Original Xbox Games Still Trapped In Japan

Key Takeaways

• Microsoft has struggled in Japan, with many Japan-exclusive games failing to leave the country.
• Dinosaur Hunting and Tenerezza, two Xbox-exclusive games from Japan, had unique gameplay and niche audiences.
• Many Japan-exclusive Xbox games, like Magi Death Fight and ExaSkeleton, had creative elements.

Try as they might, Microsoft has never been a big seller in Japan when it comes to their Xbox line of consoles. From the original system up to the recent Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, they sell terribly compared to the other big competitors like Sony and Nintendo.

And they have certainly tried many times over, from getting exclusive games on their systems to getting new controllers to better fit Japanese hands. It should come as no surprise then to learn that some of these attempts never left Japan. Maybe some day they will come to the West. After all, Metal Wolf Chaos did after fifteen years.

Updated November 21st, 2024 by Hilton Webster: Ever since the original Xbox, Microsoft has tried and failed to make a dent in the Japanese gaming market. Buying a Japanese studio and then shutting them down tends to have that effect. As such, it’s rare to see Japan-exclusive Xbox games anymore, nor seeing those original Xbox games escape Japan either. Let’s take a closer look at some of those ill-fated games.

10 Shin Megami Tensei: Nine

Shin Megami Tensei: Nine launched for the Xbox on December 5, 2002. It was developed and published by Atlus with help from NexTech. NexTech also collaborated on some other high profile games including Shining Tears, Children of Mana, and a majority of the Time Crisis series. This spin-off takes place between the first and second games from the SNES era.

It was the first Shin Megami Tensei to be made entirely in 3D, and was an overly ambitious title, planned to be an MMO. This game, Nine remained a single-player game, though the online version was released in Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine, exclusive to PC.

9 Dinosaur Hunting

The people have cried for a new Dino Crisis, or how cool it would be to be able to play the original Monster Hunter on an Xbox console. Well have the best of both worlds with Dinosaur Hunting, an Xbox and Japan-exclusive game all about, well, hunting dinosaurs. That’s enough of a monster, right?

There’s really not much to talk about here. You hunt down dinosaurs with military-grade weapons. It predates Monster Hunter by a year, too, so who’s to say this didn’t have an influence on that game?

Dinosaur Hunting had an English version in production, but was unfortunately canceled.

8 Thousand Land

Thousand Land launched for the Xbox on March 20, 2003. It was developed and published by FromSoftware. It is very different from their other games in both tone and gameplay.

It’s a strategy simulation game with bright and colorful graphics. For those interested, an English fan patch was finally completed in 2019.

7 Dennou Taisen: DroneZ

Dennou Taisen: DroneZ launched for the Xbox on April 22, 2004. It was developed by Zetha GameZ and published by Metro 3D. Zetha GameZ seems to have a small presence online in the West and Metro 3D is also a small publisher, but some may have heard about their work on Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse on PS2, Armada on Dreamcast, or their Aero the Acro-Bat Game Boy Advance ports.

In any case players create a male or female avatar and become trapped in this VR shooter.

6 Magi Death Fight: Mahou Gakuen

Magi Death Fight: Mahou Gakuen launched for the Xbox on June 4, 2002. It was developed and published by Takuyo who is a developer with not a lot of online presence. The game can be played alone or with a friend in co-op. It’s a top down arena fighter mixed a little with a puzzle game.

It’s great as a little puzzle game, if a little hard to read due to just how much is going on screen at once.

5 ExaSkeleton

ExaSkeleton launched for the Xbox on December 18, 2003. It was developed and published by Kiki Co. This is a mech-based shooter that doesn’t seem to offer much to the genre in terms of new ideas.

It wasn’t the most exciting of mech games when compared to its contemporaries, and being an Xbox-exclusive didn’t do it any favours against its more popular competitors either. Nice graphics and designs though.

4 Rent-A-Hero No. 1

Rent-A-Hero No 1 launched for the Xbox on September 4, 2003. It was developed and published by Sega internally. There actually were plans to release it in North America, but that version was canceled.

That version actually leaked online in 2008, prompting those interested to find out it was mostly completed. It should also be noted that this RPG brawler was a remake of a 1991 Sega Genesis game of the same name.

3 Tenerezza

Tenerezza launched for the Xbox on January 30, 2003. It was developed and published by Aquaplus. Aquaplus is known for niche RPGs including the Utawarerumono, Tears to Tiara, and To Heart series of RPGs. This game then is an action RPG starring a young girl.

Based on the gameplay and art style, Tenerezza looks like the PS1 action RPG from Squaresoft, Brave Fencer Musashi.

2 Double S.T.E.A.L. The Second Clash

Double Steal is a funny one, because while the sequel, The Second Clash, is exclusive to Japan, the original wasn’t. Not only was it on multiple consoles, it had a completely different name, Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions.

The sequel, like many Japanese games for the time, remained exclusive domestically after relatively poor reception to the original. The sequel did sadly get poorer reviews, though it had a much cooler name, and some strong graphics for the time.

1 N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment

N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment launched for the Xbox on April 24, 2003. It was developed by Red Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It’s a simulation game where players talk to a female robot assistant through an Xbox headset.

Being published by Microsoft was a big deal and Red Entertainment did release things in the West. The most prominent titles include The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang on SNES, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on PS2, the Gungrave games also on PS2, and many other collaborations.