As most gamers know by now, Japanese Role Playing Games or JRPGs have done great on PlayStation platforms. They haven’t had a stellar run on Xbox 360 mainly because said console is not selling many units in Japan and although the JRPG base is huge, it’s still a niche.
Microsoft saw things differently. The company thought if they could get some of the JRPGs that have been only on PlayStation platforms for years to jump over to Xbox 360, it would result in hardware sales especially in Japan where Redmond needs it the most. Well according to Wedbush Morgan Securities Analyst, Michael Pachter, the investment was a bad one.
“In a word, no,” Pachter told Industry Gamers when asked if Microsoft’s investment was worth it. “I don’t think chasing Japanese RPGs has been worth it.”
“The 360 has not really done much in Japan, and the RPG audience in the U.S., while sizable, is still a niche audience. There are only a handful of games that make a difference in the category, andFinal Fantasy is certainly the biggest.
So if Microsoft chose one to lure onto its console, that was the right one. Most of the others have not been particularly successful, and haven’t moved the needle in selling hardware in Japan.”
Final Fantasy XIII is out and doing very well globally, and although the Xbox 360 version has seen decent sales numbers, FFXIII PS3 dominates by a wide margin.
I guess Pachter is right after all.
