The next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game console will be available in the United States two days before Thanksgiving, in time for the important holiday shopping season, the company said Wednesday.
The Nov. 22 launch of Xbox 360 in North America will be followed by a Dec. 2 launch in Europe and a Dec. 10 launch in Japan. The Japanese unit will cost 37,900 yen, or about $345 — slightly less than the $399.99 the company is charging in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Microsoft had previously disclosed the U.S. price, as well as the European price of 399.99 euros. Microsoft also is selling a scaled-back version, dubbed "Xbox 360 Core System," for $299.99 in North America and 299.99 euros in Europe. But David Reid, director of platform marketing for Xbox, said the company had decided there wouldn’t be enough demand to immediately launch that cheaper system in Japan. Reid said the company priced the Xboxes relative to what other, similar gadgets cost in the respective countries.
He said the decision to charge less in Japan than the United States did not have anything to do with the fact that the first version of the Xbox has not been as successful in Japan as Microsoft had hoped.
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