http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aneIB1J7q2Ss&refer=top_world_news

HOLY CRAP! Is there even a competing figure out there for lowest launch numbers? Aside from N-Gage that is ;). I wonder what the Virtual Boy sold at launch... Given that Final Fantasy XI was already available on the PS2 for quite some time, still I find it amazing that even with the inclusion of the trial version of Final Fantasy XI Online it still sold THIS low.

Thankfully, as was the case with the Sega Genesis, Microsoft has the U.S. and Europe to keep the Xbox brand afloat.

It would actually be better for Microsoft to have waited with the launch in japan till they had Japan friendly titles, but it is a surprise that its sold less than the old xbox, but then again, that had more launch titles than the 360

Tbh, I wasn' t really expecting anything else. MS just stand for something at odds with Japanese culture. Im not quite sure what it is. Maybe the gameplay style, maybe their open confession at E3 to want to sell 1 billion units to anyone and everyone, whether they want/need one or not. At least that put me off a little, but Im not japanese!

Still they tend to ignore the fact that Sony really want the same thing! Then again, there are just as many smash-my-PSP vids out there as smash-my-XBox ones!

I' m not surprised - Japan needs much better systems when it comes to design.I' m talking fan noise , size and stuff.

The powerbrick and size alone could' ve been the problem - it' s why they didn' t want original X at their homes.

It' s not over yet - if they get some quality titles worthy of Japan , they can have a boost in sales.

For now PS2 is to big of a winner when it comes to software in Japan and DS is performing incredibly cool as well.

They won' t get a system for pure graphics -it' s Japan , they know it' s about gameplay and current gen still has plenty.

I think the problem is it isn' t made by Sony or Nintendo. It has nothing to do with how good the system is, or how big, it' s who makes it, and Microsoft has ZERO loyalty In Japan.

The Microsoft game division needs to prostitute all of their wives and relatives and get Square Enix fully onboard developing RPGs for Xbox360, ones with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy in the title. That may be their only hope over there!

i' m with mxpx, japan just hates microsoft and stays loyal to its own brand.. i feel like they' re being very patriotic and specialy it comes to a company like microsoft... Japan does not want to see sony and specialy intendo crash, never ... one of the ways to avoid that is to not support microsoft

Thankfully, as was the case with the Sega Genesis, Microsoft has the U.S. and Europe to keep the Xbox brand afloat.

The Mega Drive didn' t do THIS badly in Japan.

While Microsoft has no brand loyalty in Japan (apart from the hardcore fans) I think it mainly had to do with the lineup of games. I mean, it really was crappy whichever way you look at it - especially for a Japanese gamer. If games like Enchant Arm, 99 Nights, DOA4, Frame City Killer, etc were actually at launch, the response would have been much, much better.

It may not have been the best beginning for them, but once we see more games like the ones mentioned above, a clearer picture of the consoles future in Japan can be painted.

It may not have been the best beginning for them, but once we see more games like the ones mentioned above, a clearer picture of the consoles future in Japan can be painted.

I REALLY REALLY wish I could be a bit enthusiastic about the 360' s future in Japan BUT with Sony hyping up the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo' s Revolution set to appear as well, whatever tiny bit of steam the 360 might have now will likely get sucked up by the PS3 and Revolution hype.. And sadly, given Japan' s history with more than 2 competing consoles in the market, I don' t think the 360 stands a chance.

This really isnt a surprise to anybody is it? Way before the 360 came out in Japan people said it was gonna bomb and look what happened.I just hope things get better for Microsoft in Japan.

i think microsoft deserved better. those japanese are really a strange bunch of people. i mean, they have exelent gamers like the team marubaku, who loves to play arcade race games (most of them sega one' s), but still while sega has released a exelent conversion from outrun 2 on the xbox, they completely ignore it. is it becouse its from the usa ? i mean, yes, the xbox, and the xbox 360 are huge in size, but its the games that count, and the xbox 360 will be getting all the multiplatform releases also. but, to be honest, there are to little exclusive tittles. but for me, the gamepad with repositioned black and white buttons, with the allready exelent analog sticks jost works miracles with racing games. and let that be my favorite type of game

As far as i remember, the PS3 console is bigger than the Xbox (dont string me up and that)

It is about national pride, and about Microsoft not delivering other Asian friendly games at launch than Ridge Racer, which from what iv read is mediocre at best. They should have had some RPG in development along side PDZ and Kameo. I dont know why they didnt do that, i mean even americans and europeans love these would be RPG gameS!

they did have an rpg in development, that was ' enchant arm' but got delayed. Doa 4 also was to be a launch title too. If these 2 games came out on launch day, I think the story would have been different.

ohh yeha, thats right, forget about enchant arm, actually thought of it as Ninety Nine Nights, a well, they should have done more to make sure it was done on time, but maybe sales will pick up when the titles are released!

flipping japs! Not buying xbox360s and here I am going into every store in london searching for one. Now I have to wait after christmas!

If I was Microsoft, I would concentrate on CRUSHING Sony and Nintendo in America and Europe! Japan IS the second largest video game market, and I, as well as a lot of other people, would like to see more Japanese developed games for the Xbox brand, but c' mon! Microsoft should just DOMINATE the markets that they can, and Japan will fall in line eventually. I mean, developers, whether Japanese, American, European, Venutian, or Martian are going to develop games where the money is.

I blame Canada for this fiasco!! With their flapping heads and beady eyes. It' s all Mxpx182' s fault!

I understand why the 360 didn' t do well in Japan, it' s not worth the money. When you buy a console you want lots of games that last a long time. But the 360s line-up, especially in japan, was really bad. To be honest, there' s not a single game out for the 360, except Condemned, that even I am interested in. And lots of the games that are out can be finished quite fast. I have played most of them in stores and such but i wasn' t impressed at all. I' m sooooo disappointed! Even the graphics weren' t as cool as I was expecting.
The controller was kind of nice but it' s just a slightly enhanced Dreamcast controller. I actually prefer the Wavebird controller.
I might buy the Xbox360 in the future if there are enough games worth playing, but as it is now, I' d rather save my money for the Revolution and the very expensive PS3. And that' s probably what the japanese are doing as well. I doubt it has much to do with loyalty or anything like that. I' m not saying the 360 is bad. It' s one hell of a console, just not as good as I was expecting or to be worth my money.
I know lots of people are probably getting upset by reading this (Am I the only one who doesn' t like the 360 right now?) but I' m really not impressed with the Xbox360 at all. Only thing I really like right now is the design and Xbox Live. Not something you spend 400$ on.
But hey, maybe the japanese will buy lots of 360s right before christmas?

I really thing Japan just hates MS. I agree, the launch over in Japan was crap. They got sh*t when it came to games. There really wasn' t much MS could do though since their main japanese titltes are coming from third party support. MS doesn' t have any contrl on when they get to release their games. Hopefully when the big Japanese title s come out the 360 will pick up steam. I' m desperately crazing Enchant Arm and 99 Nights. thos should be out relatively soon.

Maybe conservative patriotic hardcore samurai-wannabes in Japan hates Microsoft and the US. But regular as well as hardcore japanese gamers at the age of 14 to 25, living in modern society, were all of the cultures are mixed up, probably wouldn' t ignore the first next-gen console if they really liked it. I mean, they like lots of other stuff from outside Japan, why not Microsoft?
And by the way, I think the US and European launches were crap to. Not enough to keep my interest anyway. All the games out for Xbox360 now are just old games in a new shell. And the shell is not that impressive.
All the hype and commersials got me excited but in the end, I don' t feel the Xbox360 is worth its money right now. Maybe when they lower the price sometime in the future, then maybe, I' ll be buying one.
I can' t say I' m optimistic about the future releases for the 360 either. It' s got a couple of games that might become must-haves but to me, but it seems it will pretty much get the same games the Xbox had. Even though MS managed to get some japanese buds, Sony is still Mr. Popular among japanese developers.