Xbox 360 has been even more of an awkward tourist in Japan than the first machine, despite having a better quality and quantity of local support - so it was a relief to see 360's stand getting some love on the show floor too. Dwarfed by the PS3 circus, and nowhere near as packed, there was still the sense that people were genuinely interested in what was on offer.
That's understandable considering what was on offer was, finally, the first fruits of gaming legend Hironobu Sakaguchi's ex-Square RPG studios. Blue Dragon - with the added bonus of hugely popular Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Quest VIII artist, Akira Toriyama, on visual duties - pulled in the crowds. And even after we'd left the show at night there didn't seem to be a person in Tokyo without a Blue Dragon carrier bag. Meanwhile, the more angsty Lost Odyssey had queues winding around the stand that rivalled its jaw-dropping in-game army scenes.
There was strong support elsewhere, too, with Tecmo laying out the DOAX2 beach-towels and Capcom's Lost Planet looking just as snow-whipped delicious as it did whenwe played it at Leipzig. And if it's Japanese RPGs that can determine a console's fate here, then Namco's Trusty Bell and tri-Ace'sInfinite Undiscoverysuggest 360's Japanese funeral may have been scheduled a little prematurely.
Above: Microsoft must have been encouraged by the 90-minute long lines of people eager to play Xbox 360 RPGs Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
