MS hopes for Kinect boost in Japan

Microsoft hopes to boost Kinect sales in Japan with games that are familiar to Japanese players.

Microsoft's Japanese Xbox 360 General Manager Takashi Sensui admitted today in a press conference (reported by Andriasang) that the motion-sensing Xbox 360 add-on, which has sold 10 million units globally since its November 2010 launch, did not sell to expectations in the Japanese market.

He hopes to give the device a new push this year with IPs that are familiar to Japanese players, along with titles that appeal to core gamers.

At the Tokyo Game Show last year Microsoft announced a number of Japanese-made Xbox 360 exclusives, some of which support Kinect.

These include Codename D, Haunt, Project Draco, Rise of Nightmares and Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor.

The Xbox 360 has suffered a difficult time in Japan. Last month Microsoft announced it had finally managed to shift 1.5 million Xbox 360 units in the country. It launched there in December 2005.

Xbox 360 hit the million mark in Japan in March 2009, after three years and three months on shop shelves. The extra 500,000 sales took another two years and three months to notch up.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...boost-in-japan