Well, it seems that Gears of War has universal appeal as Epic's/Microsoft's grand shooter has entered the Japanese all formats software chart at number 7. This is very much a surprise as conventional wisdom suggests that Japanese gaming tastes don't favour shooters of this type. Either way this is great news for Microsoft and more importantly for Xbox 360 in the region.


1. .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 (PS2) - 136,790 / new
2. Wario: The Seven (DS) - 91,249 / new
3. Shining Force EXA (PS2) - 72,306 / new
4. Wii Sports (WII) - 57,418 / 851,535
5. Wii Play (WII) - 45,724 / 764,813
6. Dragon Shadow Spell (PS2) - 40,541 / new
7. Gears of War (360) - 33,212 / new
8. Seikaiju Maze (DS) - 32,511 / new
9. Common Knowledge Training (DS) - 31,735 / 1,130,647
10. More Brain Age (DS) - 29,626 / 3,868,279

Many gamers here in the west are perhaps a little perplexed as to why they should be excited over this kind of news. Well for me personally I see the success of the Xbox 360 in Japan leading to more Japanese developer support for the system. Which means more games. More games is good isn't it even if they are crap?