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12月10日，微软公司将抢在对手索尼公司之前，在日本推出最新一代游戏机Xbox360。但要赢得以吹毛求疵著称的日本游戏迷的欢心，这家美国外来汉还要打场硬仗。
据美联社12月8日报道，日本是继美国之后的世界第2大视频游戏市场，长期以来这一市场都由该国的索尼公司控制。美国微软公司仍在为早前Xbox在日本市场遭受的失利心有不甘，此次它下决心在这里攻城略地。
微软公司采取的策略之一是使Xbox360抢先上市，以阻断索尼PlayStation3（PS3）的销路。日本电子巨人索尼公司仍在继续PS3的研发工作，新产品预计明年才能上市。微软指望Xbox360能够抢先一步收买那些没有耐性索尼铁杆游戏迷。
Xbox360上个月在美国粉墨登场。此前，它已经登上许多人家圣诞采购清单的头排位置。望眼欲穿的美国游戏迷排起长队，甚至在商店过道里为抢先取货争吵不休。本周六（10日）早6点45分，微软公司将在东京时髦的涉谷区举行倒计时发行仪式。
对此，日本大和研究所分析家表示，“微软此次的期望值很高。他们应该能比推出第一代Xbox时干得更好。PlayStation面临着失去市场份额的危险”。
报道说，自从3年前第一台Xbox游戏机上市以来，微软在全球一共卖出了2190万台游戏机，但包括日本在内的亚洲地区销量只有180万台。如此形成对比的是，索尼在过去5年中卖出了9100万台PS2，亚洲区销量达2100万台。在日本的游戏机市场上，索尼的PlayStation占据80％的份额，微软的Xbox仅占5％。
微软首席执行官史蒂夫·鲍尔默上月访问东京时表示，他“百分之百”地相信，Xbox360的销量将超过此前机型。微软希望， Xbox360在美国上市后的90天内，其全球销量能到达到275万台至300万台。
Microsoft Corp. will get the jump on Sony this Saturday by introducing the next-generation Xbox 360 in its rival's backyard, but winning over Japan's notoriously finicky video game fans will be an uphill battle for the American interloper.
Microsoft is still smarting from the failure of its original Xbox in Japan, the world's second-biggest video game market after the United States and a realm long dominated by Sony Corp.'s PlayStation. This time it's determined to break into the stronghold.
Part of its strategy is beating Sony to stores. While the Japanese electronics giant is working on a new PlayStation 3, it won't go on sale until next year. Microsoft hopes the Xbox 360's earlier release will convert hard-core gamers who can't wait that long.
Xbox 360 debuted last month in the United States to winding lines of wide-eyed fans, store-aisle brawls to snag machines and top billing on Christmas wish lists. The Japan launch begins with a countdown party at 6:45 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district.
"Microsoft has big expectations this time," said Eiji Maeda, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. "They should do much better than with the first Xbox, and PlayStation stands a the chance of losing market share."
Since the first Xbox went on sale three years ago, Microsoft has sold 21.9 million machines globally but only 1.8 million in Asia, including Japan. By contrast, Sony has sold 91 million PlayStation 2 consoles in the last five years, 21 million of them in Asia.
PlayStation accounts for about 80 percent of the Japanese market game console, Xbox around 5 percent.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft hasn't set an Xbox 360 sales goal in Japan. But Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said last month while visiting Tokyo he is "100 percent" sure the new model will outsell its predecessor.
Worldwide, the company is aiming to ship between 2.75 million and 3 million machines within 90 days of the U.S. launch.
Given Xbox's paltry market share in Japan, there's only room to grow. That means big money in a hardware and software market worth up to 600 billion yen, or $4.96 billion, according to Maeda.
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