TOKYO, April 5 — Microsoft Corp’s Xbox game console got off to a slow start in Japan, selling 190,092 units between its launch on February 22 and March 31, game magazine publisher Enterbrain Inc. said on Friday.
MICROSOFT WOULD NOT COMMENT on sales figures, but the Japan debut was marred by complaints from users that the console was scratching game discs and some stores halted sales temporarily.
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The U.S. software giant prepared 250,000 Xboxes for the Japan launch, each priced at 34,800 yen ($263), which is 5,000 yen more than Sony Corp’s PlayStation 2 and 9,800 yen more than Nintendo Co Ltd’s GameCube.
Hirokazu Hamamura, Enterbrain’s editor-in-chief, said the lack of attractive software titles, rather than the scratching issue, was the main problem for the product.
“They really need killer titles. Even if they cut the price of Xbox, I don’t think that would help,” Hamamura said at a seminar on the Japanese game industry.
Microsoft sold 1.5 million Xboxes in the United Sates in just six weeks after launching on November 15, but the company said in February that it did not expect to repeat such a strong start in Japan, a home turf of Sony and Nintendo.
As for GameCube, Enterbrain said Nintendo shipped 1.29 million units between its September 14 Japan debut and March 31, attracting both young and adult gamers.
During the business year to March 31, Sony sold 4.05 million units of its blockbuster PlayStation 2 console, helped by a price cut. Sony rolled out PlayStation 2 in March 2000 in Japan, selling 980,000 units in just three days.
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