Microsoft reconsidering bikini-girl pillow giveaway

Microsoft Corp.'s Japan unit is reconsidering a plan to give away a long pillow printed with an almost-full size image of a popular game character, 17-year-old Kasumi from the Dead or Alive series, wearing a pink bikini.

The pillow was part of a promotion announced in mid-January designed to boost sales of Microsoft's Xbox console, which has sold poorly in Japan.

At the time, Microsoft said it will sell from March 25 a limited edition of 5,000 Xbox consoles with a "Kasumi-chan blue" colored case and controller, a copy of the Dead or Alive Online software and a 12-month subscription to the Xbox Live online gaming service. The online version of Dead or Alive is due to launch the same day.

"Our purpose of including the item is simply that those type of cushion has great appeal to fans of the title. It's a pure promotion. I am aware that there are some stories written by overseas press with misconceptions," said a Microsoft spokeswoman who would not provide her name.

However, on Monday the company said the precise design of the pillow was being reconsidered and refused to supply images of the pillow sent to games media at the time of the original announcement.

"We are still in discussions as to the final specifications and elements of the gift," the spokeswoman said. "The photos distributed by Microsoft were not final and so we decided to stop issuing them," she said.

Similar cushions, without such designs, are sold by numerous retailers as sleep-aids. Major retailer Eddie Bauer Inc. lists one on its Web site as a "body pillow" and says it is a "huggable pillow that conforms to your body's shape and gently provides extra support."

Asked if the reason for the reconsideration was that an image of a 17-year old girl in a bikini might be inappropriate for the company's customers to be sleeping with, the spokeswoman said, "That's why we are still deciding what will be the best option for us."

The company is in close communication with its parent in Redmond, Washington, and game maker Tecmo Ltd. over what changes might be made, she said.

Dead or Alive is one of the most popular fighting titles for the Xbox and is available in two versions: Dead or Alive 3 and, the latest title, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball. The latter title features some of the same characters from the game although they have exchanged their conventional costumes for bikinis and a game of beach volleyball. It is from this title that the image of Kasumi that was to have been used on the Microsoft pillow was taken.

For the first week of February a total of 831 Xbox consoles were sold in Japan compared with 41,735 PlayStation 2 and 10,125 GameCube consoles, according to estimates from gaming magazine Famitsu.

IDG News Service

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