Inafune: Don’t Ever Count Out Microsoft

Microsoft’s Xbox One won’t be launching in Japan until 2014; but Infaune (Megaman creator) encourages people to never count the North American giant out. He believes the late Japanese launch “makes sense.”

“I’m not a first-party person, I’m not part of a first-party company, so this can only be what I’m assuming, but if you look at how big the share of the Japanese market is when it comes to consoles now, it’s continually shrinking, to the point where it’s not even over 10 percent,” Inafune tells IGN. “So having Japan be an afterthought – after Europe and North America – as much as I may not like that as a Japanese creator, it makes sense to prioritize the markets that are naturally going to have a larger installed base and larger sales.”

“Just because it’s Microsoft…I wouldn’t want to count a company out, even if they haven’t had a great track record. It doesn’t mean they automatically fail the next time.” Success, Inafune suspects, will come down to “how they’re able to market it and how they’re able to convince gamers that they have the content they want.”

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Game Studios’ head, revealed Microsoft’s future plans for Japan. Speaking on Major Nelson Radio, Spencer said: “When I think about Japan and the history in video games, whether it’s just games that I grew up playing or even looking today games that are so important to our industry, I think going to Tokyo, going to TGS, meeting with the developers there, seeing what the gamers are playing, seeing what the creators are making.”

Xbox One is set to launch on November 22 in 13 territories, and 2014 in Japan.

(Source: IGN)