Frankly, Microsoft spent 10 years focusing on the 'Core American Gamer'.  Now they're trying to do a complete 180 and appeal to the Casual/Japanese gamer.  And its not working out.  What's worse, they're throwing $500 million dollars JUST behind Kinect, when Casual games have been sliding downhill in sales and 'core' games (like on the PC and PS3) have been gaining more attention.

This is why they're last.  Because they just follow trends, not create them.  Sony had a few years of trouble, but they still stuck to their market of 'core' gamers and they're paying off now.  Microsoft is making it seem like they totally abandoned the 'core' gamer and everything is just KINECT KINECT KINECT.

Heck, even Nintendo has switched to focusing on the core gamer.  The 2010 Wii Lineup and 3DS lineup are evidence of that.

The X360 is the standard console of this gen and it's already 5 and ½ years old, so it's allowed to finally start struggling.

People will soon have their eyes on next gen, although that launch is actually still a couple of years in the future.

Xbox has been extremely successful in this generation.

Japan does matter indeed: in fact i said "you decide".

To me the fact that PS3 remains the leading platform for japanese devs is not a major concern...on the other side having the best experience (=leading dev platfrom) on the games that i actually like is something that I definitely care of and IMO as long as the x360 userbase in the west remains bigger than Sony's PS3 there's no way the situation will change.

You like FF or MGS and you have a PS3? good for you...i prefer FPS, sandbox, WRPG (=RPG where the main charachter is at least remotely believable) etc etc and as far as these generes are concerned for a simple matter of userbase size in western market i believe that the x360 will (usually) remain the best platform (=no poor conversion) to enjoy this kind of games till the end of the current generation (that's not far away i think..late 2012? early 2013?).

Japan only matters for games that appeal to the western audience.

For example, MS doesn't really need FInal Fantasy *BUT* it does need Resident Evil. Resident Evil is a huge seeller and MS even teamed up to bring a exclusive red elite console with RE5.

Is having Final Fantasy 13 and Lost Odyssey nice? Yes, but overall sales wise it doesn't matter much. The majority of the 360 owners buy FPS and/or just into the 360 via Kinect.

Top Japanese sellers (correct me if im wrong please)

#28 Resident Evil 5 2.99 Million

#59 Dead Rising 1 2.11 Million

#70 Final Fantasy XIII 1.79 Million

#88 Soul Calibur IV 1.47 Million

#98 Devil May Cry 4 1.28 Million

I forgot Street Fighter 4 at #83 1.62 Million. Looks like Capcom has the majority of the hits.

I don't see a 25,000 unit lead per week as being very significant. That's around 1 million in the months outside of the holiday season. All it will take are a few heavy hitting Christmas deals and Xbox 360 can easily win that million back.

Now if PS3 were selling 250-400K per week, that would be significant. At the current rate, it will take years to pass; and that is too late to matter.

Is this a serious thread? A guy with so many posts can't be this unaware of the industry.

No offense, but I don't think your argument is very valid here, because if you factor out Japan the PS3 is still outselling the 360.

Individuals can choose to be selectively blind, thinking they will score some points for their side, if they post something and hope others agree.  Also, there is a case of deep down, the person HOPES posting stuff like, "System X is doomed/in trouble" that it will somehow affect sales.  It is the fanboy's version of The Secret.

Kinect was the "IT" thing to have holiday 10', now it doesn't know where to go. The casuals get tired of things pretty quickly MS until the next "IT" thing comes along.