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

Mista

Banned
phil-spencer.jpg


While Xbox certainly isn’t known for having the most Japanese games on the platform, division head Phil Spencer has always made a point to pledge his support for the developers of the rising sun.

Today he mentioned on Twitter that he’s back in the country to talk to local studios and publishers about 2020 and beyond.

He also mentioned that he feels a “really strong energy and excitement” about gaming’s future.



 

MoreJRPG

Suffers from extreme PDS
They were somehow able to get PSO2 to the west, as well as Kingdom Hearts and Yakuza on Xbox. They’re really putting work in Japan and if they’re able to secure a studio that makes Japanese style games, they’ll be able to move units again like they did with 360.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
"Great to be 'back'"
"talking and listening to"
"amazing studios and publishers"
"2020 and beyond"
"strong energy and excitement"

Dude, Phil is able to sell you how amazing and incredible is to wake up in the morning and going to pee.
He is everything but humble.
 
They were somehow able to get PSO2 to the west, as well as Kingdom Hearts and Yakuza on Xbox. They’re really putting work in Japan and if they’re able to secure a studio that makes Japanese style games, they’ll be able to move units again like they did with 360.
I wouldn't be so sure. A lot of the people in Japan who bought a 360 to play Japanese exclusives ended up feeling like they got burned, either because the games weren't all that good (Blue Dragon, The Last Remnant), or because they ended up with PS3 releases down the line anyway, sometimes with additional content (Ninja Gaiden 2, Tales of Vesperia, Star Ocean 4). People will be very wary next time around.
 

Codes 208

Member
So far everytime he’s hyped a japanese game its just been a cross-plat bandai anime-centric (or FROM) game that ends up being marketed more on ps4 later in it’s launch cycle (dragon ball fighterz, jump force, kakarot, dark souls 3 and sekiro and probably elden ring)
 
D

Deleted member 775630

Unconfirmed Member
"Great to be 'back'"
"talking and listening to"
"amazing studios and publishers"
"2020 and beyond"
"strong energy and excitement"

Dude, Phil is able to sell you how amazing and incredible is to wake up in the morning and going to pee.
He is everything but humble.
I don't think you understand what being humble means. Nothing in what you quoted can be seen as not humble... He's just being a positive person, and saying Japan, other studios and publishers are amazing
 

mejin

Member
Microsoft is actually trying harder than Sony to have Japanese games and publishers. Sony simply has to not give a fuck and games will keep coming as they have the "default" console in Japan, even though the market is becoming less relevant every year.

this is just your wishful dream and that's the reason you still don't understand why some asian games don't come to xbox.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
I don't think you understand what being humble means. Nothing in what you quoted can be seen as not humble... He's just being a positive person, and saying Japan, other studios and publishers are amazing
Stating how amazing everything is, is the opposite of humble.

He is not just positive, he is lame.

Look:

"Having some great time in Japan, hard at work to make Xbox worth your wait."

Instead of:

"I'm puking fucking rainbows"
 
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GHG

Gold Member
Microsoft is actually trying harder than Sony to have Japanese games and publishers. Sony simply has to not give a fuck and games will keep coming as they have the "default" console in Japan, even though the market is becoming less relevant every year.

So you genuinely think that Phil's quarterly trips to Japan do more than a company who has a local presence in the market?

Tip: Just because someone doesn't tweet every time they are having a meeting, it doesn't mean those meetings aren't taking place.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
I’d be happy if XB also got some of the more lesser known RPGs & Japanese games. I’d love to see games like Atelier Ryza or Ys8 on XB since they are already on the other two platforms. Not sure how realistic that would be though since there might not be a big crowd on XB for those types of games.
 
D

Deleted member 775630

Unconfirmed Member
Stating how amazing everything is, is the opposite of humble.

He is not just positive, he is lame.

Look:

"Having some great time in Japan, hard at work to make Xbox worth your wait."

Instead of:

"I'm puking fucking rainbows"
Nope, that's not what being humble means. If you would call yourself and what you have done amazing, that would be the opposite of humble. Saying other people, companies, or whatever are amazing is just being a friendly dude.

But you are correct that he is very very positive the whole time. But that's just classic American corporate stuff.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
The crowd can't be there since these games are never released to begin with...

That is true. I’m sure smaller studios have to run cost vs. profit analysis to see if porting to XB would be worthwhile. Maybe MS can help them out somehow to help build on and grow the audience for these games more.

I do most of my gaming on XB but also love Japanese games. I have a PS for Japanese games that never get ported to XB. I’m hoping we can see more of these types of games make their way to XB.
 

GHG

Gold Member
I am talking about Sony, not third parties. Japanese third parties dump their games by default on PS, Sony probably does not even have to maintain a relation with them.

Ah so you're one of those people that think it happens like magic. If that's the case how come Sony have always been able to get agreements with Western companies, even before they were seen as a major player in the gaming industry?

There's a certain level of tact and adaptation that is required when dealing with foreign markets. Xbox are the kind of company who would come to the Middle East and start trying to force handshakes with local female representatives/employees of local companies, and then wonder why nobody replies to their follow up calls/emails.

If they are still struggling to crack Japan almost 20 years later then they only have themselves to blame.

----

For what it's worth, this is Japan Studio's output: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIE_Japan_Studio

They produce less games now compared to what they previously did but so does literally every other major studio these days since the cost of producing games has risen this generation. As a whole, the Japanese console market has shrunk this generation as mobile has risen. Look at Konami and Capcom prior to their recent resurgence as other examples of large Japanese publishers who don't have the same output as they once did.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
Nope, that's not what being humble means. If you would call yourself and what you have done amazing, that would be the opposite of humble. Saying other people, companies, or whatever are amazing is just being a friendly dude.
True. I give you that : )
 

cireza

Banned
That is true. I’m sure smaller studios have to run cost vs. profit analysis to see if porting to XB would be worthwhile. Maybe MS can help them out somehow to help build on and grow the audience for these games more.

I do most of my gaming on XB but also love Japanese games. I have a PS for Japanese games that never get ported to XB. I’m hoping we can see more of these types of games make their way to XB.
I play mainly on Xbox and support Japanese games on this platform.

I find this thread amusing. We have several facts showing the continued efforts of MS towards Japanese games and publishers, we know that Phil Spencer meets companies often, he managed to help bring back some pretty awesome games, he gave a lot of exposure to Japanese games in E3 and events (with the boss of Square-Enix being there, FF XIII optimzed, Kingdom Hearts 3 etc... many Namco Bandai games premiering in MS shows etc...), facts stacking up. And on the other hand we have absolutely not a single information of Sony making any kind of efforts in recent years.

BUT STILL, we should be thinking that Sony is making much more efforts than MS towards these Japanese publishers (censoring efforts maybe ?), even though there are 0 fact leading to such conclusion. Classic GAF.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Man this guy talks a lot.

he's like that aunt everyone has on facebook who loves to post about every place she visits and makes it all about herself. the only problem is that those people made everyone quit facebook and i wonder if that will be the case with xbox.

Show, dont tell. hellblade 2 was a good start but going dark until e3 is a bad idea. tweeting about every country you visit to give your fans false hope is a bad idea. you under-promise and over deliver.

i appreciate him being a lot more open that Sony execs but this is just teasing at this point. he must know how this is taken as acquisition gossip.
 

mejin

Member
Ah so you're one of those people that think it happens like magic. If that's the case how come Sony have always been able to get agreements with Western companies, even before they were seen as a major player in the gaming industry?

It's dynamitecop level talk. You have facts, you have all the games, you have the difference on lineup, you have all the history, but they don't matter cause "I think" otherwise and I believe in Phil Spencer.
 
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Kazza

Member
I wonder if Phil will be able to convince Sega/Atlus to put Persona on the Xbox? It would be funny if P5 were to come to Xbox before the Switch!
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
I am talking about Sony, not third parties. Japanese third parties dump their games by default on PS, Sony probably does not even have to maintain a relation with them.
I think it's come to that to a certain extent. I'm not gonna completely disagree with you because, really what can you expect from thid parties when you look at the sales information? We know that Xbox is only interesting to these companies when it comes to overseas markets. Supporting the PS in Japan is a no brainer when you look at the footing the Xbox has there.

these companies are still running a business in Japan. It's not charity.
 

DanielsM

Banned
My guess is Microsoft sold less then 8k (not 8m, or 800k, or even 80k... 8k) units in Japan last year Phil, good luck. Nadella would probably be pulling his hair out at this point, if he had any to pull. Not sure why publishers/devs would be excited over there unless you pay them exclusive money.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Microsoft is actually trying harder than Sony to have Japanese games and publishers. Sony simply has to not give a fuck and games will keep coming as they have the "default" console in Japan, even though the market is becoming less relevant every year.

Xbox has an unequivocally horrible track-record with Japanese developers and publishers. Where are the success stories of the past 20 years in any aspect? What's worse is a lot of it comes down to a lack of faith shown after they started the 360 gen hot and heavy, but then seemingly lost interest after the first couple of years.

They deserve needing to fucking try!
 

Elenchus

Banned
Good to see Phil pissing off the normal naysayers on GAF. The list of Japanese games now appearing on Xbox continues to grow and GAF’s whining isn’t going to change that.

The latest Yakuza and Final Fantasy news only highlights this further. There are now major Japanese releases that are appearing on Xbox that are not appearing on Switch.

One could argue that the Japanese support on Xbox is actually better than on Switch but this fact is usually hidden by GAF’s normal practice of comparing the Japanese library on Xbox to the libraries on both Switch and PS4 (which would be like comparing Netflix’s library to not just Hulu but Hulu and HBO).

The idea that Phil’s trips have failed produce anything for Xbox gamers is the kind of fantasy that could only exist in a hive mind like GAF. Ask for evidence that Yakuza would have come to Xbox absent the grit of Phil and his team and the normal whiners on GAF won’t utter a word.

The appearance of all these Japanese games on not only Xbox but Gamespass is great exposure for these devs and folks here would be applauding that if they were actually fans of these games and not just a particular piece of plastic.
 

Bryank75

Banned
What I want to know is what Jim Ryan is doing? I have not seen anything but negative crap since he took over....

I really wish Jack Tretton was still in charge with that entire team. Shu over WWS.

It sucks now.
 
Is Phil a persona non grata at platinum games?
He probably just visits the usual big publishers (the same he visited last year) asking (begging?) for multiplatform deals.
I wonder how those deals are working anyway, are there any sales data regarding the Yakuza series on Xbox?
 

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
What I want to know is what Jim Ryan is doing? I have not seen anything but negative crap since he took over....

I really wish Jack Tretton was still in charge with that entire team. Shu over WWS.

It sucks now.

What kind of "negative crap"? Does this guy have to go tweet when he's shitting on the toilet?

"Great shit happening on the toilet, very exiting stuff coming out of my ass"
 
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NAI1210

Member
Yeah
How so? Name me the last major Japanese AA/AAA game that didn't end up on one of their consoles.
Yeah but think about the Sony exclusives this gen, I hadn't really gave it much thought till now
Last of us 2
Uncharted
Horizon zero dawn
Spiderman
Days gone
The order 1886
Death stranding would probably be the most Japanese release but its filled with American/European actors.
 

DanielsM

Banned
Good to see Phil pissing off the normal naysayers on GAF.

But the naysayers (as you put it) have been right about the Japanese market as far as consoles since 2001, of course, I would say he is making his best speech about not abandoning the hardware... but as far as "services" via MS Store ,good luck there... big publishers aren't going to invest in that, generally speaking... Games for Windows Live taught a lot of lessons.

Even when MS was throwing money around Japan in the original Xbox days, sales still sucked.

Daily marketing and silly Pr isn't going to help anything, Microsoft has to actually find a business model and execute.
 
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D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Xbox has an unequivocally horrible track-record with Japanese developers and publishers. Where are the success stories of the past 20 years in any aspect? What's worse is a lot of it comes down to a lack of faith shown after they started the 360 gen hot and heavy, but then seemingly lost interest after the first couple of years.

They deserve needing to fucking try!

Does it? I think they made some neat stuff happen on Xbox and Xbox 360 even if it never panned out in terms of commercial success.
 
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Dory16

Banned
Man this guy talks a lot.

he's like that aunt everyone has on facebook who loves to post about every place she visits and makes it all about herself. the only problem is that those people made everyone quit facebook and i wonder if that will be the case with xbox.

Show, dont tell. hellblade 2 was a good start but going dark until e3 is a bad idea. tweeting about every country you visit to give your fans false hope is a bad idea. you under-promise and over deliver.

i appreciate him being a lot more open that Sony execs but this is just teasing at this point. he must know how this is taken as acquisition gossip.
There must be something for Xbox coming out of Japan in the near future. Nothing is a given until everything is signed. There’s nothing wrong with him publicising his efforts to bring japan I to the fold. You hate his job. It would be much easier to pretend as if Asia didn’t exist and the funny thing is he would be blamed for that by the same people who are complaining now.
Since you hate being teased, you must have been encensed by Sony’s CES countdown on their website (“a future of emotions and special innovations”) that lead to a majestuous logo reveal, right? I bet you’re still mad at that but just forgot to post about it #sarcasm
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Good to see Phil pissing off the normal naysayers on GAF. The list of Japanese games now appearing on Xbox continues to grow and GAF’s whining isn’t going to change that.

The latest Yakuza and Final Fantasy news only highlights this further. There are now major Japanese releases that are appearing on Xbox that are not appearing on Switch.

One could argue that the Japanese support on Xbox is actually better than on Switch but this fact is usually hidden by GAF’s normal practice of comparing the Japanese library on Xbox to the libraries on both Switch and PS4 (which would be like comparing Netflix’s library to not just Hulu but Hulu and HBO).

The idea that Phil’s trips have failed produce anything for Xbox gamers is the kind of fantasy that could only exist in a hive mind like GAF. Ask for evidence that Yakuza would have come to Xbox absent the grit of Phil and his team and the normal whiners on GAF won’t utter a word.

The appearance of all these Japanese games on not only Xbox but Gamespass is great exposure for these devs and folks here would be applauding that if they were actually fans of these games and not just a particular piece of plastic.

Was there another leak overnight; PS5 <8 flops, XsX 20+flops or something? The PS fans seem to be in a particularly nasty mood this morning.

Personally, I couldn't care less about Japanese games, but if Phil gets some for those that do enjoy them, that's a good thing. No need to be so angry all the time PS guys.
 
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