A lot of game release announcements were made at Microsoft’s X10 event yesterday, (1Up has all the info lined up on their face page) but the “shocker” of sorts was the announcement of the Final Fantasy XIII 360 bundle for North America.

In 1Up’s update write-up of the announcement, here’s what you’re going to get for your $400 bucks (okay, $399.99):

2 wireless controllers
250 gig HD with the Final Fantasy logo etched in
Standard edition of the game
“Exclusive” avatar items

Now, I’m no RPG fan, but I do understand 2 things about this franchise: 1) What a heavy hitter this game is worldwide, and 2) For many years, Final Fantasy titles have been synonomous with Playstation hardware. Much like GTA 3 was an influencing factor for me to get a PS2, those that remember Square’s Final Fantasy games on Nintendo made the jump to the Playstation brand to continue to enjoy a series of games that have gone on to become legendary as industry standard setters in the RPG genre.

I’m no industry insider, but this Microsoft “coup-de-bundle” is the JRPG equivalent of hearing that there will be a Gears of War 3 bundle for Playstation. Not every gamer has jumped onboard for this gen, and I would guess that more than just a few are waiting for Final Fantasy XIII before jumping in. I have no idea what back room deals went down between Square/Enix and Microsoft to get this done, but Microsoft may have stolen Sony’s lunch money when it comes to the future of this franchise. I think it is a mistake for Sony not to bring out a bundle to the US–particularly the Lightning Edition. I would be absolutely shocked if the NPDs following FFXIII’s release reveal that more copies were sold on Xbox than Playstation. Again, time will tell.