Xbox lands in India

Indians finally get to inflate their gaming pleasure with Microsoft launching its much-awaited gaming console, Xbox 360 in India. As expected the product would need some celebrity endorsement for it to become popular and Microsoft has chosen Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and the trendy Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh.

Mohit Anand, Microsoft Country Manager said that the product would be made available in the top seven cities of the country -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune across Microsoft's 1200 strong retail network.

"The gaming community in the Indian market is expected to grow rapidly in the coming few years. Xbox will definitely act as a catalyst to fuel this growth and expose Indian gamers to next generation gaming experiences," he said.

7-10 titles will be added every month to the Xbox, with 25 titles at launch. Till June, 2006 Microsoft already had some 5 million gaming fans as Xbox users and the company expects the number to rise to 10 million by the end of the year.

This gaming device offers a variety of future generation games but comes with a huge price tag. Indians will have to lighten their pockets by Rs 19,990-Rs 23,990 to own this system that promises great fun.

But will the Indian customer willingly spend that big an amount on a gaming device even if it does have some fantastic games and a wireless controller. So why is arch rival Sony of Playstation fame giving Microsoft a free run of the market? "I wonder if they've forgotten that this is all about games and fun," said Microsoft E&D, Vice President Peter Moore.

"I am privileged to be in India to launch this game in the market. I can’t ask for something better than this really," said Moore.