(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Here at TFTS World Headquarters, the Xbox 360 is probably the gaming console of choice. I’m a PC gaming snob, but both Steve Andersen and Eric Abent are Xbox 360 gamers. But while the Xbox 360 is popular around here, it’s not popular in Japan. It’s no secret that Microsoft has been having issues in Japan since the first Xbox, but while the new redesigned slim Xbox 360 S is selling well in the United States and Europe – just 6,000 Xbox 360s were sold in Japan last month. Yikes.


The Xbox 360 was the bestselling console in the United States in May, moving 270,000 units according to the NPD Group’s research. That was almost 100,000 units more than what the PlayStation 3 sold in this country. Worldwide, over 54 million Xbox 360s have been sold, but just 1.47 million of those were sold in Japan. Yikes.

So what’s the issue? To the layman, it’s national pride. Japanese would rather support the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii, considering that those two corporations are Japanese. But, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Most of the exclusive games for the Xbox 360 just aren’t appealing to the Japanese. They would much rather play Monster Hunter or Final Fantasy than Halo or Gears of War. Microsoft has offered some interesting Japanese-leaning Xbox 360 exclusives.

The first Dead Rising, with its inane difficulty, was basically a Japanese caricature of America and was a very Japanese game. Lost Planet, Chromehounds and Lost Odyssey (among others) were also Japanese-style games that were Xbox 360 exclusives or came out for that console first. But, Microsoft just can’t seem to get the Xbox to catch on in that country.

It makes you wonder what Microsoft will do differently with the next Xbox. We heard that the Japanese didn’t like the big bulky original Xbox, so the Xbox 360 was smaller and sleeker. The Xbox 360 S is even smaller, yet. But, they still can’t give away the American-made console there. It would be a major scandal (in the industry) if Microsoft just up and didn’t release the next Xbox in Japan, but you have to wonder what the software giant’s plans are for the Land of the Rising Sun moving forward.

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Outdated news /facepalm
Published by Kevin Schram on 28 June, 2011

2 weeks old is not outdated...

omg thats amazing!