Mr. XBox goes to Japan part 1

A lot of people have been bashing the XBox since it came out. I will admit that I too did not have very many favorable things to say about it when the XBox first hit the scene. The machine is huge. As I look at the XBox that is down here at the office it takes up nearly as much space as the VCR. There was no real "killer app" for the XBox. DOA3 was nothing more than a bouncing boobie fest and Halo only had the same 8 enemies and only 4 different levels. You have to spend an extra $30 just to watch dvds. I won''t even go into the controllers and how even with having the largest hands of all the people I know the controller was still too large.

But over time I have decided to re-assess my viewpoint on the XBox. Part of this is due to a book called "Opening the XBox" by Dean Takahashi. The book gave an interesting inside view of all the trials and tribulations the XBox went through from it''s days as just a whimsical idea in the head of a few workers at Microsoft to the grand opening at Times Square in New York. Now I view the XBox as the work of dedicated people who had a vision and tried their hardest to bring it to the world. Even after the XBox managed to get out the door and into the marketplace it continues to face a large mountain to climb. One large part of that mountain is Japan.

Now before I go on I should point out that while I do know a fair amount about Japan, it''s culture and people I am by no means an expert. I''m busy studying other things right now. However my opinions have a pretty solid base to stand on so while I might not be able to write a thesis about Japanese culture I can write a paper or two.

Japan has always been an important market in the video game world. Console games definately rule the market over shadowing computer games. Per capita Japan spends more money on console games than any other country in the world. Nintendo, Sega and Sony were all born in Japan. They have been making video games for a long time and embraced it like no other country in the world. So it makes perfect sence that Microsoft has to focus quite a bit on capturing the Japanese market. The problem though is that in many reguards the Japanese do not WANT American games or consoles. Period. There is a definate mentality that they know better and are better than Americans. As such the "AMERIKA-JIN"s need to recognize their place.

A good example of such a clash came when Microsoft was first trying to gather developers and publishers in Japan. One of the key ideas that the people at Microsoft wanted to make certain happened was that everyone got charged the same royalty. No one is special and everyone is equal in at least that one way. The problem is that most of the developers and publishers wanted a special rate. It wasn''t that they were strapped for cash or anything, it was simply the idea that they wanted to feel like they were special. It is difficult to explain exactly where it comes from but the idea of gifts and compensation for clients is very well known and practiced throughout Japan. This is merely one example in a large number of "faux pas" that each side has commited over the years in reguards to Microsoft and American Businesses in general.

What is the key to overcoming these differences? In the next few weeks I shall be discussing just what must be done both in the specific case of Microsoft and for all companies who wish to deal with Japan.