Try as they might, Microsoft has never been a big seller in Japan when it comes to their Xbox line of consoles. From the original system up to the recent Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, they sell terribly compared to the other big competitors like Sony and Nintendo.
And they have certainly tried many times over, from getting exclusive games on their systems to getting new controllers to better fit Japanese hands. It should come as no surprise then to learn that some of these attempts never left Japan. Maybe some day they will come to the West. After all, Metal Wolf Chaos did after fifteen years.
10 Shin Megami Tensei: Nine
Shin Megami Tensei: Nine launched for the Xbox on December 5, 2002. It was developed and published by Atlus with help from NexTech. NexTech also collaborated on some other high profile games including Shining Tears, Children of Mana, and a majority of the Time Crisis series. This spinoff takes place between the first and second games from the SNES era.
9 Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate
Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate launched for the Xbox on October 28, 2004. It was developed by SKONEC Entertainment and published by Success Corporation. SKONEC Entertainment doesn’t appear too much in Western games, but Success Corporation has helped publish and develop a variety of well-known titles including the Cotton series of shooters, Metal Saga, and Kingdom Hearts χ. This space shooter, similar to Ikaruga, actually came out first in arcades in 2003 before this Xbox port.
8 Thousand Land
Thousand Land launched for the Xbox on March 20, 2003. It was developed and published by FromSoftware. It is very different from their other games in both tone and gameplay.
It’s a strategy simulation game with bright and colorful graphics. For those interested, an English fan patch was finally completed in 2019.
7 Dennou Taisen: DroneZ
Dennou Taisen: DroneZ launched for the Xbox on April 22, 2004 . It was developed by Zetha GameZ and published by Metro 3D. Zetha GameZ seems to have a small presence online in the West and Metro 3D is also a small publisher, but some may have heard about their work on Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse on PS2, Armada on Dreamcast, or their Aero the Acro-Bat Game Boy Advance ports. In any case players create a male or female avatar and become trapped in this VR shooter.
6 Magi Death Fight: Mahou Gakuen
Magi Death Fight: Mahou Gakuen launched for the Xbox on June 4, 2002. It was developed and published by Takuyo who is a developer with not a lot of online presence. The game can be played alone or with a friend in co-op. It’s a top down arena fighter mixed a little with a puzzle game. There aren’t many videos of it online so it’s hard to grasp more than that.
5 ExaSkeleton
ExaSkeleton launched for the Xbox on December 18, 2003. It was developed and published by Kiki Co. This is a mech based shooter that doesn’t seem to offer much to the genre in terms of new ideas. The funniest and or most interesting thing about it is that it takes place in 2022. Unfortunately, mechs seem a bit further off than that in reality.
4 Rent-A-Hero No. 1
Rent-A-Hero No 1 launched for the Xbox on September 4, 2003. It was developed And published by Sega internally. There actually were plans to release it in North America, but that version was canceled. That version actually leaked online in 2008, prompting those interested to find out it was mostly completed. It should also be noted that this RPG brawler was a remake of a 1991 Sega Genesis game of the same name.
3 Tenerezza
Tenerezza launched for the Xbox on January 30, 2003. It was developed and published by Aquaplus. Aquaplus is known for niche RPGs including the Utawarerumono, Tears to Tiara, and To Heart series of RPGs. This game then is an action RPG starring a young girl. Based on the gameplay and art style, Tenerezza looks like the PS1 action RPG from Squaresoft, Brave Fencer Musashi.
2 Nobunaga No Yabou: Ranseiki
Nobunaga no Yabou: Ranseiki launched for the Xbox on February 22, 2002. It was developed and published by Koei. Not many releases in this franchise that began in 1983 have crossed over to the West. It is similar to Samurai Warriors, but if that was crossed with something like Civilization.
It’s also been awhile since the last release at all in 2017 via Nobunaga’s Ambition: Taishi. Knowing its legacy, this simulation game is probably far from being completely done.
1 N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment
N.U.D.E.@ Natural Ultimate Digital Experiment launched for the Xbox on April 24, 2003. It was developed by Red Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It’s a simulation game where players talk to a female robot assistant through an Xbox headset. Being published by Microsoft was a big deal and Red Entertainment did release things in the West. The most prominent titles include The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang on SNES, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on PS2, the Gungrave games also on PS2, and many other collaborations.
