Kim: Final Fantasy on 360 might not be enough to win Japan

Xbox boss Shane Kim has issued a stoical take on 360's position in Japan, saying that even an exclusive Final Fantasy series for the machine may not be enough to boost sales in the country.

"I think there's just as much precedent that they would leave [the franchise]," Kim told Kikizo when asked whether or not a five-year Final Fantasy exclusivity would be worth buying.

"I mean if I were Square Enix that's what I'd be worried about, that they would leave Final Fantasy for something else. I know we're talking about Final Fantasy here, but you really have to question, is it really enough to overcome people's reservations about Xbox 360 in Japan? I don't know. But I know that it would have to be a heck of a lot of money and it would be very risky to do that."

Kim added that success in Japan isn't necessarily going to come from sales in Japan, and that western Xbox 360 achievement will be the driving force behind the console's relationship with the country.

He also said that Microsoft is unlikely to ever do anything specific to Japan again in terms of Xbox 360.

"I think what's going to help is in Japan ultimately, is success in the west, because the bulk of content that Japanese customers want to play is mostly going to come from Japanese developers and publishers, and we've already seen with Tecmo and Capcom that they see the success that we're having in North America and Europe, and I think you're going to see more Japanese content coming as a result of that - not necessarily because MGS made certain bets," he said.

"We'll still continue to look in Japan for new opportunities - we have some things coming that are exciting - but you probably won't see us do something just specifically for Japan [again]. There's a lot of great talent in Japan, but we'll probably take more of a global perspective on that."

Read the whole thing. Lots of good stuff in there.