Super Frustrating Japan-only hardware update

Regular readers will be aware that we like to keep you updated on all the wonderful stuff the games industry makes available to Japan, and only Japan. From Sega’s incredible Sonic Blue folding bike to the latest limited incarnation of the GameCube - if we have to endure the misery, so should you.

And this week is perhaps the best week for looking at stuff you can’t buy in a while, seeing the unveiling of two limited edition Xboxes and the already-reported Famicom SP getting a bumper crop of classic 8-Bit software.

The first Xbox we’ll look at (but never touch) is to commemorate the release of Dead or Alive Online and carries the auspicious name Xbox: Kasumi-Chan Blue, depicting everyone’s favourite top-heavy fighting lady Kasumi. The whole console is blue, with a blue Controller S also included. Only 5,000 units will be made.

Next up is the Xbox: Pure White Limited Edition, released to mark the second anniversary of the console in Japan, and sold only through Microsoft’s online store. A mere 1,000 consoles will be manufactured. Limited indeed.

And finally we bring you what is perhaps the most agonising of today’s batch, an update on the painfully nice Game Boy Advance SP Famicom Edition. A full range of software to compliment the machine has been announced:

Nintendo titles:

Super Mario Brothers
Donkey Kong
Ice Climbers
Excite Bike
Legend of Zelda

Third party titles:

Pac-man (Namco)
Xevious (Namco)
Mappy (Namco)
Bomberman (Hudson)
Star Soldier (Hudson)

Shame indeed.