It was a simple question. A few days ago, a reader asked, "Why is it such a big deal that 360 sales are lackluster in Japan?" Simple yes, but deceptively so. I've been following the Japan launch closely, because, well, I live in Japan. However, this still doesn't explain why the US gaming press has given the launch here more attention than the Euro launch and way more than the Korea or Australian ones will ever get. But the question remains: why?

The original Xbox has a loyal and sizable base in America, while in Japan, the console was routinely outsold by the PS1. Embarrassing to say the least. Video games might have been born in the US, but they came of age in Japan. When Atari became irrelevant in the 1980s, American lost its gaming dominance. The age of Mario and Sonic began. We became a country of consumers, not producers. The Xbox 360 was and is our shinning hope to return to some semblance of dominance.

The 360 launch was some sort of second coming in the US. Folks lined up all night to get these "rare" consoles. Bill Gates and Co. put in appearances. The hype machine was in full effect. Japan, however, could have cared less. Consoles sat unloved on shelves, and few stood in line. Japan laughed in Microsoft's face, and it was insulting to all those American and European gamers who lined-up all night or shelled out big Ebay bucks for a console. The land of the rising sun just didn't care and had the 360s to prove it.

Instead of thinking, "well, effe them," people starting second guessing the 360. Maybe, the Japanese are right. Maybe this is the new Dreamcast. Maybe this console doesn't shit candy canes after all. Japan is the country that gave us the NES and the PlayStation. If anyone, they should know a good gaming system when they see one. Msoft needed the Japanese; the company needed them to validate their next generation console. Because, we all know that few in the US are going to turn their backs on next gen PlayStation or Nintendo. American gamers, it seems, are one insecure lot.

The Japanese know what they like. Now, it's easy to say that the Japanese only buy domestic products or they don't like foreign things. None of these hold true, however. Anyone who has ever spent considerable time in Japan will be quick to point out the speed at which Japanese snap up foreign products. Microsoft already has an incredibly strong presence in the country. So, what went wrong? Another deceptively simple question with an answer that I fear is more than buggy American consoles and lackluster launch titles.

See Crecente's Groovy Facial Hair and Read His 360 Japan Column [Kotaku]

Send an email to the author of this post at .