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Microsoft's Xbox 360 to Hit Japan Dec. 10

Posted on: Thursday, 15 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will launch its next-generation home video game console, Xbox 360, in Japan on Dec. 10, just after the console's release in the United States on Nov. 22 and in Europe on Dec. 2.

Microsoft Co., the Japanese unit, also said the console will carry a suggested price tag of 37,900 yen, compared with 399.99 dollars and 399.99 euros in the U.S. and European markets, respectively.

The launch of Xbox 360 will be Microsoft's second attempt to challenge the overwhelming dominance of Sony Corp. with its PlayStation machines, following the failure in Japan of the first- generation Xbox.

The launch will precede Sony's planned launch of its next console, PlayStation 3, in the spring next year. Nintendo Co. has also said that a successor to its GameCube video game console, codenamed Revolution, will be ready next year.

"We expect benefits in launching our machine earlier than rivals," Yoshihiro Maruyama, who heads Microsoft Co.'s Xbox business, told a press conference here, noting that the company has learned its lesson from the poor results of the first-generation Xbox. "But its success will depend on whether there will be software titles that attract game players," he said.

Microsoft revealed that there will be seven software titles available on the console's launch day. The number of game titles will increase to some 20 by the end of January next year, it said.

Maruyama said that although the next-generation game console is compatible only with the current DVD standards, it may in the future support the High-Definition DVD format, the next-generation optical disc formula promoted by a consortium led by Toshiba Corp. and rivaling the Blu-ray Disc backed by a group led by Sony.

He also said that Xbox 360 will be compatible with all equipment connectible via the universal serial bus, or USB, indicating that users will be able to connect the machine to portable music players, such as rival Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, as well as handheld machines including Sony's PlayStation Portable.

Unlike in the United States and Europe, where Microsoft will offer two versions of Xbox 360, one incorporating a 20 gigabyte hard drive and the other without a hard drive, the company will offer in Japan only the version that contains a hard drive.END

Source: Jiji Press English News Service

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