Microsoft Tries Again in Japan With Xbox 360

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

September 12, 2007, 11:43 AM

When it comes to Japan and the Xbox 360, you can't say that Microsoft isn't trying.

Microsoft said it is attracting to the platform some of the biggest names in Japanese gaming to produce games in 2007 and beyond during a press event at the Tokyo Game Show on Wednesday.

By any standard, the Xbox 360 has been an abject failure in Japan, the home of both Sony and Nintendo. Even in the PS3's darkest days in the country, it was still outselling Microsoft's console by at least a 2 to 1 margin. But to Microsoft's credit, they're not taking it sitting down.

Probably the biggest news out of the presser was the fact that Square Enix, the final developer holdout on the 360, will produce two games for the platform. One would be called Infinite Undiscovery, the other The Last Remnant.

While the games were touched on only briefly, they both appear to follow the RPG format which seems to be much more popular in the Asian market. So far, most first-person shooters that are popular among American gamers have generally gone unregarded in the East.

Besides Square Enix, two of Japan's most well known developers, Tomonobu Itagaki from Team NINJA/Tecmo Ltd. and Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker, also joined the press conference to voice their support for the platform. Itagaki announced Ninja Gaiden 2, while Sakaguchi debuted the RPG Lost Odyssey..

"We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan's best and most innovative developers, and we're looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond," Interactive Entertainment chief Don Mattrick said.

The most recent sales data available from Japan shows that the Xbox 360 has a deep hole to pull itself out of: Media Create found that from August 27 to September 2 the console only sold 1,635 units.

In comparison, the Wii sold 39,371 units, the PS3 18,068 units, and the PS2 14,280.