Xbox Nerds ArchiveC-News, a Japanese news agency asked 1,000 Japanese consumes between the age of 10 and 59 which next-gen console they would most likely buy and the X360 got a whopping 2 per cent. PS3 clocked in at 60 per cent and Nintendo’s Revolution at surprising low 8 per cent. Those who picked the PS3 said the key reasons were the Sony brand, the hope of seeing sequels to the most popular franchises and the perception of the PS3 having a technological advantage over it’s competitors. With 80 per cent of those polled saying they want to see updates to their favorite games it’s no wonder the X360 has such little interest. Yoshihiro Maruyama, Xbox Japan’s boss hopes to change this by continuing to add more Japanese developed X360 games to their roster, but with out the actual sequels in his pocket it may not be enough to sway the loyal Japanese gamer away from Sony. Later this month Maruyama is expected to reveal more Japanese third party titles at a special event. Hopefully this will have a positive effect on the consumer interest in the X360. 71.2 per cent of Japanese gamers want RPG’s and only 23.4 per cent want shooters. It is vital that games are developed for their tastes by game makers they know and love.
I think as the launch of X360 draws closer and real gameplay is shown to the Japanese public the X360 numbers may climb a bit but at the end of the day I just don’t see the average Japanese video game consumer embracing a US made console. Only time will tell.Author: Eric ‘Jetson’ Pfoutz