Microsoft targets one million 360s in Japan by summer

In almost four years of availability in Japan, the original Xbox has sold an estimated 450,000 units in the country. Microsoft has made clear its ambitions to blow that number out of the water with the Xbox 360, a goal reiterated in a recently published Dengeki Xbox 360 interview with Microsoft Japan's Xbox division general manager and executive officer Yoshihiro Maruyama. Worldwide, Microsoft plans to ship 3 million Xbox 360 units worldwide by March, and 4.5 million units by the end of June.

"It's only a target, but we want to reach 1 million units by the summer of next year," Maruyama said of the company's plans for Japan. "And during the year-end shopping period, we hope to reach 1.5 to 2 million units. We believe that 1 million unit is an important figure. It makes things easier for [game] makers to do business, so we want to achieve it early."