Microsoft, meet Kojima.

So now Kojima is unemployed.



Folks, I just mentioned that one of the top developers in the entire gaming world is unemployed. His entire company is separated from the clutches of Konami. Do you know what this means?

It’s time to start courting him. Now. Immediately. Nintendo, Sony, Activision, there’s a very valuable and attractive company looking for a new place to stay.



Microsoft, I am mainly looking at you.



Now, it is an established fact that Japan and XBox do not get along, and it has been this way for three gaming generations. The XBox 360 had a dozen JRPG exclusives for the Far East market and not even that helped. Also didn’t help that the XBox lineup dwindled into the usual suspects towards the end---allowing for Sony’s PS3 to claim second place eventually. The Japanese market is still extremely important because they are still heavily invested in the gaming world.

The PSP and PSVita have been relevant mainly because of Japan. 1 out of every 4 PSPs sold were in Japan, and the Vita has sold 3.7 million copies in the same region---while only 7 million more sold in the rest of the world. The PS3 outsold the XBox 360 by 9 million copies in Japan, allowing it to make up for the dismal performance in the United States. Sony and Japan have been great friends and it has led to wonderful economic success. While the company of Sony is floundering altogether, the gaming division has remained strong thanks to the powerful Japanese support.

Enough about Sony though, this article is about Microsoft and how it should throw whatever money it can to create a partnership with Kojima Productions. The staff has an excellent track record, despite it being limited to Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders. XBox 360’s best-selling Japanese game was Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation---which couldn’t even break 250K. Guess which production company has made 8 games that sold more than 250K in Japan….

Fun Fact I am repeating from a previous article I wrote:

"Whichever system sells the most in Japan wins the generation—it has remained true since the NES sold nearly 20 million copies back in the 80s/90s. The SNES, PSX, PS2, and Nintendo Wii each outsold the competitors in the Asia market and ultimately became the big seller. "

Microsoft needs to hold hands with Kojima, and promise him plenty of money and resources and become an exclusive third-party company that will make and distribute Japan-only games. Kojima Productions consists of a very talented staff with plenty of attention to details. Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid IV are amongst the best games ever made, and their handheld iterations prove that they can deliver a lot of great content with more limited hardware. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel was a phenomenal, phenomenal Game Boy Color game that you need to play if you haven't done so already.

I am sure there are dozens of ideas swirling around Kojima’s head and I am sure each of them can deliver. I can see a Disney/Pixar-like relationship with these two—the big brother provides the financial help and marketing, and the younger brother makes the requested art. And even with Metal Gear Solid staying behind and remaining with Konami, Microsoft can help the production studio recover and move on from the ugly breakup.

This is a win-win situation from all parties involved. Microsoft gets a smaller company with a good track record, Kojima gets his freedom that was clearly disappearing during his final days with Konami. Microsoft can recover from the current disastrous performance outside the United States, and Kojima Productions can start a new chapter in its long career in gaming.

Whoever gets Kojima wins. But if there a company that would benefit the most, it would Microsoft for its lifeless-outside-western-hemisphere XBox One.

Can a Halo Movie save Microsoft in Japan?

Microsoft’s original XBox was in deep trouble from the start, as the Playstation 2 was clearly, truly, madly, deeply running away with the race. All the third-parties were joining Sony, while Nintendo was countering with its heavy arsenal of first-party and second-party properties. There honestly wasn’t much of a reason of get an XBox.




Until Halo, that is.



Halo saved Microsoft gaming, saved the XBox. The original XBox would sell just south of 25 million copies. Between the two Halo games, they sold a total of a whopping 13 million copies. The ratio between Halo sale and system sale was almost 1:2. The franchise is the flagship of Microsoft gaming and represents it well with acclaimed game after acclaimed game. It has been around for over 10 years, and the franchise hasn’t lost much steam even in the midst of all the imitators.

But in Japan, it still can’t seem to find its audience. Halo 4 sold only 40,000 copies, hardly making a ripple in the industry. Now, we all know that Microsoft and the XBox struggles mightily on Japan, but because of its sheer style and genre, it makes minimal sense as to why it has yet to catch on.

After all, science fiction does extremely well in Japan in all types of fields. In the anime field, you have the likes of Neon Genesis, Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball, Pokemon, Astro Boy, among others sell millions upon millions of copies—and these are all whether science fiction or contain heavy themes of science fiction.

We have Miyazaki and his arsenal of science-fiction/steampunk movies make extremely good money in his native country. Howl’s Moving Castle made 190 million in Japan alone, and let’s not forget the success of earlier Miyazaki sci-fi like Castle in the Sky. Now before you bring up that Halo could not work cinematically in Japan because of its American origin, consider this:

The American Transformers trilogy has grossed over 110 million in the Japanese market. Avatar was Japan’s biggest movie in 2009 with 186 million. The Matrix trilogy in Japan made over 150 million.

Over the decades, there’s always been a warm spot for science fiction in the entertainment world of Japan, so all Microsoft has to do is convince the nation of gamers that Halo can appeal to their senses in the way Avatar, the Transformers, and the Terminator have despite being American products.



So about that Halo movie…? The one that has been discussed for years upon years with dozens of names attached?



The Halo movie could be the way to re-introduce the franchise to Japan. Microsoft can financially back this project while finding a good studio and a good cast to make the type of movie it deserves to be. Halo has all the science-fiction goodness contained in other projects that have indeed made money in the Fast East Coast. It has the mythology, it has the complexity, and it has the energy of your best animes, so why not successfully translate it to film and get the nation excited for the next Halo game?

The entertainment industry is wound tighter than ever, with games becoming movies and movies becoming games far more often than in the past. And now the successes are becoming interchangeable. The Transformers franchise revived its toy industry. The Lego Movie and the Lego video games have breathed brand new life to the Lego brand. Argue all you want about the Prince of Persia movie from Disney, it still made 336 million dollars around the world. And lastly argue all you want about Resident Evil in cinematic form, it’s almost made a BILLION in its history.

Can a Halo movie honestly propel the sales of its upcoming games in Japan? It is indeed a long shot, but it really doesn’t hurt to try, since there isn’t much else Microsoft can do over there. Its XBox One will be creamed by the PS4 over there, its XBox 360 was outsold by the PS3 by 8 million copies and the Wii by 11 million. Don’t even ask how badly the Nintendo DS took down the XBox 360.

In order for Microsoft to succeed in Japan, it needs to attempt to reach them in a different way. 10 years have passed and they have barely caused any sort of noise in the Japanese game industry. Perhaps a cinematic way of reaching them, a cross-breeding exercise in entertainment can get the ball rolling. The XBox needs Halo to succeed, so in order for the One to make money in Japan, it needs Halo front and center being the mascot, being your top reason to purchase the system. Being a very American company, Microsoft doesn’t have the starting appeal that Nintendo and Sony has. It needs that boost, that jump-start.



Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, or the Wachowski Duo helming and crafting a Halo movie that will focus heavily on Japan can be that solution.

And we all know somehow Tom Cruise will be attached to the project......

How "Mega Man" Can Help Microsoft in Japan

Kenji Inafune is a video game legend that wound up leaving the company that helped jump-start his career. In simpler terms, Capcom is a horrible crappy company that is a mere fraction of what it used to be. Anyways, he needs money to fund his next game---which is a spiritual sequel to his classic Mega Man franchise.


The Xbox 360 did not sell over 600 copies of its system in Japan in its latest week. Again. Japan has not bought 2,000,000 Xbox 360s yet during the system’s entire run.


Inafune needs money. Microsoft needs Japanese support and love. I smell a potential relationship.

If Microsoft ever plans on becoming the world leader in the gaming industry, they must tackle the Japan issue. Their sales in the Far East are above and beyond pathetic. They can’t get anything going outside the United States, whom has been there for them since the very moment that Halo burst onto the scene. 57% of the Xbox 360 sales were in North America, far bigger than the PS3 and the Wii (34% and 44% respectively). Guess which one is currently in last place this generation.

Another fun piece of trivia: whichever system sell the most in Japan wins the generation—it has remained true since the NES sold nearly 20 million copies back in the 80s/90s. The SNES, PSX, PS2, and Nintendo Wii each outsold the competitors in the Asia market and ultimately became the big seller. Japan can also save systems, as the country breathed life into comatose hardware like the 3DS and especially the PSP.

Financing Inafune’s game could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and a friendship involving a legendary Japanese gaming figure. The Mega Man games were absolute hits in Japan, and seeing that the Green Machine’s 3rd model is the exclusive system holding the creator’s next invention could stir the pot and raise some curiosity.

Inafune is requesting a mere $900,000 for his game is a cakewalk for Microsoft. Halo 4 cost more than $60 million to produce and market, would a cool million honestly hurt Microsoft in exchange for a potentially good Mega Man-like game built directly from the legend himself?

If Microsoft was smart, they would put down the money, give him creative freedom that Capcom refused to offer towards the end of Inafune’s time there, and potentially get a good hit that would resonate in Japan. This will not solve all their problems in appealing to the Japanese and Oceanic audience, but it would be a giant step forward.



Mighty No. 9 needs to be made. And the Xbox One would benefit from its release more than anybody else.

Nintendo is Turning Japanese

...turning Japanese, I really think so.......

Nintendo has definitely seen better days, but its recent overhaul of the Nintendo 3DS has definitely been an improvement as they cut the price, added another circle pad, started busting out some release dates, and revamped its strategy outlook towards the machine. They had a recent 3DS conference in which they played damage control and practically promised that better days are near. With the Vita being delayed until next year, Nintendo wasted no time in bringing out the heavy-hitter franchises of Mario and Mario Kart into the holiday season. In the midst of all this however, there’s a new strategy brewing from the Big N: they are going to attempt to conquer Japan in the next couple of months.


The Wii was a massive hit around the world, but still didn’t find its audience in Japan like the Playstations and the Nintendo DS. Consider this, the PSX sold 21 million in Japan, the PS2 sold 23 million, and the Nintendo DS sold 32 million. Even the PSP sold around 18 million. The Nintendo Wii? 11.8 million. While that is no pure disaster (Gamecube: a miserable 4 million) it still could have been much better. The Wii despite losing steam for about 2 years still had a nice repertoire of great video games, and a variety of them do also appeal to the Japanese gamers.

But…..


The sales of all its big franchises stalled or didn’t improve. Super Mario Galaxy barely etched past 1 million sales, and Mario Galaxy 2 (arguably one of the best games in the recent generation) didn’t even hit that high a number. Zelda: Twilight Princess sold only 600,000 in Japan. Kirby’s latest game? 444,000. Donkey Kong Country Returns? 999,000. And let's not even look at the numbers for Metroid. Each of the games I mentioned had predecessors that sold significantly more copies in Japan. The Japanese audience just isn’t as invested in Nintendo as it used to. And for those of you playing Devil’s Advocate: the New Super Mario Bros. franchise did sell over 11 million copies in Japan and Mario Kart’s last two entries pushed past 7 million copies total.

P.S. Metroid: Other M----130,000 copies.....


I am sure Nintendo is seeing this trend, because their “Turning Japanese” strategy is going full-blast and at a fast pace. Let’s start with the 3DS. They announced a new Square Enix JRPG, a genre that’s almost dead to all us American gamers. They announced a new Fire Emblem, an extremely popular franchise in Japan. The biggest blow to Sony’s Vita is the announcement of two new Monster Hunter games---one port, and a sequel that may or may not be exclusive. Now, we Western Hemisphere gamers know next to nothing about these games but in Japan, they are freakin’ huge. The only reason why the PSP even survived was because of this franchise. Monster Hunters’ PSP games (the four of them) have each sold over 1 million copies in Japan alone (and two of them sold over 4 million) and to this day still remain in the tops of the charts in the Far East Coast (How High reference). With the 3DS getting two entries in the Japanese-friendly powerhouse, this is for sure a great way to attract Japanese gamers to the new handheld.


But the one major player in all this that surprisingly hasn’t gotten that much attention is Dragon Quest. The Wii is getting a 25th anniversary collection of early Dragon Warrior games (which by the way is being handled much better than other celebrations...) and then the news of the next major installment. Dragon Quest X is coming out not only for the Nintendo Wii, but also the WiiU. Not only are they available for both systems, but both games are accessable to the same overworld with cross-platform interaction. Not only that, but its also going to be extremely online-heavy, a move clearly motivated by the mammoth success of the previous adventure on the Nintendo DS.


Like I said before, you don't see how big the impact is until you read the numbers from Japan. Dragon Quest 9 for the DS sold over 4 million copies in Japan alone and remains the fastest-selling game of all time. Dragon Quest 8 for the PS2 sold over 3 million copies in Japan in the first week alone and is the PS2's biggest Japanese sales story in its lifetime. Dragon Warrior VII believe it or not sold more copies in Japan than Final Fantasy VII. That's right, the legendary steampunk classic Final Fantasy VIII can't beat them. Arguably the most popular and game-changing entry in the franchise, Dragon Warrior/Quest III, sold over 6 million copies in Japan across three platforms and became so huge that Enix decided to release future installments on the weekends to not create the widespread absenteeism associated with a new Dragon Warrior release. Yes, it gets that bad.


This isn't big news, this is humongous news. Dragon Quest X will be Nintendo's biggest RPG release not named Pokemon since the SNES days. All Nintendo has to do is practically promise a good marketing campaign and good relations and we can see this game as a major launch title that will also move units in the Wii spectrum. The WiiU will immediately thrive in Japan, and while that country's impact isn't what it used to be, it can still save a system from extinction from time to time (Best example: Playstation Portable). Nintendo has won America again by tapping into the mainstream and basically throwing the hardcore audience off the bridge. With all these revelations, they will pretty much rock the Japanese charts and bring the competitors to their knees.


Bottom Line: The 3DS, WiiU, and the Nintendo community have gotten some amazing news lately as we are seeing much more third-party support and beginning to see a new revolution of Nintendo gaming in the world of Japan. With Monster Hunter and Dragon Warrior, two recent Sony staples, switching sides to Nintendo, the 3DS is inches away from being a rolling stone of sales in the East. And to add to that, the WiiU got its first major player come launch time. So despite your grumblings about the newest machines from the Big N, if they keep getting news like this, then they are definitely here to stay. Monster Hunter will definitely save the 3DS, and I predict an explosive debut of the WiiU if Nintendo and Square Enix manages to release Dragon Quest X in the correct timeframe.


Okay Nintendo, let's now focus on the Western Hemisphere gamers....