FFXIII "opens doors" for Xbox in Japan - Kim

Microsoft's Shame Kim believes that by snaring Final Fantasy XIII for Europe and the US, the move opens the eyes of Japanese developers in Japan.

The announcement that Square Enix would be bringing the popular PlayStation series to Xbox 360 was the most surprising reveal at Microsoft's E3 conference on Monday, and although the game will not appear on the format in Japan, it does encourage local developers to consider 360 as a viable platform.

"The Final Fantasy XIII announcement has some beneficial side-effects," he said, speaking to 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," he added.

"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."

While Microsoft is understandably pleased with its latest signing, Sony's Jack Tretton has said in a round table interview at E3 that he's "disappointed" with the decision by Square Enix to go multiformat with Final Fantasy XIII.

"I guess disappointed is a clearly an appropriate term," he told a crowd of journalists.

"I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favour with third-parties," he added, reports Gamasutra.