Will the $199 price for the 360 cement its place as 1st place HD system?

[ZenfoldorVGI]

On the subject of JRPGs and their importance to prospective system buyers, I say that all the rpgs in the world don't have as much to do with which system a jrpg lover will buy, in america, as the placement of a few key titles, like Final Fantasy XIII, and Kingdom Hearts 3.

That said, being known as the jrpg console is always good for sales. These games are niche, but the genre is healthy and popular. One big reason I have a 360 now is Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata.

Most of these PS3 fanboys around here, they bought their console under the promise of big Square-Enix jrpgs to come.(They didn't buy it because they're killzone fans, believe me, they bought it for FFXIII, MGS4, and dependability after the RRoD scare)

Final Fantasy XIII is the biggest rpg on a console. Period. That's all the evidence you need to realize that jrpgs are quite important. The more niche jrpgs, like ToV, will still move some consoles(20,000 already). However, their more important role, is playing a factor in decision making for a fence setter who might be a Tales or JRPG fan. If you just keep stacking up the jrpgs, it makes a difference to the people who enjoy those types of games. From talking on these forums, I believe the majority of core gamers do enjoy the occasional jrpg, with a significant portion who mark that genre amongst their favorites.

So yes, racking up some jrpgs, especially if they are highly reviews(and by implication more mainstream), will help in the console war. Particularly when your competition is falling behind in that genre, and there are tons of PS2 owners, a notoriously jrpg heavy console, who have yet to upgrade.

They see 6 fair-great jrpgs out on the 360, heard about FFXIII, and see the console is avaialble for $199 down, with a hard-drive to save up for, they just might ask their moms for a $199 360 for Christmas, with Fable 2 and The Last Remnant, where they otherwise wouldn't have done so.