Dynasty Warriors 8 director: Xbox One needs simultaneous Japan launch to be successful

Dynasty Warriors 8 director Atsushi Miyauchi has said that Microsoft needs to launch the Xbox One in Japan at the same time as its North American release if the company wants to be successful in the region.

According to a report by Polygon during this weekend's inaugural PAX Australia event, Miyauchi believes that releasing both devices at the same time will make a big difference. "Looking at the recent announcements about the Xbox One--just looking at the numbers, the specs, and about what kind of things the Xbox One can do with its CPU--the gap between the PS4 and Xbox One, in terms of functionality, may not be that different. So, if the Xbox One comes to TGS and doesn't have a delayed release in Japan, Microsoft'll have a good chance [in the region]."

He also added that the reason why Microsoft's Xbox 360 console was so unsuccessful in Japan was because of the brand loyalty established by Sony and the PlayStation 2 console. "The PS2 was great, and they were used to it, so a lot of consumers just updated to the PS3," he said. "For example, if they have an iPhone and they like it, they'll probably just get the next one. Whereas, in the West, some may have an iPhone, but if the next Galaxy comes out, and it has more features, they'll get what has the better specs."

Miyauchi also added that Japanese game developers are still unsure as to what the Xbox One and PS4 can offer them, despite companies such as Konami and Square Enix showcasing what their new game engines can do on the next-generation hardware.

"Not a lot of information has come domestically to the Japanese game developers. So I think at this point now, we really don't have that much information on that until they actually make an official presentation to us; then they'll understand what they will be able to do. It seems a little bit prohibited, but maybe they are all waiting for Tokyo Game Show to share their plans with us," he said.

The Xbox One will be released in Japan in early 2014. The system is due to launch in North America in November this year.