Xbox 360 to hit Korea in February

Microsoft will launch its much-hyped Xbox 360 in Korea in February, the company said on Monday.

On Nov. 22, the company unveiled the next-generation video game console in North America at a splashy launch party in California's Mojave desert. On Friday, the console hit Europe, and the Japanese will have their first chance to get their hands on it on Saturday.

Other Asian countries will have to wait a little longer, however. Microsoft said the Korean market will first see the Xbox on Feb. 24, 2006, while game fans in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan will first get the console on March 2, 2006.

Microsoft launched the Xbox with 18 titles in North America, but said it will have only 15 available for the general Asian release. The titles include Activision's "Call of Duty 2," Electronic Arts' "NBA Live 2006" and "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" and several Asian titles.

In any case, Xbox fans who didn't get their console on launch day have been finding it hard to get one, even as Microsoft has said it is sending out new units as fast as possible. But it's likely that it will have been able to satisfy North American, European and Japanese demand for the machine by the time it is ready for the general Asian launch.