MS target 1 million 360 sales in Japan

Xbox Japan business manager Yoshihiro Maruyama has said that Microsoft is targeting one million sales of the Xbox 360 in Japan by summer 2006, and hopes to sell another million by the year end.

The news came from an editorial published in Japanese magazine Dengeki Xbox 360, where Maruyama wrote: "It's only a target, but the one million mark is a figure we'd like to reach by next summer."

"And then we'd like to go to 1.5 million, then 2 million in next year's end of year sales rush," continued Maruyama. "We believe the one million mark to be an important figure. If we cross one million, it will be easier for developers to do business, so we'd of course like to reach it quickly."

The original Xbox has yet to reach 500,000 sales and as a result has failed to win support from Japanese developers. If Microsoft quickly achieves its one million target, support from Japanese developers shouldn't be the problem it was in the last generation. Things aren't looking too rosy though, with delays to games meaning the December 10 launch will be absent of one of the region's key titles, Dead or Alive 4, which is now expected to on December 17.