The Xbox never caught on in Japan. The 360 is having problems, too. Ever wonder why? There are any number of reasons why Japan wonât embrace the console now, but letâs go back to the very beginning.
ââŠwhen I went to Japan to show the console, man, they really had a problem with it. I was told a number of crazy things, like the controller should weigh the same as water in your handsâ, former Xbox boss Ed Fries tells Develop, describing some overseas testing prior to the original consoleâs launch in 2001.
âWe heard all kind of negative things from Japan, like we couldnât use the name Xbox because âXâ means death, and the console couldnât be black, because that also was the colour of death. The first Xbox consoles we released in Japan werenât black, in fact, they were a smokey colour â but I was always thinking to myself, âhang on, isnât the PS2 black?!â
Yes, Ed, it was.
Itâs said first impressions are the most lasting, and if Microsoftâs console tested poorly prior to release then it was always going to have an uphill battle in Japan, regardless of how valid the marketâs objections to the Xbox were.
Inside story: The birth of Xbox [Develop]
Game Watchâ />
