Japanese Xbox Plans

The company announced that it is forming an Xbox Japan division to focus on managing third-party relationships with Japanese games companies as well as managing Xbox sales and support in Japan. The new division will also contain an Xbox Games Produciton Group with the goal of developing and publishing game under the Microsoft label. Toshiyuki Miyata, formerly with the Development Department at Sony Computer Entertainment, will serve as senior manager of the group. Gates also unveiled a unique version of the Xbox controller for Japan. The alternative controller, which will ship with every Xbox in Japan, is slightly smaller than its North American and European counterparts and features a repositioned buttons to accomodate Japanese gameplay styles.