Event which was embarrassingly anticipated with much lower expectations in Japan than in the western world, analysts predicting the 360 to be yet another big flop for Microsoft in the mother country of video games. Tim Rogers, who braved the cold and went on "36 hours without sleep mode" again for the occasion, reported a situation that fits with what we all came to expect: there wasn't such a big of a party going on and it was incomparable with crazy release days that Japan is known for when it comes to a new PlayStation, a new Nintendo system or even a new Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy opus.
Tim Rogers reports: "We -- that is, me, Tim Rogers, my friend Francis "Chuck" Franklin-Dorstervelt, Matt, Israel, and Jake all met in front of the Xbox lounge at a little before seven-thirty. Our goal was to go inside and shoot a little video of the games and the really hip look of the place. Well, that wasn't going to happen: they'd locked the place down. The reason was because they were planning a party, some kind of countdown to the launch. They weren't letting us near the door. The window shades were down. We loitered around outside, got a little angry, and headed down Tokyo Highway Route 246, headed for Shibuya. We ended up in front of the Tsutaya store -- where, uh, nobody was doing anything. There was no one in line, nothing going on. We went inside and went upstairs, and saw a few new-release Sony PlayStation 2 titles (the wonderful Ryu ga Gotoku and amazing Rogue Galaxy -- both worth importing, you know. Go ahead, buy them!) hogging all of peoples' attention. We shot a video of four Japanese people lined up to play Mario Kart on DS . . . and no one touching the 360. Hmmm."
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