xbox one only available in 13 countries

So i just saw on IGN that xbox one will only be available in 13 countries instead of the promised 21 the people in the 8 countries who have pre-ordered an xbox one will get a free game when the xbox does finally hit their country. What do you think on this?

@jeanespinosa21: Which countries? (somehow I think Mexico will get the shaft :P)

Weirdly Mexico has been prioritised over countries like the Netherlands and the whole of Scandinavia. ( I say weirdly in the sense that those countries are super rich and thus would seem better markets from a business sense)

From MS blog: "Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, in November."

Countries that have been pushed back

"Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland in 2014".

Since I haven't planned to buy launch day console this doesn't concern me that much, but it still suck for those that have ordered one.

@alexw00d: If my understanding is correct, the reason it's getting delayed is they don't have the proper translations for a lot of that stuff. When it comes to Mexico they already have it done as Spanish is a big part of the US. So as part of getting ready for that market they did it ahead of time.

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland- these countires have been delayed

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, US, and New Zealand.- these are still getting it day one

Yeah now I saw the news ... not weirdly the xbox has a huge penetration market in Mexico (altho many units are "hacked" tho) but you would be surprised how many people in Mexico buys videogames systems.... also if we add the migrants money , were the relatives gets to buy electronics and the like , it does not surprise me at all. I was just being negative :3

i guess its some localization issue either that or the xbone hasnt picked up much momentum in said delayed countries sad to see i'll have to way till TBD 2014 since my 21st birthday is 30th nov. :(

It sucks for anyone that wants an X1 in those territories this year but sales wise, I don't think they add up to a large market, aside from Russia. I have no idea how big Russia is as a games market. Never actually seen any sales numbers from that territory. I don't believe a few months delay isn't going to mean anything in the long term.

Personally I live in the USA and I don't plan on picking one up until after Christmas anyway and I think it sucks MS didn't offer us a free game for people who pre-orderd prior to them dropping digital game sharing. A free digital version of the full release of K.I. would have gone a long way with me.

It's a lesson. Simultaneous launches worldwide are hard. I don't think anyone's ever attempted to do it in 4 continents before. It's also a lesson for those people that keep telling me all it takes is a $5 mic to have voice recognition and anyone can do it.

It's also the same old issue. Europe badly needs to pick an international language and make it a mandatory 2nd language. This has been and will always remain a logistical nightmare for business and technology going forward if this doesn't take place. In fact every country should pass education laws and strive so that kids are fluent in at least 2 languages by the time they graduate high school and one of them should be an international language. USA included. Mind boggling this isn't a mandate in 2013 with globalization being such a huge part of the world today.

While economics played a role in video games taking so long to establish themselves in so many places in the rest of the world, language is also another barrier and probably the main reason why the UK is such a much larger games market compared to economically healthy and countries like Germany with even larger populations and better GDP.

If Europe doesn't do something soon, it's going to start falling behind markets like Brazil and Russia where logistics are much, much easier to deal with.

What are you talking about, you think we should all throw away our own languages and all speak english? Because that's what you want right, everyone should speak English. No more French, German or Dutch no English that's what everyone should speak, because it would make everything easier. But it would also imply the loss of a counties culture, which has already been severely squandered by globalization. And I am fluent in two languages but with my primary language being dutch and English thus being my second language. I do not speak it flawlessly or without an accent. So when I set my alarm on my iPad using Siri, Siri sometimes has issues understanding me because of the fact that english is not my primary language. So while your mandate is cute, there is a huge difference with being raised an English speaker and having learned it in school and trough English media like I have.

And I can totally see the german games market being smaller than it could be due to their need to localize everything. But how is this any different with Brazil and Russia. Because not to be racist here but I don't think a large enough population of these countries warrants microsoft or any other company to not localize their products and say only english for you.

@alexglass: I dont know where you're getting this, 90% who is in the target market in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia atleast have passable skill in English. This also applies to Western Europe without saying. I should know this because I live here. Eastern bloc countries arent a total shithole anymore.

Also, I doubt that additional language support is hard to implement as a downloadable software patch later on.

@mx: I agree with this. European Union already have an anthem the nazis used to march to. I think that the overall politics of the EU also strive towards a more unified race already through encouraging cultural mixup.

@mx: Majority of people in those countries (Excluding Russia) has majority of people speaking good English. Also, there are people who prefer having their console and everything else in English instead of their first language. It's good way to learn English and most of the time the translations are fucking awful. Just a personal preference but, the first time I popped in Halo 4 and played multiplayer, I had to quit mid-game because of absolutely horrible translations.

I don't understand how they could've not added the localization in dashboard update or something.

Maybe there really was some truth to that rumor that they are having production chain issues.

@hollitz: Based on the list of countries with delays, I'd say translation issues are more likely. Practically all of them have some native language that is not covered by the languages in the list of countries getting the console in November.

Lets not kid ourselves, they are not delaying the Xbox because of localization issues, there have been many insiders saying that MS have had problems with production. But I guess saying its localization makes it sounds less embarrassing for them.

spin me another tune baby..

No, I said adopt a 2nd mandatory international language. Can't possibly see what would be bad about that.

I speak two languages too and dabble in a third. I love my native language, and I'm originally from Eastern Europe, would never ever ever want to lose it. But it would help my native country a whole hell of a lot if everyone else spoke a 2nd international language like English. It's great.

I think you have had to learn English in school, from first grade, it would make a big difference to you as well. For the record we had this since 4th grade back home in elementary school, but they kept switching us from French, to English, to Russian to so many. And never really came away with anything from all that. Same in the USA where I took Spanish for two years. They should mandate 2 are permanent all the way through high school and make sure you are fluent in one. And while I agree that I had the advantage of truly learning English because I moved at young age and live in the USA, I have met kids from back home who came over here at 26 years old, but really spent 5-6 years learning English, and their accents and proficiency were very good and quite pleasant. More like proper English. Made me proud to see that. I can only imagine this would be even better if it was consistent from elementary school

It is what it is. We're small regions in a big, big globalized world. If Europe doesn't do this, it will become less important. Look what happened to Japan in one generation. Brazil and Russia are BIG. Very big. If the economy improves there, it won't take long until Europe goes right back to being a "tier 2" region again. I'm not at all suggesting as losing European heritage. Don't think that.

@timlump said:

I think the Irish speak English (I doubt they translate to Gaelic) and correct me if I'm wrong Spanish people speak Spanish. Those are two pretty damn big and important languages to cover. You need both to release in the US in fact. Assuming the delay is really about localization which seems probable if you look at the countries they are leaving out. Still fucking sucks thought.

Seriously this country restriction is just.....bs

Microsoft has to translate to English, French and Spanish to hit it's core markets - the United States, Canada and Mexico and western europe (UK, France, Spain) MS has always focused on north america and I doubt they'll stop doing so. The omission of Germany is notable, however video games have an uphill struggle there, and its likely some of their flagship titles may run into ratings issues (Killer Instinct, Ryse) So those three languages will be in place regardless. With the notable exceptions of Chinese (china's internet laws..yeah) and Arabic (you could write a book on reasons selling games here is difficult), they represent the lion's share of potential customers worldwide.

MS is faced with tough decisions - delay these regions, or delay the launch entirely. MS wants to make a huge push in North America, and so does Sony, so they are unwilling to wait a few months.

Salut!;)

Wasn't it the same case with Xbox Live before though or are you just referring to them not officially supporting certain European countries? Are you playing from back home?

@alexglass: Salut. No,I mean(from what I understanded)that in order to buy X1 in my country I have to wait 1-2 years for them to launch it here too? And if I want to buy it this year I need to go in one of these":Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand" ?

Are you back home though? Because if so, I'm pretty sure it's never been officially supported there even 1-2 year later. Does Sony have official support? And yes it sucks and it would be nice to have more influence in Microsoft, all things considered. Though if people continue building a small community, and I saw a lot of requests, maybe Microsoft will finally do it.

But come on guys, there was a time when Europe as a whole was never supported world wide day 1. Heck there was a time when USA wasn't and everything came out in Japan 1 year ahead. And last generation Sony delayed their entire European launch until March. Simultaneous worldwide launches are not easy. I think this is the first time anyone's attempted such a massive launch on so many different continents.

The problem is, as I said originally. Language. Distribution is another. And time and money. Small regions that require an equal investment in order to localize everything and for MS it just got more complex with voice recognition. But it is getting better. Maybe next time around, it will be more feasible. I am very sorry for you though. I feel even more sorry for the Japanese. They're the ones that lost out the most, imo. Other countries gained a leg up on them.

Didn't the PS3 do super well in Europe even though they didn't get it until 2007 while America and Japan got it in 2006? This is a shitty situation but I don't necessarily think it'll have any lasting effects on the console.