No Core System for Xbox 360 in Japan

Microsoft Japan has announced pricing and launch details for the Xbox 360 in Japan, with the console set to launch in the region at 37,900 Yen (around 280 Euro) including a hard drive, wireless joypad and multimedia remote control.

Only one version of the system, and one price point, will be available at launch - unlike Europe and North America where a Core System model, lacking a hard drive and remote control and sporting only a wired controller, will also be available.

Explaining the decision not to release the Core System in Japan, local Xbox boss Yoshihiro Maruyama said that by comparison with the rest of the world, Japan has a very mature broadband infrastructure, and that he expects the region to have a high demand for content such as MMOGs which will need the hard drive to function.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of launching a cut-price Core System style bundle at some point in future, saying only that there is "currently no decision on this... There is a possibility that this may take place."

Maruyama revealed that there are 100 titles currently in development which will be released in the Japanese market on the Xbox 360, of which some 66 have already been announced, with 200 titles in total in development for the system around the world.

He also announced that around 27 games will be on display at the Xbox 360 stand at the Tokyo Games Show this weekend, with about ten of them expected to be playable. Among the games being showcased are Epic Games' Gears of War and Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Ninety-Nine Nights, both of which were demonstrated at the press conference in Shibuya.

A wide range of Japanese publishers is supporting the Xbox 360 with software at the show, including Konami, Namco, Capcom, Sega, Taito, Yuke's, Koei, Square Enix, Bandai, Genki, Hudson and From Software, with the latter expected to announce two more titles for the platform over the course of the weekend.