TGS 06: Q&A with Takashi Sensui

TOKYO--Takashi Sensui performs double duty as both executive officer of Home & Entertainment and general manager of Microsoft's Xbox division in Japan. We were curious to hear Sensui's take on the prospects for the Xbox 360 in Japan--soon facing additional challenges from Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.

His earlier credentials include a stint as managing director of Internet Capital Group K.K., a subsidiary of the US-based Internet Capital Group Inc., and vice president of Marketing and Alliances at SAP Japan Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of SAP AG. Although Sensui's undergraduate work at Princeton was in aerospace engineering, he went on to earn an MBA at Columbia. His first job at Microsoft was director of marketing for the Xbox division in Japan. It's not as if he isn't prepared for the challenge.

Speaking impeccable English, honed during his long overseas experience, he gave us a broad picture of Microsoft's Japan-side goals and strategies for the Xbox 360.

But first, what about J-pop boy band Tokio? Who thought to sign them up as Xbox 360 mascots?

GameSpot: Let's talk about the "Do, Do, Do" campaign. It was an interesting move to bring on Tokio to promote the console. How did that come about?

Takashi Sensui: Japanese consumers have always had [feelings of] attachment to established brands. They feel very comfortable, very safe to go with proven brands. And Xbox and Xbox 360, being new brands to the market, relatively speaking, [presented] a hurdle for the consumers to even try Xbox 360. So the reason why we chose Tokio was, first of all, they're very close to Japanese consumers. Japanese consumers feel very comfortable digesting their message. And as you may know, the members of Tokio have TV programs where they communicate their experiences [and lifestyle] to the viewers--through their expressions, their reactions--and they do that very well. We wanted to have Tokio experience the Xbox 360 and show their reactions.

The underlying assumption is that users, [or rather,] consumers in Japan are no longer so uniform [and conformist] anymore. People have different lifestyles, people like different things. People choose to take different paths, even to the same destination. So, Tokio has five members, and each member has very distinctive characteristics. We wanted to express that, illustrate that. As users, you don't have to conform to a single product, or you don't have to conform to a single offering, that they should really customize their experiences to their likings.

GS: How do you think your media briefing went earlier this week?

TS: I feel very good. I thought the briefing went very well. Based on the reactions from the audience, I believe we have communicated what we wanted to.

GS: What do you think were your most significant business initiatives announced?

TS: Well, you know, we explained our marketing concept. We introduced our product offering, particularly the new product offering based on the marketing concept and also we showed the games, what is most important for our business. Great games, by the way.

GS: At this week's Sony keynote speech, Ken Kutaragi failed to detail the PlayStation 3's online capabilities. Do you think this indicates their network service won't be ready with it at launch?

TS: I'm not making any comment on that situation--I wasn't at the keynote--but I'm very sure that online is going to be the key factor in the next-generation game.

GS: Your titles by some of the big names like Sakaguchi and Mizuguchi have created a lot of buzz but haven't necessarily translated into sales. Do you think this will hurt the Xbox 360's ability to get exclusives from Japanese developers in the future?

TS: I don't know [about that]. The games created by Sakaguchi-san, Inafune-san from Capcom, and all the other great game creators are yet to come. Towards this holiday, we'll have those games ready and I believe people will enjoy them.

GS: What do you think the prospects for the Wii are, and how will the Xbox 360 compete against the Wii?

TS: I believe that all next-generation consoles have [their own] unique vision and features. So Wii may have its place, PlayStation 3 may have its place; what we're focusing on is creating our own place [as well] with Xbox 360 in this market.

GS: Sony has delayed the launch of the PlayStation 3 and reduced the number of units it will ship to Japan. How will you take advantage of their setbacks?

TS: Well, at the end of the day, we're going to be focusing on what we planned to do, which is to provide a great experience through games, through great games, and through Xbox Live to Japanese users.

GS: How many of the 10 million Xbox 360s will be sold in Japan?

TS: As many as users want.

GS: The image in the West is that online gaming isn't popular in Japan. With Sony and Nintendo both emphasizing the online aspects of their systems. Do you think that focus will help the Xbox 360 strategy?

TS: They are definitely enforcing of what we have been doing for the last four years--providing online service, which includes not just online play, but content downloads, [as well as] providing non-gaming content such as movie trailers, and maybe in the future, music.

GS: How are Xbox Live subscriptions doing in Japan?

TS: Very well. The attach rate to the console is very high. Frankly, it's been higher than we expected. In the past, people may have been hesitant to do online play, but now people are [understanding] that it's not about just playing with strangers, but about playing with your friends over the Net. People are getting that, and that is expanding the Live community here as well.

GS: Managing the Xbox division must be a big challenge for you. What are some of the strategic changes that you made since you've taken over?

TS: Basically, I haven't changed the strategy. Within the marketing [group], on the basis of say, about a year ago, we said it's about hi-def, personalization, and online. I'm just saying that in a different way. "Do Games, Do Choice, Do Live." They're basically based on the same fundamental market concepts. [What] we focused on is getting that message through to the Japanese consumers in words that Japanese people understand, that Japanese people can associate with. And that turned out to be "Do Game, Do Choice, Do Live" and hence the "Do, Do, Do" [theme and song].

GS: And finally, do you have any regrets about the Japanese launch of the Xbox 360 and your role in it?

TS: That's funny! All the people ask me that. Remember, I have been with Microsoft for four and a half years, and from day one I headed the marketing operation here in Japan for Xbox. And until immediately before taking over the entire business, I was [head] of third-party relations as well. So it's not that I'm new to the organization. Everything we've done in the past, I was part of. And as head of marketing, I was responsible for the marketing campaign until I [additionally] became responsible for the business. I don't have any regrets...maybe we could have done better knowing what we know now, but I don't have any regrets. Everything we have done has created the basis for where we are--and basis for the confidence in and potential going forward. So, time will tell.