The Japanese Xbox Market

It is no secret the Xbox is lagging in the Japanese market. And that’s putting it kindly. There are all sorts of thoughts behind this poor performance. One is that the Xbox catalog is heavy with first person shooter titles, a genre not especially strong in the land of the rising sun. Another reason is the lack of support from Japanese developers. Aside from Team Ninja at Tecmo, the Xbox just doesn’t have the variety which benefits the PS2 and Gamecube (i.e., no flying mosquito games, Japanese RPGs or Katamari Damacy). These two reasons have an indirect relationship with each other – the lack of Japanese developer support means more games from the US to pick up the slack, as marketed under the “Xbox World Collection” label. It can be said Microsoft lacks that true must-have title for the Japanese audience.

But those aren’t the only reasons the video game journalists are focused on; they are hanging onto the idea that the size of the Xbox console itself is simply “too big” for the Japanese.

Now let me relate personal experience to make a point. I was a two-console guy while my wife and I lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan’s West Village. In that apartment, we had a couch, a coffee table, an entertainment center with a TV, VCR, DVD player, cable box, and stereo receiver with two tower speakers and a center channel speaker. We also had three bookcases filled with books, DVDs and games, a lamp, a stove, a sink, cabinets, a refrigerator, a microwave, a kitchen cart with a toaster oven. And we had a bed, two dressers, a closet, a nightstand, a computer desk with computer and printer. We had shelves on the walls for books and storage. And of course, there were two of us living in the same space.

My much belabored point is this: not once did I ever think the Xbox was taking up too much space in that apartment.

It is far-fetched to think something a little larger than a square foot would take up too much space. If you want to say my NYC apartment was larger than the typical Japanese residency, then how do you explain the countless dorm rooms across the country decorated with Master Chief’s weapon of choice (or dual-wielded, in the minority situation of two or more Xboxes)? That in addition to the PC, Gamecube or PS2 in the room as well? Journalists whom I respect have propagated this myth so many times it has become more fact than fiction. If it’s ugly, say it’s ugly. Just don’t make up something that isn’t true.

Let’s face it – the Xbox may be bulky, heavy, bulletproof and ugly. But it is not a refrigerator.