2006 Xbox 360 launch in Australia and a few other nations
by Dan Choi 
{ Sep 15th 2005 at 2:45PM }
Someone asks, we deliver: The Xbox
360 will launch sometime during the 2006 calendar year for all the patient gamers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, and Colombia.
We presume that the announcement concerning Australia and New Zealand will include the rest of Oceania—that is, the
Pacific isles—but we'll let you know when we get the official official word from MS. People have heard enough
about North America, Europe, and Japan now, haven't they?
Here's to a truly worldwide launch, even if it does take a year or so to complete (which, in the grand scheme of
things, isn't all that bad… relatively speaking).
[Thanks go out to Sara, our kindly contact at Microsoft's PR firm for Xbox-related news, for providing us with this
announcement.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
metal_gear_jello @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
[Offtopic] What happened to the Solid Eye post you had before this?
Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Looks like it got moved to 3:00 PM ET. Sorry, it wasn't my post! =)
metal_gear_jello @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
OK... ;)
drsilverworm @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
didn't china get the ps2 like 4 years late?
Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Any word on South Africa? I used to live in Cape Town, South Africa now London, UK so I have a bit of an interest on the intended release schedules there for old time's sake.
Nintendo isn't overly marketed in South Africa beyond GameBoy and XBox hasn't made that big a mark there either. It's only really Sony so far that has spent the cash and made it readily available (even though the latest game costs the equivalent of £80!!)
e_lopez7 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Though here in Mexico we get almost all the videogames products a week later than the launch date for the US at the most, one day later the quickest, no matter wich the launch date is for Mexico. Coz there are a lot of stores across the country that get their products from the US. And there are many who have relatives in the US border that just send them the money and they get their products just about the next day. Imports are so common here that the import sales of new videogames products are way bigger than the national sales of the same products
Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Y'know, you're probably right, e_lopez7. I guess the import scene would be pretty big over there. (Hey, didn't they manufacture a sizable portion of the original Xboxes over there, too?)
But, Chris, I don't know if they'll have an answer for South Africa just yet. I'll ask anyway, though, and see what comes up.
kaius @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
thats sucks... when the original xbox launched we got it a day after.. (australia)
Geek @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Well I guess this just give me time to save more money for the HDTV to go with the Xbox 360. Besides as long as we get them in New Zealand by the time Halo 3 is out I'll be happy.
OTAM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
I can't stand looking at the picture.
Next gen...so close...already in the box...
Damn you all.
JamesP @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Holy crap. Who lives in these countries that has money to do this stuff. I thought Japan and The US (canada included, we all know why) were the only ones who got this stuff. Seems like a waste of time to me to release it anywhere else... Mabey Europe... mabye. But places like South Africa, who lives there? I can see the mexicans importing but beyond that not much, like austrailia or for crying out loud New freakin' Zealand. TAKE THAT FORIGNERS!
paralipsis @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Well, that about seals the deal for me. There was a few moments there where I thought I might buy an Xbox 360, but lo and behold, Microsoft's worldwide simulataneous release is only for the big money markets, and us little guys get left out.
To add insult to injury, I am still in Europe in time for the December 4 release, but unlike the PS2 and GC, the Xbox (original and 360) are not cross compatible between PAL regions. So I can walk past 360s in stores, but I cannot but one.
Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
JamesP: "Mabey Europe... mabye. But places like South Africa, who lives there?"
You're kidding right? Please tell me that was sarcasm and you're not one of those ignorant foreigners who think people in South Africa run around with pet lions and giraffes and that it's a country devoid of technology?
You see, people in South Africa like to experience other cultures, therefore you'll find a lot of South Africans spend a few years living in the rest of the world before returning to the wonderful quality of life that is to be found (pretty much the same thing with Ozzies, I would imagine). You should try experiencing the world before spouting such trite nonsense. Cape Town, sea, mountains, vineyards, city life...everything in one place.
Anyways, my pet hippo is asking for some attention and I need to go feed my family of elephants.
Wastl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
JamesP TAKE THAT FORIGNERS!
Who wants to live in a country where spelling classes are held at McDonalds!
Did you know there are actually countries OUTSIDE your home?
Looks like XBox 360 will loose a lot of business to PSP3 in these countries!
Ben @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Ah top stuff. Once again despite our currently top-tier economic growth and wonderful standards of living, we in New Zealand get relegated to second class gaming citizens.
Fuckers.
Joe @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
hey joystiq thanks for actually taking the initative to find out when other region releases is. still i am a little pissed of its in 2006!!
Tim @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
I think the main issue with this for us in Australia and New Zealand is our small populations. A release in the US exposes the xbox to a potential 350 million people in comparison to a mere 20 million here in Aus, so its not so crucial to get the consoles here early. Still aint fair though.
¤ PINION CORPORATION ¤ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
--{ OPEN LETTER TO MICROSOFT }--
Dear Microsoft,
[SARCASM] Thank you for including us in your XBOX 360 release schedule. As the impoverished nation we are, I was surprised to see our pathetic little country on your list of countries to release it in. As gaming has such a small penetration of the Australian population, I had expected you to ignore us completely, but to my astonishment, you have the intention of releasing your new console within only several months after the rest of the world. I, representing the 3rd world countries of Australia and New Zealand, would like to apologise for the shipping of the units way past the end of the earth to arrive on our shores. I regret that we are completely different to Europe and the UK, as we have a different video format and speak a completely different language to you. However, you have still shown your never-ending support for releasing the newest technologies into Australia, for example, your soon to be released operating system, Windows Vista (Strangely called "Windows 98" in Australia). I look forward to paying the excessive inflation on the new console when it is released here around this time next year, or later, depending on how many Chinese factories you can afford to close while still keeping your most important customers, the rest of the world, overstocked with the console. I hope our country can sustain your budget for the offset for reducing the price for the "Worldwide Release".
Yours Sincerely,
US-AUS FREE TRADE AGREEMENT,
COALITION OF THE WILLING SUPPORTER,
MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR KATRINA AID DONATER,
Australia.
P.S. Sorry about my illiteracy, being the 3rd world country we are, we don't have schools. [/SARCASM]
Rubik @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Awesome - months of waiting for PSP and now months of waiting for 360! I can't believe they have the nerve to try and punish people who import units (like LikSang PSP's, etc) into the areas they so poorly service after they give us these baloney wait times. They expect you just to sit here and twiddle your thumbs while the northern hemisphere gets the goods. Not happy...
Bryan Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
i live in south africa, it is so gay that microsoft dont even think of releasing their consoles here. All XBOX's here have been imported and you cannot buy their games in any normal shops. It totally sucks. James and Wastl, Mc'Donalds is not food for the record, when you start saying these things it shows how dumb you are. South Africa other than its few problems like monopilist companies is one of the best countries in the world. We have everything here, snow, the sun, the beaches, the wildlife, our only natural disasters are floods and droughts which are very rare. And also, I can promise you that the educated people in this country are way more inteligent than you or anyone you know will ever be. SO **** YOU PEOPLE WHO THINK WE ALL LIVE IN HUTS AND HAVE LIONS FOR PETS, WTF!?!?!
Anonymous @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
Bryan Ryan, Wastl was actually insulting JamesP for spelling foreigners wrong, not South Africans.
BTW, for those who want to know, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa for some information on South Africa. Also, 'Ozzies' is actually spelt 'Aussies'.
Bernie @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
I'm sick of people considering Australia some sort of gaming black hole. I'm not even in a capital city and I don't know anyone who doesn't have one console or another. This is just ridiculous. I keep waiting for microsoft to release some stupid Kangaroo pouch console holder inspired by their ignorance. Sony is just as bad. Why the hell cant we have a PAL version of suikoden 3 over here.
If sony says I have to wait 9+ months after the Japanese release of the PS3 then I'll be gladly throwing my money microsofts way cause I ain't waiting til 2007 or later to get my new hotness.
Adam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
I thought post 18 was so funny that i sent it to microsoft! Maybe they'll ignore us aussies all together!
Johan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
South Africa kicks ass. If you want to sum up a country like the USA, it's called The Jerry Springer Show. Need I say more. For crying out loud, some yanks think that South Africa is a PROVINCE of Africa. Surprised they know what a province is. DOM SOOS GROND
rudolph @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM
hey guys, there's a south african website selling psps and stuff and i talked to someone there, they will soon be selling the xbox360 and some games at very good prices. there site is www.portablepieces.co.za