By Billy Teo

AS the next-generation game console war heats up, one game genre could play a big role as a kingmaker.

Namely, Japanese Role Playing Games - or J-RPGs.

You know, those games with cutesy big-eyed characters (most of the time), lots of gorgeous cut-scenes that rival the best anime productions, melodramatic storylines and lots of monster bashing.

It is not just the Japanese who love the J-RPGs - as any cosplay convention will show, there is an enthusiastic international audience for such games.

J-RPGs often cast a wide spell: The epic Final Fantasy XII for the Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) has shipped four million copies worldwide since 2006.

The tale of J-RPGs on the cutting-edge game consoles has a surprise twist at this stage. The Microsoft Xbox 360 has more of them.

For starters, there are English-translated titles like Blue Dragon, Trusty Bell (aka Eternal Sonata) and Lost Odyssey in the market for the Xbox 360.

Coming soon is a second wave of exclusive games such as Tales of Vesperia from Bandai Namco Games, as well as Star Ocean 4 - The Last Hope and Infinite Undiscovery from Square-Enix (makers of the ever-popular Final Fantasy series).

In addition, a cross-platform RPG titled Lost Remnant from Square Enix will released on the Xbox 360 first.

Be it with money or marketing magic, Microsoft has somehow managed to level up the Xbox 360's RPG offerings with help from a party of top studios.

The original Xbox suffered from a lack of J-RPGs, and never did well in the Japanese market.

This time round, the Xbox 360 has not just killer J-RPGs, but also exclusive games like Idol Master (a pop idol manager simulation title) and Ace Combat 6 (flight combat action game) that are popular in Japan.

PS3 TITLES INCLUDE...

Of course, it is not the end of the world for the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) yet.

There's a white knight of sorts, in the form of the upcoming White Knight Chronicles.

Trusty Bell will ring on the PS3 this September, albeit more than a year after its Xbox 360 release.

Then there is the highly anticipated Square-Enix duo of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which have no confirmed release dates yet.

But if you need to get your kicks in J-RPGs in high-definition glory this year, the Microsoft Xbox 360 is the console of choice - for now.