Rename Xbox to K-Box (Karaoke Box).
Bundle it with mic.
Make singing/dance app that's using Kinect 2.0 to scan movements and translate them onscreen to popular Vocaloid of your choice. Your singing will be translated to Vocaloid of your choice too.
Bundle pair of girls panties for Deluxe version.

On serious note, MS should just forget about Japan and focus instead additionally on taking larger piece of pie in Europe.

LMFAO

There is no such thing as impossible, and this doesn't even qualify as improbable. I would like to answer the question rather then dismiss it out of hand as preposterous. What Microsoft needs to do is create some intellectual property synergy. They do this with Halo in the West, but in Japan they actually need to reverse the process. They need to acquire intellectual properties outright, buy publications, and buy animation studios. So that they can enter the main stream consciousness, and then use those intellectual properties as a hook for their console.

What Microsoft needs to do is create their own exclusive franchises, and if some of them end up being popular on paper, or on television. Then that might bring consumers over to their platform. I agree they cannot rely on negotiating exclusives from third parties. So it would also be imperative that Microsoft establish at least one large domestic studio, or a number of smaller studios. So that they could develop those franchises into games.

Think of it this way if Microsoft had a few major domestic franchises under their belt. That would result in games that would be exclusive to their platform. Then the fans who wanted to play games based on those franchises wouldn't have much choice in the matter. How would the 360 have fared if it was the only place to play Naruto or Bleach games. I would wager that the console would have performed two or three times better.

So it isn't impossible. Microsoft just needs to invest some cash in developing internal franchises. That they could exploit by making them exclusive to their platforms. At that point the only thing that matters is if their franchises are really good enough, and that is very much a coin toss situation. It might not work. They could end up churning out crap nobody likes, but at least there is a possibility there.

Super Mario Zune

@OP,

Making a reliable machine which I don't think Microsoft can ever do.

-moderated by amp316

Problem solved. As long as he keeps the hat on he won't need the life threatening eye surgery.

Hahahaha!! Combine this and that!! Better safe than sorry!!

Being primarily an Xbox gamer (I also have a PS3 and soon a Wii U) in Japan is interesting. The system is supported quite well with releases for such a small system and used games are generally cheaper than their PS3 counterparts.

Other than RROD, MS did most things right this generation in terms of Japan. They have Monster Hunter, JRPGs, tons of old-school shooters, Idol games, and so forth. Their system is much sleeker and better designed than the original Xbox, and yet they have only made a little headway.

They aren't necessarily anti-MS either as the PC section at my local electronics store is massive and dwarfs the Apple section. Konami's Kinect-based dancing game is also quite popular in most arcades.

The big draws for the system in the West (Halo, Kinect, and Xbox Live) have just not worked as draws here. With Kinect, the size, and poor sound insulation of most apartments, limits the audience here.

Whether they can make improvements next generation depends on a million factors that we can not know. I think the key is that they have to have a couple of truly exclusive, series of must-play games, and what those will be for any of the new systems no one knows.

Japan is quirky too. After all, the Genesis/MegaDrive wasn't popular here, while the Saturn outsold the N64.

Confucius Says "He who deals in absolutes always ends up eating crow." I think I am going to bookmark this thread for future entertainment. If this past generation taught any of you anything. It should have been to expect the unexpected.