Feature: 'Analyze This: Does Microsoft Need Japan?'

In the latest 'Analyze This' series of exclusive Gamasutra features, we ask three of the industry's top analysts whether the Xbox 360's success in Japan is crucial to Microsoft, and what can be done to improve market share in that territory. As part of his response, Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter comments: "I don't think that this is [Microsoft's] fault. They have tried as hard as they can to succeed, but cultural bias has precluded success. I don't think that they will be able to fix things without an alliance with a Japanese company. [In] hindsight, it may have been smart to partner with Toshiba to put an HD-DVD drive in every 360, but that would have been exceedingly expensive, especially given Microsoft's low-price strategy." Also having been asked whether Japanese-developed games are crucial to worldwide success, he suggests: "I don't think that American gamers are enamored [with] Japanese product because it comes from Japan; rather, I think Americans like good games, regardless of the country of origin. Microsoft doesn't need Japanese development to succeed in the U.S.; it needs good games, period. Courting Japanese developers is likely to increase the number of good games, but the same can be accomplished by courting U.S. and European developers." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including plenty more fascinating feedback from ABI Research and Creative Strategies analysts (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).