omikron
19.08.2008, 22:47
From the official Microsoft Xbox Japan page (http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/console_info_20080819.htm):
“Dear Customers,
We are most grateful for your patronage.
As Xbox units have sold out, in many shops it is now no longer possible to procure one; this is a consequence of demand for the console far exceeding our estimates, and we apologise most sincerely to our valued customers, as well as to shops and other partners, for the inconvenience caused by this lapse on our part.
We at Microsoft are currently expending every effort in producing more Xboxes, and the next consignment of standard models is expected in September. The Elite and Arcade models are to follow. We hope you will be kind enough to wait for these additional units to become available.
Our most sincere thanks for your continued patronage of our products and services,
Microsoft Corporation
Home & Entertainment Division”
The fillip in sales is thought to be due to almost entirely to the tremendously well received latest Tales RPG title, Tales of Vesperia (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-bf73-71-dh-77-2-49-en-15-vesperia-84-j-70-2oyi.html), with the English edition out in a matter of days, which as you will recall is an Xbox “exclusive”, for the time being at least (http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/05/15/tales-of-vesperia-ps3-confirmed/).
With all the efforts Microsoft have been putting into rescuing the Xbox in the Japanese market, formerly a forlorn hope, it seems some success has been forthcoming, however we should probably also bear in mind that this news is great PR material, so exaggerating the nature of the shortage would surely be of interest to Microsoft.
Additionally, we might interpret the news rather less positively as Microsoft drastically underestimating sales of its own console, and so failing to stock up, or even of them deliberately engineering a minor shortage so as to provoke just the kind of article you are reading now.
Whatever the case, that the Xbox is back from the brink in the Japanese market is not in doubt, and units are still available and the restock is not far off, so Tales fans in Japan will soon be enjoying their new consoles…
If you’re wondering about the style of the announcement – that’s how they’re written in Japan: exceedingly humble and apologetic in language, although the content itself is another matter. I would expect a more crowing tone from an American or European press release of this sort.
-> http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/08/19/xbox-360-sells-out-in-japan/
hm... surreal
“Dear Customers,
We are most grateful for your patronage.
As Xbox units have sold out, in many shops it is now no longer possible to procure one; this is a consequence of demand for the console far exceeding our estimates, and we apologise most sincerely to our valued customers, as well as to shops and other partners, for the inconvenience caused by this lapse on our part.
We at Microsoft are currently expending every effort in producing more Xboxes, and the next consignment of standard models is expected in September. The Elite and Arcade models are to follow. We hope you will be kind enough to wait for these additional units to become available.
Our most sincere thanks for your continued patronage of our products and services,
Microsoft Corporation
Home & Entertainment Division”
The fillip in sales is thought to be due to almost entirely to the tremendously well received latest Tales RPG title, Tales of Vesperia (http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-bf73-71-dh-77-2-49-en-15-vesperia-84-j-70-2oyi.html), with the English edition out in a matter of days, which as you will recall is an Xbox “exclusive”, for the time being at least (http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/05/15/tales-of-vesperia-ps3-confirmed/).
With all the efforts Microsoft have been putting into rescuing the Xbox in the Japanese market, formerly a forlorn hope, it seems some success has been forthcoming, however we should probably also bear in mind that this news is great PR material, so exaggerating the nature of the shortage would surely be of interest to Microsoft.
Additionally, we might interpret the news rather less positively as Microsoft drastically underestimating sales of its own console, and so failing to stock up, or even of them deliberately engineering a minor shortage so as to provoke just the kind of article you are reading now.
Whatever the case, that the Xbox is back from the brink in the Japanese market is not in doubt, and units are still available and the restock is not far off, so Tales fans in Japan will soon be enjoying their new consoles…
If you’re wondering about the style of the announcement – that’s how they’re written in Japan: exceedingly humble and apologetic in language, although the content itself is another matter. I would expect a more crowing tone from an American or European press release of this sort.
-> http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/08/19/xbox-360-sells-out-in-japan/
hm... surreal