Dead or Alive 4 to be a no-show in Japan

FOR ALL the talk about Microsoft trying to get a leg up on Sony in the Japanese console market, it sure is unfortunate that another game won't be available for the Xbox 360's release in Japan on December 10th.

When the new console makes its debut in the land of the rising sun, there will only be six games for Japanese Xboxers, Every Party, FIFA06, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Perfect Dark Zero, Ridge Racer 6, and Tetris. They'll have to wait another week for DoA4.

Couple this paltry selection with an equally meager list of backward compatible games (there are only 12 Xbox games that will be playable on the Japanese Xbox 360) and the unfortunate Tokyonians seem to be getting a little short changed.

However, I don't expect this will stop the Xbox 360 from selling out over there too. And Microsoft has announced that it is very keen on making sure Japanese Xboxers have enough options to keep them interested. I suspect they'll have more success if they get those games out before the PS3 hits the shores. µ