During the launch of Micosoft's new controller-free motion peripheral, Kinect, on Nov. 20 in Akihabara, Tokyo, a pair of schoolgirl idols stood smiling before a line of about 150 eager gamers — the guy at the head of the line had camped out for two days in a cardboard box with "Xbox 360" painted on it. Lurking among the gamers gathered to buy Kinect were fans of the girl group SKE48, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite idols. The two girls held the shiny black Kinect peripheral and an Xbox 360 and mugged for the assembled press, while Xbox Japan boss Takashi Sensui told the assembled crowd that the Kinect was the "beginning of a new era." Microsoft seemed to be hoping that tapping the country's infatuation with schoolgirls and idol groups would translate into yen. So far, it hasn't.

Microsoft isn't viewing Kinect — a motion-sensing Xbox 360 add-on that allows players to play sans controller — as simply some peripheral, but are promoting it akin to a new console. Kinect is a big deal, and Microsoft is spending half a billion dollars just on marketing. So far, Kinect is a hit in the United States, where it sold over a million consoles in its first ten days on the market. Japan, with its significantly smaller Xbox 360 install base, of just over a million consoles, is another story.

Even though Windows is the operating system of choice here, Microsoft traditionally has a tough time capturing the imagination of Japanese gamers. During the Xbox 360's 2005 launch, early reports stated that the Xbox 360 was selling out at retail outlets in Tokyo, but those reports didn't reflect the rest of the country — where the new consoles sat on shelves, collecting dust. The lack of interest could be because the home video game console market is already crowded with Sony and Nintendo, leaving Microsoft as the odd man out in Japan.