According to folks in the know (analysts), Microsoft Corp.'s big Xbox 360 push in Japan will do little to affect Sony Corp.'s PlayStation following in Japan. Even before the release of the Xbox 360, Sony has created more market buzz in Japan for its next-generation PlayStation 3 console, due in the spring reports HinduTimes. Well this makes sense, errr , Sony just happens to be a Japanese company.

Microsoft Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach dismisses surveys showing interest in his new console is still low.

"None of that is worth anything," he said at the Reuters Technology and Telecoms Summit in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The lack of success in Japan with the first Xbox was due to lack of compelling games for Japanese, not relations with retailers or even the bulky design of the first Xbox.

"Ultimately if we had great games, people would have put a big, black Xbox in the living room," he said. This time, he says, Microsoft has laid the groundwork for just that.

Analysts expect the Xbox 360 to sell better than its previous version, but they don't expect it to seriously challenge Sony's dominance of the gaming market in Japan.

"There is no way it will come close to the PlayStation," said Tokyo-based Deutsche Securities analyst Takashi Oya. "Microsoft will have done well if it gets 10 percent market share in Japan."