Now that Free 2 Play games will finally really be free on Xbox, I think the Series S is an even better deal for casual or F2P gamers. $299 gets you in for the next 6-8 years. Curious to see how it will do in Asia.
The holes they have in their lineup could be solved with Sega. IP’s that are big in Japan, genres they don’t have filled yet, a mascot platformer.
Sega gets you into Japan and also gives you Yakuza, Virtua series, Sonic, Atlus and much more. Hell, slap Sega brandings on any Xbox sold in Japan.
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Honestly I think Japan is 100% irrelevant in the console space as far as selling consoles to consumers in Japan. Even Sony consoles aren’t selling that well anymore in Japan.
Phil just needs to make sure alot of these games don’t miss the Xbox platform for no freaking reason. Phil needs to establish a small internal group where their only purpose is to make sure games don’t skip Xbox like we see a lot of Japanese games. If their is no exclusive contract in place Xbox should make sure the games come out to the Xbox console. Don’t give Sony free console exclusives just because the Dev may have a bias and not bother porting to Xbox.
Otherwise Xbox should not put any more money and effort into actually selling consoles to Japanese consumers
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Forget Xbox and start selling Sega Series X in sonic color.
Or maybe rebrand the Series S.
Go buy Suikoden from Konami. Then get a studio that makes JRPGs and get them 2 teams, one for Suikoden and one for Lost Odyssey.
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This is what dreams are made of.
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Aren’t some of the people who worked on Suikoden making a sort of Spiritual successor right now? That game is coming to Xbox too if I’m not wrong.
Contract and partner with ever publisher for games
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Yes, it was a Kickstarter. I backed it, but even still there’s nothing quite like Suikoden. The first three and 5 are just fantastic games. 4 is…ok, as is Tactics and that DS spin-off. Probably a dead IP at this point, but again…dreams.
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There will be an AMA on r/games with the NIS president. We could ask him why they released Disgaea 4 only on PC or if they have future plans to release on Xbox console.
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As Phil said once, is not about selling Xbox consoles in Japan, is about Japanese developers selling their games outside Japan. They need an strategy that can help those devs to actually amplify their voices to an audience that is not familiar with their games. Putting Yakuza and Dragon Quest on Gamepass was a genius move. Doing the same with franchises like Ys, Atelier Ryza, Persona and Disgaea, just to name a few, would do wonders. Personally, I ended up buying a PS5 besides my Series X for Japanese games, but I would love to see more parity for those games.
Definitely. Someone should ask about Disgaea on Xbox. D4 is in GP PC so a relationship is there between the companies.
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I don’t think they need just exclusives here. They need the most if not all the big hitters that are skipping their platform like Nioh, Ni No Kuni and Persona. If they can get them on the service (GP) AND bring their A game with another Lost Odyssey or something like that, I think they would have a winning strategy.
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The only way to become successful inside Japan is xcloud but what should concern MS more is not this but bringing Japanese games to the west. Things are much better now on that front than where we were 3-4 years ago for sure…I never expected to see the Yakuza games, Tetris Effect and especially DQ11 on Xbox and I am very very happy to see them. Hopefully this will continue and Series will be more like the 360 than the One for Japanese games this generation.
As the op suggested starting by making a team to support the Japanese devs would be a good start, also give incentives to bring their games to the platform/game pass should be a priority (let’s start this with bringing The Wonderful 101 on Game Pass!).
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Xbox should throw some money at Nihon Falcom and NIS America and get the Trails series ported to Xbox and released on Game Pass.
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Step 1. Fund Exclusives/Acquire Japanese Studios
Step 2. Profit
Look to Korea instead.
I propose an island hopping campaign, followed by blockade and strategic bombing. Naval supremacy will be paramount. We may also need to consider ways to supply Chiang Kai Shek’s forces from British India until we have a clear path through the South China Sea. The Chinese are engaged with the IJA on land and its important this front doesn’t collapse.
Dominate the rest of the market so your ecosystem is too irresistible to skip. This means focusing new investments on western IP and acquiring western focused studios so that Xbox is unzkippable in the western markets. Lock down more big IP and make a deal for Ubi catalog to Gamepass.
At the same time continue your efforts in the mobile and PC space to grow the brand in Japan in the meantime. Keep working with publishers and making Xbox easy to work with and profitable. Grow Tango studios to show commitment to growing the limited assets Xbox does have there.
Buy Sega
Buy Nihon Falcom
Buy Level-5
Buy Silicon Studio
Buy Good-Feel
Buy French Bread
That’s your strategic operation to take over Japan
You’re welcome
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Partner with Hololive to promote Game Pass was and is still their best move ever in Japan atm. More Xbox x Hololive next week.
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