Should Microsoft waste their time and money launching their next console in Japan? Microsoft did put a decent amount of effort and released some great Japanese titles on the 360.(Lost Oddyssey,Blue Dragon and Tales games come to mind). If this wasn't enough to compete then what is? Is Japan a lost cause? Discuss.

The 360 gained a lot of ground in Japan compared to the original Xbox. The brand is only going to grow over there, so I think it would be pretty stupid of them to ignore Japan next generation.

Pulling their consoles out of Japan would make it look like they don't care about the fans who do enjoy Xbox. I don't think they should.

360 does well elsewhere in the Japan 'region' such as Hong Kong and here in Taiwan. I used to live in Japan before I moved here, and I think Kinect has an uphill battle in Japan because very few Japanese have a living room big enough to use Kinect in. Even here in Taiwan, my apartment is about three times the size of the average Japanese apartment yet I still don't enough space for Kinect, I'd have to rearrange my whole living room. I find Japanese aren't as interested in playing games online, so XBox Live isn't as big a selling feature. I think Sony has lost a lot of its reputation in Japan, so if MS releases a new console there, they may have a fighting chance.

Nah, they should stick to it. It's still one of the biggest X360 markets after all. The 7th I think.

If they do better next gen they could do, say, 3m, which is a good number.

I think Microsoft needs to let the Japanese games go (and stop buying exclusive games and content too).

They should still release the console in Japan though, even with the Western games library. There are many Western people living in Japan and possibly even Japanese gamers who prefer Western games. Bottom line is, the XBOX 720 will still sell more units in Japan than many other countries around the world. Just because they aren't dominating doesn't mean that Microsoft will be losing money or that a Japanese launch would be a waste of time.

X360 made massive gains over the original Xbox in Japan, sold 200% better.

You never know, they might have the next hit console and I'm pretty sure the reasons Japan doesn't take to Xbox arnt because it's American (not unsubconciously anyway, you know what I mean) IMO they should set up a Japanese team with the rate of 1 retail game a year, and maybe work with pubs again getting some exclusives. It's likely always going to be difficult for them but imagin if they can increase that 1.5M to 3 mill next gen? That makes it a worthwhile market imo.

Like I said in another thread recently, if they pull out Japan why don't they pull out of every other country they've only sold 1.5 million or less in? Japan is still important to MS, they won't be leaving. They've already carved out a rather respectable following there with the shmup crowd and really the only direction they can move in that region is up. And besides that, the yen-to-dollar exchange rate at the moment is extremely advantageous to them right now.

japan is part of the 3m unit lead MS has over sony and without that lead would 2m

I'm sure they will release their next console in Japan, MS has too much money to stop trying.
1.5 million is still a lot, it's almost half of the lead the x360 has worldwide.
I only hope that they will upgrade to bluray before it gets too ridiculous.
I want Final Fantasy XV on 1 or 2 bluray's, not Final Fantasy XV, XV-2 and XV-3 because someone is holding back the industry.