Japanese gamers prefer PS3
But interest in 360 is up. A bit.
A new survey has found that while the majority of Japanese gamers are most looking forward to the arrival of the PS3, a few of them could actually give a toss about the Xbox 360.
Researchers questioned 500 male and 500 female console owners equally split between four age groups - teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. In total, 5.8 per cent of those questioned said they were interested in Microsoft's next-gen console.
Which might not sound like a lot, but it's an improvement over a similar survey conducted back in July, when the same figure stood at only two per cent.
The number of gamers interested in the Nintendo Revolution also rose from eight per cent to 21.9 per cent, but the PS3 is still firmly in the lead - 72.3 per cent of those questioned said they were considering buying Sony's new console.
And that's not all. 21.5 per cent of gamers said they couldn't give a flying one about any of the next-gen consoles, frankly - and since respondents were allowed to give multiple choice answers, it follows that almost all of those who said they were looking forward to at least one of the new consoles picked the PS3.
The results of the survey suggest that Microsoft faces another tough fight when it comes to the Japanese games market - despite the fact it'll have a head start since the 360 is launching months before the rival consoles.
The current generation Xbox is about as popular amongst Japanese gamers as a dinner party guest who insists on telling everyone what happens in the last episode of Lost [don't, I'm on episode 23 - Ed], with sales consistently lagging behind those of the Gamecube and PlayStation 2. Since the start of 2005, more than 1.15 million PS2s have been sold in Japan, compared to less than 10,000 Xbox units.