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Story by Stephany Nunneley

Fri, Jan 15, 2010 | 21:38 GMT

Aaron Greenberg sees Natal as helpful tool for Japanese game market

Xbox boss Aaron Greenberg claimed that Natal could help fix general trade woes in Japan.

“Japan is a very important market for the gaming industry and home to some of the video game industry’s leading innovators,” Greenberg told D’toid.

“In many ways, I think what makes Japanese games so special is that not only are these the franchises many of us grew up playing, but Japanese creators have given us the games the world plays.

“The reality of the Japanese gaming market is that it is not the size it once was and at the same time we have seen gaming become the largest form of entertainment around the world. However, I don’t think this means that Japanese creators should be trying to come up with the next Halo or Call of Duty. I think there are ways to leverage their creativity with new tools like ‘Project Natal.’

“I also believe that there are ways for some of the popular Japanese franchises to become more approachable for a wider audience as well. In fact, all of the leading Japanese publishers have announced that they are actively working on games for ‘Project Natal’ and I can’t wait to see these come to life.

“I truly believe the future is bright for Japanese creators and publishers.”

While Greenberg’s moving east, however. Japan’s heading west. Earlier this month, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada revealed that the company is open to the idea of a non-Japanese developed Final Fantasy series.

Wada feels the main reason western games don’t perform well in the country is that retailers are prejudiced against them.

Wada also believes that if retailers were to remove their blinders the market would pick back up, and would no longer be considered “dead”, as Capcom’s Keiji Inafune described it at TGS last year.

Maybe Natal and Sony’s Motion Controller will be the knight in shining armor the Japanese market needs.

We’ll find out when both release this year.