The Unthinkable Has Happened

Posted by Anton Gordon at 10:04 AM Aug 20, 2008

The day that you never thought would come is here. No, Mario isn't starring in the new Halo game. No, something even more improbable has happened: The Xbox 360 is currently sold out in Japan. According to the press release below (translated by the good folks at Kotaku), there is nary an Xbox 360 console to be found in the Land of the Rising Sun. Check it.

Translated Press Release from Microsoft Japan:

To all customers

We truly thank you for all your patronage in the past.

Currently, the Xbox 360 is sold out, and retailers are unable to restock their supply. This is a result of our own sales targets being exceeded by the actual customer sales. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience to our customers, retailers and business partners.

Here at Microsoft, we are moving forward quickly with console production, and plan to ship the standard Xbox 360 model out this September. Furthermore, we will sequentially be shipping out the Elite and the Arcade models. We ask that you please patiently wait until the console is shipped.

We truly thank you for your patronage hereafter.

Microsoft
Home and Entertainment HQ

The shocking improvement in sales is being attributed to 360-exclusive RPGs like Tale of Vespiria. But more importantly, I think this is a sign of things to come. If the Xbox 360 can actually do well in Japan, these things should be possible, too:

- Duke Nukem Forever finally ships. Guns 'N Roses Chinese Democracy is the official soundtrack.

- A decent third-party game releases for Wii. It includes not a single mini-game.

- A Metal Gear Solid movie is released. It contains more gameplay than MGS4.

- PlayStation 3: Sales Juggernaut!

- Konami's Rock Revolution outsells both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. However, all are crushed by Wii Music, which despite appearances turns out NOT to be the stupidest piece of shit ever created.

- And finally, the most unlikely occurrence of all. A new IP takes the the top spot on the best-selling games of all time list, with over 50 million copies sold. That game? Anton Gordon, Man of Action!