Recently we’ve seen a multitude of reports indicating retailers in Japan are scaling back Microsoft’s Xbox 360 from store shelves, some are even removing it altogether.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011...
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/a...
http://www.next-gen.biz/new...
It got me wondering about the possible reasons why MS could let an entire region slip through their fingers and the impact it could have on next generation of consoles. If you were to believe the majority of ‘Xbox supporters’ in some comments sections, the Japanese are a bunch of intolerant, xenophobic traditionalists, who only ever buy products produced in their own country. It’s hard not to find this type of generalist comment ironically offensive. On the other troll claw, you have ‘PS3 supporters’ claiming that, and I quote, “Japanese people know a good quality console when they see one”, of course this is almost as equally generalist and just as deluded.
Anyway, I’m here to give you my rational and objective opinion/speculation and not to make fun of ‘those guys’. There’s some little known (in the west, where most other cultures are ‘little known’) aspects of Japanese culture that Microsoft has accidentally put its foot in. Apparently, in the land of the rising sun, an ‘X’ has negative connotations and can mean ‘no’, ’ bad’, ‘don’t want it’ or ‘wrong’. A circle is used as an opposing positive symbol, which explains why Japanese DS3 controllers have the X and O buttons reversed compared to the west. The ‘X’ in Japanese is pronounced “batsu” and the ‘O’ “maru”, this can be heard in Japanese game shows where a player is either “maru” (correct O) or “batsu” (wrong X). So, somewhat humorously, the Xbox could be translated as a ‘bad box’ or a ‘box of wrongness’. This is something Microsoft clearly never considered when their PR team were thinking of a way to grab that all important adolescent teen male demographic. I can’t say they did a bad job as ‘X’ in the west is seen as a ‘cool’ letter, especially to their young male targets: X-men, eXcellent, eXtreme even ‘xxx’. Let me just point out that I don’t think this was the defining factor in the downfall of Xbox in Japan but merely my own speculation based on Internet acquired ‘facts’. This gets me thinking about how retailers will react when it’s time to order all new ‘nextboxes’. I’m pretty sure that MS may have a very difficult time fighting against retailer perceptions unless they change the name of the console, which I’m not sure they are willing/able to do.
Now on to why I think there won’t be a PS4. I’m going to be straight with you now and say that I DO believe there’ll be another Playstation, just that it won’t be named PS4 for reasons similar to my previous speculation. You see there’s more things about Japanese culture that you may not know, unlikely I know but let me continue, such as a certain superstition regarding the number ‘4’. The number four is considered unlucky, so much so that some hospitals don’t have rooms with the number or even floors. This is especially true for maternity wards where the number ‘43’ can be literally translated to ‘still birth’. Also 4 is pronounced “shi” which is the same/similar to the pronunciation of ‘death’. So you can clearly see that naming the next Playstation the PS4 could potentially have a dramatic effect just like it did/didn’t with the Xbox. Well, there you have it, the ramblings of a bored gamer on a rainy day; there’s one interesting question I have raised though...
...if the next Playstation isn’t going to be called the PS4, then what IS it going to be named? Answers on a postcard please.
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