Japan, Yes Japan, Acknowledges Xbox 360's Sleek Design

The Xbox 360 nabbed a Good Design 2006 award (yeah, it was released in 2005, so what?). The console was designed by Astro Studio and hot Japanese designer Chiaki Murata and is a tremendous step up from that awful black doormat Microsoft released a few years back. The award was given by Japan's "Good Design Council," started back in 1957 and has the sole purpose to find "excellent design products, which encourage the contribution to the quality of life and industrial field via power of design." Okay.

The criteria for winners were three basic questions:

1. Is it a good design?
2. Is it a superior design?
3. Is it a design that breaks new ground for the future?
So Japan may hate the Xbox 360, but that doesn't mean it hates the Xbox 360. It obviously likes the way the machine looks. On store shelves, for example.