In quite a contrast to the Xbox 360 sell-outs we’ve been seeing across the US and EU, Microsoft only managed to sell 28% of the 360 units that were shipped to Japan. The 28% translates to a total of 41,817 Xbox 360s sold within the first two days of the console’s Japanese release. While the 360 sold around 322,000 in the United States upon launch, it could have easily sold more had the shortage not been so severe.

Sure, we’ve heard of the original Xbox’s staggeringly low sales numbers in Japan but Microsoft, and a lot of gamers, hoped it’d be different this time around. Microsoft’s certainly made vast improvements to its hardware and software line-up that should please Japanese consumers, but the bulk of the 360’s launch titles simply don’t appeal to Japanese gamers as much as they do to other gamers around the world. For example, take all of the first person shooters on the 360 (Perfect Dark Zero, Condemned, Call of Duty 2, and more). Japanese gamers just have never been too big on the shooters, so it’s no wonder they didn’t sell well. In fact, Ridge Racer seems to be the biggest hit over there. Japanese gamers want more from Microsoft, so hopefully the company will deliver in the near future.

Of course the biggest kicker of all is the 360’s price over there. The console (that’s right - there’s only one option) sells for 37,900 yen, or about $316. With a hard drive. Basically, Japan gets our $400 model for $84 dollars less. And they’ve got units still sitting on store shelves while Americans, and Europeans, are left out in the cold. While pulling off a global launch represents a bold move for Microsoft, we wish the company had done a smoother job and delivered more machines where they’re desired.

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