It cost them too much. What can they achieve? 50k extra consoles sold?

Maybe I am an optimist but this can only help the 360. They will move more units.

Japanese game studio support for the american market, their is a lot of western gamers that loves JRPG and so on.

    I pretty much agree with mrstickball, which is another way of saying I can't think of much to add, the problem is though, is that while having two or or three big games a year boosts sales Microsoft still hasn't really done much to change their perception in Japan( the whole DO!DO!DO! dealio) I suppose the best thing they have done is show Japanese devlopers that while their games may not sell well on the 360 in Japan, they can have a great deal of success targeting western audiences ala Capcom.  It seems like this generation Microsoft is slowly attempting to change people's perceptions about the system, but Mistwalker and Rare won't be able to do it on their own, though they certainly will help.

       On another note I weep every time I see that game. Very Star Ocean-esque, very gorgeous.

i will be getting a 360 for eternal sonata and lost odyssey :)

I seen some videos on ign.com for eternal sonata, looks cool. I like zelda twilight princess and I think we all are itchin for more adventure type-rpgs from all systems, ones that would take a long time to conquer as well as have a graphical prowness, know what i mean?

Microsoft should only continue to use money in Japan like that if they have a very long term future in mind. It's gonna be 2-3 generations before they can hope to make a real presence in Japan.

Just a few questions for those that are against the idea of yet another 360 bundle:

How exactly is MS/Namco losing money on the bundle? Yes, MS might make $20 less a bundle (which in all reality, they are still making money per system), but look at it this way:

What fees is Microsoft actually having to pay to make an Eternal Sonata/360 Core bundle? I sincerely doubt that they are paying Namco for this, as it helps boost the popularity/hype of Eternal Sonata.

So afer that, all they are really paying for is the decreased price of the bundle and the pretty picture on the front. Which really doesn't cost much at all.

If MS sold....50,000 bundles (a good middle-of-the-road number), and each system had a 2.0 tier ratio at $7 per game for MS, MS would make back around 66% of their loss from a $20 price drop. And primarly, it helps the system out.

Again, refferencing BD: the Japaneese market hasn't been the same for the 360 since BD/LP came out. With Trusty Bell, Lost Odyssey, Kingdom Under Fire, Biohazard 5 and DMC4 coming out either this year or early next year, what could the 360 be doing by this time next year? If it followed the same trend and increased around 100% YOY, we could see it doing 6k+ a week if not more w/o any software. Not much compared to anything still yet, but that'd easily let it sell around 600k or even 700k next year - a FAR FAR CRY from the miniscule 196k it sold last year (and thus far, 4 months and 1 week in, the 360 is to 40% of last year's total sales)

And as others have said: IF Trusty Bell can do........100k in Japan or more, and have a good US and PAL campaign (400k would be a safe bet for both US and PAL), then Namco would sell that magical 500k 'golden number' to be profitable. This might allow for more devs to come on the 360 train. Maybe not exclusives, but maybe more Japanese-centric multi-ports.

Before the bundle was announced, I figured TB might get 60-75k in Japan (putting it at the 3rd highest selling game), but now I think it might have a decent shot at 110k or even 120k. Remember, if this game gets near the hype/promotion BD had, it could get similar or better sales due to a much larger fanbase since BD came out (to the tune of around 100,000 users, or 50% larger fanbase).

Again, anyone saying this game will save the 360 in Japan is as stupid as they come, but it's a good sign for a failing system in Japan. I think the 360 has the ability to sell somewhere near 2m units in Japan IF they were able to consistently release good titles like Trusty Bell and Blue Dragon atleast 3+ times a year.