going to fix the MS Store? Then a year later instead of fixing the MS Store, he creates another app to try and by pass the MS Store app? :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Oh he's listening alright.

People seem to be moving goal posts in regards to Spencer's work.

Oh I agree there. :messenger_tears_of_joy: Actually, some might say someone is imagining the goalpost completely away, the problem is the interwebs remember.

Plus the market is changing and a lot of people seem to not realize that.

Oh yeah, they are changing alright, sub-8k Xbox sales in Japan in 2019 by my guess, yes, 8,000. (that is not a misprint) They don't really have a business there, this makes me wonder if Phil wasn't trying so hard with his PR, what would Xbox sell in Japan, like a dozen Xboxes?

Its about execution
, its not about silly PR tweets.
 
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D

Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
Tell that to Nioh, Dragon Quest, Ni No Kuni,and Yakuza.

Yakuza Is coming in 2020, Toshihiro Nagoshi explained why it took so long.

Ni no Kuni and Dragon Quest like I said are games made for the Japanese audience in mind, they wouldn't work on Xbox, that's what they believe, especially Square Enix.

Nioh is one of those games where to me there is some sort of console exclusivity (PlayStation even put the "only on Playstation" logo for the first game) but they don't want to say it out loud. (Idk why, Sony does that sometimes)
 
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CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
I read about Phil doing his annual trips to Japan every single year and all that comes out of it are a bunch of trailers at E3 for new multiplatform releases from Bandai Namco.

Yet people love to speculate that Microsoft is going to acquire dozens of japanese exclusives lol

Xbox is a non-existent brand in Japan, they can only talk with third parties who have an interest to bring their games to a worldwide audience from the get-go which as we all know they aren't that many there.

God I hope not. It's cool if they get more 3rd party Japanese games and maybe one small, cheap studio, but I'd hate for MS to waste resources on a bunch of Japanime games. Diversity and something for everyone is great, but I sure as hell don't want them to go overboard on it.

I much rather they acquire more Western studios like the ones they've been buying. Japanese games are very niche on the Xbox, they're just really not popular with the majority of the Xbox base. Western studios and games would do much better on the Xbox.

And most importantly I can't stand most of them :messenger_beaming:
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
And most importantly I can't stand most of them :messenger_beaming:
I'm sorry but thats not a good reason Xbox shouldn't try bring Japanese exclusives to Xbox, you always have a choice not play them and Xbox is not gonna stop making western games.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Exciting news for sure. Hope they get back to similar levels of 360 Japanese support in the future.
PSO2 is a big step.

To say xbox has no Japanese games is a joke.
Xbox One is still the only way to play Radiant Silvergun, Guardian Heroes, and Panzer Dragoon Orta on a current console. Ill take those 3 games alone against any other Japanese titles on any system.

Speaking in terms of the xbox family of consoles - the 360's Cave shmup library is untouchable.

As I sit here and look at my XB1 library, 95% of it is Japanese games. There are plenty of options - from Automata, almost all the Metal Gears, Final Fantasy 7-15, Ace Combat 6 (still xb exclusive) + 7, ACA Neo Geo library, Phantom Dust, Natsuki Chronicles (xb exclusive), entire Souls series, Jet Set Radio, Battle Garegga, Virtual On Ontario Tangram, Daytona USA - to name a few off the top of my head. That lineup is pure Japanese gold.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
There is only one word to guide him on his way:

syn·er·gy
/ˈsinərjē/
Learn to pronounce
noun
  1. the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
 
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cireza

Banned
So Dragon Quest Builders, Dragon Quest XI, All those Atelier games, Disgaea, Persona, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, etc are on Xbox?
Looking at your list I prefer the Japanase games available on Xbox than the ones on Switch. Persona is not even on the console, except for the Musou game...
 

Kagey K

Banned
This is a catch 22, they say people don’t want the games, but when they only port part 7 or part 10. How do they expect to find fans?

Im not going to start watching a tv series at season 8 and hope to know what’s going on.

They don’t have an audience because they don’t port the games, they don’t port the games because they have no audience. They don’t have an audience because they don’t port the games, they don’t port the games because they have no audience. They don’t have an audience because they don’t port the games, they don’t port the games because they have no audience. They don’t have an audience because they don’t port the games, they don’t port the games because they have no audience.

Somebody has to break the cycle and the consumers can’t do it.

So who does that leave?
 
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Klayzer

Member
I really don't see this as a negative thing. Its Phil making sure his Xbox base is kept in mind with those Japanese developers. Hell, he might even secure a few games that may have never left Japan, without his backing. I appreciate Microsoft not giving up on Japan. The first half of the 360 was chocked full of Japanese games I enjoyed.

Keep at it Phil.
 
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Deleted member 774430

Unconfirmed Member
God I hope not. It's cool if they get more 3rd party Japanese games and maybe one small, cheap studio, but I'd hate for MS to waste resources on a bunch of Japanime games. Diversity and something for everyone is great, but I sure as hell don't want them to go overboard on it.

I much rather they acquire more Western studios like the ones they've been buying. Japanese games are very niche on the Xbox, they're just really not popular with the majority of the Xbox base. Western studios and games would do much better on the Xbox.

And most importantly I can't stand most of them :messenger_beaming:

I feel like Japanese games not selling well on Xbox is related to the fact that this is still way too much of a western (namely american) brand, the big challenge they need to face is on how to make it a global company, that includes their presence in Asia too. But they first need to build a reputation there.

Personally i'd repeat what Ubisoft has already done opening one studio in Singapore (a lot of western firms are there already), and in China to eventually enter that market. By the time you start investing in the japanese market you should have already a big market share in Asia.

Reality tells me that probably the strategy from Microsoft won't change much from what we saw in the past 2 years.
 
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Shin

Banned
Is it a corporate culture thing why Spencer does everything, stage time, making deals and such?
In contrast to PlayStation which has a dedicated person assigned, he seems to be doing everything by himself.
Burn out?
 

Vawn

Banned
Is it a corporate culture thing why Spencer does everything, stage time, making deals and such?
In contrast to PlayStation which has a dedicated person assigned, he seems to be doing everything by himself.
Burn out?

He's a persona. Microsoft saw kids relate with him, so they put him out on stage and interviews as much as possible.
 

Vawn

Banned
Yes. Kids only. Of course. He’s not skilled. Kids relate to him, so he’s the head of Xbox and does a lot of PR work.

Makes sense.

The guy spends the majority of his times doing interviews dressed like a teenager and talking about stuff that basically never comes to fruition (usually about major games or "AAAA" games).

He sells snake oil to the Xbox crowd. He's good at it.
 
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TBiddy

Member
The guy spends the majority of his times doing interviews dressed like a teenager and talking about stuff that basically never comes to fruition (usually about major games or "AAAA" games).

He sells snake oil to the Xbox crowd. He's good at it.

Yes, that is what he does. Clearly you nailed what he is doing as executive at Microsoft.
 

pr0cs

Member
Don't really care about Japanese games but more content is going to be necessary for them to expand the western audience.
At least it shows they're headed east, at the very least to try and ensure upcoming Japanese titles will appear on their platform.
As usual though the thread devolves in Spencer hate rather on the statement that he's in Japan for something Xbox related
 

DanielsM

Banned
The guy spends the majority of his times doing interviews dressed like a teenager and talking about stuff that basically never comes to fruition (usually about major games or "AAAA" games).

He sells snake oil to the Xbox crowd. He's good at it.

The real snake oil is the stuff he sold Satya i.e. people would pay for all these silly game "services". And he convinced him that all these large publishers/devs are going to magically use them as a middleman when they already have systems in place, distribution channels and services themselves.

I actually think Satya is a clever guy as far as enterprise, but he don't know jack shit (and jack left town) about the consumer market and he bought Phil's line.... oh well, they have lots of cash to burn. (popcorn)
 
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cireza

Banned
On Switch you get stuff which is still extremely cool and you can't find elsewhere: stuff like Daemon X Machina, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Rune Factory / Story of Seasons, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Astral Chain, Bravely Default II, etc.
Half (more ?) of these games are published/founded by Nintendo.
 
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