Microsoft Corporation today announced several initiatives that will enhance the Xbox® experience for the growing number of gamers in Asia, firmly entrenching Xbox as the technology and innovation leader in the console market in Asia.
"With over 850,000 consoles shipped in the region, including Japan, we're pleased with the tremendous response we've had to date," said Alex Kotowitz, Senior Director, Xbox Asia. "We're even more excited about the future as we prepare for a slew of new games, peripherals and programs that will revolutionise the industry and push the realm of possibilities for gaming."
Leaving no doubt that Xbox is at its core all about the games, "Halo™", "Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball", "FIFA Soccer 2003", "Soul Calibur 2" and "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" continue to be the best-selling games in Asia. There are currently more than 50 titles available across the region and the portfolio of Xbox games will swell in range and numbers to reach 150 by the end of 2003. Over the next 12 months, key titles that are scheduled for launch include "Sudeki", "Project Gotham Racing® 2", "Counter-Strike" and "Fable" - all from Microsoft Games Studio.
Third party publisher titles scheduled for launch in the coming months include "Enter The Matrix" from Atari, "The Incredible Hulk" from Vivendi Universal, "Otogi" developed by FromSoftware and published by Sega, "Dino Crisis 3" from Capcom, "Unreal 2: The Awakening" from Atari and "Tom Clancy Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield" from Ubi soft.
"We're very excited about the enthusiasm and passion for Xbox in Asia," said Sam Stewart, General Manager, SouthEast Asia, Ubi soft Entertainment.
"We are pleased to be working with Xbox and having direct local format representation, our local product line up has been specifically picked to cater to the preferences of Asian gamers and we look forward to contributing to the growing community of Xbox gamers."
Complete localisation of games to Korean and Chinese languages will also be stepped up in the coming months to cater to the needs of the Asian gamers. To enable gamers to fully appreciate and completely experience Xbox games, key titles such as "Brute Force", "Counter-Strike", "Halo 2" and "Fable" will be localised into Korean and/or Chinese languages using local voice talents and translating all in game menus and content.
As the region builds up to the launch of Xbox Live™ in Asia later this year, gamers will be able to take advantage of up to 20 Xbox Live-enabled games that will be available. These include a selection of localised titles including "Counter-Strike", "MechAssault", "MotoGP", "Unreal Championship", "Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War", "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder".
Among the new products announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles that will make its way to Asia is Music Mixer, a new software entertainment title. Music Mixer unlocks the digital entertainment capability of Xbox and widens audience appeal for the console. It is the first software title in history with PC media sharing, allowing Xbox players to easily transfer digital music like Windows Media Audio files and photos from their PC to their Xbox, creating the ultimate multimedia library to be enjoyed in the social center of the home-the living room. Music Mixer also provides a limitless karaoke experience using digital lyric stripping technology.
Color controllers, also announced at E3, will be made available to Asian gamers. Gamers will be able to purchase blue or green controllers in addition to the already very popular black controller, to add more color and individualism to their game play.
Xbox is currently available in more than 700 selected retail outlets throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea.
