Will X mark the spot with this One?

 

XBox oh how you've come a long way. It seems like just yesterday you were that weird little black box with the odd name that I laughed at. Who'd have guessed that Microsoft would create a console that set the gaming world ablaze? Or should I say the western gaming world? Yes, Xbox with all its merits, can't seem to make a dent in the asian markets.
  
      The main thing keeping the XBox brand from making an impact in the east side of the world, is the same thing that makes Nintendo so lovable. That's right. Just as I said Nintendo is unapologetically Japanese, XBox is proudly and painfully American. I have no doubt that XBox One will sell in America, but right now the features and games shown just are not hitting the spot for my admittedly asian-esque taste in games. If microsoft wants to hit it out of the park with this one, they have to be able to appeal to more than America, UK, and Canada. I am convinced that halfway through the 360's run, Microsoft just said "screw it!" and gave up on Japan. To make matters worse, the majority of the fan base agrees with that idea and thinks Japan just hates American products. If that were even remotely true, Apple products wouldn't be so big over there.

   Microsoft has to be able to sell in Japan and other asian countries if they want to be the top console. The Xbox One could possibly be the console that gives the XBox brand a fighting chance in Japan. Granted it still seems aimed more at American s with its features and the majority of its games, there are a few that stand out and seem like they will appeal to an Asian  audience, such as Spark. If Microsoft can get exclusive RPGs, adventure, platform, or even RTS games, it could help their stance. It is imperative that the XBox One sells more than just 1 million in the Asian territories if it wants to be the dominant console, and the only way to do that is with Games!!!! 3's a charm right? Your move, XBox, will X mark the spot this time?

Is Mario being milked dry

The question on everyone's mind these days, is simply a question of "is Mario being milked dry?" In order to answer this question, we must first acknowledge that Mario himself is a character and he has multiple games that he stars in. Is the character Mario used a lot? Yes. Nobody can argue with that, but is each individual franchise that he represent being milked? I would say no.

Let me explain. Mario on average has 1 or 2 main franchise games per console and 1 of each spinoff game. Do you honestly believe everyone who enjoys Mario and Sonic Olympics, or Mario Party is also going to go out and buy Mario Galaxy or New Super Mario Bros.? The problem is that people group anything with Mario in it as a main franchise game for some reason. Mario Kart has its own following separate from Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. I know several gamers who are "tired" of Mario platformers, but get excited every time a new Mario Kart is announced.

Think of Mario as a movie star. Would you group Enemy of the State and I Am Legend as part of the same line of movies with Will Smith? No you wouldn't. Though they all star Will Smith, they are vastly different from each other. This variety is what allows Mario to churn out several games per console and still stay fresh. If we look at each individual franchise, we see there have only been two 3D games, one sidescrolling 2D game and one RPG game on the Wii. How is that any more milked that the yearly Call of Duty games that are all the same genre? So no, Mario is not being milked, he's just the star of multiple separate game franchises.

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