It's important. But EA is not going to bring truly exclusive titles to the Xbox. Most third parties are supporting titles that will co-release or are already out on PlayStation 2.
With Nintendo content, it's going to make it hard for Microsoft, and (Nintendo) is probably going to come in at a cheaper price.
Core gamers will be impressed by the specs of the Xbox. But getting beyond that, you need to have the content there.
That's why Bandai is turning to Korea as a learning center to bring these things over to Japan.