Virtua Fighter 5: Japanese Denied Xbox Release.
It is no secret that the market share of the Xbox 360 is less than stellar in Asia. In Japan an estimated 400,000 units exist in the wild. The direct result of this is the news that there will not be a release of Virtua Fighter 5 for Japanese Xbox 360s.
The Xbox port is still to be released to America and European markets in august. With a complete localization and functional game engine a Japanese release seems trivial. Given this fact lead designer Tohru Murayama explained his position.
"... if we [can only release the game] for the US or EU markets, we just hope Virtua Fighter 5 will be a key title which encourages people to buy Xbox 360s".
The PS3 version was a release title near the beginning of the console's launch securing them a copy of the game. Originally scrapped to meet release deadlines online functionality was not included. The feature has been realized in the upcoming Xbox distribution.
While this is bad news for the Japanese Xbox fans, it could translate to more Japanese made exclusive titles for the system for the rest of us. I would love to see a wider variety of Asian publishers for the system.
No Japanese launch for Virtua Fighter 360? [gamesindustry.biz]
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 29 August 2007
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: PS3, virtua fighter 5, xbox
What an interesting concept. The PS3 sells in Japan about like the 360 in the US proportionally. It's a bit better in the US for the PS3, but the 360 has been available longer, so there's naturally a larger market. So, a game is made and distributed for PS3 in Japan and 360 elsewhere. What a horrible way to screw people over.
Oh, and why does El Rey Misterio have E.T. finger?
R.M. Phone home.