It would be horrible decision to leave Japan for MS now. If MS would leave Japan, it would also hurt european ja US sales badly. If they would suddenly announce that they would leave Japan, it would seem to consumers that 360 is doing terribly and their support for it is soon going to be cut and 360 sales would drop like a stone everywhere, even in USA. Consumers don't know much about console sales so news like that would have devastating effect on sales. Statements about continuing support elsewhere would have no effect because few actually trusts MS. And Japanese developers support would also weaken a lot which would affect software support and it would also weaken sales elsewhere. They simply can't leave Japan anymore even if sales are terrible.

I think you really have a cool and interesting point with the public image. However the most tanglible and quantifiable thing in this situation is money and sales. How much money is MS putting into Japan? How much are they going to get out?

How much value does that public image drop (if it even will) have? Can they simply not make it public and quietly pull back?

If FFXIII doesn't go to the 360 or no more big JRPG are announced (timed)exclusive for 360, then it might have already begun

You make a good point, and I could see that potentially worrying European gamers a triffle, but I do doubt that in US the average gamer would really worry that much.  The only major negative I see from a US perspective is that the 360 might well lose jRPG support almost totally, closing down the potential gaming demographics it could appeal to.

I do think that the Slim, FFXIII and GT5 are going to sink 360 in Japan in terms of relegating it to a very distant first, and I suspect that unless MS is willing to shell out serious money for the privillage you're going to see less timed exclsuives for games like ToV on 360.

But I don't think MS can pull out - from a simple revenue/cost basis I could see it making sense.  Funding new IPs, contracting for timed exclusives, etc. to scrape to 1M consoles really doesn't make sense - and I suspect if there was a P&L for Japan only for 360 it would be negative.  But in the bigger picture they have to stay there and keep pitching away.

Right now 360 is strong in US, established in Europe and weak in Japan.  If they pull out of Japan then I could see many European countries assuming the same might happen (as per your arguement) leaving the 360 really only entrenched in US by the generations end.

I guess MS will just have to look at Japan as a form of loss leader in their broader efforts globally.

so a multiplat game which is a sequel to a game that went huge on the very same consoles (COD4) bundled with xbox 360's will blow the competition out of the water............ok

ALSO STAGE.....your prediction about FF13 not doing 1 million in 1 week.....well why did you do that as a bet?

Finally I agree....this will be BIG for PS3

they should have a FF13 themed ps3....500K of them

Its obvious STAGE is FPS blindness and been living under a rock if doesnt know the sucess of FF.

OT: FFXIII to be bundled with PS3? I did not see that coming lol jk.  This will definately sell more than Xbox360's MW2 bundle.

lol Man, I noticed those exact same things! :p

Is anyone suprised? Sony always bundles the big releases to boost hardware, it should sell very well.

How long does it take to say "playstation sales went up exponentially'' in japanese?

funny that STAGE post this...the guy who bet that FF XIII will not sell 1 mill in 1 week in Japan :D