Mike Bantick
Thursday, 09 October 2008 16:57
Your IT -
Entertainment
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Microsoft is buoyant and confident about their role in the Sony and Nintendo homeland of Japan. From out of the Tokyo Game Show comes news of the new Xbox 360 Experience and a raising of forecasts in the region.
It is an understatement to say the Xbox 360 has struggled against home town kids, the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
In recent times however, the Xbox 360 has had the odd resurgence of sales, whether on the back of
a price cut or a release of an exclusive and Japanese orientated title such as
Tales of Vesperia.
“We've done better than we forecast. We are finding that we have a shortage of hardware," John Schappert, Microsoft's corporate vice president overseeing its online game services and game software, told
Reuters in an interview.
"We are raising our forecast" for Xbox 360 hardware shipments to Japan, he said, though he declined to give specific figures.
"Relationships we've formed over the eight years of doing business with our Japanese partners really are paying dividends now as we see legendary franchises coming and making their new home on the Xbox 360," Schappert said.
One of these relationships – with developer Square Enix should also see fruition in sales with the upcoming cross platform release of the next in the Final Fantasy RPG series.
“Our industry is defining the future of entertainment,” said Schappert, from the Tokyo Game Show. “When the New Xbox Experience launches in just six weeks, we will be inviting the whole world to play. We’ll also have the games that everyone will want, including all-new social experiences like ‘Lips,’ ‘Scene It? Box Office Smash,’ and ‘You’re In the Movies,’ all launching this year or the beginning of 2009, all exclusively on Xbox 360.”
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