AfterDawn: News

Xbox 360 sold out in Japan

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 console has sold in out Japan. The console has performed terribly in the region compared to its competitors; the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and the Nintendo Wii. Due to the interest in the Tales of Vesperia game title, Microsoft had an impressive week in sales, moving 25,000 units.

"Currently, the Xbox 360 is sold out, and retailers are unable to restock their supply," Microsoft Japan said in a statement. "This is a result of our own sales targets being exceeded by the actual customer sales. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience to our customers, retailers and business partners."



While the Xbox 360 has already outperformed its predecessor in Japan, it is only recently that sales of the console have begun to pick up, due to a select of JRPG releases. The original Xbox didn't sell through its original shipment in Japan. Microsoft seems genuinely unprepared for the growth in sales, and can only promise to get a new shipment to the country next month.



Written by: James Delahunty @ 21 Aug 2008 4:22

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• 15 comments

• fgamer

  WHo would've seen this coming. But how long can they substain this!

  21.8.2008 07:13 #1

• Paladore

  yay, great news...now we need to get the japanese to play some shooters and some sport games to appreciate what the 360 excelles in :)

  21.8.2008 07:15 #2

• susieqbbb

  The only reason this is happening again.
  
  Is because users in japan are using the firmware hacks to play pirated games.
  
  So i find this funny the only reason the consoles are selling is because they can use illegal games easier then the wii.
  
  Doesn't piracy work in the most mysterious ways.

  21.8.2008 07:16 #3

• Paladore

  yeah they might be pirateing games but hey, they selling systems when they weren't selling any before and even if they by a few games here and there, a little of something is better than alot of nothing.

  21.8.2008 07:18 #4

• Paladore

  yeah they might be pirateing games but hey, they selling systems when they weren't selling any before and even if they by a few games here and there, a little of something is better than alot of nothing.

  21.8.2008 07:18 #5

• ZippyDSM

  Not that surprising but ti took the WII and PS3 to saturate the playing filed first and then the 360 o fill the gaps there after.
  
  Also what are the chances they didn't stock it well to start with and the sold out comment is blunderbuss? LOL

  21.8.2008 08:09 #6

• Stu_dent

  Its simple why the Xbox360 has sold out in Japan, and its because microsoft have got their head out there arse and actually released a game that the japanese want to play, and because they want to play the game they are quite prepared to spend there cash, simple as that.
  
  Release more games they want to play (instead of FPS and sports games, RPG and anime) sell more consoles in japan.

  21.8.2008 10:26 #7

• DoomLight

  Originally posted by Stu_dent: Its simple why the Xbox360 has sold out in Japan, and its because microsoft have got their head out there arse and actually released a game that the japanese want to play, and because they want to play the game they are quite prepared to spend there cash, simple as that.
  
  Release more games they want to play (instead of FPS and sports games, RPG and anime) sell more consoles in japan.Namco released the game on the 360. not Microsoft. just making that clear. namco coulda been a PS3 lover too. but they didn't thank god.

  21.8.2008 11:29 #8

• jookycola

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: The only reason this is happening again.
  
  Is because users in japan are using the firmware hacks to play pirated games.
  
  So i find this funny the only reason the consoles are selling is because they can use illegal games easier then the wii.
  
  Doesn't piracy work in the most mysterious ways.Sure why not? It worked for the Sony PSP...why not the 360.

  21.8.2008 14:21 #9

• DXR88

  And how many Games that are actually decent that are for the psp because of it.

  21.8.2008 18:35 #10

• lxhotboy

  Quote:Originally posted by Stu_dent: Its simple why the Xbox360 has sold out in Japan, and its because microsoft have got their head out there arse and actually released a game that the japanese want to play, and because they want to play the game they are quite prepared to spend there cash, simple as that.
  
  Release more games they want to play (instead of FPS and sports games, RPG and anime) sell more consoles in japan.Namco released the game on the 360. not Microsoft. just making that clear. namco coulda been a PS3 lover too. but they didn't thank god.Microsoft does have some say so in what games are realeased for the Xbox 360. The do have all the money. Think about it. Why would namco release the game for a console that is struggling in this particular country. Would make sense to release it for the PS3 or Wii d/t console sells but for some reason they didnot. I think sometimes it goes back to a saying i once heard, "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"
  I just wish Microsoft would pay the money not to have Tekken released on PS3 in 2009 as an exclusive.

  22.8.2008 09:23 #11

• glassd

  MS said that they totally %100 sold out supplies in Japan last week and could not send more until next month. How did they sell 7,000 in Japan this week. Maybe of the 25,000 sold, %33 failed = 8,250, and that is were the Magic 7,000 came from. Did they resale returned Xbox 360's?

  22.8.2008 15:37 #12

• AntSpliff

  People are still using that old faulty 360 thing? wow. People will buy the system if they like the games. From what I've seen of E3 MS will be doing big numbers in Japan this season due to their game line up of RPG's. I think its as simple as that. Not piracy all of a sudden, give the people what they want and they will buy it.

  22.8.2008 16:34 #13

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by AntSpliff: People are still using that old faulty 360 thing? wow. People will buy the system if they like the games. From what I've seen of E3 MS will be doing big numbers in Japan this season due to their game line up of RPG's. I think its as simple as that. Not piracy all of a sudden, give the people what they want and they will buy it.more like the S3 is in a lul and the wii is played out, thus the 360 gets a boost in sales. LOL

  22.8.2008 16:44 #14

• glassd

  Just mess with you all. I know how much others like to smear the PS3 and Blu-Ray news. I saw that no one was giving the 360 boys a hard time and could not help my self. Good luck to the 360 in the future as competition is good for all of us.

  22.8.2008 16:51 #15