Live from Japan: Man spotted buying 360, another buying two controllers, Gears 1

It’s no secret that Microsoft have been trying to break into the Japanese console market for years. But with the recent push of high-profile role-playing games and the recent price drops, are they finally making headway?

At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 booth — highlighted by Square Enix’s The Last Remnant and the aptly-titled Star Ocean: The Last Hope — was surprisingly busy. Speaking with Japanese residents on the show floor, they made the obvious admission that the 360 wasn’t necessarily doing well in Japan, but also noted that Sony’s PlayStation 3 had yet to really hit its stride either.

In the parts of Tokyo we’ve been traveling, I’ve yet to see a big Xbox 360 marketing push (ads for Wii Music and the PS3’s Afrika seem to be all the rage). But in large stores like the multi-level SoftMap in the Akihabara district, there were some pretty banging “Square Enix on the Xbox 360” promotional spreads. I noted a person fingering a display for an Xbox LIVE 12-month subscription card, as if he were considering it. I saw a man in the check out line holding two controllers and a copy of the Japanese language Gears of War; I quietly snapped the above photo of another buying an Xbox 360 Arcade bundle. 

So what does all of this prove? Well, nothing really. Hardware and software sales numbers out of Japan will tell the real story. But it’s interesting to see Microsoft picking up some semblance of steam in Japan; this time last year the most they could muster up were a few pathetic, hand-written signs for Halo 3. 

Part of me is rooting for Microsoft to be successful in the Japanese market, and not for selfish reasons (“Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360, OMG!”), or some bizarre “Go team U.S.A.” optimism. As a gamer, how would it benefit me if they were not successful? Now if only they could make the damned thing smaller, they might be in real business — have you seen the size of an average Japanese home?