Nice, take my quote out of context.  Read the red part, and the red part only. Ok?

Ok....then why did the original Xbox fail again according to your logic? It was superior to the PS2 hardware wise and still bombed in Japan. Your logic=fail.

After looking at the numbers in more depth, I think Microsoft can see boosts next year in Japan with Halo Reach (combined with the exposure the series gets with the Halo anime, which is Japanese-produced), Alan Wake, Fable III and possibly Crackdown 2. Western games are more popular over in Japan than we give them credit for. CoD 4 selling 350k in Japan across Ps360 is like a Ps360 game selling 1.4m in NA and GTA4 selling 420k in Japan across Ps360 is like a Ps360 game selling 1.7m in NA. The home console market in Japan is 4X smaller than in North America. We have to keep that in mind when looking at Japanese vs. North American numbers. GTA4 is to Japan what SF4 is to North America if you take into account differences in home console market size. I`d say that`s pretty damn good. GTA4 is no. 11 the PS3 LTD in Japan and CoD4 is roughly tied at no. 19 on the PS3 LTD with Valkyria Chronicles.

Of course M$ should release more Japanese first-party games. But it sure would be nice for them if their western games move hardware. It`s much cheaper to market western games and their Halo anime (produced in Japan, not western-made) than to publish a new game from scratch so if the western games move hardware, that gives M$ more financial relief. They really badly need new first-party Japanese IPs in the pipeline though. Along with Blue Dragon 2 and Lost Odyssey 2. Infinite Undiscovery 2 probably wouldnt be worth the effort unless the series was well-received by Japanese gamers. Famitsu gave it 32 out of 40. Which is kinda low for a game that was bundled with 360s at launch and was supposed to live up to higher expectations.

perhaps is the lack of rpgs in the xbox or the vast variety of fps because in japan fps are not very popular.

B/c they see the Xbox as a MS gaijin POS. Loyalty to a native product is what is the motivation for strong Wii and PS3 support.

Legislation is created by those in power not by the people because people are morons and that is true everywhere in the world. In the US the people have more power than other countries but they are easily thwarted by money and political power just like any other country.

As for consumption, I do not see the problem. Americans can consume because they earned that right. Do chinese citizens deserve some of that prosperity? Perhaps but that is not the US's responsibility any more than it is mine to take care of you. It doesnt mean I want you to suffer, on the contrary I wish you the best but you need to be responsible for yourself. Chinese politicians and chinese heritage determined that the people are not worthy of prosperity and that is why they dont have the oil you speak of. No one forced the previous chinese/indian/south american/arab generation to produce 8 kids per family while living in poverty. The irresponsibility is now coming back to bite them because they diluted their country with unsustainable population. The pie is only so big, if you keep making smaller slices eventually they will starve. Are you saying that America should pay for other countries mistakes (not that America doesnt have flaws)?

War did indeed have an impact on oil prices however what the poster was saying is that it was a good thing for american oil companies. They liked it when oil skyrocketed and they all reported record profits because of it. Did americans vote for war and higher gas prices? The answer is no, the american majority was against the war. It was Bush I & II all on their own with their advisors that started the Iraq war. The afghan war was a response to 9-11 so it was justified.

Iran is another story. The president or Iran if playing russian roulett with his people lives. I wish them the best but if i were Iranian I would leave immediatly. My parents left Iraq as soon as they heard about the problems with America back in the 90's and as a result we are alive, healthy, relatively happy and here I am writing about my experiences to you. Oil for food in iran is again the choice of the politicians. They could spend their money on their people but they choose to make weapons and uranium which may or may not be in the best interest of their people depending on how they use it.

The useless UN was formed becuase the useless countries of the world refused to sit and talk with each other. It was not formed for the US but by the US for everyone else. The US does not need to join because again they are the world power and the UN is just a formality because their vote would outstrip everyone elses combined as long as they are the world power. Its just like the majority shareholder of a company. Even if everyone opposed them, their vote is the only 1 that counts because they have all the cash and power. The UN is however, very effective at bringing other countries together. It doesnt always work but it has strengthened some ties and worsened others but at least they are talking. Eventually the US will lose its status and it will be just like everyone else in the UN and a new world power will be above the law. This is how our current human society works until we find a way to elimate the idea of money and borders. We have a long way to go. We need to tackle the energy problem 1st.

Japanese developers came out early and tried to support both the XBOX and XBOX360. But on the whole, the majority of the games on the XBOX and XBOX360, as well as the advertising and lets face it, the target audience Microsoft was going for, was aimed at the 14-25 year old American Male gamer.

First Person Shooters, Sports games, Western RPGs, Action Brawlers.....none of this is a major draw for the Japanese gamer. Their major calling cards are games like Japanese RPGs, Tactical RTS, Anime based games, Adventure games, SHUMPS, Platformers, etc.

It was only with the development of the XBOX360, and Microsoft basically coaxing (IE subsidizing support) of many Japanese developers that any solid Japanese developers such as Namco, Konami, Mistwalker and SquareEnix even made games for the system. But even those games could barely break even their development costs, let alone generate interest in the Japanese market.

Long story short, a few Japanese developers making titles on a primarily American focused system won't get Japanese people interested. Not when they can have one of four heavily Japanese focused systems in their own country to choose from (five if you count PS2).

@Kenryoku_Maxis

The Xbox 360 is pretty Japanese focused in Japan as well. The issue is that Japanese Xbox 360 games are generally more niche than the established IPs on both Sony and Nintendo systems. That niche appeal is immediately obvious when you look down the list. The Xbox 360 has positioned itself as a "hardcore otaku" (and yes I'm aware that otaku is a dirty label there. They look down on them) console over there. It's not for the mainstream gamer.

The Japanese-developed Xbox 360 exclusives (and I'm going in order of sales)
Star Ocean 4 (timed exclusivity)
Blue Dragon (first-party)
Ace Combat 6
Tales of Vesperia (timed exclusivity)
The Last Remnant (console exclusive. Also on PC)
Beautiful Katamari
Infinite Undiscovery (MS-owned IP)
Dead or Alive 4
Lost Odyssey (first-party)
The Idolm@ster
Eternal Sonata (timed exclusive)
Ridge Racer 6
The Idolm@ster: Live for You!
Mobile Suit Gundam: Operation: Troy
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
Magna Carta II (well it is Korean-developed technically but has a jrpg style)
Deathsmiles
Dream C Club
Ninja Gaiden II (timed exclusive)
Ninety-Nine Nights
Chaos;Head Noah
Rumble Roses XX
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Steins;Gate
Clannad (console exclusive)
Culdcept Saga

God I'm getting tired of listening all of these... You get the point already. And there's a bunch more shmups, visual novels, jrpgs, srpgs and whatever the hell else niche stuff I'm missing. lol.


I excluded Lost Planet (1 year timed exclusive) and Dead Rising because I think they were made by Capcom's American branches right?

The point is, you might think that's a big list.  But the DS or PSP can produce a similar list of games in one MONTH than the XBOX360 has produced in its entire life cycle.  And the Wii can do similar in its peak months.  And the Japanese consumer base is more interested in the majority of the games on the DS, PSP and Wii (or for that matter, PS3 now) than those on the XBOX360.  With the exception of idolmaster and Team Ninja games, the majority of interest Japan has ever shown for games on the XBOX360 has been for one-shot games like Tales of Vesperia or Star Ocean 4.  And no one game can ever support a console.  Heck, as last gen showed us, not even solid support from a group of Japanese developers like Tecmo (Team Ninja), Sammy and Capcom can support the XBOX brand.

Like I've said, the Xbox 360 doesn't have mainstream appeal over there. It appeals more to the hardcore. 360 owners buy more games for their consoles than other owners in Japan. Just look at the software to hardware attach rate below. And the sales aren't lopsided in the direction of western games either. The top 5 on the 360 are all Japanese games. The 360 base in Japan tends to enjoy a mix of both Japanese and western games looking at the sales.

http://www.vgchartz.com/jweekly.php

X360 5.17
DS 4.87
Wii 4.21
PS3 3.62
PSP 2.36 (I didn't know they pirated this thing in Japan too, I thought piracy was taboo over there)

And the software attach rate is growing because software sales are keeping pace while hardware sales are going towards a downward trend. More evidence that the core group of 1.2 million 360 gamers are continuing to buy lots of games. If the 360 didn't have hardcore niche appeal, do you really think the owners would continue buying the games?