Both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 have yet to gain more than a cult following in Japan, but that has not prevented Microsoft from trying to bring the console to the nation.
Japanese gamers will get a third round of Microsoft consoles, as it has been confirmed that the Xbox One will be available in Japan in 2014.
This news comes from Dualshockers, who translated an interview with Microsoft Japan President and CEO Yasuyuki Higuchi from the Japanese website 4Gamer. In the interview, he reveals that, while Japan may not be a country that gets the Xbox One at launch, gamers in Japan will not have long to wait to get their hands on the console:
"For the launch of Xbox One Japan is a Tier 2 country and not a Tier 1 country, so it'll come with the second wave, that will be delayed a little bit [compared to North America]...It won't be delayed too much from the North American release," Higuchi said.
While this seems like good news for Japan's Xbox fans, again the console has always been far behind other company's such as Nintendo and Sony when it comes to loyalty from the general public. Despite the Xbox 360 being ahead of the PlayStation 3 in terms of sales in North America, that situation is reversed in Japan.
The Xbox One is scheduled to be released throughout Asia in 2014, while 21 countries can expect the device when it launches in November. There was some question as too if the console would remain on schedule after Microsoft dropped the extremely unpopular DRM and used game policies that would require fees on used games and online check-ins every 24 hours. However, Microsoft is determined to meet their deadlines for the Xbox One, whether it is for the initial November release of the console or the Asian 2014 launch.