Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has announced that the Xbox games console is on schedule for launch this year and will begin with 11 titles from Sega, giving Microsoft an important foothold in the Japanese market. It will offer on-line gaming next year.

Sega, which recently announced that it is ending production of its own consoles, said that the first games to premiere on Xbox will be "Jet Grind Radio Future" (tentative title), "Panzer Dragoon" (latest version), "GUNVALKYRIE" and "Sega GT" (latest version). In addition, it plans to utilise the Xbox video game system's broadband online gaming capabilities.

"We believe that Microsoft will be very successful with Xbox, which is why we have such a close, strategic relationship with them," said Peter Moore, president and COO, Sega of America. "We share Microsoft's commitment to broadband on-line gaming and will work with it to deliver the best content possible to gamers."

Microsoft is bundling a different game controller with its Japanese consoles, which will be smaller than the North American and European controller with differently positioned buttons, “to best accommodate the styles of gameplay popular in Japan.” Microsoft has the challenge of competing with Japanese companies Sony and Nintendo in a games market considered very different from other territories.

Official release dates for Japan, North America and Europe are not yet known.

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