Yes, it is very interesting. The reason why Microsoft focussed so hard on Japan, is because for European gamers, getting the Japanese games on the PS2 was an important factor for not getting a 360. Now that Japan seems to be lost for the 360 for now, the typical Japanese games will always be targeted at the Wii and PS3 again.
The biggest difference that is helping Microsoft so far is that the Japanese developers are also looking towards the West, and designing games for Western tastes. And when they do so, for now it is interesting for them to do so for the 360. This would make the issue slightly less relevant, because more Japanese developers will target the 360 when they think their games are interesting for the Western market. Also, in general, the influence of Japanese developers seems to have been going down recently (though I think it's stable again now, or maybe even going back up)
But on the other hand, this may result in a limited type of Japanese games coming to the West, that aren't actually that Japanese. Also, in this generation importing say, PS3 games from Japan is easier than ever, as there is currently no more region locking on games (at least when you use HD).
So right now Microsoft's strategy will be, as widely anticipated, to try and win Europe, and when the U.S. and Europe are dominated by Microsoft, Microsoft hopes to either make enough money from that alone (
) and/or hopes for that to sway the Japanese market through the developers more often creating 360 versions, irrespective of whether they are targeting the Japanese market or the Western market.
Halo 3 marketing is very big here in Europe, that much is very obvious. However, I'm not yet convinced how Halo is going to win the European market though. Soccer games and racing games on the other hand ... and in that respect the 360 seems to be doing quite well, though not having the FIFA demo out in Europe must be a bit of a blow at least (but now at least they seem to have the PES demo out).
It's a tough battle, but that's just the way I like it. Good times for gamers all round. I'm happy with the PS3 and it's doing very well, and as a small bonus I got offered a really cheap 360 from a colleague who won one in Germany, so I can check how Microsoft is progressing here in Europe (in terms of offering content, quality of games, and such) as well.
For now, I think the 360's biggest weakness remains in the casual games area. It's biggest strength is probably online and price, but the combination of those two may cancel that out if they're not careful. The big advantage they may have is that casual games are going more mainstream - Rock Band may make up for SingStar if it's good enough. But so far, the PS3 is still looking better in that area, which is an important one in Europe as far as I can tell.
