Phantom Dust

Microsoft and Japan go together like peanut butter and whatever the opposite of jelly is; a repulsive combination by all normal conventions, but it's amazing for the few who know how to enjoy it. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Metal Wolf Chaos, Lost Odyssey, Microsoft's Phil Spencer has promised more quality Japanese titles for the Xbox One and plans to announce them next year.

As of right now, Crimson Dragon is the most high profile Japanese title for the console, but apparently is stinks like rotten Camembert. Despite that, Spencer says that Microsoft is discussing with creator Yukio Futatsugi "about what we might want to do next with him."

Microsoft is interested in bringing "full" Japanese games to the platform, as in, not games that can be downloaded for $19.99. A Crimson Dragon RPG is on Futatsugi's wish list to make, much like Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Spencer even mentions wanting to revive his excellent cult-hit Phantom Dust.

"Phantom Dust has come up around whether we would want to reboot that franchise. It's a discussion right now; there's nothing's signed."

Beyond its work with Futatsugi, the only Japanese Xbox One game that has really received attention is D4, a murder-mystery martial arts game controlled by the Kinect. Microsoft has Deadly Premonition creator Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro on that job.

Spencer also mentioned making plenty of contacts with the Japanese indie scene at TGS this year, and he is hopeful to persuade some developers to head Microsoft's way.

"We kicked off our independent developer program when were at Tokyo Game Show and saw some top talent walk through the door, so I think you'll see some indies too… I'm committed to the development there."

Microsoft and Japan, are you finally down or is this just more smoke? If Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama couldn't get the Xbox brand off the ground, I'm not really sure what could. Crimson Dragon and D4 are definitely not the answer, so it makes me wonder what it might have unannounced up its sleeves.