http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-13-why-xbox-failed-in-japan
Before launching the Xbox Microsoft met with publishers to try to get third-party support for the console in the US, in the UK and in Japan. Meetings were arranged. Discussions were had. Microsoft talked the talk. Publishers signed up, or they didn't.
In Japan these meetings were fraught with complexity. So popular was the first PlayStation that Sony enjoyed a vice-like grip over the hearts and minds of Japanese publishers. They were afraid to alienate Sony by supporting Microsoft. In some cases, they were even afraid to be seen to support Microsoft.
“I remember going to a Sony party at E3,” Bachus says. “They had every one of the major Japanese game publishers who we'd spent a lot of time with in Japan. I ran into one of these guys, who was standing with Ken Kutaragi. At first he was like, 'hey!' and his face lit up. And then he realised he was standing next to Kutaragi. 'Oh, oh, I'm sorry, do I know you?' He pretended he didn't because he didn't want to alienate Sony.”
The cultural divide between east and west that caused Microsoft so many problems manifested itself in meetings. Sometimes, these meetings went well. Microsoft had a relatively easy time securing Tecmo's Dead or Alive 3 as an Xbox exclusive launch title because of Blackley's close relationship with series creator Tomonobu Itagaki, Later, in 2004, Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden released exclusively on Xbox.
“I remember meeting with them and they were saying, 'well, I guess you're here to ask for Dead of Alive, because everybody comes and wants to know what it would take for us to move Dead or Alive over.'” Bachus says. “I said, 'actually, no. I've read you're thinking about doing Ninja Gaiden, which was one of the first games I ever bought, and I'd love to see that on Xbox and I'd love to build a franchise around the association between Ninja Gaiden and Xbox.
“My candour and the fact we weren't just looking to go after the crown jewels right away, that we were looking to build a relationship with them, surprised them in a positive way. They seemed to embrace a relationship with Microsoft in a more receptive way than some of the others who were looking at it from more of a commercial standpoint.”
Doing business in Japan is not the same as doing business in the US, and the Xbox team learnt the hard way. In the US businessmen meet, discuss a contract, terms, sign and then get to work. In Japan business is done based on the strength of a relationship, cultivated in the many restaurants and karaoke bars that litter Tokyo and other business centres. The Japanese want to get a sense of who they're dealing with before they sign on the bottom line.
Many meetings and dinners later, a meeting in the US at E3 2003 was arranged. Microsoft and Square executives sat down to discuss Final Fantasy 11. From the off it was a disaster. “I had gone through a lot of work to set up this meeting,” Fries says. “I just sat there and watched it fall apart. There was a whole bunch of American attitude to the meeting, and the Japanese did not appreciate it.
“It was like watching a train wreck. It was like watching all this work I had done just fall apart.”
Bachus puts Square's lack of support for the Xbox down to a “self-reflecting problem”. “Square decided that with Final Fantasy it had been a good strategy to focus exclusively on one platform. You didn't see Final Fantasy on Nintendo, Sega and Sony. They decided it was going to be Nintendo and then they decided it was going to be Sony.
Before launching the Xbox Microsoft met with publishers to try to get third-party support for the console in the US, in the UK and in Japan. Meetings were arranged. Discussions were had. Microsoft talked the talk. Publishers signed up, or they didn't.
In Japan these meetings were fraught with complexity. So popular was the first PlayStation that Sony enjoyed a vice-like grip over the hearts and minds of Japanese publishers. They were afraid to alienate Sony by supporting Microsoft. In some cases, they were even afraid to be seen to support Microsoft.
“I remember going to a Sony party at E3,” Bachus says. “They had every one of the major Japanese game publishers who we'd spent a lot of time with in Japan. I ran into one of these guys, who was standing with Ken Kutaragi. At first he was like, 'hey!' and his face lit up. And then he realised he was standing next to Kutaragi. 'Oh, oh, I'm sorry, do I know you?' He pretended he didn't because he didn't want to alienate Sony.”
The cultural divide between east and west that caused Microsoft so many problems manifested itself in meetings. Sometimes, these meetings went well. Microsoft had a relatively easy time securing Tecmo's Dead or Alive 3 as an Xbox exclusive launch title because of Blackley's close relationship with series creator Tomonobu Itagaki, Later, in 2004, Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden released exclusively on Xbox.
“I remember meeting with them and they were saying, 'well, I guess you're here to ask for Dead of Alive, because everybody comes and wants to know what it would take for us to move Dead or Alive over.'” Bachus says. “I said, 'actually, no. I've read you're thinking about doing Ninja Gaiden, which was one of the first games I ever bought, and I'd love to see that on Xbox and I'd love to build a franchise around the association between Ninja Gaiden and Xbox.
“My candour and the fact we weren't just looking to go after the crown jewels right away, that we were looking to build a relationship with them, surprised them in a positive way. They seemed to embrace a relationship with Microsoft in a more receptive way than some of the others who were looking at it from more of a commercial standpoint.”
Doing business in Japan is not the same as doing business in the US, and the Xbox team learnt the hard way. In the US businessmen meet, discuss a contract, terms, sign and then get to work. In Japan business is done based on the strength of a relationship, cultivated in the many restaurants and karaoke bars that litter Tokyo and other business centres. The Japanese want to get a sense of who they're dealing with before they sign on the bottom line.
Many meetings and dinners later, a meeting in the US at E3 2003 was arranged. Microsoft and Square executives sat down to discuss Final Fantasy 11. From the off it was a disaster. “I had gone through a lot of work to set up this meeting,” Fries says. “I just sat there and watched it fall apart. There was a whole bunch of American attitude to the meeting, and the Japanese did not appreciate it.
“It was like watching a train wreck. It was like watching all this work I had done just fall apart.”
Bachus puts Square's lack of support for the Xbox down to a “self-reflecting problem”. “Square decided that with Final Fantasy it had been a good strategy to focus exclusively on one platform. You didn't see Final Fantasy on Nintendo, Sega and Sony. They decided it was going to be Nintendo and then they decided it was going to be Sony.
