Community Best Selling 360 Games in Japan Aren't Exclusives
By jalexbrown —
September 18, 2009
Tags:
Japan
news
xbox-360
Apparently the Japanese market isn't interested in the exclusives that Microsoft can offer.
According to a Japanese blog that I've stumbled across (see link at the bottom; warning: it's in Japanese, but there are pictures to confirm game titles), the top five best selling Xbox 360 games in Japan aren't exclusive titles. The blog cites the top five games as being:
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope
- Blue Dragon
- Tales of Vespria
- Last Remnant
- Resident Evil 5
If we approach this list in order, we start with Star Ocean: The Last Hope. The game was originally announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive, but the game has since been announced as a timed-exclusive, with a PS3 release in February of 2010. Given the delay of information, it's possible that the Japanese audience did pick up 360 units to play Star Ocean: The Last Hope. However, anyone in Japan who is just now getting into the next-gen consoles can safely pick up a PS3 and know they're not going to miss out on Star Ocean's goodness.
Blue Dragon is technically a 360 exclusive; there's no two ways about it. But perhaps we shouldn't ignore the DS release of Blue Dragon, Blue Dragon Plus. This is the only game on the list that isn't out or planned on being released in its exact form on the Playstation 3.
Tales of Vespria has been released for both the 360 and PS3, so there's really no need to comment on that.
Last Remnant was released on the 360, but it also came out on the PC. While I can't say for sure how big the PC gaming market is in Japan, it's still interesting to know that the Japanese gamers don't have to buy a 360 to enjoy this game, either.
Resident Evil 5 was released simultaneously for the 360 and PS3, so that's all the information we need about that.
What does this say to me? Well, it says that Microsoft hasn't done a good job controlling the Japanese market. Even in spite of the hype that a small segment of American gamers felt over the release of Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360, the Japanese will still get it as a PS3-exclusive. If Microsoft can't get some exclusives out in Japan that the market cares about, they're not going to be able to hold a candle to the PS3's dominance in Japan, plain and simple. Would that even surprise anyone, though, really? Not I, for sure! I never expected to see Microsoft become a force to be reckoned with in the Japanese market, so based on my initial expectations I have to applaud them for their efforts. But for all the Sony-exclusives that they've been stealing in America, they don't seem to be doing much better at holding onto their exclusives in Japan.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/htmk73/archives/209133.html
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