It’s been a while since we’ve reported on Japanese Xbox 360 sales, but then again, it’s been a while since there’s been a huge RPG release on the 360, so that makes sense.  It seems like every time a big RPG or jet fighter game is released on Microsoft’s console, the entire nation of Japan suddenly remembers that the Wii and PS3 have a third competitor.  This past week, Japan saw the release of Star Ocean: The Last Hope, an Xbox 360 exclusive RPG, and followed suit by making it their highest selling game of the week, beating its closest competition by a 3 to 1 margin.  This massive swell of 360 gamers was evident in the console sales as well, with the 360 not only beating the PS3 for the fourth time ever, but also selling more units than the Wii, which has only happened once before. 

Japan saw the sale of 25,000 Xbox 360s this week, as opposed to 17,000 Wiis and 16,000 PS3s, making it only the second time the American console has topped the Japanese hardware charts for a week.  Don’t expect this to become a trend, however, as the last two times we saw a 360 surge like this was in connection with two other RPGs; Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery, and both times, the sales numbers dropped back to the normal level of “abysmal” the following week.

This is a strange console generation, especially for Japan.  Sure, Japan likes its fighting games, its flight sims, racing sims and, for some reason, Monster Hunter, but the heart and soul of the nation’s gaming culture is the RPG.  The Xbox 360 clearly has the largest and best library of RPGs, but for whatever reason, it sells like poison hotcakes covered in evil syrup over there.  I can’t figure it.  Maybe if Microsoft bundled their already-dirt-cheap Japanese 360s with Lost Odyssey and The Last Remnant, their sales would improve.  Or if they disguised them as Wiis.  That would probably work, too.

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