Microsoft On Japan Xbox Woes, Sega Non-Merger

Thanks to GamePro.com for their article discussing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's recent comments on the Xbox, as given to an investment-related business conference in Washington. In particular, Ballmer "..admitted that the Xbox is 'having trouble' in Japan but expressed confidence that the system's fortunes would turn around by the time its successor, the so-called Xbox 2, is launched in the year 2006." There was also an opportunity to ask about the often-rumored Microsoft buyout of Sega, and Ballmer was fairly confident that it remains a rumor: "'There are no plans for that,' the Kyodo news service quoted him as saying at the conference. 'I don't think that will happen.'"