Although there is no official local shipment data, sales of PS2s are estimated to be double those of the Xbox, while Nintendo Co's GameCube is the third-most popular console, according to Hsu.
Nevertheless, the debut of the Xbox 360 will serve as a catalyst for the local game development community.
While Microsoft in the past worked with Softstar Entertainment Inc (大宇資訊) to develop two titles for Xbox, it has roped in 14 other companies this time for Xbox 360.
Fans can expect to see a mahjong game and a role-playing game initiated by FunTown (
Hsu said that the local community will benefit from the experience of collaborating internationally and hopefully will be able to transfer expertise to projects with other consoles.
"They have an edge, especially in content for online games. However, they might need to dedicate more resources and investment in console games as the technical details of the two are different," she said.
Instead of duplicating online games to make games for consoles, these firms should develop unique titles for the Xbox 360 platform, which is able to accept larger file loading and higher color resolution, Tai said.
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