TGS: Microsoft still Chasing Japan
360 Christmas game line-up news, plus Pac-Man world championship.
Further news coming out of Microsoft's pre-TGS press conference is that the company has announced that a further 110 games for Xbox 360 will be available in Japan this coming Christmas.
The company shows no signs of slowing down its marketing push in Japan, despite pitiful 360 sales in the country since launch. The games line-up is heavily weighed towards the Japanese gamer's favourite genre - the fantasy role playing game - with trailers showing off Mistwalker's Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Also, the recent announcements of Tri-Ace's Infinite Undiscovery and Namco Bandai's Trusty Bell were wheeled out as evidence that serious Japanese RPG developers are continuing to back the 360.
"Our line-up of role playing games from the acknowledged masters of the genre is proof positive that there has never been a better time for Japanese gamers to jump in and pick up an Xbox 360 system," said Peter Moore at the conference. SPOnG is experiencing a strange sense of déjà vu, as we're pretty sure we recall Moore saying the same thing to uninterested Japanese gamers, at around the same time last year. But hey, we can't knock them for trying!
Forgetting for a moment the RPG fruits of this embarrasing courtship, perhaps the most interesting news tidbit is that Microsoft and Pac-Man legend Toru Iwatani have announced plans for a Pac-Man World Championship. The upshot being that the top ten players on XBLA will be brought together in New York City later in 2007 in order to find the worldwide Pac-Man champion. SPOnG predicts the winner will be somebody without children, a partner, a day job and a social life.
More from Microsoft's showing at the Tokyo Game Show when it kicks off this coming Friday.
The company shows no signs of slowing down its marketing push in Japan, despite pitiful 360 sales in the country since launch. The games line-up is heavily weighed towards the Japanese gamer's favourite genre - the fantasy role playing game - with trailers showing off Mistwalker's Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Also, the recent announcements of Tri-Ace's Infinite Undiscovery and Namco Bandai's Trusty Bell were wheeled out as evidence that serious Japanese RPG developers are continuing to back the 360.
"Our line-up of role playing games from the acknowledged masters of the genre is proof positive that there has never been a better time for Japanese gamers to jump in and pick up an Xbox 360 system," said Peter Moore at the conference. SPOnG is experiencing a strange sense of déjà vu, as we're pretty sure we recall Moore saying the same thing to uninterested Japanese gamers, at around the same time last year. But hey, we can't knock them for trying!
Forgetting for a moment the RPG fruits of this embarrasing courtship, perhaps the most interesting news tidbit is that Microsoft and Pac-Man legend Toru Iwatani have announced plans for a Pac-Man World Championship. The upshot being that the top ten players on XBLA will be brought together in New York City later in 2007 in order to find the worldwide Pac-Man champion. SPOnG predicts the winner will be somebody without children, a partner, a day job and a social life.
More from Microsoft's showing at the Tokyo Game Show when it kicks off this coming Friday.
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Comments
soanso 20 Sep 2006 14:53
1/6
If Microsoft really wanted to take Japan in a big way then maybe it should just have bought a controlling stake in Squaresoft and made all the FF games 360 exclusives.
YenRug 20 Sep 2006 15:06
2/6
Completely ignoring the fact that Sony have a 30% share in Squaresoft, nor that they're now called SquareEnix.
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SCiARA 20 Sep 2006 15:06
3/6
i think MS are only in Japan out of courtesy...
Joji 20 Sep 2006 18:59
4/6
Never knew Sony owned 30% of S.E, that explains a lot. MS have an uphill battle as usual, but they are doing better than last time.
Now that Xbox Live is ffirmly established, some might be more tempted, but now where near as many, as will be by Wii and PS3.
Now that Xbox Live is ffirmly established, some might be more tempted, but now where near as many, as will be by Wii and PS3.
tyrion 25 Sep 2006 12:29
5/6
SCiARA wrote:
i think MS are only in Japan out of courtesy...
I think they are only there out of curiosity. Unfortunatly for them, not many Japanese are curious about the Xbox or 360.
SCiARA 25 Sep 2006 12:33
6/6
I think its make or break with stuff like blue dragon and lost odyssey (is that right?). Apparently there was a 90min queue to play Blue Dragon