The Xbox 360 launched in Japan last weekend, with retail stores reporting lines of customers waiting to get their hands on the console, just as consumers did during previous launch events in North America and Europe. There was just one difference this time: Unlike the other two launches, Xbox 360 didn't sell out immediately in Japan, and customers walking into stores late on launch day were able to find consoles in stock. This likely highlights a huge difference between Japan and the rest of the world: In Japan, Japanese video game systems constitute 95 percent of all video games sales, leaving Microsoft with just 5 percent of the market there. For its part, Microsoft expects Xbox 360 to snag far more than 5 percent, but it's unclear whether the software giant can ever raise its market share to much higher levels in such a place. Time will tell
