Japanese date set for Dead or Alive Ultimate

TOKYO--Tecmo announced that it will release Dead or Alive Ultimate in Japan on October 7. The game will retail for 9,240 yen ($84), which is slightly above the average price of an Xbox game, which usually costs around 7,140 yen ($65). Preorders of Dead or Alive Ultimate will come with a poster and a toy figure of the game's main character, Kasumi, and a disc for the PC titled Digital Venus 2004, which will let players hear the voices and see the visuals of DOA's characters on their computers.

Neither Tecmo nor Microsoft has made any new announcements concerning the limited-edition Kasumi-chan Blue Xbox bundle. It is expected to hit retailers on the same day as the standard game, but its official Japanese Web site has not been updated and lists the package as a summer release. The Kasumi-chan Blue Xbox bundle will feature a semitransparent blue Xbox console and controller, the Dead or Alive Ultimate game, an Xbox Live starter kit with one free year of membership, a DVD player kit, and a previously announced (and somewhat frightening) life-size cushion emblazoned with an image of Kasumi. The bundle will be released as a limited run of 5,000 units and will retail for 22,800 yen ($207).