FFXIII "opens doors" for 360 in Japan

By Robert Purchese Published 17 July, 2008

Microsoft VIP Shane Kim optimistic.

Microsoft Game Studios boss Shane Kim believes snaring Final Fantasy XIII "opens doors" for Xbox 360 in Japan.

The revelation that Square Enix would bring its renowned PlayStation series (ignoring FFXI) to Xbox 360 was the most surprising part of the Microsoft E3 media briefing on Monday.

Final Fantasy XIII will only be released in Europe on Xbox 360 and not in Japan, but Kim is optimistic that the news will make Japanese developers pay more attention to the console.

"The Final Fantasy XIII announcement has some beneficial side-effects," Shane Kim told 1UP.

"The more games of this nature, and of the Devil May Crys and Resident Evils, that we secure on 360 opens doors for us in Japan, and gets developers over there interested in the 360, so it's a step-by-step process."

While sales of Xbox 360 hardware have not taken off in Japan, local development teams and publishers such as Square Enix and Capcom have contributed significant titles to the Xbox 360, in turn helping them reach out to more Western markets.

"Take Capcom for example: they took a chance with us with Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and have had great success, with both of those titles selling over a million units each," added Kim.

"Japan is obviously a very unique market to crack and gain support in, but I think we're making good headway with what we've accomplished on 360 so far, and we'll continue to surprise you."

Microsoft has previously used exclusive titles Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey - both from former Square Enix staff - as ways to gain favour in Japan.

Microsoft is obviously pleased with with its latest signing, then, but Sony US boss Jack Tretton has publicly aired his disappointment over the decision by Square Enix to go multiformat with Final Fantasy XIII.

"I guess disappointed is a clearly an appropriate term. I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favour with third-parties," Tretton told journalists during a round table interview at E3, Gamasutra reports.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • muzzer77 #1 4 years ago

    They just don't like the 360 except it and without FFXlll being released on the machine in Japan they are still going to buy the PS3.

  • The_Inquisitor #2 4 years ago

    Japan is a market only broken into by slow and reliable progress so it is a positive in the long run, I just hope the 360 version is treated with the same care when translated.

  • andywilkie35 #3 4 years ago

    i can't understand why they don't accept the 360 over there. makes me laugh considering the games it has

  • mqblank #4 4 years ago

    "I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favour with third-parties," - Why shouldn't they? Look at the GameCube and how much 3rd party support they had, and they ended up behind the Xbox & PS2 in sales (excluding Japan). Now look at Wii and amount of 3rd party support they have (even though most of it is crap). They are the number one seller worldwide. 3rd party support is essential for any console.

  • Widge #5 4 years ago

    Anything western has a hard time over there I seem to remember... regardless of it being MS hardware, or Western developed PS games.

  • drumbaby #6 4 years ago

    But it's coming out on the PS3 in Japan, FIRST -- which firmly closes the door on Msoft.

    Overly optimistic pillock.

  • Turambar #7 4 years ago

    But where do the doors lead?

  • lennon #8 4 years ago

    There is no doubt MS have made significant progress with 3rd party developers to the point where franchises such as GTA and FF and DMC games are no longer Sony exclusives. Whether the hardware ever succeeds in Japan I would doubt but they can afford to keep chipping away.

  • Moz #9 4 years ago

    Think we just have to wait and see how the port turns out. Though it will almost sertainly have lost Sony some sales, i know a couple of 360 owners who would have caved to buying a PS3 for FFXIII. But on the other hand IF the PS3 version offers the best version of the game then the hardcore FF fans will still fork out for a PS3 if they don't have one.

    EDIT: The question I want answered is, is versus XIII also going to make it the 360? cos if not this could backfire on MS quite badly.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/08 @ 11:52

  • SomaticSense #10 4 years ago

    The bloke is talking PR bollocks.

    It's great that 360 owners get the experience the (hopefully good) new FF game and all, but the fact that it isn't going to be released on the 360 in Japan will be enough to put off other Japanese devs. Anyone who has been following videogames for a decent amount of time knows that the most important market to Japanese devs, is Japan. It's hardly going to inspire more Japanese devs to make games for the console.

    What a crock of shit.

    The only way to get more Japanese devs developing for the console, is to get the 360 selling in Japan. And the only way to get that to happen is to lie to them and market it as a non-American made console.
    Edited by 2 at 17/07/08 @ 11:53

  • chris_ace #11 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Turambar #12 4 years ago

    @Moz

    Versus XIII is still PS3 exclusive.

  • cyacomini #13 4 years ago

    Have any of you guys played Lost Odyssey to any extent?

    I've had a copy for a few months but haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet - still working through Blue Dragon, which is fantastic for those of you looking for a good JRPG.

    If you have never played JRPG's before, Blue Dragon is well worth a punt at £10.

  • Turambar #14 4 years ago

    @cyacomini

    I'm on disc 4 of Lost Odyssey, have been for some time, don't really feel like finishing it. It's just not very good imo, battle system is boring, characters aren't interesting at all, the villain is a complete joke and the storyline is weak. All my opinion, i'm sure others will disagree.

  • des #15 4 years ago

    To copy myself day ago:
    "The biggest megaton at E3 was that Square-Enix(company that gave xbox zero support last gen,PS2 MMO port this gen) is putting main entry from their top franchise on 360.Dont be surprised if you see more and more Japanese developers putting their games on 360,Wii combo and moving away from PS3."

    Actually this has been happen for quite a while if you have watched what Japan devs are doing,but still i dont expect 360 to be "hot" console in Japan.But one thing is for sure,360 will do much better in Japan than xbox.

    Its funny that some people now say that FF is only important in Japan,considering that the majority of its sales are from the West.Also PS3 user base in Japan is laughable comparing to US and EU.

    I expect that FF on PS3 will sell better than MGS4 in Japan,accompanied with 2,3 weeks of sales bump,then just like with MGS4 sales will go to 10k-ish per week.

    Sorry,but HD gaming is dead in Japan,its all about handhelds and Wii now.
    If you dont believe here is this week top ten(media create):
    1. [PS2] Persona 4 (Atlus) - 193,000
    2. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 30,000 / 2,353,000
    3. [NDS] Densetsu no Starfi Taketsu (Nintendo) - 29,000
    4. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 25,000 / 1,560,000
    5. [NDS] Daigasso Band Brothers (Nintendo) - 23,000 / 190,000
    6. [WII] Biohazard Zero (Capcom) - 21,000
    7. [NDS] Derby Stallion DS (Enterbrain) - 20,000 / 206,000
    8. [NDS] Hanayori Dango: Koi Seyo Onago (Konami) - 20,000
    9. [NDS] Gegege no Kitarou: Youkai Daigekisen (Bandai Namco) - 16,000
    10. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) - 16,000 2,277,000

    Edited by 2 at 17/07/08 @ 12:17

  • SteveB #16 4 years ago

    "The only way to get more Japanese devs developing for the console, is to get the 360 selling in Japan."

    Err I think the fact that Capcom, Square, Konami, Namco, Temco etc all heavily support the 360 disproves this point. In fact apart from MGS4 am I right in thinking that the 360 has more Japanese 3rd party exclusives released in the West than the PS3 ?

  • des #17 4 years ago

    Yes

  • crazyhorse174 #18 4 years ago

    @chris_ace:

    Big chunky wired control pad with poor d pad, japanese like small sleek things, part of the reason why handhelds and the wii do so well.

    Chunky? Wired? What are you talking about? Most 360's come with the wireless controller, which is about the same size as the PS3 one.

  • CreepinJesus #19 4 years ago

    "Final Fantasy XIII will only be released in Europe on Xbox 360 and not in Japan"

    I stopped reading after that.

  • cyacomini #20 4 years ago

    @Turambar

    Thanks for that - though if you got all the way to disc 4, it can't be that bad can it?

    I'll get round to it someday!

  • SomaticSense #21 4 years ago

    cyacomini "Have any of you guys played Lost Odyssey to any extent?

    I've had a copy for a few months but haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet - still working through Blue Dragon, which is fantastic for those of you looking for a good JRPG.

    If you have never played JRPG's before, Blue Dragon is well worth a punt at £10.     "

    It's utterly fantastic, especially if you like your FF-style RPG games. It really is FF in all but name, and I found it far better than FF12. I didn't like Blue Dragon at all though.

  • SomaticSense #22 4 years ago

    @ SteveB

    They all developed for the last Xbox as well, so that hasn't changed at all (I think, apart from Square). It's all about getting the smaller Japanese devs to develop for the console, rather than the wealthy established ones who can afford the punt, and who have a huge western consumer base as well to fall back on.

  • Steroyd #23 4 years ago

    FFXII's storyline was bollox it was so blargh I really don't care if I never complete it which for me is the first FF to ever do that to me. Eurogamers 10's are a curse I tell ya every game they've rated 10 has ended up bland to me.

    SE have a lot to prove to me that they're not sucky these days. :(

  • Turambar #24 4 years ago

    @cyacomini

    I guess it's not a bad game really, it's just dull. It doesn't really take that long to get to Disc 4 (around 25 hours iirc) which is where most of the playable content is opened up (side quests etc).

  • chris_ace #25 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • crazyhorse174 #26 4 years ago

    FFXII's storyline was bollox it was so blargh I really don't care if I never complete it which for me is the first FF to ever do that to me. Eurogamers 10's are a curse I tell ya every game they've rated 10 has ended up bland to me.

    SE have a lot to prove to me that they're not sucky these days. :(

    Personally I thought FFXII was fantastic. I thought it was very brave of Square to change one of the fundamental concepts of the game - the combat - so much. I even rate - deep breath - above FFVII as the best one yet. VII was great - fantastic in fact - but taking the rose tinted spectacles off for a minute, it hasn't aged very well.

    So I for one am looking forward to XIII - and even more glad that its coming out on the 360! :)

  • timberwolf #27 4 years ago

    japan is a very small country.

  • chris_ace #28 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • BastoJ #29 4 years ago

    Either way it's good to see MS continue to work on getting into Japan. Hopefully that will have the benefit of more Japanese games (Blue Dragon, Lost Oddyse etc) being released in Europe as well.

  • Gruff #30 4 years ago

    It doesn't open doors and it never will, and thats coming from a 360 owner.

  • njsykora #31 4 years ago

    Errr, didn't the Square Enix guys say at the press conference on Monday that it wasn't coming out on the 360 in Japan?

  • Widge #32 4 years ago

    Its more of a symbolic statement, not to shift 360's per se in Japan via FFXIII, but to show Japanese devs that, hey! look Square are doing a massive game of theirs on our machine, why don't you too?

  • Gruff #33 4 years ago

    @timberwolf "japan is a very small country"


    Japan Population 127 million ranked 10th in the world
    Germany 82 million
    France 64
    UK Population 60 million ranked 22nd in the world

  • Gruff #34 4 years ago

    Good point Widge, Japan has become more global in its outlook to selling games, and if Square feel they can no longer maximize their profit by selling solely for PS then it may make others sit up and take notice.

    This may start a flow of games to the west, but as for selling many more 360's in Japan, i don't think so.

  • Widge #35 4 years ago

    Although that is a shady statistic to pull, considering that FFXII wasn't available on Xbox, so thats an entire demographic of gamebuyer you cannot account for in previous sales. The only thing you can do is generalise what demographic of PS2 owners who have migrated to PS3 will buy in what location.


    edit: that wasn't at you gruff!
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/08 @ 15:03

  • hiddenranbir #36 4 years ago

    If MS wants to tap that market they need to have more tentacles and cliche chars. Seductive means big boobed. Intelligent means having glasses.

    Sorry, I've been reading the char descriptions of that Remnant RPG. We played a game to guess what they'd look like and were not surprised at all when we saw the pics.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #37 4 years ago

    Is this a game for grown ups?

  • Gruff #38 4 years ago

    Is there such a thing as a grown up in this generation, clinging to every last scrap of their youth.

  • chris_ace #39 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • DAN.E.B #40 4 years ago

    i can't understand why they don't accept the 360 over there. makes me laugh considering the games it has



    its not japaneese!

  • WinterSnowblind #41 4 years ago

    I'm not really sure why people keep using Final Fantasy XII as a reason why XIII won't sell on the 360.

    Ignoring the fact XII was released very late in the PS2's life (Same reason why IX was poorly recieved) and the fact it was heavily critisised by fans and reviews? Most people generally consider it to be a bad game. What about the fact that MGS3 also sold very poorly, particularly in Europe. I guess that means MGS4 is going to perform badly as well, right?

  • Skywise #42 4 years ago

    FF XIII might be a real system seller in Japan, possibly even making the PS3 sell better than the Wii for weeks after it's release. I think MS have (rightly) given up on Japan, I'm just glad they are still trying to convince Japanese devs to make games for the 360.

    The Dead Rising director was really expecting much from 360 sales, but it is now rumoured that his next game will go to the Wii.
    Tecmo's Team Ninja has been a huge supporter of the 360 as well, but with the new leadership there I'm not sure it will continue.

    I think the timing of the FF XIII announcement was exacly right.

  • woodnotes #43 4 years ago

    "The Dead Rising director was really expecting much from 360 sales, but it is now rumoured that his next game will go to the Wii."

    The Wii game is a spin-off, the 360 version came out in the console's not-so successful first year and yet still exceeded 1m in sales. There's no doubt that the real sequel will be 360 bound, even if it comes to PS3 too.

  • Sevens #44 4 years ago

    Yeah, you gotta love a monopolistic company which doesn't mind faulty hardware.

  • davisorle #45 4 years ago

    "I guess disappointed is a clearly an appropriate term. I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favour with third-parties,"

    Why is he bitching? He has his "bluRay" right? its future proof... He spent his money the way he thought right.. well the fact he realises he spent them wrong finally and look after his console instead of trying to be a smartass with his BluRay without many great tittles like a PS should have now he takes it up his bum and bitching about it.. Ofc he will be dissapointed.

    FF was the onlly game like ive even admited before i wish i could play on my 360 but still wouldnt be a reason to make me pay so much to Sony and change platform. Well I hope they will enjoy the raping and next gen I'll be around. Hope they've lerned their lesson. Only way to not go down the hill. Cause i dont care if there will be more sales from 360s or PS3s but wtf Im offered from each of them. Im a gamer. not a fun from neither cause really i dont give a shit for MS or Sony. I just care the one who provides me decent games on a decent price than mocking me with his ie BluRay feature and nothing else. FFs go play with BR and install ur game as well with no gain.. Sure thats how fast ur PS3 is with uncompressed data right? Those guys are a joke.

  • cyber_nicco #46 4 years ago

    Many of you failed to read and/or understand the article.

    He clearly states that it is the fact that more (big) Japanese developers are successfully developing on the Xbox that will probably entice more Japanese developers to consider the 360 as a viable, profitable platform. The article is NOT saying that FFXIII is going to increase 360 sales in Japan, but that in the long run this might nudge even more Japanese developers to develop for it which should slowly have a positive impact. Everyone knows the 360 is going start selling well there overnight.

    The Japanese aren't stupid - their just weird. :)

  • Daikon #47 4 years ago

    FFXIII "opens doors" for 360 in Japan
    Microsoft VIP Shane Kim optimistic.

    But it's not coming out on the 360 in Japan is it?
    Can't see how this would open doors in Japan...

    Btw the 360 is not a total flop in Japan, it has an underground niche market.
    PS3 sales in the Land of the Rising Sun are not exactly stellar either.

    As for ignorant morons claiming that the 360 isn't selling that well because it's not Japanese, I guess that's the same reason why Kentucky Fried Chicken, 24 and the iPod aren't popular at all in Japan.
    Oh wait...

  • Skywise #48 4 years ago

    Well I'm convinced that there's some xenophobia/nationalism involved as well. Same with the 360 in the USA, it's the largest market for the 360 partially because it's a local product.

    The 360 has 3 Japanese RPGs already, and while none of them are worth buying imo it's a far better situation than with the original xbox but sales are not much apart.