Well, I'd say it's important as DQ9 showed the market can still support a 2 million + first week.

Japan is essential as many Devs come from there. Though the larger Japanese development firms are trying to break out into western audiences there are plenty still trying to make games for the home country. Without a large install base in japan they are less likely to receive that support. More games are better than none.

how are you gonna convince Japanese developers to make for your system when you don't support your system in Japan? If MS didn't back 360 in Japan they couldn't get a game like ToV unless they paid an absolutely massive amount of money, it would cause a huge backlash by fans. MS wants to make their audience bigger not only in Japan, but the market for Japanese games in the western market.

you should look at the bigger picture here.
360 is western hardwarew and those always sell bad in japan no matter if it TV, console or George Foreman Grill BUT 360 is SUCCESFUL in japan. ps3 fanboys can talk all they want but MS have a plan and strategy bout japan and you can clearly see it.

so they released first xbox in japan, they moved only few consoles(about 670k LTD) because of couple japanese games BUT because ps2 had all those popular franchises in japan they failed miserably. they started to build up fanbase, product recognition etc.
here comes 360 and MS not only snatched most of past playstation exclusive franchises as multiplatform titles, but also snatched a lot significant playstation franchises as 360 timed exclusive/permanent exclusive. they introduced couple new IPs like Idolm@ster, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey etc. that drove in otakus that were quite big part of japanese playstation fanbase. that gives them HUGE product recognition in japan - people know that they will get almost every most popular game from playstation consoles on xbox for much smaller price and also they will get many exclusive games that can't be found on any other platform like Idolm@ster or Ace Combat.

right now 360 almost doubled its predecessor userbase in japan(that is great acomplishment) and it will at least triple it by the end of 2011. that's a huge investment in the future and great start for next xbox console also it gives MS ability to gain some japanese developers that would not make games for xbox console before cause in next generation while nintendo console might still be in the first place in japan, MS console might be the second most popular console.

Oh my! That's hilarious!

This is a multi-burn

But, here's my point. The Western world enjoys RPGs and that's fine. Having some Japanese-based devs is cool too. I know if folks want a console that's not sold in their region, they'll just import it. (Onna76 comes to mind) I don't see with such a low return, instead of wasting money there, why not use the funds to lower the price in areas where the comp is close between MS and Sony?

@ NJ5: I'm talking about leaving consoles only - end all marketing schemes, staff and the like and just leave. To sell 8,000 consoles in a month in that country is just a waste. It costs $$$$$ for folks to market products, to promote them, and to have a base of operations in Japan. Why court an unwilling victim? How is getting a bigger marketshare in Japan so necessary? Eliminate Japan and the 360 would still be outselling the PS3 or about even.

Excellent point, Reggie.

they should bundle Lost odyssey and Blue Dragon with the Xbox 360. it'll sell pretty good i say.

EDIT: In japan that is.