Microsoft Expects Solid Xbox 360 Debut

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday he expects successful launches of the Xbox 360 game console in the United States, Europe and even in Japan — the stronghold of its archrival Sony Corp.’s blockbuster machine PlayStation.

“We have very strong momentum, particularly in the northern parts of Europe, United States, Australia … I know for sure, 100 percent, we will do much better in Japan than we did with Xbox 1,” Ballmer told a news conference in Tokyo, where he was helping to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Microsoft’s Japan unit.

Microsoft will be the first of the three major companies to launch a new console when the Xbox 360 hits store shelves in North America on November 22. Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Revolution are expected sometime later in 2006.

Reuters