The Xbox 360 launched in Japan today with great success. Success in the sense that they did manage to start selling them, just that no one is buying.
Kotaku has a very entertaining live coverage of the Japan launch, which I believe can be summed up by this article. And this one too. And my personal favourite.
Okay, let’s stop making fun of Xbox 360 now. It’s a great console. Really. It’s just that a console needs more flagship titles than PC ports and Halo. And isn’t it just a little stupid how Microsoft crippled its multimedia functions so that it won’t eat into Media Center sales? They need to get their priorities right. Still, I bet someone will find a way to stream videos from a regular PC and playback MP3 files not ripped by the 360. Maybe I’ll consider getting one when someone gets XBMC running on it and the price drops to S$200.
At least the Japanese launch will make Xbox 360 more affordable. I forsee game importers bringing the underpriced and easily-obtainable Japanese Premium system to other countries… Ebay prices are probably going to drop soon.