On one hand, I’m glad that initial reports are fairly optimistic that the Xbox 360 is doing better than the original Xbox in Japan (not really a big achievement, to be fair), but on the other hand that doesn’t mean that it isn’t already showing the first signs of bombing over there and I’m sure the many westerners who can’t get them must be mightily pissed off that Microsoft are still flogging the dead horse that is the Japanese market when there are people here willing to pay far over the odds for them.

The Japanese gaming market is in recession, they have little enthusiasm for western games, and committing so many resources to trying to make it succeed there is pure folly. They should definitely release it in Japan, but keep the “worldwide” launch to the parts of the world where people are likely to buy it, like Australia where they’re having to wait until March, or here where nobody can buy them because there aren’t any on the shelf. Meanwhile 60-70% (depends on who you ask) of Japan’s stock is still sitting unsold and not likely to in the near future.