They should give up on it, it's a total joke in Japan. Gamers make fun of it, it's reliability is laughed about, and they complain about how dull western games are (the 360's forte). Additionally, most exclusive JRPG's get a PS3 rerelease, or they just aren't that good.

No, that's not putting it in context. That's just damage control. The 360 has done terribly in Japan no matter how you put it.

The 360 launched before the PS3 and Wii in Japan. Microsoft got tons of JRPG exclusives (Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, Lost Odyssey, etc.), and even dropped their console to really low prices. They spent tons of money to not only wins the hearts and minds of Japanese developers, but Japanese consumers as well. And it hasn't even outsold the Wonderswan if memory serves (I'm trying to find Vgchartz's shipment information). Besides, Japan was always a priority for Microsoft. They wouldn't have launched their console there, slashed the price heavily, and bought off tons of developers if it wasn't.

If I was Microsoft, I'd try my hardest to win over Japanese developers, and then the gamers will follow. That's Sony did it, and that's how Nintendo did it.

I know that they failed, but at least they tried.

I still don't know why almost no one bought a 360 when Lost Odysey came out. That game was genius. Definitely wasn't Microsoft's fault here.

And all those efforts have tipled original Xbox sales in Japan, ther was never a real chance for MS to outsell Nintendo or Sony,  it was about becoming a visible brand there. And it did succed especially  among so called "hardcore" gamers because of  its JRPG offerings. Maybe they should have tried harder securing game in other genres.

For me they did a decent job in there, "terrible" i think is a bit of a strong word. 

They tripled their sales from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, yes, but their brand is still very much in the realm of irrelevance. It wasn't about outselling the Wii or PS3, it was getting some kind of presence there. They still don't have that. Their software sales in Japan are nothing to brag about (the PS3 has FF13 at 1.7 million, the Wii has Wii Sports at 3.65 million, while the 360 only has Ace Combat 6 at 220k after a big re-release), and the 360's hardware sales are still not anywhere near an area of relevance in Japan.

I don't mean to rag on the 360, because I love the console and I think Microsoft worked really hard in Japan. It's just doing badly there. But like I said, if they work really hard to win over the developers, the games and gamers will follow. Hopefully Natal can help them out in the region.

The have improved a hell of a lot since the xbox 1 in terms of the japan problem.
Natal will be a big test this year, and however that does should decided what they need to do with japan. Yes they should keep selling over there, but no, they shouldn't keep trying to romance the japanese people. They should be working on europe, and even the US, so they can bring down the hammer on the ps3.

too be honest, I don't think natal will be big in Japan at all. the reason: VERY limited space in most japanese peoples' houses. so if they try a big natal jrpg for japan, i think it will fail just as much as ms previous attempts. like most japanese people I know, and been visiting in their house sit on their floor with their tv's adjusted to floor-sitting height.. so ms will face their very limited userbase and VERY limited "conditions" in regards to natal.

Well, 360 ain't no monster in Japan, but compared to Xbox it has done well and Microsoft should continue pushing.

they needed to get a final fantasy on their system, not trying to get FF13 in Japan was their biggest mistake, and was probably their last hope for grabbing some decent marketshare.

FF13 multiplat wouldn't matter much. They would've had to get FF13 exclusive, which would've been basically impossible.

It's a step in the right direction though, they've done much better than the original xbox.