Microsoft to Launch Cheaper Xbox 360 in Japan

It seems that there are places in this world where next-gen doesn't automatically mean "high sales". The same happens in Japan where the last-gen PlayStation 2 sold two times better than the Xbox 360s - only 260,000 consoles were sold in Japan. Having in mind that Nintendo and, especially, Sony - Microsoft's rivals - are winning the "war", some kind of response was expected.

And the counter attack comes fast since, according to straitstimes.com, Microsoft plans to lower the price of their Xbox 360 Arcade console from 34,800 yen to 27,800 (about $260). The console comes mostly with family-friendly games which would aim towards the casual gamers, but other games are, of course, downloadable. Actually, it seems - at least according to some critics - that the fast paced, violent and hardcore-gamer aimed Xbox 360 games don't really suit the Japanese tastes.

After this price reduction, the Xbox console will still be a little bit more expensive than the Nintendo Wii (25,000 yen) which sold no less than 3.63 million units last year in Japan. Even the PS3 has sold way better than Microsoft's console, with 1.21 million units sold.

Now, it remains to see if this move will really reach its goal or the Xbox 360 console really is not (yet) what the Japanese market wants. And, having that in mind, among with the big rivals Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft sees some resistance from some local made consoles such as the Sexbox and so on, it might prove to be a really tough fight to win. But some better results would probably be greatly appreciated by the giants.

Still, the unit sales of the console don't seem to influence the vast amounts of sales the Xbox 360 games have recorded, since Microsoft has recently announced that hit game Halo 3 has sold 8 million copies worldwide.