FFXIII "opens doors" for 360 in Japan

Microsoft Game Studios boss Shane Kim believes snaring Final Fantasy XIII "opens doors" for Xbox 360 in Japan.

The revelation that Square Enix would bring its renowned PlayStation series (ignoring FFXI) to Xbox 360 was the most surprising part of the Microsoft E3 media briefing on Monday.

Final Fantasy XIII will only be released in Europe on Xbox 360 and not in Japan, but Kim is optimistic that the news will make Japanese developers pay more attention to the console.

"The Final Fantasy XIII announcement has some beneficial side-effects," Shane Kim told 1UP.

"The more games of this nature, and of the Devil May Crys and Resident Evils, that we secure on 360 opens doors for us in Japan, and gets developers over there interested in the 360, so it's a step-by-step process."

While sales of Xbox 360 hardware have not taken off in Japan, local development teams and publishers such as Square Enix and Capcom have contributed significant titles to the Xbox 360, in turn helping them reach out to more Western markets.

"Take Capcom for example: they took a chance with us with Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and have had great success, with both of those titles selling over a million units each," added Kim.

"Japan is obviously a very unique market to crack and gain support in, but I think we're making good headway with what we've accomplished on 360 so far, and we'll continue to surprise you."

Microsoft has previously used exclusive titles Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey - both from former Square Enix staff - as ways to gain favour in Japan.

Microsoft is obviously pleased with with its latest signing, then, but Sony US boss Jack Tretton has publicly aired his disappointment over the decision by Square Enix to go multiformat with Final Fantasy XIII.

"I guess disappointed is a clearly an appropriate term. I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favour with third-parties," Tretton told journalists during a round table interview at E3, Gamasutra reports.