Japan to Xbox 360: "We're Just Not That Into You"

Microsoft experiences another dismal week in sales of its Xbox 360 console in the Japanese market.  Industry analysts at Media Create have gathered last week's sales numbers and revealed that even the Gameboy Advance SP sells more units per week than the Xbox 360.

At barely more than 1,000 units sold, the Xbox 360 sits way behind even the struggling PSP, which landed in 29,000 Japanese homes last week, and the aged PS2's 20,000 units sold.  The DS Lite isn't even fair to mention, at over 100,000 units sold, week after week.  Only the original Xbox, the original GBA and the Gamecube sold considerably less than the lone next-gen console from Microsoft.

Before you blame the poor performance on Japanese nationalism and fear of outsiders, consider the ipod.  Apple's little music player faces tough Japanese competitors, like Sony and Matsushita, is more expensive than most rivals, and is the calling card of a company very much rooted in the old U.S. of A.  The ipod also pwns almost 60% of the Japanese market for mp3 players.

Japanese fans of the ipod just like the ipod better than the alternatives.  Critics of the 360 point to a sad list of games, few of which appeal to the Japanese gaming culture, as the reason the console has not seen the same kind of acceptance in Japan.  I love my 360, but I happen to be an American, so I can't speak for gamers in far away lands.

As far as Microsoft's efforts in Japan, the numbers don't lie.  I think every 360 owner would be happy to see Microsoft push for a broader range of games.  Why not an open-world gangster game where you use a karaoke microphone to record some dope hip hop tracks to gain street cred?  (I'm going to copyright that idea.)

I personally wouldn't buy an RPG game mixed with a dance pad, but I'm not the only gamer in the world.