14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just launched the Xbox One computer entertainment system in Japan, and the company is determined to put in the effort needed to sway the traditionally difficult market.
The Xbox 360 didn't register much success in the Japanese market, in spite of the concerted effort to push the console on Microsoft's part, but not enough, according many gamers, and it now seems that the Xbox One won't be much of a success either.
According to a known industry insider, the Japanese public doesn't seem to be very interested in Microsoft's next-gen system for the time being, with pre-orders for the Xbox One being very, very low.
Furthermore, in spite of the fact that the Xbox One was officially launched in Japan at midnight, with Microsoft even holding a special countdown event, not many people queued up to get their hands on the home console when stores opened.
Launch hype and queues have become an usual occurrence with big hardware launches, so seeing the empty places where normally there would have been excited mobs waiting to get the latest devices is a bad omen for Microsoft.
Kotaku even collected a series of photographs showing various significant retailers and the non-existent queues in several districts. This doesn't mean that nobody bought the console, however, as many customers no doubt did so, but is merely an indication of the lack of enthusiasm for the Xbox One.
No overnight queues and little activity throughout the rest of the launch day are hardly an indication of people exhibiting a more mature and reserved behavior, but instead rather the result of the lack of interest in what Microsoft has to offer.
The Japanese market has traditionally been dominated by PlayStation platforms, and even those struggle to catch the eye of the Japanese gamer, in spite of a much stronger presence of local titles.
The head of Microsoft's Xbox division, Phil Spencer, has already confirmed that the company will not hold a press conference at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, but he has promised that the Xbox One will have a pretty strong floor presence.
The company has also announced that a multitude of local developers are working on projects for the console, including Platinum Games, the creators of Bayonetta.
Japan has been a pretty tough market for both Sony and Microsoft, with neither of their consoles registering the sales numbers recorded in the west, and this time around things don't look to be very different.
Both companies are pushing their hardware backed up by more and more titles tailored to Japanese gamers' tastes, so things might get better in the near future, but a dramatic shift of pace is unlikely.
