It's hard to imagine Microsoft Corp as the underdog.
But that's exactly what the US software giant is in this flashy video-game show that opened yesterday near Tokyo, where it must struggle to win over Japanese fans to its Xbox console in the home market of its biggest rivals, Sony Corp and Nintendo Co.
Microsoft announced yesterday it's getting some help from Sega Corp, a Japanese game maker that is now only making software for other companies' machines after dropping its own console -- the Dreamcast -- earlier this year. Dreamcast lost out in the race against Sony's PlayStation 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Besides the 11 games in the works for the Xbox, Sega will also be making Xbox versions of two hit Dreamcast games: Phantasy Star Online, an Internet-linking game, and Shenmue II, which boasts vivid graphics and has sold 1.2 million copies, both sides said.
Xbox must play a big game of catch-up against PlayStation 2, which has sold 20 million units worldwide since March last year. At the Tokyo Game Show, Xbox was far outnumbered by PlayStation 2 machines on display at many booths.
"It's just the same as the old machines," said Tomoyuki Suzuki, 21, who was shooting at some on-screen creatures on Halo, a Microsoft game, at the Xbox booth.
Speculation has been growing about the Xbox's possible production problems after its US sales date was delayed recently by a week until Nov. 15.
That will give Xbox only a three day lead-time over the US launch of Nintendo GameCube, which went on sale in Japan on Sept. 14, with 500,000 machines shipped in the first month.
Xbox was initially set to go on sale in Japan this fall, but Microsoft put that off until Feb. 22 to ensure its US success first. Xbox costs US$299.99 in the US. The Japanese price is still undecided.
Hirohisa Ohura, managing director of Microsoft's Japan unit, denied production problems were behind the US delay.
"It had to do with detail in logistics," he said, while refusing to say how many machines will be sold in Japan. "We just wanted to be 100 percent sure."
Ohura said Xbox's built-in hard disk and broadband access will deliver new types of games, such as online games.
Sega also announced yesterday a decision to use the Xbox motherboard, a main computer part, for its arcade games. That will help Xbox lure more Sega games as well as more Japanese game fans, Ohura said. And more online tie-ups between Microsoft and Sega are in the works, he said.
Analysts say it's not "game over" yet for anybody.
Jay Defibaugh, analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo, believes a clear winner in the three-way battle won't emerge until Christmas next year. "It will be a fairly arduous battle," he said.
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