From a sellout at the Shibuya Tsutaya Shopping Centre Xbox 360 launch party to stacks of unwanted systems piled up behind store counters, anecdotal evidence of the success or failure of Microsoft's latest attempt to get a foothold in Japan was everywhere this weekend. Today some actual numbers are trickling in.
Famitsu publisher Enterbrain has released Xbox 360 sales figures gathered by its internal research firm over the system's first two days of release. According to the report's findings, sales of Microsoft's new console have been "slightly slow" so far.
Of an estimated 159,000 units shipped to retail, Enterbrain reports that 62,135 of them were sold to customers Saturday and Sunday. However, perhaps most surprising is that Enterbrain's research found a game-to-system tie ratio of only .91, meaning that a number of people bought the system with no game at all. These numbers are by no means final, however. Another report by Media Create cited only 41,817 units being sold in the system's first two days.
According to Enterbrain, the best-selling 360 game of the weekend was Namco's Ridge Racer 6, which sold 29,891 copies. The runners-up were lagging far behind, however -- Perfect Dark Zero came in second with 14,897 games sold, and Need for Speed Most Wanted took third place with 6,842 moved out the door.
Enterbrain cautions that the success of the 360 launch cannot be judged by these numbers alone, as key games developed with the Japanese market in mind, such as Dead or Alive 4 and Enchant Arm, have been delayed to later in the system's three-month "launch window." Dead or Alive 4 in particular could spur system sales; the Xbox-exclusive Dead or Alive 3 sold 217,149 units.
Comparing the 360's numbers with those of the original Xbox's 2002 launch in Japan, the 360 appears to be lagging a bit behind. In its first weekend, the Xbox reportedly sold 123,929 systems. While that's almost double the 360's numbers, that figure includes an extra day of sales; the Xbox launched on a Friday, while the 360 came out on a Saturday. Of more relevance is the tie ratio. The original Xbox managed to sell 1.45 games per Xbox console.
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ownyzall
12/01/2006 08:02 AM
well the xbox 360 sucks compered to the ps3 and japan always buys the ps series so game over mr gates......
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jesus
12/01/2006 08:10 AM
yeah of course...... worse grafix,less controlers.they even copied the ps2s looks which isnt a bad thing but theve crossed it with an xbox so i looks as chuncky a ever.....
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Tester
18/08/2006 02:15 PM
Microsoft is about as honest as Enron is about projected earnings. Microsoft says somethings is selling well and people will line up to buy it. The original numbers of XBOX in 2002 where exagerated. The smart tech-kids do not get sucked in like corporate america does. Microsoft might want to be careful when these kids become future corporate america...
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Simon Richardson
03/01/2007 08:40 PM
The PS3 has already overtaken the Xbox 360 in japan but this was expected. However the US have PS3's on every shop shelf that have remained unsold over Christmas, now that is a bad sign! Wheras the 360 continued to sell an additional 2m consoles in the US. Now the WII overtook them both with sales this Christmas but it does look as though it is a bit of a gimic console so will this last? Don't forget.. at the end of the day its down to the games and the gaming experience. I have never followed or praised any one particular console and until recent I actually owned a PS2 / Xbox 360 / Gamecube and PC but I have cut this down to just the 360 primarily because there are more games available for this platform and the console is small and well constructed, plus the fact that Microsoft are getting exclusive rights to a large number of games that I prefer that decides it for me. I might buy a PS3 in time but the fact that Sony are forcing people to buy a Blueray drive is unfair and im not willing to pay for it. If they drop the price to $400 or less then I might be interested.
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