Xbox 360 Elite to hit Japan in October

Microsoft has announced plans to launch Xbox 360 Elite in Japan later this year - despite the fact that sales of the original model are lagging behind in the region.

Elite was first unveiled back in March and went on sale in the US on April 29, priced at USD 479. It has a black finish and comes with a 120GB hard drive, HDMI port and HDMI cable.

According to Reuters, Elite will launch in Japan on October 11. It will sell for YEN 47,800 (USD 390).

So far Xbox 360 has trailed behind rival consoles in the region when it comes to sales. The most recent figures from Media Create showed that in the week ending June 24, just 3400 units were sold - compared to 65,500 Wii and 9500 PS3 consoles.

Microsoft has yet to announce plans for bringing Elite to Europe.

For more about Xbox 360 Elite, read the results of our hardware test on Eurogamer.net.