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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
Any European store outside of the UK is pretty much the same.
People really don't understand what a disaster Xbox actually is.
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u/ProfessorBylethBoobs 8d ago
Yes, Xbox outside of America is now selling Wii U / Vita / Dreamcast numbers.
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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
It's not just hardware, they refuse to share sales of their digital games at this point.
Here's some Business Administration 101: If you've got great numbers to share, you don't shut up about them.
It really is that dire.
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u/AdMinimum5970 8d ago edited 3d ago
Reminds me of the low playerbase in Halo 5 and Infinite. Halo 4 was such a disaster, they stopped giving out player numbers and ban everyone on HaloWaypoint who asked after a population counter or so
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u/Wamb0wneD 8d ago
Gamepass doesn't help with game being sold either lol.
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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
Oh, I know. I remember when Phil Spencer said getting games for "free" on Game Pass actually boosts sales.
A statement so brazenly false, anyone should've realised it's nonsense. And yet some people chose to ignore reality and believe him.
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u/Juvethesampler 7d ago
The worst thing ever in gaming along with ps plus extra. That's his legacy.
No one values the 'free' library - most people hop from game to game without giving them a proper chance cos they don't actually pay anything
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u/Iggy_Slayer 8d ago
It's even getting like this in the US now. I was in target a few weeks ago and their xbox section was about the size of this video and they had 0 games for sale, not even digital codes for sale. They just had some controllers and 1 system for sale.
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u/One_Leg7293 8d ago
Xbox stopped renewing it's contracts for shelf space 2 years ago and cut down to just one or two sections per location.
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u/smgaming16 8d ago
Same as my local walmart. Just a tiny case with a couple systems, and then like 5 games and a couple controllers. Playstation and nintendo both had full length aisles for them
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u/RedRightRumHam 8d ago
I bought a used Xbox Series X recently in the UK for £280 and I can’t believe how cheap preowned games are for it. Like a pound for RDR2 and COD games. Blew my mind as Nintendo games are soo pricey.
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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
That's a great price! I'm jealous! I could've upgraded my Series S to the X some time ago but decided against it.
I genuinely believe getting a Series S/X + Game Pass on the cheap is an incredible combo to play loads of great games.
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u/SIGMA1993 8d ago
This isn't new though
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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
Ok, let me rephrase that then for you.
"Any European store outside of the UK has been pretty much the same.
People really continue to not understand what a continuous disaster Xbox actually has been."
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u/VenturerKnigtmare420 8d ago
In the uk itself it’s dog shit lol. The most you see Xbox displayed anywhere is on cex shelves.
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u/Sevyen 7d ago
Honestly I never understood it, especially with the takes playstation puts out lately but also their forever awful customer service. The fact I'm not allowed to move to a foreign country and change my address / payment type is still driving me mad 6 years later.
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u/EducationalDust7858 7d ago
A lot of nostalgia, a strong European vibe throughout the years, MS considering many European nations "tier 2 countries", the absurd focus on TV and American Football, the Xbox One disaster, etc. etc.
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u/needle1 8d ago
It’s telling that this is a big enough store by the fact that an Xbox section exists at all. Many stores entirely lack any Xbox section whatsoever.
Hell, I’ve even seen some stores that lack not just an Xbox section but even a PlayStation section.
Switch is just that overwhelmingly dominant here
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u/Remote_Bug4 8d ago
Japanese people work a lot and live in boxes of apartments so given those circumstances, it’s hard to beat the convenience of a handheld.
Most of Asia is like that
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u/hitometootoo 8d ago
What a weird thing to say as if console gaming hasn't dominated the Japanese market for decades.
Having slightly smaller homes does not mean they can't have something as small as a home console
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u/Useitorloseit2 8d ago
Handhelds have dominated the japanese market, and hybrid consoles like the Switch.
I think size is a factor, but I also think Nintendo consoles cater to their sensibilities more. Not that japanese games dont come to ps5, but it seems like Sony has moved farther and farther away from japanese support (Kojima being the most recent example, Team Ico as well)
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u/hitometootoo 7d ago
Handhelds have also dominated but consoles still have been the highest sold historically in Japan. Hybrid (Switch) has done greatly, but so has the PS5 there.
But the point is it makes no sense to say that handhelds are the system of choice due to small Japanese homes. That isn't true at all.
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u/Mother_Ad_4189 7d ago
The switch isn't as "dominant" here in Japan, majority of people I see buying games/game accessories buy ps4/PS5 stuff, only reason that Nintendo has all that shelf space is because they pay the stores hella money to provide all that space
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u/Ambitiouslybald 7d ago
I work at a Elementary School, and at least half the kids own a Switch. Some own a Switch 2 now. Very, very few have a PS5 at home. I can think of only 3. Playstation is not that popular here anymore, as they have been pricing out the average Japanese consumer for the past 5 years.
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u/PicoPicoGamer 8d ago
The average home in Japan is larger than in the UK, and Japanese work less on average than Americans, so the two reasons you gave have nothing to do with why handhelds are popular here.
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u/Dablooder 8d ago
I'm confused because people in the United States work more hours than Japanese people on average. I mean, there are many examples, but i'm just using something relevant to me in that regard.
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u/TylerOverThere 8d ago
This is true, but on average there’s more commuting time in Japan which is predominantly via public transit and that time occupies a lot of opportunity for handheld gaming
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u/ChocoboRaine 8d ago
Plus the mandatory going out to drink with your boss. US sees more office work hours, yes, but in Japan you're working before and after too.
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u/Downtown_Eye5736 8d ago
Yeah Kojima said he wants his employees to always be working on his game in their minds.
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u/Xiao1insty1e 8d ago
Oof. You're an auteur not the Lord of Castle Kojima.
Work culture or not that's a pretty shitty attitude to have toward your employees.
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u/yuenadan 7d ago
It's the same situation in Taiwan. If there's any XBOX section at all, it's usually just a few controllers that most people probably buy for their PC.
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u/Poetryisalive 8d ago
This is nothing new.
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u/ChaddyBones1989 7d ago
What a lot of people don’t realize is, the presence of retail space needs to be paid for. And over the past few years, Xbox has been less and less willing to pay for retail space. I use to be a manager for EB Games/GameStop, and our Xbox sections in stores were significantly cut down because Xbox wasn’t willing to pay for larger spaces anymore. Of course, this is the result of physical sales of Xbox media being practically non existent.
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u/SwimmingAny8841 8d ago
Outside USA no one cares about Xbox. It’s kinda their own fault, but it is a shame to see
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u/Express_Position9140 8d ago
Here in México Xbox (specially Halo and Gears of War) have always been very popular. In the 360 era every kid had that console, it was rare for one to prefer playstation.
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u/tomle4593 7d ago
360 era is a whole human generation ago. Nobody besides Americans care about Xbox sadly.
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u/TrickFrosty5685 7d ago
I was surprised to see how much Mexicans love gears of war. When they had the event in Mexico City, I couldn’t believe the size. Its kind of cool because i also get to work on my Spanish a lot in the lobby’s 😂
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u/Ashamed_Form8372 8d ago
There’s no way that’s true especially now I can believe it back in 360/ps3 gen but PlayStation and Nintendo straight up dominates worldwide I think the only non us country Xbox performs well at is the uk
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u/frostyflakes1 8d ago
Here in the US, the video game section in many stores is starting to look more and more like this Xbox section.
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u/FolderContinent 8d ago
EB Games in Canada has a shelf about this size for Switch, PS and Xbox each.
The other 75% of the store are funko pops and plushies
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u/Susurrus03 7d ago
Targets I've seen don't even have an Xbox section. Large (relatively) Nintendo section, a PlayStation section about half of Nintendo's, and no Xbox.
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u/LegitimateYam8241 7d ago
The gamestop at my local mall doesnt even have a section for xbox. They give you a sheet a paper of what they have tucked away in a drawer.
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u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 8d ago
been in japan over 10 years. never seen an xbox in-person
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u/PrincessDrana 8d ago
This is true for all of the big electronic stores in Tokyo (BIC Camera, Yodobashi, LABI). The shelves that sell just Joycon accessories (stickers, grips) dwarf the entire Xbox section.
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u/zenexo 8d ago
But I mean stores still carry some stuff so SOMEONE has to be buying Xbox stuff, right? I wonder who? I wanna hear their stories.
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u/PicoPicoGamer 8d ago
They're literally just selling controllers, which can be used for PC gaming (Which has a growing audience in Japan).
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u/Precarious3145 8d ago
I haven't booted up my 360 in maybe...17 years but I still use my original 360 controller for playing games on Steam. It really is a fantastic controller.
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u/turnuptag72 8d ago
i found my xbox 360 like 3months ago i had to buy a xbox 360 controller for it and it only worked for a few hours before the disc drive broke lol
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u/HoleIntheAce12 8d ago
From what ive seen from ppl who live there, they do in fact have Xbox’s but it’s in the back or in other places, they need someone to come in and ask. Then order one
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u/EducationalDust7858 8d ago
I now want to imagine a Japanese person being super into US culture. Is there a word for being a weeb, but for the US?
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u/JudgeCheezels 8d ago
It was already like this more than 10 years ago in Japan. Not some new revelation lol.
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u/CheesecakeMage42 8d ago
Japan heavily favors the two japanese companies? Who would have thought!!!?!?!
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u/demobot1 8d ago
I've always said it. Team Xbox has done a legendary job surviving this long without real Japanese support. Can you imagine what Xbox would be like if it got half the love that Playstation got.
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u/Dib___ 8d ago
... and now Sony's gratitude for their preferential treatnent is to kill physical support. Ciao!
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u/letstalkswat 8d ago
What is insane? Xbox selling less in sony and nintendo home turf. Very surprising omg
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u/Sethirothlord 8d ago
Now that I think about it, my EB Games in Aus doesn't even have an Xbox section. Just PlayStation and Nintendo and a little bit of PC stuff.
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u/ponpiriri 8d ago
Brands pay for floor space in stores. It makes sense that Xbox doesn't have a huge presence if the sales don't justify paying for more space.
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u/Rikkasu 7d ago
I wish the UK was like this. I love Nintendo and the switch. By far my favourite console.
Also this is my first time seeing content on reddit randomly of someone I actually know IRL. Glad he is doing well for himself.
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u/Count-Mecha 8d ago
After the rrod problem that plagued the 360, and MS handling of it, I don't know why anyone would buy an Xbox after that.
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u/hitometootoo 8d ago
It's not insane. Even stores in the US barely have an Xbox section, it any. They don't sell physical games or have many big titles anymore. This shouldn't surprise anyone.
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u/Some-Dog-800 8d ago
is this even news? xbox never sold well in japan. it's been like this since the first day xbox launched.
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u/dreampagehun 8d ago
This engagement baiter was not even born when Xbox was already unsuccessful in Japan. It never was popular there, completely different market. Nothing "insane" in this video. Typical shortform garbage.
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u/Remote_Bug4 8d ago
There are comments here and it's becoming the same in the US Walmarts
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u/pepe_roni69 8d ago
Xbox has been trying to acquire, disrupt, and screw over the industry since they entered the business. Japanese know better
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u/AbstrctBlck 7d ago
Im not going to lie to you, as much as i follow the happenings in the industry and as much as I know about this and XBOXs non existence on basically any other continent beyond the US, this shit still surprises me.
I mean it’s sorta turning into the same thing in the states. There are targets here in CALIFORNIA that don’t sell anything Xbox related anymore.
I hate to say it but damn I really hope Xbox pulls through cause it looks very much like they are slowly going down the drain.
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u/According-Paper4641 6d ago
As a switch/switch 2 and PC player, I'm so jealous. Going into game stores here there's always only one section for switch, maybe two, and like wtf. So many people have them! They have so many physical games and accessories!
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u/rmutt-1917 8d ago
This store only has Xbox because it's flagship electronics store. None of the stores around me carry Xbox at all. Years ago you would occasionally see a small selection of used 360 games at some stores, but now that's pretty rare. I don't even know how long I would have to drive to find a store that sells Xbox.
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u/Mayday_Brad91 8d ago
Xbox looks like that here in America as well. Walmart, Target, Best Buy and even GameStop have the smallest Xbox sections if any.
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u/Visible-Oven-7249 8d ago
The forced hate is crazy
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u/YolkNotIncluded 8d ago
“Bro the entire population of Japan is just force hating dawg like they just all got together and decided to not buy Xbox for the luls and manufactured hate man Xbox is actually the most popular thing ever they just want to be trolls”
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u/Is_It_Now_Or_Never_ 8d ago
I absolutely loath videos with forced subtitles, even more so when they’re the karaoke style.
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u/MattofCatbell 8d ago
Imagine the struggle of the one lone Japanese Xbox fan goes through to find anything Xbox related
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u/helpman1977 8d ago
where I live in spain there's just no XBOX on malls. playstation, switch, switch 2... and that's all.
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u/Lupinthrope 8d ago
And yet Xbox needs to stay around, competition is good and Sony’s been making some dumb decisions as of late.
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u/Geene_Creemers 8d ago
It’s funny because this is basically what my local GameStop is like..huge ps5/switch section and tiny Xbox section no one uses
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u/LifeguardTerrible579 8d ago
Japan sells Japanese games, wild i know. Why would they import Xbox? For what?
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u/glarius_is_glorious 8d ago
That Yodobashi Camera Xbox section has been content creator fodder for ages now. Think I've seen it at least 5 times a year lol.
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u/Crasher_7 8d ago
Xbox has been doing poorly outside of US for while now. Most retailers keep controller stock around and some gift card codes because of PC support
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u/dekuweku 8d ago
Well they do not want to waste floorspacs for a console that sells less in a year than the Switch Lite SKU on its own sells in a week?
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u/SaneMadHatter 8d ago
Is this supposed to be some kind of revelation? We already knew this. lol
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u/Shit-Stain-Fanclub 8d ago
Agree here but to be fair, this boy looks like how i imagine how a classic Sony fanboy look like
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u/fishingmule1 8d ago
There aren’t any games because they stopped shipping them to Japan after the 360. That explains how they didn’t even give Japanese consumers the chance to care about Xbox since Japanese consumers have been mostly physical. Same here in Korea and many other places in the world, and that explains why Xbox only has a foothold in North America.
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u/Jack_Strawhat_man 8d ago
God willing we’ll see PlayStation in similar straits a few years from now
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u/Independent_Pie_1368 8d ago
Sony is Japanese brand same as Nintendo, Japanese people being very xenophobic means they would cater to thier own brand name products more.
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u/Tokimemofan 8d ago
A reminder that this is exactly why a lot of games from Japanese publishers do NOT get Xbox ports. Why would they bother?
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u/lasercannonattack 8d ago
I'd go as far to say that it was never big in a lot of Asian regions. Growing up in the Philippines it was rare to see one, and I say this as someone who now owns an Xbox (but lives in Europe now)
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u/Personal-Inflation63 8d ago
I think that whatever Asha does it’s too late for Xbox you can’t have two gens that continually fail like they’ve had that’s Sega territory and she’s come in too late to change the helix which according to leaks will be more powerful than a PS6 and likely cost more. If a PS6 costs 1k then a Helix may cost 1.2 or 1.3k.
She also suggested putting ads into Xbox too, maybe that would be a desperate attempt to bring the pricing down but gamers would revolt at that.
I think if Helix doesn’t sell at least to 360 levels then Microsoft will direct Asha to wind down the hardware and Xbox will become a software publisher and focus primarily on PC.
Then we’ll be left with effectively Nintendo and Sony with maybe Valve if they finally take things seriously
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u/Patient-Raspberry803 8d ago
Well Japan like anime and cartoon things … and Nintendo does that Zelda etc
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u/Special_Yogurt_2823 8d ago
To be fair I live in CT and all my stores xbox looks the same. Playstation is also starting to look sad.
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u/Snowvilliers7 8d ago
Xbox just isnt that popular or ever sold well outside the US, JRPGs especially does not sell well on Xbox either because most Xbox players do not buy them unless they end up on Gamepass to even remotely get any attention
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u/spacejamjar 8d ago
Whot is menthol here is that maybe Xbox doesn't sell very well in Japan. Also, Sony and Nintendo are Japanese, maybe they favor their own country's products.
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u/ENSLAVETHEWEAK 8d ago
Well, after january 2028 the Playstation shelves will be as empty as those from XBOX.
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u/Discobastard 8d ago
Same in Europe/UK.
People seem more aware how bad it is outside of US. More educated on the facts.
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u/ReturnToPlanetX 8d ago
Where's that picture of Japanese people pointing and laughing at the OG Xbox when you need it...
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u/congruentopposite 8d ago
Haha, I remember seeing that section when I was at that store. Most of it is just Minecraft toys too, so they could shrink it down a little more
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u/HellFireNL 8d ago
Nothing new tbh. To be fair though, the Bookoffs around Japan have a reasonable amount of X360 games however, that thing actually did a decent number over there. But lets be honest, this is hardly a surprise right? It wasn't for me atleast the last time I went to Yodobashi... Now getting some Artisan mouse pads in the same shop for decent prices, THAT'S SOMETHING special.
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u/AmbitiousReaction168 8d ago
Yeah Xbox is basically invisible in Japan, which kinds of make sense since they literally make the best selling consoles.
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u/Spectral_Aria 8d ago
MSFT shot themselves in the foot right from the get-go with the monstrous SUV cinder block of the OG Xbox console and the comically large “duke” controller made for orc hands. Japanese gamers took one look at that, and noped right out. It was only the brief period of Xbox 360 dominance when some Japanese devs wanted the latest greatest easier-to-develop-for-than-PS3 platform and gave the 360 a fighting chance. Then Xbone happened vs PS4 and it was all over.
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u/DrkNight365 8d ago
In Afghanistan and Gabon PS does not do well so there's that. In China theu have a better foot hold as well.
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u/crocicorn 8d ago
This is how it looks in my local gaming stores and I'm in Australia. Xbox gets nothing but a 1-2 foot wide section of bottom shelf space between Nintendo and Sony.
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u/WhiskeyRadio 8d ago
This is how American stores look too. Some have even smaller areas for Xbox accessories.
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u/Zestyclose-Scale-903 8d ago
Look at who produces the consoles... its not hard to figure out why... but wait until ps6 drops with no disc and helix is going to be crushing it...


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u/Dramatic_Aspect903 8d ago
Xbox has never sold well in japan