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Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Reiterates Importance of Japanese Market and Promises a Lot More News in 2020

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman



Today Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of Xbox Game Pass in Japan on April 14, and it released a message from Phil Spencer himself.

In the video below you can see spencer making a brave effort to speak Japanese at least for a bit, talking about the extension of the service for the local market.

Interestingly, he also took the time to reiterate the importance of the Japanese market.

“The gaming market in Japan, fans in Japan, gamers in Japan, are incredibly important to me and team Xbox.
Some of the most amazing experiences we’ve all played on games have come from Japan and we work really hard to make Xbox a part of the experience for customers in Japan.”
We also hear at the end of the video

“This is an exciting year for us in 2020. Obviously consoles are coming out this year, a lot of great games that we’re working on… We at team Xbox have a lot more news to share throughout the tear and expect to continue to talk with you, be very transparent with you about our plans and what we’re working on.”
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Since the beginning of the generation Microsoft (Phil in particular, after taking the helm from Mattrick) keeps reiterating the importance of the Japanese market.

And yet...

5LSi.gif
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Console gaming has been trending down for years. Not sure why as Japanese gamers used to buy tons of consoles in the past. If MS wants to gun for Japan, then do a handheld or see if XCloud on phones will work well there.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.
 
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GHG

Gold Member
Since the beginning of the generation Microsoft (Phil in particular, after taking the helm from Mattrick) keeps reiterating the importance of the Japanese market.

And yet...

5LSi.gif

The fact that they actually posted this on the Japanese Xbox Youtube account and he's introducing himself in Japanese tells me they are actually making an effort now.

Let's see what comes of it.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Console gaming has been trending down for years. Not sure why as Japanese gamers used to buy tons of consoles in the past. If MS wants to gun for Japan, then do a handheld or see if XCloud on phones will work well there.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.

I wouldn't bother with Europe either, between Sony and Nintendo the market's pretty sewn-up.
 

GHG

Gold Member
If I was Phil and Xbox, I'd bail ship on Japan. Aside from a handful of American brands like Apple and some clothing lines, US brands usually do shit in Japan.

Focus the energy on NA and Europe.

Correction - American brands that fail to adapt their products and marketing efforts in Japan do shit.
 

CJY

Banned
Advice 1: Don't hold your breath.
Advice 2: Wait and see.
Advice 3: Don't get your hopes up.
 
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DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
The fact that they actually posted this on the Japanese Xbox Youtube account and he's introducing himself in Japanese tells me they are actually making an effort now.

Let's see what comes of it.
Woah.

They posted a YouTube video?

And he said stuff in Japanese?

Say konichiwa to a million upcoming Japanese games, then!

Remember when they had Kojima on their E3 stage back in 2013? I do. Microsoft will continue stringing people along with empty promises as long as their die-hard fans go soy-faced over the tiniest hint of effort.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
As of now most people replying to the video are Japanese. And the response seems to be positive.
Well I mean "a statistically significant portion of Japan doesn't care".. thought that would be obvious. I assume some of the 10s of thousands of Japanese Xbox Gamers have Twitter.

Beyond that it's MS throwing money at something that hasn't stuck for well over a decade, seems wasteful.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Woah.

They posted a YouTube video?

And he said stuff in Japanese?

Say konichiwa to a million upcoming Japanese games, then!

Remember when they had Kojima on their E3 stage back in 2013? I do. Microsoft will continue stringing people along with empty promises as long as their die-hard fans go soy-faced over the tiniest hint of effort.

You have a point but these are little things they didn't even do before.

Look at how sparse the Japanese Xbox account is for example:


Literally zero effort, this is the first video they've posted on there in 3 months.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Well I mean "a statistically significant portion of Japan doesn't care".. thought that would be obvious. I assume some of the 10s of thousands of Japanese Xbox Gamers have Twitter.

Beyond that it's MS throwing money at something that hasn't stuck for well over a decade, seems wasteful.
Did you know some companies made Vita exclusives even though they sold around 10k? If Xbox ignored Japan and still got 10k people to respond, that means there is a niche fanbase. So, if they focused on Xbox during Series X gen they can get it to 360 days or even more.
Some studios actually even made games for Xbox just to support them. There are devs out there willing to help.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
They are really pushing Project XCloud, which in theory means everyone can play their Xbox games on their phone when it's fully realized.

Also, don't underestimate the power of value. Game Pass has stuff like Nier, Kingdom Hearts, Ace Combat, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, and Yakuza now. Presumably that brings a lot of value to potential console buyers.
 

sol740

Member
I remember 2006 too, my PC had an 8800 that I cherished, I had yet to discover the world of the Witcher, there was no COVID-19, and Microsoft was stressing the importance of the Japanese market for it's console.
 
They really need to make a portable Xbox One. People in the Japanese market would love that.
I know South Korea specifically has been a focus for the Project xCloud and gaming from your phone. It is a huge market but I don't think MS has the games, even on Gamepass/xCloud, that customers in South Korea or Japan will find enticing. It's a great entry point to the ecosystem but there just isn't the appealing content. This has been the main problem for like 15 years now.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
You have a point but these are little things they didn't even do before.

Look at how sparse the Japanese Xbox account is for example:


Literally zero effort, this is the first video they've posted on there in 3 months.
They could start by adding more Japanese games to the b.c. catalogue since that takes very little effort. 360 is still one of the best consoles of all time when it comes to shmups, but there hasn't been any headway there. Handing out a blue ribbon for promising Japanese games in the future seems silly when they can't even properly manage the Japanese games they already have in the ecosystem.

I mean, this "effort" is PR. Nothing more and nothing less.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I mean, this "effort" is PR. Nothing more and nothing less.
You wont reach out to such a niche fanbase(I am talking about the Japanese Xbox fans) for "PR". They can be completely ignored and nothing will change. If they are, that means they have plans for Japanese titles like 360 days.
 

GHG

Gold Member
same when i travel to foreign country and try to talk with my broken english (i'm far better with wroted stuff)

edit: yeah wroted doesn't even exist, it's written stuff, fuck me 😆

One thing I've learnt is that the effort is always appreciated everywhere, even if you fail in your attempt.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
You wont reach out to such a niche fanbase(I am talking about the Japanese Xbox fans) for "PR". They can be completely ignored and nothing will change. If they are, that means they have plans for Japanese titles like 360 days.
I think you took my sentence as a pejorative when it was simply a descriptive.

This is Public Relations. There's no announcement. There's no list of games. It's an announcement of an announcement, a request that fans "stay tuned". If that doesn't qualify I as PR I don't know what does.

Thing is, Xbox PR has not once been in short supply. Microsoft are masters of marketing, which is why their PR shouldn't be received with such starry-eyed hopefulness. Their track record of taking the Japanese market seriously is visible for all to see. There's no guesswork, no promises of an announcement of an announcement. It's factual.
 

GymWolf

Member
One thing I've learnt is that the effort is always appreciated everywhere, even if you fail in your attempt.
my problem is that i have literally no one in my life who talk fluent english so i can't train myself with real talk shit.
forums and serial tv\films helps but still...

lucky for me, i usually travel to amsterdam when i can and over there even english talker sleur their words after a joint or 2 so the difference is not really that noticeable, also i don't know why but when i'm high or stoned as fuck, my english improve considerably, maybe because i'm less nervous...
 
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Shrap

Member
I have no idea why they are doing this. They really pushed in the 360 era and failed, and the brand has only diminished since.

Not only that but the Japanese market has been moving away from consoles for a long time. The switch has already outsold the PS4 in Japan. It's all about handheld gaming over there.

Why try something so futile in a market that is already shrinking?
 
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