Japan's Xbox One Launch Looks Sad As You'd Expect

[senheiser]

Japan's Xbox One Launch Looks Sad As You'd Expect

Yesterday 4:00am

Today, the Xbox One finally went on sale in Japan. The launch looked rather depressing. But maybe you saw that coming, right?


Granted, these days, it's really hard to tell how hardware does. People can order stuff online, so there isn't the same emphasis on launch lines, like as in the past. That being said, if there are lots of people waiting for something—say, Yokai Watch toys—then it's possible to make a popularity assumption. But that is exactly what it is: an assumption.

Still, the Xbox One launch in Japan looks like a total downer. I'm sure there are Japanese gamers excited to get it, and a few people did appear to line up for the console. But, man, these photos circulating online do not look good for the Xbox One's chances in Japan.

Note that today is September 4 in Japan.

As Japanese game site Inside pointed out, Xbox Japan held a special mid-night launch countdown event. Everyone seems so excited counting down to today.

[Photo: GameSparkChannel]

[Photo: Microsoft Japan]

Look at all those people at the Xbox One live stream event!

But as shown online, lots of people weren't exactly lining up for the console.

[Photo: DC]

This is Yodobashi-Akiba, an enormous electronics store in Tokyo geek district Akihabara. According to Twitter user DC, nobody is in line.

[Photo: Inside]

The sign marks the start of the Xbox One line for the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera. According to Inside, the man in the background, playing a PS Vita, said he wasn't waiting for the Xbox One. Inside reports that, at this time, nobody was lined up for the console.

[Photo: Inside]

According to Inside, nobody was at the Bic Camera in Tokyo's Shinjuku, either. This photo was taken at around midnight.

[Photo: nano2118]

Again, another shot of Yodobashi-Akiba. This was taken at around 1am.

[Photo: nano2118]

And here is Sofmap in Akihabara at around the same time. The red sign reads, "On sale today!"

 

[senheiser]

[Photo: siteqube]

But wait! Here are people apparently buying Xbox One consoles at Yodobashi-Akiba. Oh, right, this is the guy that was hosting the official Xbox One launch livestream.

However, the person with him supposedly was a live stream viewer who decided to come buy the Xbox One. At least, that's what Xbox Japan's official Twitter account says. Maybe this person was in line and just didn't appear in any photos. Who knows.

I called Yodobashi-Akiba to ask what time they opened today and was told 9:30am. Inside, which cohosted the Xbox One stream, reported the same thing, so I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this photo. Anyway...

[Photo: Inside]

This is Labi, a huge electronics store, in Tokyo's Ikebukuro. The above photo was taken at around 2am. It was empty.

[Photo: Kaztsu]

Twitter user Kaztsu uploaded this photo of Yodobashi-Akiba this morning. This is at 8am, but the top photo for this article is at around 6am.

[Photo: Uralanyan]

Same shop, but at around 8:09AM. The people on the right are going to work. The people on the left—oh, wait.

[Photo: kaztsu]

There were fliers for the Xbox One. The Sofmap in Akihabara gave into to those lining up about when the Xbox One would be going on sale.

 

[senheiser]

[Photo: ponimoe]

Nobody waiting at Sofmap.

So, you might think, well, this is a workday, so of course nobody is going to line up for stuff.

[Photo: unicorng88]

Above is a line this morning of eleven people waiting to eat stewed cow tongue at a restaurant called Tankiyo.

[Photo: GameSpark]

GameSpark, which co-hosted the Xbox One live stream with Inside, uploaded one of the only photos I've seen so far with people lined up for the Xbox One. This was taken at Yodobashi-Akiba. According to GameSpark, there were seven people lined up right before the door opened at 9:30am. Mainichi, however, uploaded a photo as well and reports that there were ten people in line. That's almost as many who waited for cow tongue!

[Photo: Kaztsu]

For comparison's sake, here's a photo Kaztsu took of when the PS4 went on sale at Yodobashi-Akiba.

[Photo: unicorng88]

And here is a photo taken around noon at the Yodobashi-Akiba of the Xbox One launch event. Twitter user Unicorn described it as "quiet."

[Photo: Inside]

This is the Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. Still, nobody is in line.

[Photo: Inside]

Back to Bic Camera.

Japanese consumers do buy foreign products, whether they are Apple hardware or German cars, when they think they're the best. For one reason or another, Microsoft was never able to convince people that the Xbox 360 was the best.

Because of the lack of Japanese interest, that's perhaps why the Xbox One isn't getting nearly the push the Xbox 360 did. For instance, I don't recall seeing an Xbox One ad on Japanese television. The staggered release date, months behind the PS4's Japanese release, didn't help, either. Moreover, Japanese gamers who really, really wanted an Xbox One probably already imported one. And so, here we are.

But! Like with anything, maybe the Xbox One will have a slow burn. Maybe people will swing by and pick up consoles during the day and throughout the week. The photos look sad, sure, but they only supplement the forthcoming sales figures. We'll know soon enough how those look.

[Photo: Microsoft Japan]

[Photo: Microsoft Japan]

Xbox One特集 [Inside]

Update: While AP is reporting that the Xbox One Japan launch "fell flat on Thursday, with journalists covering the debut far outnumbering buyers," Japanese site My Game News notes that the launch event stream was viewed by over 200,000 people and 72.5 percent said the stream was "very good." Perhaps everyone was at home watching it...

 

[Cossack25A1]

Japan already had the PS4, which has games that cater to Japanese fans such as J-RPGs. Xbox One on the other hand is becoming a literal military-shooter simulator console.

Remember, from the time Xbox came out, its most popular game is Halo, which is a futuristic military shooter game.

 

[TheNoob]

Such fail LOL

 

[Skull and Bones]

PS4 trumps X-Box anyday.

 

[TaiShang]

That's very nice!

I would chose PS4 over Xbox any day.

@Nihonjin1051 , what do you think? Why is this (seemingly) fail?

 

[Aepsilons]

That's very nice!

I would chose PS4 over Xbox any day.

@Nihonjin1051 , what do you think? Why is this (seemingly) fail?

I prefer the PS4's gaming style, but to be honest with you buddy i have both systems.

I'm waiting for the new Halo game to come out...

 

[Aepsilons]

[Photo: siteqube]

But wait! Here are people apparently buying Xbox One consoles at Yodobashi-Akiba. Oh, right, this is the guy that was hosting the official Xbox One launch livestream.

However, the person with him supposedly was a live stream viewer who decided to come buy the Xbox One. At least, that's what Xbox Japan's official Twitter account says. Maybe this person was in line and just didn't appear in any photos. Who knows.

I called Yodobashi-Akiba to ask what time they opened today and was told 9:30am. Inside, which cohosted the Xbox One stream, reported the same thing, so I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this photo. Anyway...

[Photo: Inside]

This is Labi, a huge electronics store, in Tokyo's Ikebukuro. The above photo was taken at around 2am. It was empty.

[Photo: Kaztsu]

Twitter user Kaztsu uploaded this photo of Yodobashi-Akiba this morning. This is at 8am, but the top photo for this article is at around 6am.

[Photo: Uralanyan]

Same shop, but at around 8:09AM. The people on the right are going to work. The people on the left—oh, wait.

[Photo: kaztsu]

There were fliers for the Xbox One. The Sofmap in Akihabara gave into to those lining up about when the Xbox One would be going on sale.

Naturally, Japanese gamers will prefer Sony Playstation, however, the XBOX console is gaining some ground in the Japanese market.

 

[OrionHunter]

And why should the Japanese go for the American Xbox when they have their own ingenious Japanese-made Sony PS4?

 

[TeesraIndiotHunter]

Playstation series is better than Xbox series.

Having played Playstation 2, Xbox360, and Playstation 4...I can attest to that.

Moreover, PES is much better game than FIFA

 

[Aepsilons]

And why should the Japanese go for the American Xbox when they have their own ingenious Japanese-made Sony PS4?

Well said. In Japan, most of the gamers prefer Playstation, but for the curious bunch -- they get the Xbox just to test it out.

This past Christmas i purchased my Xbox 1 for $599 at the local Best Buy here in the US. Its overpriced, i'll say, i mean compare that to the Playstation which i had purchased for $499.

Playstation series is better than Xbox series.

Having played Playstation 2, Xbox360, and Playstation 4...I can attest to that.

Moreover, PES is much better game than FIFA

Admitting, the XBOX consoles produces really good shooting genre games. Also one good thing about xbox is their online platform. Playstation has yet to have produced as an effective online platform as compared to the previous Xbox 360.

 

[TeesraIndiotHunter]

Admitting, the XBOX consoles produces really good shooting genre games. Also one good thing about xbox is their online platform. Playstation has yet to have produced as an effective online platform as compared to the previous Xbox 360.

Yeah tell me about it.

My younger brother spends his entire day on Xbox live playing COD: Black Ops 2 and stuff lololol

 

[Cossack25A1]

Growing up playing Playstation since 1996 (then PS2 and PS3), I would choose PS4 than Xbox One.

Admitting, the XBOX consoles produces really good shooting genre games. Also one good thing about xbox is their online platform. Playstation has yet to have produced as an effective online platform as compared to the previous Xbox 360.

One advantage of PS3 from Xbox 360 is that there are exclusive J-RPGs for the PS3 which are entertaining even though there are Japanese-made games for Xbox 360.

As for shooting games, I only play Call of Duty: MW3 multiplayer as updating CoD: Black Ops 2 and Ghosts are both "pain in the rear."

 

[ExtraOdinary]

I went home for vacations and it turns out my kid bro hijacked my PS-3 and took it to his college . Now I am left with just my PC and some old games which I am bored of playing. ROCKSTAR WHY YOU NOT RELEASE GTA V FOR PC