The Xbox 360 may have enjoyed a slight victory over the PlayStation 3 in terms of market share, but when it comes to Japan, there is only one winner. What with Sony being a Japanese company and all, there’s a very lopsided favoritism towards the next-gen PlayStation 4, which is perhaps why Microsoft doesn’t seem too bothered about getting the Xbox One out to that particular market. According to Yasuyuki Higuchi, a Japanese VP of the Redmond-based outfit, the Xbox One won’t be reaching Japan until 2014, with the nation having been dealt the rather unflattering label among the software maker’s "tier two."
Although Japan, quite naturally, has its fair share of Xbox fanboys, Microsoft has found it particularly difficult to tap into a market that has shown almost infallible loyalty to one of its own. The PlayStation 4 will be available in Sony’s backyard from the get-go, but for those waiting on the Japan release of the Xbox One, it is now a certainty that it will not manifest itself until next year.
It has long since been suspected that this was the case, but Higuchi’s confirmation ends any lingering hope for those Japanese Xbox fans. He did go on to mention that Japan, along with those other countries listed as "tier two" (not the best choice of phrases to use, it has to be said), will not have to wait a great deal of time after the North American release to get their hands on the Xbox One console.
Having pulled a couple of questionable moves following the recent announcement of the Xbox One, Microsoft has brought an element of calm to proceedings by ditching the controversial used game rules, which caused confusion and bemusement in one fell swoop. The move to relax those stingy terms appears to have paid dividends thus far, with pre-orders of the next-gen Xbox surging as a result of that particular announcement, and although it’s unlikely to compete with the Sony PlayStation 4 in Japan, the same cannot be said for the rest of the world.
The next-gen console battle is finely poised, and we’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date with the latest news pertaining both the Xbox One and PS4, so stay tuned!
(Source: 4Gamer [Google Translate])
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