Topic: The XBox 360 in Japan, the DS Lite, and the Japanese concept of "Kaizen:" improvement, being the best it can be

[Kairon]

I just read this very interesting letter to the editor of Gamasutra talking about the XBox 360 in Japan, and related issues. Very nice read!

The author explains the Japanese concept of "Kaizen:"

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The search for the perfect product is something that has driven the Japanese market since many years. “Kaizen” or “change to the better” is the most prevalent market strategy in which a product's greatest competitor is itself, in essence. Instead of focusing on the competitors newest features and how to top them with a new product as much, it is common, necessary, and needed that a product always try to be the best it can be. If that demand is not met: New version!

On the DS Lite, the author illuminates a little bit about the mindset behind Nintendo releasing the form-factor upgrade:

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One take the large success of the DS-lite. Did it add significant, ground breaking new technology? No. What it did was solve the main complaints people had with the console: Firstly, it is too bulky, and secondly, the screen backlight would only be on or off, thus not adjustable to suit lighting conditions. Instead of going with a western view and saying: “Deal with it for now, we'll fix it next gen,” the company feels for the consumer(be that genuine or for profit) and releases an upgraded, improved, and “changed to the better” version.

And then an analysis of the XBox 360's Japanese form factor issues:

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This is until the happy Japanese gamer who just bought a 360 decides to actually take it out of the box and set it up, thus revealing that the area around his thin plasma TV simply does not have enough space to fit the mega-size AC adapter. The setup inclusive AC does not fit in with the Japanese aesthetic of smallness that comes with limited apartment size, nor does the gigantic cable contribute to the preferred standard of 'neatness' that is so deeply burnt into the hearts of Japanese society. This may not be a problem in western areas where you generally have plenty of room for cable work behind, next to or under the TV set..

However, with the generally very limited shelf and storage space available it becomes evident why the flat screen TV is so popular over there: not only the aesthetics, but it also makes the very most use out of the very limited space that it occupies.
Smaller is better and that includes components; the design reflects the aforementioned lack of attention to detail, and as such, in light of its competitors is not truly “Kaizen”.

And the XBox 360's games library issues:

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There are generally two types of larger budget games out for the 360 at the moment, "Extremely Graphically intense, 360 ultimate power visuals, decent gameplay and proportionally few hours of gameplay, which is generally based mainly on unlockables and replay with little to no novelty added on subsequent plays". And the more classic type: "Graphically not quite up to far with the 360's capability, many gameplay hours, in depth with added sense of novelty and growth, that usually hold footing against longer gameplay hours and don't need to rely on the novelty of the graphics".

Now see, while both types of games will generally do at least okay, if not great in the western markets, they have an irrevocable and stinging flaw: Half-Body.
A game that can only deliver one half of what gaming on the 360 could have to offer cannot and will not succeed in Japan. There is a chance, however, only with a high degree of gameplay related or concept related (non graphical) novelty.

This is nearly impossible to achieve in Japan for Western studios because the low budget commercial and doujin(non professional)-game markets are filling the niche and novelty sector with an unstoppable force. Novelty-pure built upon decades of novelty games spawn daring yet fun titles that publishers in the us would never imagine to touch, regardless of their success overseas (for example: the largest part of the immensely well selling 'simple 2000 series' or doujin-games like 'Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni', that even spawned its own commercial animation.)

In addition a 360 game will have a hard time competing against full experiences like Final Fantasy XII, Devil May Cry 3 or any other game that tries the best it can be and pushes the borders of its medium.

Very salubrious.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Nephilim]

was a good read til the final line

"In addition a 360 game will have a hard time competing against full experiences like Final Fantasy XII, Devil May Cry 3 or any other game that tries the best it can be and pushes the borders of its medium."

360 has got a few exclusive japanese rpg's, and tenchu series (on 360) compares to devil might cry
the view he took is very sony fanboi'ish

[Kairon]

I can only assume that the author was speaking about the X360 software breadth in general, and that the exception proves the rule.

Sony Fanboy huh? He sounded like a Nintendo fanboy to me!

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[IceCold]

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One take the large success of the DS-lite. Did it add significant, ground breaking new technology? No. What it did was solve the main complaints people had with the console: Firstly, it is too bulky, and secondly, the screen backlight would only be on or off, thus not adjustable to suit lighting conditions. Instead of going with a western view and saying: “Deal with it for now, we'll fix it next gen,” the company feels for the consumer(be that genuine or for profit) and releases an upgraded, improved, and “changed to the better” version.

I disagree with this. Before the DS Lite, the DS was already doing spectacularly. The DSL just continued this trend in Japan, so what he says isn't true. Also, the DS didn't have any defects or anything before the DSL came out. The changes were mainly aesthetic, with it becoming brighter and ligher.

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
Also, the DS didn't have any defects or anything before the DSL came out. The changes were mainly aesthetic, with it becoming brighter and ligher.

I'm sure that in Japan, those WERE defects. This is Kaizen we're talking about, the Japanese willingness to buy expensive new products that make incremental improvements over previous models... but apparently, only as long as those incremental improvements exist. The X360 did NOT meet the requirements of Kaizen, apparently, while the DSLite did.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[couchmonkey]

I don't know anything about Kaizen, but I do know my old DS' light is not bright enough to play outside on a sunny day, and that bugs me.  Not enough to buy a Lite, but enough to consider it when the price is lower.  I'd call it a genuine "defect"  It's also slightly on the bulky side, though I don't know if that's really a "defect" in my book.

Edit: I read over the whole letter.  While much of it is interesting, I feel he kind of wandered around the point of why Xbox 360 games aren't selling.  He kind of gets to it finally when he says it's hard for American publishers to achieve the type of game the Japanese want to play.  Plain and simple, I don't think Japanese gamers are that interested in western games, and that's what the Xbox mainly has.  Even the Japanese-developed games are aimed more at the American audience (see that new zombies-in-a-shopping-mall game from Capcom, or the Auto Combat game from Sega).  It's not impossible for western games to appeal to the Japanese, I've heard that the Banjo Kazooie games were pretty popular there, but it's rare (ha ha ha).

Microsoft has tried to counteract this with a couple of Japanese RPGs, but to the best of my knowledge only one of those has been released so far, and none of them are big-name franchises.  It may be too little, too late.

His comments on hardware design were pretty interesting, although it's also interesting to note that Microsoft actually seems to be embracing "Kaizen" more than Sony.  Microsoft is setting out to improve on the Live service, one of it's previous strengths, and it also created the external harddrive.  The author says the 360 is still not small enough, but there's no denying that it's smaller than before, so MS is dealing with the problems.

Sony, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be working to improve much on the PS3, and what they are improving seems to be stolen from competitors, rather than improved naturally by Sony.  Online from Microsoft and motion control from Nintendo.  Perhaps Blu-Ray or the Cel processor will turn out to be big improvements, but so far I don't see how either enhances gaming at all.  If I'm getting the concept of Kaizen, Sony is doing a horrible job of it.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Microsoft is still phayl in Japan.

They can't "deal with the problems" while they're still marketing the same loser 360 model since launch.

[Ceric]

For the Record I think the original DS is plenty small.  I can carry it around in my normal Jean pocket.

[Mario]

Too bad the DS Lite has worse buttons.

[Galford]

All I have to say is WTF?  That article does bring up some interesting points, but doesn't really explain why the 360 isn't selling.

Take the simple games for example, there is a reason their around $9.99.  They are ultra low budget games that people buy when they can't afford other games.  The simple series does have some good things in it, but he kinda "simplifies" that point a little bit.

Doujin games???  While some doujin games haved gaines commericial succes, most flounder in obscurity.  Known only to the niche that follows whatever source material that doujin game is based upon.  A lot of doujin games are on the PC and tend to be h-game material.  Also more then one doujin game has been killed when someone enforced their copyright.  Doujin games on consoles aren't really as provalent as the article suggests.

The line about FF12 and DMC4 is bull#$#&.  Both of those games are possible on 360.  FF12 might have some issues with the hours of CGI it will have, but that would be it.

[Ceric]

Meaning the 360 version will be better because Square will no longer of the space for move... CGI... Move... CGI... Fight... Long CGI...move.. CGI... Open menu... CGI...

[denjet78]

The Japanese won't accept the 360 because it's made by an American company. You can pretend all you want and bring up ancient rituals like "Kaizen" but the truth lies in the manufacturer: American made products, in regards to electronics and automobiles, are all but shunned in Japan. The Japanese have a very strong superiority complex in that regard. They think that no one can do better than them. And even though I'm a Nintendo fan first and foremost, I don't agree with that. Why do I say that? Because the PS and XBox brands are almost identical in every respect and they seem to sell rather well in every region, except Japan where XBox simply doesn't exist. People really should be asking why that is. And I'll tell you right now that it isn't because of "Kaizen".

[KDR_11k]

This does not explain the PS2.

denjet: And THAT does not explain the iPod.

[Ceric]

XBox doesn't have Zealots in Japan.  Apple already had Zealots in Japan.

[KDR_11k]

Where did those zealots come from? How many of them are there? The iPod is selling to more than just a hardcore fanbase.

[SixthAngel]

Everyone always tries to simplify what makes foreign products fail in Japan.  I think there are a huge number a interconnected problems when selling in Japan and each explanation usually looks at a single thread of the web.

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: denjet78
The Japanese won't accept the 360 because it's made by an American company. You can pretend all you want and bring up ancient rituals like "Kaizen" but the truth lies in the manufacturer: American made products, in regards to electronics and automobiles, are all but shunned in Japan. The Japanese have a very strong superiority complex in that regard. They think that no one can do better than them. And even though I'm a Nintendo fan first and foremost, I don't agree with that. Why do I say that? Because the PS and XBox brands are almost identical in every respect and they seem to sell rather well in every region, except Japan where XBox simply doesn't exist. People really should be asking why that is. And I'll tell you right now that it isn't because of "Kaizen".

I don't agree. The XBox simply wasn't that nice of a product to begin with. Technologically it sounds boring, they just took off-the-shelf pc parts and wham! instant console. Big, fat, and un-optimized.

And in a perfect example of Kaizen, the GC lower clockspeed cpu and lower clockspeed gpu almost match the XBox's brute 800-something mhz pentium chip and nvidia graphics. From that angle, the XBox looks unrefined, slovenly, and uncivilized. It looks like something that was put together by brute force and without any care for the end consumer, much like how it is friggin' huge, and its controllers were friggin huge.

Now, the XBox 360 is still ugly in the same respects (slimming concave curves notwithstanding). And the PS3 seems to me to be somewhere along the same lines. Both of these systems have bought into the americanized concept of more-power-more-speed-more-function-more-money. The Wii, by contrast, is about efficiency, optimization, and actual thoughtful benefit to the consumer and manufacturer.

I mean, look at the iPod! Sony tried re-introducing its walkman line and...psh. Look at Disney, and look at American film! Did you know that Japan is an absolutely huge market for hollywood? Look at how they pick up words of our language to create engrish and be cool!

I think it's ridiculous and small-minded to blame the lack of success of American products in Japan on the Japanese. I think it's wrong to accuse them of xenophobia and borderline racism when the proof is in the pudding, the very american products that fail their against all "american" logic.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Ceric]

Zealots aren't the only ones buying them.  But they provide word of mouth and a sort of sanctuary for the company until they can develop better roots.

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Both of these systems have bought into the americanized concept of more-power-more-speed-more-function-more

Stop on the more money part.  My experience is that we tend to want all that for around the same price point. (Hence the complaints about how the Wii is made without the latest in hardware it should be priced like a GCN.)

[couchmonkey]

Yeah!  Same old price point, same old price point!  That's what I want! I'm pretty annoyed at MS and Sony for upping console prices this generation.  Maybe it's legitimate, but I feel like they're charging me more because they couldn't get enough performance to impress the average consumer out of a similarly-priced console.

It's also a function of being into electronics, though.  Electronics rarely go up in price, so I feel like I should not be paying more every time a new console is launched.

[denjet78]

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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
denjet: And THAT does not explain the iPod.

The iPod is a completely different monster. No one had made an Mp3 player before. It was completely new technology and it wasn't in competition with a Japanese companies product. So it basically created the entire industry itself.

If you were to put an American made electronics product up against a Japanese made electronics product in Japan, the Japanese product would win out almost every time even if they were the same thing on almost every level. iPod is one of those few exceptions simply because there was no Japanese product to compare it to. There may be now but the iPod is so ingrained at this point that it really doesn't matter anymore.

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
I don't agree. The XBox simply wasn't that nice of a product to begin with. Technologically it sounds boring, they just took off-the-shelf pc parts and wham! instant console. Big, fat, and un-optimized.

And in a perfect example of Kaizen, the GC lower clockspeed cpu and lower clockspeed gpu almost match the XBox's brute 800-something mhz pentium chip and nvidia graphics. From that angle, the XBox looks unrefined, slovenly, and uncivilized. It looks like something that was put together by brute force and without any care for the end consumer, much like how it is friggin' huge, and its controllers were friggin huge.

Now, the XBox 360 is still ugly in the same respects (slimming concave curves notwithstanding). And the PS3 seems to me to be somewhere along the same lines. Both of these systems have bought into the americanized concept of more-power-more-speed-more-function-more-money. The Wii, by contrast, is about efficiency, optimization, and actual thoughtful benefit to the consumer and manufacturer.

I mean, look at the iPod! Sony tried re-introducing its walkman line and...psh. Look at Disney, and look at American film! Did you know that Japan is an absolutely huge market for hollywood? Look at how they pick up words of our language to create engrish and be cool!

I think it's ridiculous and small-minded to blame the lack of success of American products in Japan on the Japanese. I think it's wrong to accuse them of xenophobia and borderline racism when the proof is in the pudding, the very american products that fail their against all "american" logic.

Not too long ago a Japanese company decided to buy a large amount of American grown rice to use in a brand of their frozen dinners. Basically the market price for American rice was so low that they couldn't resist. Would you like to know what the outcome of that decision was? There was rioting and looting. Care to explain were that came from if the Japanese are so gung-ho for American products?

Case in point #2. Anyone else remember the embaro here in the US on Japanese cars and auto parts because the Japanese refused to allow American auto makers to sell their cars in their market? That went on for quite a while. And the reason? The Japanese felt that American built cars were so inferior that they didn't deserve the right to be sold in the Japanese market. Aren't they supposed to have a FREE market in Japan? And if American cars were so inferior, wouldn't they simply have failed in the market on their own? Why the hostilities?

Xenophobia is still alive and well in Japan, just like it is in every other country. You'll see that when the PS3 still sells millions of consoles even with it's rediculous price point. If any console has taken "American ideals" to heart this next generation it's that monster. Will that really hurt the systems sell through? We'll have to wait and see but I doubt by much. If anything's going to hurt it, it's going to be the Wii-mote. Believe me, Japanese proverbs have nothing to do with why the 360 is floundering in Japan.

Now to set things straight here, I'm a big fan of Japanese culture, the language, the games. I'm just not a fan of their superiority complex. But it's not just in Japan where you find snooty jerks. We have a fair good amount of them here in the US as well, mostly morons telling immigrants to go back where they came from. America has it's problems and Japan has it's own as well. One of which is their inability to accept foreign products which directly compete with Japanese equivalents. How else can you explain the XBox selling so well in every market but Japan? And I refuse to buy "Kaizen" or anything else like that as an excuse because that's all it really is, an excuse.

...

...

WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME DEFEND MICROSOFT!!!!!

EIW!!!!

I FEEL SO DIRTY!!!!!

... it puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again...

... never be clean again...

... never...

... n-...ever....

*shiver*

[Deguello]

I don't think it is that simple, dude.  There are several American products that enjoy healthy success in Japan, sometimes over homegrown products.

I also believe you are taking the idea of the Xbox not selling in Japan and saying that it must be Japan's fault for it not selling.  Could it possibly be that the Japanese market, on the whole, just does not like the Xbox 360?  And that there are reasonable reasons for this?  For example:

1.  It's still too dam big.  It may be smaller, but it's still too big for a market where living space is a premium.
2.  It's loud.  Also, sounds are magnified in this small living space, and I hear the 360 is quite the noisemaker.
3.  It had a terrible launch.  I can't even remember one standout Japanese launch title.  I think it was Ridge Racer and Tetris and...
4.  It is also expensive.  $600 may be the new laughingstock price, but the 360 clocking in at $400 is no slouch in the cost department.
5.  The upcoming games seem to be quite "meh" to the market as well.

And I also think you overexaggerate the 360's success here and in Europe as well.  It is selling slower than its predecessor and there is not even any competition for it.

There might be cultural REASONS why the 360 is stunted in Japan, but it is not simply that Japan hates America.  So I doubt the 360's failure in Japan comes from some Levi's-wearing Crackpot standing outside a McDonald's with several Xeroxes of "DOWN WITH XBOX, IT IS BY DIRTY GAIJIN" annoying people trying to get a Coke from a vending machine before the premiere of War of the Worlds.  

[UltimatePartyBear]

Quote
Originally posted by: denjet78
The iPod is a completely different monster. No one had made an Mp3 player before. It was completely new technology and it wasn't in competition with a Japanese companies product. So it basically created the entire industry itself.

Holy smegging frell.  I have no idea whether the iPod was the first MP3 player available in Japan, although I find that unlikely, but it was absolutely not the first MP3 player made, even if you only count players with hard drives.