yea Nintendo has lots of appeal in Japan
And yet it had an underwhelming launch due to lack of software...once the games start showing up, people tend to notice.
See, the NGC is not your normal console breed
a game like Super Smash Brothers can litterly sell 300k plus consoles by itself..
Nintendo, unlike MS, has software that sells systems
MS might be laying the same kind of hope of titles such as Panzer Dragoon, Project Ego, Shenmue II, etc.
Right now, there is not much to cater to a japanese audience.