Why am I NOT the least bit surprised by this *RUMOR*

http://games.kikizo.com/news/200507/096.asp

Although I REALLY have to question Microsoft' s sanity if any part of this is true:

The rumours also predict that Xbox 360 could launch in Japan as late as March, which could possibly pit it against PlayStation 3.

They' d have to be out of their damn minds to even entertain such a thought. They can pull such a stunt in ANY other territory except for Japan because-

Microsoft has had little luck attracting the Japanese. Around half a million people have bought the original Xbox since its launch in early 2002, as opposed to the 18 million who brought home a PlayStation 2.

Ideally they' d want a bit of a head start on the PlayStation 3 in Japan to help build a little momentum before Sony' s beast is unleashed. The online & HD enabled Final Fantasy was quite a major acquisition on Microsoft' s part and would be excellent launch material if the Xbox360 launched in Japan this year, not when its pitted against the PlayStation 3 which has backwards compatibility and access to the PS2 version of the same game.

If this is true MS just lost whatever possible chance they had of competing in Japan. the only way for them to get a foot hold over there was to come out first with some heavy hitting games. What' s up with the big changes from what they said at E3? MS, you are NOT Sony! You don' t get to lie and get away with it in Japan!

I honestly don' t think they had a chance in Japan. If the surveys are to be believed, only 2% of Japan want a 360.

And without good Japanese support, the Xbox360 will rely on US and EU developers, which means like the Xbox 1, it will mainly appeal to the PC gamer and be filled with FPS clones and lots of boring non-Japanese games.

I' m hoping that this isn' t true, because this will probably mean that a lot of the Japanese support that was gearing up might shift back toward the PS3. What sense would it make if they are going to launch at the same time? It would be okay for Nintendo to do something like this, but Microsoft gets no love from Nippon.




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