Opinion: Microsoft's High Hopes In Japan

If the Xbox 360 Media Briefing, held in the Cerulean Tokyu Hotel in Shibuya earlier today and covered in detail elsewhere, could be termed anything, it would be 'hopeful'. The 90 minute briefing, helmed both by Takashi Sensui, General Manager of Xbox Japan, and in parts by an ever-ebullient Peter Moore, was intended to show that it was business as usual in terms of Microsoft's Japanese strategy.

And, in many ways, the company's admirable intent is still in place - but the results are starting to show, and it simply hasn't worked so far. Peter Moore made a point to stress, more than once, the 10 million Xbox 360 owners that the company expects to be in place by the end of this holiday season. But the unspoken elephant in the room is that only perhaps 250,000 of those (if Microsoft's value for money Core price point and Blue Dragon bundle deals start seeing fruit) will be purchased in Japan.