Japan gets Xboned

[Tasty]

Or rather, they don't.

The Japanese gaming site 4Gamer still managed to grab an interview and to ask what’s up with Microsoft’s upcoming console in the archipelago of the rising sun.

As part of the interview Microsoft Japan President and CEO Yasuyuki Higuchi confirmed that the Xbox One won’t land on the Japanese shelves any time soon.

"For the launch of Xbox One Japan is a Tier 2 country and not a Tier 1 country, so it’ll come with the second wave, that will be delayed a little bit [compared to North America]."

When the interviewer pressed him to confirm that the console won’t be launched in 2013 he did just that.

"That’s right. It’ll launch after the Tier 1 markets."

Microsoft’s executives knew they were walking on eggshells as they talked to the press, since the Xbox brand isn’t exactly popular in Japan, and when the reporter concluded the interview telling Microsoft Vice President and Executive Officer of the Consumer & Partner Group Haruaki Kayama that he’d wait for further information on Xbox One soon, he responded laughing:

"Yes, so please don’t report too negatively."

Please understand.

[thisismyusername]

Oh, Andy. No one in Japan cares.  Outside of the Western-focused Otaku I don't think Japan will weep too strongly about the "Gaijin Console" not being there.

Still really bad wording on MS' part. WTF is "Tier-2 country." I'm going to assume there's even a "Tier-3/Tier-4."

[Father_Brain]

Don't really see the big deal here. All the Japanese content they published/moneyhatted on 360 failed to make a dent, so why would they bother again?

Japanese third parties have learned that they can no longer afford PS exclusivity if they care about Western sales, and that's really all MS needed to accomplish for this gen with respect to the region.

[Rufus]

I'm not surprised that tiers exist, but it's really funny to imagine what PR thinks of people talking openly about it in interviews. They're just asking to be mocked for it. The plea at the end is just the icing on the cake. He's asking for a change of human nature there.

[maxy]

No point in throwing money this time,I guess.

[Momo]

Our local XBOX branch closed their doors 3 weeks before E3, I guess we didnt even get a tier.

[MCD]

They actually said "second wave".

Also they are aiming at early 2014 so it could be 2 to 3 months after US launch. It will be clear after TGS.

[Joe Molotov]

Japan don't care.  Maybe if MS had done a better job, things would be different, but they threw a hell of a lot of money around in dumb ways and absolutely failed to follow through on the little momentum they did pick up.  There's no chance for the Xbox brand in Japan now, they fucked their customers 2/2 times.

Please don’t report too negatively.

[Trent Dole]

Message is pretty loud and clear here - if you even remotely give a fuck about JP games get yourself a PS4.

[chronovore]

What Oscar said. MS messed up so badly, TWICE, with Xbox in Japan, there is just nothing for MS to grab onto here. Japan just doesn't care about Xbox, barely cares about PlayStation at this point. All someone has to do is show a graph in a marketing meeting about how much was spent trying to woo Japan in the 360 era, and what total effect was, and --POOF-- that marketing money is re-alotted to a country where the Xbone has a better chance.

Like Peru, or Lichtenstein.

[Phoenix Dark]

You can't be a Tier 1 country with Tier 605665 porn.  MS made the right decision.

[chronovore]

WTF? Japanese porn is god-tier.

US-mandated constitutionally enforced censorship aside, is there another country in the world which has so many niche tastes catered to? Or am I just wearing mosaic-colored glasses because of Stockholm Syndrome?

[Raban]

when you say Japanese porn, do you mean or 3DPD

[Trent Dole]

[Human Snorenado]

You can't be a Tier 1 country with Tier 605665 porn.  MS made the right decision.

[chronovore]

If fucking Japan is Tier 2 then what Tier is Poland?

The actual tier number is classified, but when the Wonder Swan launches there next year, you'll have a clearer idea.

[Pills Here]

Obviously "Tier 2" is in regards to their Xbox business strategy and not a commentary on the Japanese marketplace in general.

[Dickie Dee]

[MCD]

Original Xbox launched 2 months after. Maybe they want to make Kinect 2 smaller or shitbin it altogether.

[Brehvolution]

If fucking Japan is Tier 2 then what Tier is Poland?

[chronovore]

There's also the concept that the Xbone is central to a unified media presence; it's a better way to watch cable TV, or subscribe to various internet services... and in Japan, that's not yet the future. We didn't get mail-back DVD envelopes until last year, and the streaming services are not yet present. Hulu.jp is making a pretty good stab of it, and each of the ISPs is making their own bid at having IPTV in the home, but adoption is not widespread, and none of it is as dirt simple as having an AppleTV/Roku/Xbox with app and logging in.

These ISPs are providing Roku-sized boxes, but I'm guessing it is an attempt to wring cable-like fees out of the captive island audience of consumers.

The Xbone is likely building on the streaming/service based environment which has arisen in NA, and would not have any traction in getting Japanese media providers to cooperate with them. It would be an utterly pointless struggle.