Microsoft will be offering an HD DVD upgrade for its Xbox 360 game console that will allow the company to compete with Sony in the HD arena. The new drive will be available on 17 November, the launch date of the Playstation 3.
The announcement, made at the Tokyo Game Show 2006, came as part of a strengthened marketing initiative for the Xbox 360 in a time when Sony and Nintendo are gearing up for the release of their next-gen game consoles. The price of the HD DVD drive, ¥19,800 or about $168, is well below previous estimates and increases the pricing pressure on Sony.
"If you buy this along with Xbox 360, you can enjoy HD DVD content at a low price of about 60,000 yen," Takashi Sensui, general manager the Xbox division of Microsoft’s Japanese unit, told a news conference.
Microsoft currently offers Xbox 360 with a 20-gigabyte (GB) hard disk drive and a wireless controller in Japan for 39,795 yen.
Sony, in comparison, expects a version of PS3 that comes with a 20-GB hard disk drive and a Blu-ray player to sell for 62,790 yen in Japan.
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