I got a 360 because...

[Yoshimax]

I loved my xbox and live so there wasn't much though to be done

Factor in the fantastic (best ever?) wireless joypads (with rumble), the superb aesthetic design, the marketplace, some cracking launch titles (go back and look through the PGR3 thread to see how high hype levels were - See also the PDZ thread although that probably went quiet a lot quicker ) and just the desire to get my hands on some next gen kit.

I'm surprised there are people on here who don't own one to be honest and if there's a single person on here who has held off in favour of getting a PS3 all this time I'd be very surprised.

[Concept]

Many of the Western-gaming hating demographic see it as something of a icon to pin all their genre sterotyping to. :P

That'd be one possible reason.

[Geoff D]

I will get one - at launch I made a pact with myself that as soon as there are 5 games I need to play, I'd pick one up with the aforementioned 5.

So far I'm up to 3 - Ridge 6, Dead Rising & Oblivion so far. Won't be long until 2 more join that fold

[Simmy]

Many of the Western-gaming hating demographic see it as something of a icon to pin all their genre sterotyping to.

That'd be one possible reason.

Think that is the most surprising thing about this thread for me, in that I did not realise how many folks were still (IMO) stuck in the past, and only had interest in Japanese forms of gaming. The amount of great gaming these guys are missing out on with this attitude is vast ! And peps importing Jap 360's confuse the hell out of me as well, is it cheaper ? can't beleive it is after all the costs involved, but I can't think of another reason to do it

[Geezer]

Simmy-Japanese exclusives, ?24 asian games (that are in english) as well as early Dead Rising seem to be people's main reasons for getting a JPN machine. At least they were mine

[charlesr]

Senko no Ronde etc.
It's not so much only having an interest in Japanese games as having access to all games.

[sj33]

If I was gonna get a new machine now, I'd go JPN. I'm not gonna get a JPN machine right now until some more exclusives come out.

[Concept]

My comments weren't aimed at anyone particularly posting in this thread.

I was just hypothesising. The biggest area of resentment against the Xbox brand (bar the fanboy drivel) is usually from those who dislike Western gaming based on preconceptions they have (imo etc. etc.).

[sj33]

I think most people start off that way... it's a fact that the games I like do tend to be from Japan, same goes for many here.
But I think anyone who has actually given the 360 a chance will see it doesn't pay to be narrow minded. Only the player looses out.

[EJG1980]

Think that is the most surprising thing about this thread for me, in that I did not realise how many folks were still (IMO) stuck in the past, and only had interest in Japanese forms of gaming. The amount of great gaming these guys are missing out on with this attitude is vast ! And peps importing Jap 360's confuse the hell out of me as well, is it cheaper ? can't beleive it is after all the costs involved, but I can't think of another reason to do it

I got a Japanese 360 because I decided I wanted one just after launch (late Dec 05) and there were none to be had in the shops over here. Being an impatient bastard I decided to import one from Hong Kong rather than waiting a few months for them to get back in stock over here

And as someone else said, another huge factor is being able to buy Asian versions of games for silly money. At the moment the average Asian version of a game costs around ?22-23 including postage, which is much more appealing than than paying the average price for a brand new PAL game.

I would never have bought Oblivion for ?49.99 as I've never liked RPG style games, but seeing as I could get the Asian version for ?22 I decided to give it a go (and thank God I did!!!!!). I've been able to get more games than usual, and take risks on games I might not usually give a chance to, thanks to owning a Japanese 360.

Senko no Ronde etc.
It's not so much only having an interest in Japanese games as having access to all games.

Another reason for owning a Japanese 360. While there may not end up being that many Japanese exclusives in the 360's lifetime, there might be a few that I want to get hold of, so a Japanese machine makes sense. It's almost a given that most western releases will make it to Japan / Asia so with an NTSC-J machine you're pretty much covered for every type of gaming out there.

[gingerj]

Metronome

i thought that was an xbox title.

am i correct in saying the asian machines are the best of both worlds.

as a whole asian titles have english options and asian machines play ntsc-j titles out of the box?

[EJG1980]

Well both the Asian and Japanese machines will play both Asian and Japanese games. The only real advantage the Asian machine has is that it has a UK style power supply so you don't need to use a stepdown. They both play exactly the same games though, so you can use the English language Asian games on a Japanese 360.

However, I have read some people saying that on rare occasions you'll get a Japanese game that won't run on an Asian machine. I don't know if that's 100% true or not though, and I've never see a list of the titles that supposedly don't work.

[stainboy]

I'm surprised there are people on here who don't own one to be honest and if there's a single person on here who has held off in favour of getting a PS3 all this time I'd be very surprised.

I'm not into FPS or racers and that's all the Xbox seems to have. I am though totally open to persuasion as I was impressed with the machine when I saw it round a friend's house, and I love the idea of Live Arcade and all the downloadable trailers and demos. I'm definitely not holding out for the PS3 either, a 360 is a hundred times more likely.

Maybe having one would get me into the FPS genre (it's because I don't like playing games on the PC) but so far one game and Live Arcade isn't enough.

[sj33]

Well both the Asian and Japanese machines will play both Asian and Japanese games.

Actually, Japanese machines will play both, but not all Japanese games work on Asian machines, hence the preference for Japanese machines.

[EJG1980]

Actually, Japanese machines will play both, but not all Japanese games work on Asian machines, hence the preference for Japanese machines.

Yeah, I said in my post that I'd heard that was the case but I'd never actually seen it confirmed anywhere. Is there an actual list available of the Japanese games which won't work on an Asian machine? Not that it really worries me as I have a Japanese machine anyway