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**hefehefe2000** · 12-12-2005, 06:07 PM

(In Japan)
"The train wreck that is the 360 Japan Launch continues. Unloved 360s consoles collect dust, and retailers are unable to return those unwanted Xbox 360s to Msoft due to contractual obligations. To cut loses and cover their arses, stores are left with no choice but to offer discounts. The originally 38,800yen (about $350 US) consoles have been lowered to 18,800yen (about $150 US) with Internet Service Provider contracts so that the shop could get some kickback money from the IP. And this is what, four days from launch?"
Source :http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-36...uide/index.php

OUCH!

To be fair the Xbox 360 sales will pick up when DOA comes out, but seriously folks this cant be good. Stores selling 360's at a 50/55% Discount?! Looks like they are trying to just cut their losses.

**Ztype** · 12-12-2005, 06:14 PM

Not surprised at all. Outside of the minor launch party at the Xbox360 lounge I don't think anyone really cared

**KINGOFNOOBS** · 12-12-2005, 06:15 PM

ARE U ****ING SERIOUS!!! OMG I NEED TO BUY LIKE 80! and SELL THEM ILL BE A MILLIONARE!! omg... wow...

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 06:15 PM

1) its 2 days from launch
2) that story sounds like its made up, we dont have any #'s from japan at all yet and a lot of stores sold out instantly in the bigger areas
3) they wouldnt drop price to 40% like that. thats retarded.

i have my doubts about the legitimacy of this story. i see the changed pricetag on that one pic, but still. how can some stores sell out isntantly and others be bone dry in sales and be cutting to 60% off or so? how ridiculously weird can that region's sales trends be?

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 06:16 PM

i expect them to all be gone before too long if only for ppl who realize what ebay is all about. you could make a KILLING off those things in the next 10-12 days!

**kimbokasteniv** · 12-12-2005, 06:18 PM

wooo, I havent read the article yet but if this is really true Im stunned.
I didnt think the 360 would sell out with flying colors but I thought it would do pretty damn good.

**I Bent My Wookie** · 12-12-2005, 06:18 PM

It's not true, a 40% price drop in this amount of time is stupid, even for microsoft

Kevyinus · 12-12-2005, 06:19 PM

Quote:

The originally 38,800yen (about $350 US) consoles have been lowered to 18,800yen (about $150 US) with Internet Service Provider contracts so that the shop could get some kickback money from the IP.

That just shows you why there going cheap! There linked to another product. If its just the console it would be full price. Its like buying your phone 'free' with a contract, its not free ur paying for in in the long run.

**FrozenIpaq** · 12-12-2005, 06:22 PM

Japan has never been much of a Microsoft Lover, so we can't really expect much from them anyways, considering that one of the only titles that would sell the console got delayed...

**I Bent My Wookie** · 12-12-2005, 06:24 PM

I don't care about 360, even if it's $150 USD, it's just gonna end up a stand to keep my ps3 nice and warm XD

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 06:30 PM

your ps3 will keep warm itself seeing as they still dont have a way too cool the thing, lol.

i didnt notice that fine print about the ISP. how dumb is that?! i dont see that being legal btw according to the contracts with M$. i cant see stores being able to tack on other products in forced bundles even if cheaper for consumers to spur sales...somehow i doubt thats in the contracts w/M$, lol. oh well, M$ got their sales to the retailers regardless. hopefully this is a red flag for M$ to start forcing their way into japanese gaming via a big publisher buy out.

i also can see them shifting focus to korea in the not too distant future where there is a MUCH bigger gaming culture that seems to be a perfect fit for M$ as opposed to japan.

**stevo836** · 12-12-2005, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Bent My Wookie

I don't care about 360, even if it's $150 USD, it's just gonna end up a stand to keep my ps3 nice and warm XD

For some reason, I don't think the PS3 will need any help keeping itself warm.

As for that article, even if they are selling them for that cheap, I doubt it is because the retailers aren't selling them quickly enough. They have been out for 3 days? I don't think a retailer would cut losses after just 3 days, meaning even if the deals are in fact true and legitamite, they are not losing any money since the ISP deal most likely makes up the difference.

**hefehefe2000** · 12-12-2005, 07:19 PM

Pictures one day after launch

**zerocool23** · 12-12-2005, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hefehefe2000

Pictures one day after launch

See?, If MS would have just made more US versions to ship out earlier instead of making so many for Japan, we wouldn't be having the problem of EVERYONE having to rush to BB or any other store who's not stacked up in preorders to get a 360 from the ONE shipment before Christmas.....God if Bill Gates is such a genius he should have figured out by now that Japan is not as interested in the 360 than the US or Europe is.

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zerocool23

See?, If MS would have just made more US versions to ship out earlier instead of making so many for Japan, we wouldn't be having the problem of EVERYONE having to rush to BB or any other store who's not stacked up in preorders to get a 360 from the ONE shipment before Christmas.....God if Bill Gates is such a genius he should have figured out by now that Japan is not as interested in the 360 than the US or Europe is.

bill gates isnt interested in the japanese gamers, hes interested in the japanese publishers and their games. teh japanese market isnt very big and is really useless outside of the publishers' brand names. M$ wants that and not much else from the region. M$ needs to go for korea. it has the potential to dwarf even the NA market in terms of profits made on gaming and with 360/xbl, its PERFECT for them to spearhead.

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 08:40 PM

well, turns out this isnt true really. read this...

"A picture's worth a thousand words - unless that picture is misleading! A photo has been passed around quite a bit with the tagline that the Xbox 360 prices were slashed in Japan because of slow sales. Indeed, if you look at the photo, it appears that the sticker price of the console has been cut from 38,800 yen (about $350) to 18,800 yen (about $150). Wow!

But...that's not entirely the full story. We contacted our correspondents in Japan to check out the deal, and they report that, according to a phone conversation with retailer Sofmap, the photo depicts a deal the retailer has been promoting with an internet services provider called @TCOM since launch day. The promotion, moreover, is offered only to the first twenty people per store who sign up - and they have to subscribe to the internet service to get the discount. I'm sure you've seen similar deals wrangled by companies like AOL.

Our correspondents note that there is a similar deal going on with Tepco which gives the customer a 10,000 yen discount on anything sold on the store upon signing up for Tepco's internet service.

Finally, our correspondents report, "We asked them specifically if this deal had anything to do with 360s being sold for cheap because everyone has tons of stock, and they said no, that's not the case at all."

Similar deals are also in place for other consoles like the PSP, so this is simple another example of Japan's hardware bundling practices...."

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3146296

**kakarot133** · 12-12-2005, 08:44 PM

On the front page, it says that only 28% were sold. Thats only about 42,000. Thats units that would've been sold on day one in US and Europe...

**Gieese** · 12-12-2005, 08:46 PM

Living in JPN, haven't bought the 360, but still, there ain't no rush to buy one.
Concerning the prices, have checked several shops, but none are on that price.
Street price for the 360 was 38800yen, probably around 350-360US.

Have seen several Game Shops, but the price doesn't differ much.
Also went to Akihabara (Electronic City in JPN) last night but no.
Although there were tons of stocks.

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakarot133

On the front page, it says that only 28% were sold. Thats only about 42,000. Thats units that would've been sold on day one in US and Europe...

that doesnt cover a good amount of retailers tho. the real # will be a little higher. same thing as in NA with npd funworld nto counting stores like wal mart. we'll have to wait for more official #'s. im betting their initial shipment will sell out by year's end tho. looks like the 150k allotment for japan was right on the $$$ too. theyll prolly give japan another 50k to last thru march and that should leave a ton of them for US/Europe so hang in there guys.

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 09:00 PM

suddenly the hardware sale is boosted to 40%

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/20...,46690,0,0.html
Xbox 360 hardware & Software sales number in the first 2 days (Famitsu)

hardware
X360 - 62135

Software
Ridge Racer 6 - 29891
Perfect Dark Zero 0 - 14897
Need for the Speed - 6842

Total soft/hard = 0.91

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 09:06 PM

that hard/soft ratio isnt complete tho. still 4 games are missing from the total soft sales.

**Ztype** · 12-12-2005, 09:12 PM

That's quite hilarious considering the original Xbox sold around 120,000 within the first 2 days. Not surprising considering it had more games at launch, including DOA3.

**Synyster gates** · 12-12-2005, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gieese

Living in JPN, haven't bought the 360, but still, there ain't no rush to buy one.
Concerning the prices, have checked several shops, but none are on that price.
Street price for the 360 was 38800yen, probably around 350-360US.

Have seen several Game Shops, but the price doesn't differ much.
Also went to Akihabara (Electronic City in JPN) last night but no.
Although there were tons of stocks.

i think an "i told you so" would fit perfectly in this situation

**comradx** · 12-12-2005, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ztype85

That's quite hilarious considering the original Xbox sold around 120,000 within the first 2 days. Not surprising considering it had more games at launch, including DOA3.

according to most interviews w/gamers over there, many are waiting to get one for doa4 in a couple weeks. itll prolly be a big rush for the x-mas week to get one hopefully. itll still do lots better than the first xbox did just b/c we KNOW there are a good amount of games japanese gamers want. there are already about 6 or 7 REALLY highly anticipated titles for 360-only coming in the next year or so that they will really like it seems. just nothing really quite yet.

360's launch titles there re a joke tho. n3 and doa4 wouldve been huge. oh well. the sales will come, just a bit later than they should have come.

**Spark** · 12-13-2005, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrozenIpaq

Japan has never been much of a Microsoft Lover, so we can't really expect much from them anyways, considering that one of the only titles that would sell the console got delayed...

No, they're not Xbox lovers, but they all use Windows and Office.

The problem with the Japanese is that they like crap basically, but if they would rather play a fast food clerk simulator or carefully manouver a bus around than play PD0 or Halo, then good luck to them.

This is Microsoft's fault anyway, those consoles could have helped ease the weight on retailers in the West, and then they could have launched the machine after Christmas in jp to coincide with the release of a few titles that would really grab the jp market attention, but yet again some ****head in a suit at MS HQ has gone ahead and ********ed everything up.

**OblivionX** · 12-13-2005, 03:52 AM

360 will do well, when games like dead or alive, blue dragon etc get released. The japanese seem to hate any games that arnt japanese. And why in the hell do they like train simulators and bus driving???!

**Spark** · 12-13-2005, 04:37 AM

**** knows, like I said, they like crap, which also explains their fascinations with J-Pop and David Beckham.

**Synyster gates** · 12-13-2005, 04:47 AM

who the hell wants to play a bus driving game? i dont want to drive a f*ckin bus, i want to shoot somebody

**Spark** · 12-13-2005, 05:11 AM

I know, and the ****ty bus driving simulations you get over there don't even allow you to miss a scheduled stop, let alone take the vehicle over a cliff in a blaze of glory in typical GTA-style.

**Ztype** · 12-13-2005, 06:46 AM

That's quite an absurd generalization don't you think?

12-12-2005, 06:07 PM	#1
hefehefe2000 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: From the left of Nowhere.. Posts: 944 Trader Feedback: 0	This can't be Good. (In Japan) "The train wreck that is the 360 Japan Launch continues. Unloved 360s consoles collect dust, and retailers are unable to return those unwanted Xbox 360s to Msoft due to contractual obligations. To cut loses and cover their arses, stores are left with no choice but to offer discounts. The originally 38,800yen (about $350 US) consoles have been lowered to 18,800yen (about $150 US) with Internet Service Provider contracts so that the shop could get some kickback money from the IP. And this is what, four days from launch?" Source :http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-36...uide/index.php OUCH! To be fair the Xbox 360 sales will pick up when DOA comes out, but seriously folks this cant be good. Stores selling 360's at a 50/55% Discount?! Looks like they are trying to just cut their losses. __________________ [CENTER]Currently Playing PSX - Oddworld Abe's Odyssey & Castlevania: Symphony of the Night GBA - Advance Wars 1 and 2 & Ninja Five-O[/CENTER] [CENTER][B]My Blog A Stray Dog sees only what it chases - Art - Esoterica - Hummor - The Obscure places on the Web[/B] [URL="http://stray-dog-blog.blogspot.com/"]Stray_Dog_Blog[/URL][/CENTER]

12-12-2005, 06:14 PM	#2
Ztype Retired Moderator Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,455 Trader Feedback: 0	Not surprised at all. Outside of the minor launch party at the Xbox360 lounge I don't think anyone really cared __________________ [CENTER][B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=19945]Review FAQ[/URL][/B] [IMG]http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/193/gfv31uv.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]

12-12-2005, 06:15 PM	#3
KINGOFNOOBS Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Grand Line Posts: 5,997 Trader Feedback: 0	ARE U ****ING SERIOUS!!! OMG I NEED TO BUY LIKE 80! and SELL THEM ILL BE A MILLIONARE!! omg... wow... __________________ [CENTER][IMG]http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1640/acefcbanner2wo9.gif[/IMG] [SIZE=1][B]I'm soo hot[/B][/SIZE] [/CENTER] [SIZE=2][CENTER][/SIZE][/CENTER] [center]Sorry. No Advertising[/center]

12-12-2005, 06:18 PM	#7
I Bent My Wookie And it hurts real bad. Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: In A House Posts: 535 Trader Feedback: 0	It's not true, a 40% price drop in this amount of time is stupid, even for microsoft __________________ [I like breaking the rules, so my sig is gone!]

12-12-2005, 06:24 PM	#10
I Bent My Wookie And it hurts real bad. Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: In A House Posts: 535 Trader Feedback: 0	I don't care about 360, even if it's $150 USD, it's just gonna end up a stand to keep my ps3 nice and warm XD __________________ [I like breaking the rules, so my sig is gone!]

12-12-2005, 06:15 PM	#4
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	1) its 2 days from launch 2) that story sounds like its made up, we dont have any #'s from japan at all yet and a lot of stores sold out instantly in the bigger areas 3) they wouldnt drop price to 40% like that. thats retarded. i have my doubts about the legitimacy of this story. i see the changed pricetag on that one pic, but still. how can some stores sell out isntantly and others be bone dry in sales and be cutting to 60% off or so? how ridiculously weird can that region's sales trends be?

12-12-2005, 06:16 PM	#5
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	i expect them to all be gone before too long if only for ppl who realize what ebay is all about. you could make a KILLING off those things in the next 10-12 days!

12-12-2005, 06:18 PM	#6
kimbokasteniv Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 238 Trader Feedback: 0	wooo, I havent read the article yet but if this is really true Im stunned. I didnt think the 360 would sell out with flying colors but I thought it would do pretty damn good.

12-12-2005, 06:22 PM	#9
FrozenIpaq Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,986 Trader Feedback: 0	Japan has never been much of a Microsoft Lover, so we can't really expect much from them anyways, considering that one of the only titles that would sell the console got delayed...

12-12-2005, 06:30 PM	#11
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	your ps3 will keep warm itself seeing as they still dont have a way too cool the thing, lol. i didnt notice that fine print about the ISP. how dumb is that?! i dont see that being legal btw according to the contracts with M$. i cant see stores being able to tack on other products in forced bundles even if cheaper for consumers to spur sales...somehow i doubt thats in the contracts w/M$, lol. oh well, M$ got their sales to the retailers regardless. hopefully this is a red flag for M$ to start forcing their way into japanese gaming via a big publisher buy out. i also can see them shifting focus to korea in the not too distant future where there is a MUCH bigger gaming culture that seems to be a perfect fit for M$ as opposed to japan.

12-12-2005, 07:19 PM	#13
hefehefe2000 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: From the left of Nowhere.. Posts: 944 Trader Feedback: 0	Pictures one day after launch __________________ [CENTER]Currently Playing PSX - Oddworld Abe's Odyssey & Castlevania: Symphony of the Night GBA - Advance Wars 1 and 2 & Ninja Five-O[/CENTER] [CENTER][B]My Blog A Stray Dog sees only what it chases - Art - Esoterica - Hummor - The Obscure places on the Web[/B] [URL="http://stray-dog-blog.blogspot.com/"]Stray_Dog_Blog[/URL][/CENTER] Last edited by hefehefe2000; 12-12-2005 at 07:22 PM..

12-12-2005, 08:40 PM	#16
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	well, turns out this isnt true really. read this... "A picture's worth a thousand words - unless that picture is misleading! A photo has been passed around quite a bit with the tagline that the Xbox 360 prices were slashed in Japan because of slow sales. Indeed, if you look at the photo, it appears that the sticker price of the console has been cut from 38,800 yen (about $350) to 18,800 yen (about $150). Wow! But...that's not entirely the full story. We contacted our correspondents in Japan to check out the deal, and they report that, according to a phone conversation with retailer Sofmap, the photo depicts a deal the retailer has been promoting with an internet services provider called @TCOM since launch day. The promotion, moreover, is offered only to the first twenty people per store who sign up - and they have to subscribe to the internet service to get the discount. I'm sure you've seen similar deals wrangled by companies like AOL. Our correspondents note that there is a similar deal going on with Tepco which gives the customer a 10,000 yen discount on anything sold on the store upon signing up for Tepco's internet service. Finally, our correspondents report, "We asked them specifically if this deal had anything to do with 360s being sold for cheap because everyone has tons of stock, and they said no, that's not the case at all." Similar deals are also in place for other consoles like the PSP, so this is simple another example of Japan's hardware bundling practices...." http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3146296

12-12-2005, 08:44 PM	#17
kakarot133 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Vermont Posts: 314 Trader Feedback: 0	On the front page, it says that only 28% were sold. Thats only about 42,000. Thats units that would've been sold on day one in US and Europe...

12-12-2005, 08:46 PM	#18
Gieese Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Japan Posts: 394 Trader Feedback: 0	Living in JPN, haven't bought the 360, but still, there ain't no rush to buy one. Concerning the prices, have checked several shops, but none are on that price. Street price for the 360 was 38800yen, probably around 350-360US. Have seen several Game Shops, but the price doesn't differ much. Also went to Akihabara (Electronic City in JPN) last night but no. Although there were tons of stocks. __________________ ----------------------------- If translation help is needed, please type in "[B]Translation Help[/B]" or something like that on the Title so I can search through. Need URL or the file itself too. But please don't give me your university graduation essay/projects. E->J or J->E Will try when I can......

12-12-2005, 09:00 PM	#20
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	suddenly the hardware sale is boosted to 40% http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/20...,46690,0,0.html Xbox 360 hardware & Software sales number in the first 2 days (Famitsu) hardware X360 - 62135 Software Ridge Racer 6 - 29891 Perfect Dark Zero 0 - 14897 Need for the Speed - 6842 Total soft/hard = 0.91

12-12-2005, 09:06 PM	#21
comradx Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 213 Trader Feedback: 0	that hard/soft ratio isnt complete tho. still 4 games are missing from the total soft sales.

12-12-2005, 09:12 PM	#22
Ztype Retired Moderator Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,455 Trader Feedback: 0	That's quite hilarious considering the original Xbox sold around 120,000 within the first 2 days. Not surprising considering it had more games at launch, including DOA3. __________________ [CENTER][B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=19945]Review FAQ[/URL][/B] [IMG]http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/193/gfv31uv.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]

12-13-2005, 03:52 AM	#26
OblivionX Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,177 Trader Feedback: 0	360 will do well, when games like dead or alive, blue dragon etc get released. The japanese seem to hate any games that arnt japanese. And why in the hell do they like train simulators and bus driving???! __________________ I Explode Out And The Peace Is No More Bathed In New Light I Cry And Cry - Disconnected

12-13-2005, 04:37 AM	#27
Spark Join Date: May 2005 Location: Pyongyang Posts: 401 Trader Feedback: 0	**** knows, like I said, they like crap, which also explains their fascinations with J-Pop and David Beckham.

12-13-2005, 04:47 AM	#28
Synyster gates Wake up the sleepers. Join Date: Jun 2005 Real First Name: Esteban Location: Dayton, Ohio. Just Played: Need For Speed: Shift Posts: 433 Trader Feedback: 0	who the hell wants to play a bus driving game? i dont want to drive a f*ckin bus, i want to shoot somebody

12-13-2005, 05:11 AM	#29
Spark Join Date: May 2005 Location: Pyongyang Posts: 401 Trader Feedback: 0	I know, and the ****ty bus driving simulations you get over there don't even allow you to miss a scheduled stop, let alone take the vehicle over a cliff in a blaze of glory in typical GTA-style.

12-13-2005, 06:46 AM	#30
Ztype Retired Moderator Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,455 Trader Feedback: 0	That's quite an absurd generalization don't you think? __________________ [CENTER][B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=19945]Review FAQ[/URL][/B] [IMG]http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/193/gfv31uv.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]

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This can't be Good.