Hiroki Watanabe already owns a Sony PlayStation2. But that didn't stop him from lining up for hours at a downtown store to get his hands on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video-game console. Following a countdown event in a downtown Tokyo video store attended by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, the 34,800 yen ($260) Xbox went on sale Friday in Japan — the home turf of video-game kings Sony Corp and Nintendo Co. Green ribbons streamed down, the crowd cheered for Gates and a Japanese rock star guest played a car-racing game with Gates. "The Xbox looks like fun," said Watanabe, a 28-year-old Internet company worker. "And this is a celebration."
|