Xboxist

Infinite Undiscovery Pushes 360 Hardware Sales Above Wii in Japan

Proof that we are now living in bizarro-world, or at least evidence of the ongoing dominance of Square Enix as a publisher: The release of Infinite Undiscovery and a hardware price cut last week helped the Xbox 360 move more units than the Wii in Japan. For the period of September 8 to September 14, the 360 sold 28,681 units at retail. This was a major increase over the more usual sales figures from the previous week, when the system only managed to sell a paltry 843 units. In comparison, the Wii only sold 27,057 units last week, placing it in the second position among current-gen consoles. The PS3 moved only 8050 units last week, suggesting that the trusty PS2 still has a firm foothold in many gamers' living rooms in Japan.

Sales were undoubtedly helped by a slight price reduction accross all models of the 360 hardware on September 11. The arcade model was reduced to 19,800 yen, while the 60 GB and Elite models now sell for 29,800 and 39,800 yen, respectively. Of course, we also suspect that the release of Square Enix's exclusive new RPG on the system had something to do with the massive spike in sales. Infinite Undiscovery, which released on September 11 in Japan, has enticed many fans to have a gander at the 360 to see what all the fuss is about. Microsoft has long expressed a desire to reach out to Japanese gamers in this tough-to-crack territory, while the President of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, has also heaped praise upon the traditional underdog. It will be interesting to see if the strategy of releasing high-profile RPGs on the system pays off, and if Microsoft can continue to sell a respectable amount of hardware in Japan.

The makers of Infinite Undiscovery eventually settled on the name after hearing that "Penultimate Parable" and "Timeless Readventure" didn't make any sense in English.

[Via: Famitsu]