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Shinji Hashimoto, the producer of Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 2, believes that the Xbox 360 is far from done in the Far East – in fact, he believes the machine has far more to offer in the territory.
Speaking to Edge Online, Hashimoto stated: We expect the Xbox 360 to increase its Japanese market presence even more in the coming months. There is a growing interest in Xbox 360 among Japanese users, due to the release of familiar titles, the increasing appeal of overseas titles, and the excellent reputation of the Xbox 360’s network services.”
Furthermore, the exec believes that the extra love afforded to Microsoft’s machine by his company will lead to greater global recognition and success for its titles.
We would not make decisions regarding hardware based solely on the Japanese user base,” he added. Star Ocean 4, Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery were developed with the global market in mind, so by releasing them on the Xbox 360, which enjoys a high market share in the United States and Europe, we are hoping to gain more recognition from this large user base.”
Square Enix has become a vital ally for Microsoft in recent times. Its decision to bring Final Fantasy XIII to Xbox 360 was seen as a massive boom for the machine in the West, whilst its 360 exclusive RPGs such as Infinite Undiscovery and Star Ocean: The Last Hope (and, for a limited time, The Last Remnant) have given the machine a huge boost in Japan – so much so that it recently managed to outsell PS3 in the territory for six weeks flat.
