The key to the Japanese market is specific content. And as Sony's PlayStation popularity is based on Japanese specific content, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has failed to make a consistent dent in Sony's dominance in Japan although the next generation console from the Redmond Company has hit the shelves a year prior to the PS3.

Ironically enough, the sales of Xbox 360 consoles have picked up just as PlayStation 3 also became available on the Japanese market. Statistics indicate that Microsoft's market share has jumped by 772% in just a week. From December 4 to December 10, Microsoft managed to sale 31,290 Xbox 360 units.

In this context, the Redmond Company also moved ahead of Sony with the sales for PlayStation2. Considering that PS3 is the most comprehensive alternative to PS2, it is natural that the sales of PlayStation2 have dropped. The 31,290 sold Xbox 360 units is a huge success for Microsoft on the Japanese console market considering that the sales for the week before, only reached 4,000 units.

In the background of the week's Xbox 360 sale jump is the release of Microsoft's Blue Dragon console game, an RPG created by the Mistwalker, the studio of Hironobu Sakaguchi who took part in the creation of Final Fantasy.

The fact that Blue Dragon sold 80,348 copies in Japan has pushed Xbox 360 ahead of Sony PS2 for the first time since the two consoles had been available. Critics have commented that the 80,348 sold Blue Dragon copies have gone to an equivalent number of Xbox 360 Japanese console owners.