After years of taking the back-seat to Sony and Nintendo in the Japan Game Console Market, Microsoft has announced a new hire for the next generation Xbox console, that is hoped to bring them at least to the passenger side.

Since launch in February 2002 Microsoft has sold 19.9 million Xbox machines worldwide, the company said, but sales have been especially sluggish in Japan, home of Sony and Nintendo Co Ltd, Microsoft hopes to change this by bringing "Final Fantasy" franchise creator Hironobu Sakaguchi on board to develop role-playing game (RPG) video games exclusively for the next-generation Microsoft Xbox video game platform.

The "Final Fantasy" franchise, has sold more than 60 million units worldwide, I can only imagine Microsoft hopes to recreate that success.

The original Xbox was not the blockbuster, Microsoft dreamed of in Japan due to the lack of RPGs for the Xbox, according to Microsoft; they don't want to make the same mistake again. Sakaguchi will lead a development team on two new role-playing games to be released for the new console.

"Sakaguchi-san has taken role-playing games -- traditionally a niche market -- and introduced them to a broad and diverse audience across the globe," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing at Microsoft. "We are ecstatic to work with Sakaguchi-san and celebrate what this news means not only for Xbox, but for gamers worldwide."