Tuesday, November 21st 2017
Microsoft Xbox One X Falls Short of Expectations in Japan - Again
Cracking Japan's console market has always been a tough - read: almost impossible - feat for Microsoft. For generations now, Microsoft has failed to achieve any kind of market penetration in that country. To put things in perspective, Xbox One's sales in japan have been so low that retailers in Japan started marketing and selling the consoles as Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray readers, not as gaming consoles. For Microsoft, that would have been fine - a sale is a sale is a sale, and the Xbox One never was sold at a loss like previous hardware generations - but it just goes to show that the Japanese market doesn't really care much for the typical games Microsoft offers with its console. The relative abundance of JRPGs and other typical games for which the Japanese crowds usually lean towards the most are relatively absent from Microsoft's staples of exclusives, which probably justifies this cold stance towards Microsoft's console. But to be fair, japan is one of the foremost mobile gaming countries in the world, so that definitely has something to do with it as well.
According to Japanese Famitsu, the Xbox One X managed to move... 1,639 units at launch. This means that the Xbox One X was outsold by virtually all consoles - The PS4 (23,613 units), PS4 Pro (6,028 units), Nintendo Switch (84,593 units), and was even outsold by the PS Vita, 3DS, and 2DS XL. It only snagged wins against previous-generation hardware (like the PS3 and Wii U) or Microsoft's own other console - The Xbox One S. A bittersweet victory, to say the least. The fact that the Xbox One X did get sold-out in Japan is telling - but that did happen because of the low orders Japanese retailers put in for the new console. Some 4 consoles later, they know that barring a black swan, Microsoft isn't setting a foothold in Japanese gamers' living rooms.
Sources:
Famitsu, via PCMag
According to Japanese Famitsu, the Xbox One X managed to move... 1,639 units at launch. This means that the Xbox One X was outsold by virtually all consoles - The PS4 (23,613 units), PS4 Pro (6,028 units), Nintendo Switch (84,593 units), and was even outsold by the PS Vita, 3DS, and 2DS XL. It only snagged wins against previous-generation hardware (like the PS3 and Wii U) or Microsoft's own other console - The Xbox One S. A bittersweet victory, to say the least. The fact that the Xbox One X did get sold-out in Japan is telling - but that did happen because of the low orders Japanese retailers put in for the new console. Some 4 consoles later, they know that barring a black swan, Microsoft isn't setting a foothold in Japanese gamers' living rooms.
32 Comments on Microsoft Xbox One X Falls Short of Expectations in Japan - Again
Anyway, I agree. I was prob 70/30 when it came to PS3/X360, so when I saw lackluster spec on the X1 I decided to pass on it and go only with a PS4.
But I did just get the new X, hoping to find some exclusives having been out of the loop for many years and there isnt much there. Great bit of hardware tho, solid, *quiet*, quick to boot. Not a great UI (and TERRIBLE WEBSITE). So they need to get someone in to look at the software end of things and they really, really need some titles.
**EDIT: Side note, for anyone interested in getting a new controller for PC, there is a black friday deal going on the xbox design your own pad. Id link, but since its so shit figuring out(/changing) regions, just put "xbox design lab" into your preferred search engine :)
Its not a fair comparison, but put a SHIELD next to a Smart TV and you can see the point. Or just any HTPC.
Then there is the issue of the TV apps not getting updated after a few years, leaving you with a worthless "smart" app that doesnt work, and you have to go buy a box anyway....
As for any HTPC, I have one, if Im not mistaken it doesnt even do 4K. It is old, I dont use it really, it was meant to stream movies but even that job has been taken from it. Thats the thing with tech, it moves on. My main TV in the sitting room is a 2nd gen Sony 4K, it doesnt do HDR, no matter what box I may attach... tech moves on! Despite it being their flagship, tech moves on. It doesnt feel laggy tho, other than a rather sluggish 6-8 sec start up time, beyond that its good to go. Ive never been flicking up between tiles thinking "this is slow". I have a 4th gen Sony 4K in the bedroom, its perhaps twice as fast to start the app (a few secs), and again beyond that its good to go. If I turn off the TV while using Netflix, it comes back on right where I left off, it doesnt get faster than that!
So between the many devices Ive used Netflix on, theres a few note worthy differences to me. I hate on screen keyboards (thankfully, rarely needed). Convenience & Speed - a single button press is as convenient as it gets and while it may take 3 secs to start the app vs pretty much (thanks logo!) instant on a PC its not something Ill lose sleep over, Ive not timed how long it takes between hitting Play and the program starting, but Id say its a hair under 2 secs on PC vs a hair over 2 secs on the TV, that also goes in the 'not lose sleep over' pile, your time may be more valuable than mine tho, I dont know! And then there is FF/RW, being able to directly manipulate the duration bar cant be beat, I hate how the app on I think on any device that doesnt allow that (TV/Console/Apple TV) can be annoying if you missed a word and want to go back a few secs and end up back 20 secs because it clumps it in 10 sec segments, so on that front PC/iOS/anything that can directly interact with the duration bar wins easily.
Anyway thread derailment over for me. I dont see you convincing me a 3rd party box is needed. All tech moves on. All of it. Even as nice as the TV in my sitting room is, its a few years old now and Im itching to move on to a nice OLED. It would be very naive of me to think this next one will be the one thats going to last and last, I know in >5 years of buying that TV something else will have caught my eye. The seconds saved using PC isnt worth talking about (for me personally), and it is even saved? You need to ignore the time it takes to switch input on TV, so I wouldnt even be that confident whos going from zero to watching their show! And franky its not something I want to spend time debating!
Also, I see you like to swap TVs every few years (wtf?) but personally, most of my TVs last 10+ years and really should be able to. Tech moves on you're right, but it moves quite a whole lot slower than you may want to think in reality. Evidenced by us watching our 1080i cable content on our 4K TVs ;)
Anyway. That Xbox...