Microsoft vows new Xbox offensive with extra games
The US software giant said it would release 15 more games for its next-generation Xbox 360 home video game console in Japan by this summer, including titles developed in partnership with local companies.
"There is no real success for the Xbox unless it proves successful in Japan," said Takashi Sensui, who is in charge of reversing the Xbox’s flagging fortunes on the home turf of its rivals Sony and Nintendo.
"For that purpose, Microsoft will continue to commit strongly to the Japanese market," said Sensui, who replaced Yoshihiro Maruyama on April 1 after the Xbox 360 got a lukewarm welcome here on its launch in December.
The 15 new titles include games developed in cooperation with Japanese developers, including ?Need for Speed Most Wanted? by Electronic Arts, Konami’s "Pro Baseball Spirits 3" and "PlayOnline/Final Fantasy XI" by Square Enix.
Microsoft hopes that the Pro Baseball Spirits 3, which is likely to be released only in Japan, will benefit from the Asian nation’s recent victory in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
Microsoft will have 40 titles available for the Xbox 360 by the summer.
Analysts say the first Xbox, which was launched in November 2001 and came to Japan in February 2002 – nearly two years behind Sony’s PlayStation 2 – flopped here in part due to a lack of games that appealed to local tastes.
This time Microsoft is doing its utmost to avoid history repeating itself and has stolen a march on Sony, which recently announced a six-month delay to the launch of its PlayStation 3 next generation console to November.
Nintendo plans to release its next generation stand-alone console, Revolution, sometime later this year.
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