Dead or Alive 4 to miss Japanese 360 launch

  • By Staff, GameSpot
  • Posted Nov 28, 2005 11:36 am PT

Tecmo's brawler stumbles; company to make last-minute adjustments and have it ready to answer the bell a week later.

The American launch of the Xbox 360 has come and gone, with reports of the console selling out nationwide. Even the delay of the system's only planned launch role-playing and fighting games couldn't slow the sales. Microsoft can only hope for that scenario to repeat itself when the company releases the 360 in Japan December 10.

Earlier this month, From Software announced that its maiden Xbox 360 RPG Enchant Arm would be missing the launch, pushed back until January. Today, Tecmo announced that its fighting game Dead or Alive 4, already delayed from the launch lineup in America, would similarly slip a week in Japan, to December 17. The company cited unexpected last-minute adjustments as the reason for the delay.

But where the American launch was supported by 18 games even after the delays of 2K Games' RPG Oblivion and Dead or Alive 4, the 360 is now going to hit Japanese shelves with just six titles in tow, listed below. In addition to having fewer 360 games to play on their new consoles, Japanese customers will also have fewer original Xbox titles to choose from, thanks to the system's limited backward compatibility in that country. Japanese gamers will only be able to play a dozen Xbox games on their 360s, compared to more than 200 for American 360 owners.

Microsoft has said it is determined to crack the Japanese market this time out, and has enlisted the aid of some highly respected Japanese developers to create games for the system. With none of those projects having reached fruition yet, it will be interesting to see how the 360 fares with its scaled-back launch lineup.

Japan's Xbox 360 Launch Titles:

Every Party
FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
Ridge Racer 6
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Tetris: The Grandmaster Ace

42 Comments

  • 1109

    Posted Dec 1, 2005 3:44 pm PT

    hahaha blainblizz yeah
    ps2's and their jap games arent being sold 10x more than xbox
    [/sarcasm]

    dumb***

  • bdub20791

    Posted Nov 29, 2005 3:42 pm PT

    6 titles? nice.

  • BlazinBlizzls

    Posted Nov 29, 2005 8:47 am PT

    Who cares about the japanese we got ours. let them have there ps3 and there nintendo that gets worse every time they put out a system. just remember the american game market is winning the battle. japanese are long forgotten over sea's.

  • TheTrooperUK

    Posted Nov 29, 2005 6:08 am PT

    Very odd that MS have not pushed for Kameo to be released there as i agree with what the others say.....that would be a good title to add to a Japanese launch.

    Very odd indeed MS....i dont realy know what they are up to....and find it strange that they (MS) are struggling to identify what the Japanese gamers would want as its very obvius to me and all others on this site.

  • MeTaL-HeaD

    Posted Nov 29, 2005 2:45 am PT

    I am Microsoft and I will take over the gaming World CAUSE I CAN...*YEAH RIGHT*!!!

  • AviontheOne

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 9:38 pm PT

    I preordered my 360 in August only to get a call two months later telling me that I would not be on the first shipment.........So you are telling me i am not on first shipment because Microsoft chose to do a worldwide launch........And send my system to Japan.........where it probably won't be bought anyway, because they only have six games ready for launch in Japan.......Sucks to be me!

  • KingJ2002

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 9:31 pm PT

    I think it's safe to say that Microsoft should hold back on the japanese launch till they build a strong lineup and expand the backward compatible list of games. What they are working with now wouldnt attract anyone... regardless of country.

  • Neoyamaneko

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 8:00 pm PT

    Oh...you mean like how the failure in Japan of the original Xbox broke the console's success.

  • shoutcast

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 7:47 pm PT

    Abysmal!

    I am extremely disgruntled with MS JP! Launches in Japan can either make or break a console's success. In this case, things aren't looking bright

    Suxs being an XBOX fan living in Japan.

  • Zharak

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 7:32 pm PT

    Why do Microsoft always manages to shoot itself in the foot in Japan?
    It's almost as if they're doing it on purpose

  • GunslingerMan

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 7:05 pm PT

    Grrreat japanese launch M$ I apploud you ... right ...

  • Matiis

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 6:37 pm PT

    While the launch will probably not do to well, it's quite possible for MS to succeed in Japan once Japanese developers begin releasing games that are interesting to Japanese gamers. That's my take on it anyways...

  • NinjaMeh

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:55 pm PT

    Well, it's not entirely Microsofts fault that the games made for Xbox 360 aren't appealing to Japanese gamers - you can blame that on the developers. What you can blame MS for is rushing the launch and not attracting enough big Japanese developers early enough to have some good titles ready for the launch there.

    But here's another point of view - would you rather DOA4 be buggy and rushed to launch, or be out a week after launch as the best game that Tecmo can make it? Itagaki is apparently talking about it as if it'll be the last fighting game he'll make for a while, so he probably want to make sure it's everything he can make it.

    As for console supply in Japan, it's probably almost better for them to not sell out launch day to whatever hardcore fans there might be there - since the first console didn't have a huge following there, it'd be best to have them available for people who walk in curious, and weren't already so committed to getting one that they'd line up over night. Not to say that it wouldn't be nice to have _more_ people lining up, but that's a matter of increasing actual demand, not just decreasing supply.

  • darklight941

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:40 pm PT

    It's kinda sad how Microsoft is taking its launch of the XBox 360. They all made it seem all ill and everything when they announced it on E3 and then they come up with only six working games? Its bad enough that they postponed Dead or Alive 4, since thats the only game that may appeal to the Japanese, but the lack of different gaming experiences will so kill the launch in Japan. Microsoft tends to go with games that attract the average American gamer, but does nothing that would attract gamers in other countries. Look at the games, they're all racing or shooting games based in wars, I mean will that really attract people in countries that have a better variety of games to choose from even though they may not be as technologically advanced? When it comes down to it, gameplay is what really attracts the people and what really holds a game together, not just the graphics and story line. They should have released more games at the initial launch so that more people (not just Americans) would become more interested in it.

  • Neoyamaneko

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:16 pm PT

    Screw Japan. They don't really matter in the big scheme and they are a fractional factor at best in the best selling games of all time.

  • devilscry

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:10 pm PT

    Well, its obvious (to me) that MS has alot of ground to cover. they can say up and down how much they support Japan and are gunning for the japanese to back its latest incarnation of its console. but you look at the lack of launch games, lack of backwards compatibility...they are getting the short of the stick and they know it. If the PS3 does launch here in the fall (god i hope its not that long) MS would have a year long lead in america giving them a nice big foot in the door, but it still goes to say PS3 will most likely launch in japan this spring. if MS really wanted to ensnare Japan they should have tried alot harder. clearly they didn't.

  • lostn

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 5:05 pm PT

    LOL, with a lineup like that, I don't expect too many japanese gamers to be lining up overnight to buy it.

    I don't anticipate any shortages in Japan. They should have taken some of those japanese units and allocated them to the US launch instead.

  • cmontyx49

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 4:41 pm PT

    There is a better chance that the Japanease will start buying full size chevy trucks. I think it will do better than the xbox, but it won't touch the ps3 or rev..

  • Jubei_Hikari

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 4:25 pm PT

    sucks for microsoft....I'm think that there will probably not be a Xbox 720 at all....or at least not in japan. Unless they merge with nintendo and make a Xcube...lol

  • Suffere

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 4:09 pm PT

    The xbox 360 will fail horribliy in Japan.

  • rsjet

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 4:04 pm PT

    I don't understand 2 things.

    1st...Why doesn't Microsoft release all their US 360 games in Japan (or at least the ones Japanese might like such as Kameo, COD2, Condemned, King Kong, NBA 2k6, etc.) ? ....What is keeping MS from releasing these games there as well? Is it a huge deal to replace English text/voice with Japanese?

    2nd...Why weren't all the US games that were made backward compatible also backward compatible with Japanese systems? Isn't the work already done for these games?

    If I was a Japanese consumer that measly 6 title line up would not interest me at all, yet 18 titles with different genres is a whole different story! What's going on here!

  • gamerTag-shank

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:37 pm PT

    Backwards compatiblity in japan is a non-issue as no one bothered to play xbox games to begin with. The launch line up is a little sad, but is hardly the only (or even the most important) factor in determining long term success in the region. The key factor will be the support of Japanese game developers.

  • Sam_Kelly

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:15 pm PT

    Oh my! Just six games!? That's a hell of a line up if you wish to penetrate the Jap market. A tickle, I say. Maybe that's why I'm laughing so hard!!!!!

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 3:12 pm PT

    MS has failed AGAIN! I can't believe they are not releasing Kameo in Japan since day one. That's probably the most attractive XBox 360 launch game for the Japanese market.

  • timothyt

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:55 pm PT

    They really should have had Kameo ready as a JP launch title. It's very Zelda-like (one of the highest complements I can give) and the graphics are an order of magnitude better than any other 3D RPG (if you can put it into that genre).

    I'll be surprised if the Japanese market cracks open at all to the 360, but I have to applaud MS for trying. They just seem to be missing the boat on what Japanese gamers want. It's simple: RPGs, racing games, party games and more RPGs. Any other titles will fail miserably.

  • KakarotTheMonky

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:31 pm PT

    Didn't the PS2 debut in the US with less than 10 titles also? OMG MUST BUY FANTAVISION! /faint

  • Paradosis

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:26 pm PT

    I agree with everything you say Nexus_Omega, except the last sentence in your post. If quality always won, then AOL, Microsoft, EA Games, and many other companies would have been bankrupt and out of business long ago! Instead, they hang on like a tic. If I would have turned in software in *Vo-tech* Computer classes like they turn out for mass consumption (at $30 a pop or more), I would have gotten a failing grade for sure.

  • Lefty2k3

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:21 pm PT

    PUSH THE JAPANESE LAUNCH BACK M$!!!

    PUSH IT BACK OR YOUR $#(*$&#*(!!

  • ranger_waha

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:13 pm PT

    That's too bad, I can only say I'm glad not to be japanese...

  • BIGDeVriendt

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:03 pm PT

    HAHAHAHAHAHA, OUCH! that has to really hurt them. now they are pry only going to see 20 systems. japan just LOOOOOVES xbox.

  • yboucher

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 1:01 pm PT

    That's what happens when you wanna do things too fast... you mess up. You ask me, my esteem for the 360 has actually LOWERED since the launch. I'm now looking at a MINIMUM of a year before i even consider buying one. Ideally, I'll be passing it altogether, whereas my system of choice this generation was actually the original 'box.

  • ghostadv

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:49 pm PT

    With li'l launch titles in Japan, I don't see the 360 doing much better in Japan than the original xbox. MS has really effed up their release.

  • Kempatsu_basic

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:44 pm PT

    you know this whole launch thing is completely horrid. everything microsoft said wasnt going to happen did. they are not winning the japanese with limited backwards compatibility or this horrificly pathetic 6 titles for launch. how pathetic pathetic pathetic.

  • bryehngeocef

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:32 pm PT

    Well, I guess it's another Japanese failure for the 'box.

    Ridge Racer is the only one of those titles that .jp gamers would actually buy a system for.

  • 48

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:31 pm PT

    I feel sorry for the 360. The launch will have only 6 games, I mean thats simple going to the war with out wepons.!!!

  • deleteuser

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:30 pm PT

    Less support for the 360 in Japan means more support for PS3 in Japan meaning more Japanese developed games for the US PS3 systems. Also, since the 360 doesn't pose a threat to the PS3 in Japan, Sony should launch the PS3 first in the US and later in Japan.

  • HitmanAgent47

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:19 pm PT

    Microsoft may break some ground, but I highly doubt it will be that much compared to the X-Box. This is pretty sad, but what can you do? Sony and Nintendo will naturally pick up the slack as they make games both regions enjoy playing.

  • Nexus_Omega

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:15 pm PT

    Xbox 360's in short supply in the US. Launch titles being pushed back. Very limited backward campatibility along with only Six launch titles in Japan. Seems obvious Microsoft put out a product half ready. Its not always best to be first out. Look at Sega with the Sega CD and 32x. Yeah they were first as the next generatiuon counsols at thier time but where is Sega now? I hope that doesn't happen with Microsoft, quality always wins in the end.

  • caesarbites

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:12 pm PT

    Well, American console, they don't want you in Japan. Might as well just massively distribute yourself here and forget about them. We love you. They don't. Get over it and move on.
    I mean, were you really expecting to go over there and outsell Sony and Nintendo?? Well, if that's the case, you got your hopes up for nothing, and you're too careless with your emotions.
    Don't worry, though, 360, I'll play you every day and take care of you. Isn't it obvious you're my only one? Just yesterday I dusted you off THREE TIMES with a dry rag before you pleasured me with Geometry Wars. Our relationship is great, and it's only getting better.

  • yboucher

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:07 pm PT

    Indeed, this launch lineup is SAD... If the result of Microsoft saying that they're working hard to take the Japanese market is this pitiful launch line-up with 2/3 American games, then I just can't give any credibility to that discourse.

  • superkoolstud

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 12:02 pm PT

    Lets see out of all 6 of those games I forsee only Ridge Racer 6 being the game of choice fo japanese games. PDZ will not sell that well in japan for the simple fact that US Prefers FPS and Japan Prefers RPG, however racing games our beloved by both.

  • veratronator

    Posted Nov 28, 2005 11:57 am PT

    1 more reason why the 360 will fail in japan japanese dont care about a xbox they want playstation and nintendo and to only have like 6 games at launch microsoft is just shooting themselves in the foot.

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