Microsoft has sold just over two million consoles during its lifetime in Japan, according to a new report in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, and spotted by VGC. The original Xbox launched on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and in the twenty years since, a total of 2,345,975 units have been sold, the vast majority of which were Xbox 360s. The console breakdown is as follows:

• Xbox – 472,992
• Xbox 360 – 1,616,128
• Xbox One – 114,831
• Xbox Series X/S – 142,024

The Xbox Series X|S is off to a good start, already beating out its predecessor in just 15 months. The Series X|S is also the first Xbox console to launch in Japan at the same time as the rest of the world, and Xbox head Phil Spencer has said that he plans to improve Xbox's place in Japan this generation. Speaking to GamerTag Radio in February 2020, Spencer said "I don’t know if we’re winning in Japan any time soon, but the position that we have in Japan today from a platform isn’t acceptable to me," before getting into more specific plans for this generation. “We’re going to do a much better job with this next, upcoming launch of not waiting ten months to launch in Japan like we did last time. We’re going to make sure our services like Game Pass, xCloud and stuff are there so people will have access to it.” Game Pass was launched in Japan in April 2020, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with Game Pass Ultimate made it to Japan last September.

The report also revealed the top five best-selling games in Japan, with Dead or Alive 3 on the original Xbox topping the list with 271,149 units sold, meaning 46% of original Xbox owners in Japan bought the game.

• Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox) – 271,149
• Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (Xbox 360) – 208,521
• Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360) – 204,305
• Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) – 203,740
• The Last Remnant (Xbox 360) – 154,493

Source

 

[Chary]

That's pretty pathetic. I love how they just waited 10 months to launch the One--not even Microsoft could fool themselves into thinking they had a chance.

 

[such]

That's a BIG jump. Or fall, I suppose.

I'm not surprised at the number, but I expected it to be more evenly distributed.

 

[Marc_LFD]

That's shocking.

Microsoft should have done a deal with Sega to make a hybrid Sega Xbox console. It'd probably sell a lot better as it'd be Japanese.

Edit: I'd hope DoA 1-4 would get ported to modern consoles as they're either exclusive to Xbox (DoA3 & 4) or stuck on old gen (DoA1 and 2).

 

[rantex92]

That's shocking.

Microsoft should have done a deal with Sega to make a hybrid Sega Xbox console. It'd probably sell a lot better as it'd be Japanese.

Didnt that was the case with the dreamcast 2 ? iirc microsoft helped sega with some chips for the dreamcast and then both started a partnership to work on the dreamcast 2 but as we all know the history dreamcast failed and sega pulled out of the console market and microsoft started their work on the directx box wich became then the og xbox

 

[64bitmodels]

xbox truly is just a murican console

 

[HarveyHouston]

Compared to that of PlayStation:

• PlayStation (Original) - 19,411,000 units
• PlayStation 2 - 24,420,000 units
• PlayStation 3 - 10,469,971 units
• PlayStation 4 - 9,395,048 units
• PlayStation 5 - 1,386,078 units (so far)

Nintendo has done better with their consoles in Japan, as have several other companies (all Japan-based by the way). Even the DreamCast, an abysmal failure for SEGA, sold better in Japan than the Xbox 360, possibly Microsoft's best-selling console ever. Let's face it - Xbox is WAAAAAY overrated.

Source: Wikipedia.

 

[64bitmodels]

DreamCast, an abysmal failure for SEGA, sold better in Japan than the Xbox 360, possibly Microsoft's best-selling console ever.

Funny since a lot of dreamcast games got ported to the 360
same thing for the saturn- sold terribly in america, yet sold pretty decently in japan
and the PSVita as well
Xbox and japan were just never meant to be.... or any country besides america. We seem to really like the xbox here

 

[Marc_LFD]

xbox truly is just a murican console

If Xbox was owned by a different company they'd have quit the console market. That said, Xbox consoles are superb.

 

[64bitmodels]

this is the same fucking console brand heavily associated with doritos, mountain dew and MLG.
Is it any wonder they sell fucking awfully in Japan?

 

[HarveyHouston]

Xbox and japan were just never meant to be.... or any country besides america. We seem to really like the xbox here

Yet even Japan consoles sold better in the United States than the Xbox series. Also, Microsoft has pretty much made Xbox useless since you can play many of the major Xbox titles on Windows now (except for games that require Xbox-specific features, like Rock Band 4... *sigh!*).

 

[Hayato213]

Xbox One – 114,831 Units vs PlayStation 4 - 9,395,048 units

Man that really under sale.

 

[hooky1992]

Didnt that was the case with the dreamcast 2 ? iirc microsoft helped sega with some chips for the dreamcast and then both started a partnership to work on the dreamcast 2 but as we all know the history dreamcast failed and sega pulled out of the console market and microsoft started their work on the directx box wich became then the og xbox

Yes I heard that too, remember the Dreamcast operating system was a version of Windows : https://segaretro.org/Windows_CE

Apparently the original Xbox was supposed to be backwards compatible with Dreamcast games also !

 

[64bitmodels]

Yet even Japan consoles sold better in the United States than the Xbox series.

makes you think
also, PS5 is american seeing as how playstation moved their headquarters to cali not too far back

 

[64bitmodels]

Xbox One – 114,831 Units vs PlayStation 4 - 9,395,048 units

Man that really under sale.

thats what happens when you tell people they cant trade used games

 

[64bitmodels]

Also, Microsoft has pretty much made Xbox useless since you can play many of the major Xbox titles on Windows now (except for games that require Xbox-specific features, like Rock Band 4... *sigh!*).

true, but i don't think anyone wants to go through the hassle of trying to find a decently priced GPU to play said Xbox titles on when the series S is right there at MSRP
(also, just play clone hero you nerd )

 

[nikeymikey]

Xbox has never sold in well in Japan and most likely never will. Japanese people have a much bigger sense of loyalty to home grown companies than us in the west do.

Those of you quoting the sales numbers of Playstation console, Imagine if we had that same loyalty in the west, how many consoles do you think Sony would of sold then? Unless MS can get a big Japanese studio under its wing then i don't see the market changing for them in Japan ever.


Personally i haven't taken sides for years in the "Pointless Fanboy Console Wars" and own every Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo console ever released (pretty much all the others too) as i see the benefits and merits that each system has.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Yet even Japan consoles sold better in the United States than the Xbox series. Also, Microsoft has pretty much made Xbox useless since you can play many of the major Xbox titles on Windows now (except for games that require Xbox-specific features, like Rock Band 4... *sigh!*).

Not necessarily.

Consoles are to plug and play (now, not that simple anymore) so playing games on it is the objective.

Sony has finally started releasing their exclusives on PC, but that doesn't mean it devalues PS consoles, they're there for console gamers (which is PlayStation's main target audience).

Nintendo has somewhat released their exclusives although in China only so the rest of the world doesn't have access to.

 

[godreborn]

allow me to play devil's advocate for a second: I think rrod on the 360 really damaged people's confidence in xbox consoles, but to be fair, ylod is just as prevalent with phat ps3s. however, rrod is what people remember. I never owned an xbox one, but I own a series x, and I can tell you it doesn't even get warm. I can't tell you how hot the ps5 gets, it's almost silent quiet. however, the ps4 would get even hotter than the ps3, so it's not just xbox with heating issues. you can hear the pop noises on the ps5 when the mobo flexes from heat, but you hear nothing from the series x.

 

[64bitmodels]

Unless MS can get a big Japanese studio under its wing then i don't see the market changing for them in Japan ever.

and this is exactly why i want them to buy out sega so bad
also, all yakuza games being on gamepass would be based