14 DAY TRIAL // When Microsoft announced that it was cutting prices in Japan, bringing the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade below that of the Nintendo Wii, most of us thought that this was only a dry run in preparation for the world wide price cuts that Microsoft has since then rolled out. After all, the Xbox 360 has always been a very weak performer on the Japanese market, with the last spot in hardware charts usually reserved for the Microsoft console, just behind the last gen PlayStation 2 from Sony.
But data offered by the Famitsu magazine and its publisher Enterbrain suggests that, thanks to the price reduction, the Xbox 360 might be the surprise performer of the week which ends on September 14. It has been reported that the Microsoft made gaming console managed to sell more than 28,000 units on the Japanese market, while the PlayStation 3 from Sony only delivered around 8,000 consoles to customers and the Nintendo Wii peaked at just over 27,000 units sold. It would be the first time in history when the Xbox 360 manages to get ahead of the Nintendo made gaming console.
It's possible that the sales of the Xbox 360 were pushed up as Square Enix released its role playing game Infinite Undiscovery, which was eagerly awaited by Japanese players. The title managed to sell more than 86,000 units in its first week. Tales of Vesperia previously had the effect of boosting the sales of the Xbox 360.
The console is still under the one million units sold mark in Japan, but if it manages to keep up this performance, then it could emerge as a real competitor for the Wii, which translates into more money for Microsoft as the holiday season approaches with its massive sales. It will be interesting to see what effect the Microsoft price cuts have on the sales of the Xbox 360 in the rest of the world.