While Microsoft gears up to launch its Xbox 360 games console in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore next week, gamers on the Chinese mainland are being left out in the cold.

The next generation 360, advertised as redefining interactive entertainment, boasts movie-quality, high-definition graphics and spine-tingling surround sound. It has been launched to much of the rest of the world. Most recently, the US$300 console was launched to South Korean gamers at the end of February. Now with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singaporean players getting their hands on the machines from March 16, fans on the mainland are wondering when they will get their turn.

"I really don't understand why Microsoft won't release the 360 here at the same time as in other Chinese speaking places," said one Shanghai gamer, surnamed Du.

Zhu Jun, a 25-year old civil servant, feels the company is neglecting the potential market. "Microsoft seem to be fairly ignorant of Chinese gamers. I don't think they've developed any games especially for China. They still need to translate existing games into Chinese. Also I think they're worried about piracy," he said.

Comments at the South Korean launch by Microsoft's Alan Bowman, general manager of entertainment and devices for Asia Pacific and Greater China, hinted the company was looking at putting the 360 onto the mainland market.

"We're working with the government pretty actively in trying to understand what we need to do. We're taking a very careful approach to China," he said.

"It's a very controlled environment it's not something you want to rush into."

Despite the lack of an official launch, 360s imported from Japan are widely available. At one shop in an electronics mall in Shanghai, an imported basic Japanese version of the machine was being sold for 3,000 yuan (US$380) with original games going for around 200 yuan (US$25).

As machines and Chinese language version games become available in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, it is likely the number of consoles finding their way into the mainland will skyrocket, whether there is an official launch or not.

Although the machine is available to those who can afford it, as with elsewhere in the world, some fans of video games are hedging their bets and want to wait until Sony's Playstation 3 (PS3) is launched sometime towards the end of the year before deciding which console to buy.

"Right now the 360 is too expensive and the games available are too limited. I'll wait till the PS3 comes out, then the price of the 360 will go down and I can see which is the better choice," said Du.

Sony is keeping tight-lipped about the possibility of the PS3 getting a launch on the Chinese mainland.

"There are various regulations which limit the game business there," a Sony spokeswoman told China Daily. "We hope these issues can be cleared up to enable the launch of the PS3 computer on the Chinese mainland as soon as possible."

(China Daily by Mark South, March 11, 2006)