Link: The Magic Box: International Videogame News.
Microsoft will release a Xbox 360 Blue Limited Edition in Japan on April 27, 2006, which will be bundled with EA's 2006 FIFA World Cup. The bundle will include the Xbox 360 console, FIFA faceplate and 2006 FIFA World Cup; only 10,000 units will be manufactured.
I don't get this. The Xbox 360 has sold less than one tenth of what it has sold in he UK and the US, yet Microsoft choose to create a Limited Edition Console more suitable to the UK/European market. I'm not disputing the popularity of football in Japan but face some truths Microsoft ... one of which is that the Xbox 360 will follow the same path of the Xbox in Japan. If investment is necessary them apply it in the right area , such as the 360 Marketplace; not in Limited Edition HW bundles with a product and publisher which lacks success in Japan.
The Marketplace reference is in light of this news courtesy of gamesindustry.biz: Interestingly, Japan has turned out to be the strongest territory in the world per capita in terms of Xbox Live Marketplace downloads, with 520,000 content downloads reported over an installed base of just 123,000 units.
So, Microsoft, look at the big picture and invest in the Marketplace for Japan ... who knows, if you do it right you could become the household version of DoCoMo's i-mode.
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