Microsoft chairman Bill Gates took to the streets of Tokyo's trendy Shibuya area on Friday to make sure the US software giant's Xbox game machine got off to a strong start in Japan's tough games market.
Microsoft said it was ready to ship 250,000 of the rectangular black boxes built around a big 'X' logo and prepared a dozen games titles to convince Japan's gamers and powerful game publishing community that the Xbox is here to stay.
The goal, Gates said in an earlier interview, was not to try to beat its robust US launch in November, but to win the hearts of hard-core game enthusiasts.
Analysts said it would be hard to imagine Xbox knocking Sony's best selling PlayStation 2 out of its top position any time soon.
Asked if Microsoft could stage a repeat of its strong US debut, which resulted in sales of 1.5 million units in just six weeks, Gates said: 'This is not the Christmas season, you shouldn't compare us to numbers like that. As we get into next December we should be able to deliver good numbers.'
Microsoft said the Xbox, which also plays DVD videos and sports an Internet connection, would be backed up by an online gaming service by the end of the year that would allow users to compete and interact in virtual game world from living rooms.
In an apparent departure from its previous aim of starting an online gaming system six months after each country's Xbox launch, Gates said Microsoft was planning a dual US-Japan online system debut by year-end.
