Posts Tagged ‘star ocean’
360 Top Seller In Japan Again
Microsoft has been working hard at getting the Xbox 360 to sell well in Japan. With its shooter heavy focus it failed to appeal to the tastes of Japanese gamers, but once again the console has shot to the top of the sales list. It’s happened before and it doesn’t take a business expert to realize why.
Just recently Square Enix released the Xbox 360 exclusive JRPG Star Ocean: The Last Hope and as when Eternal Sonata came out the Microsoft console shot up the charts. During the week ending February 22nd the Xbox 360 sold 21,013 units, more than four thousand units more than the Wii and five thousand more than the PS3.
The game itself sold 173,850 units in four days to climb to the top of the sales charts for Japan.
Star Ocean 4 Moved Up
In a very rare move, publisher Square Enix has brought forward the release date for Star Ocean: The Last Hope, making the game available in North America on February 24 instead of March 3. No reason for the early release date was given.
The Last Hope is the fourth entry in the action RPG series and is the very firsttitle in the franchise to be released for the Xbox 360. While the game isnt being billed as a Xbox 360 exclusive, no other console versions have been announced yet.
Japan Getting Exclusive Xbox Bundles
It seems somewhat unfair some of the great packages and deals Japanese gamers get. Sony and Nintendo put out consoles and handhelds in a wide palette of colors that rarely make their way to the rest of the world. Popular games get bundles that include console, game and various other sundries at a lower price than buying everything separately. Now Microsoft is partnering with Square Enix and Capcom to give Japanese gamers exclusive bundles for Resident Evil 5 and Star Ocean 4.
Until recently the Xbox 360 had been performing quite poorly in Japan but the release of several Xbox exclusive RPGs saw the console’s sales jump. Now Microsoft is aiming to push those sales figures even higher and get a bigger install base.
The Star Ocean 4 Premium Pack contains a copy of Star Ocean 4, a 360 Arcade unit complete with the Xbox Live Arcade Omniverse Disk, a Star Ocean 4 faceplate, and a Star Ocean series soundtrack. The Biohazard 5 Premium Pack (Biohazard is the name of Resident Evil in Japan) includes a 60 gigabyte 360 console, the game, a headset and a code for downloading a special Resident Evil 5 theme. The Star Ocean package retails at 24,800 yen while the Biohazard Pack is a bit more pricey at 34,800 yen, both offering a savings of about four thousand yen versus buying everything together. As you might expect the bundles will be released at the same time as the games.