Microsoft has decided to honour the Japanese market with the first announcement of a launch date and price for its highly-anticipated HD-DVD player for the Xbox360.

The HD-DVD drive will launch on 17 November priced at ¥19,800 (£89), and will come with a Universal Media Remote.

The price will make it by far the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market, but it can only be used in conjunction with the Xbox360, which retails for around £280 in the UK. When the player is released in the UK, it will undoubtedly cost more than it does in Japan, but it will still be less than Toshiba’s standalone HD-DVD player, which is slated to cost €599 (around £400).

Microsoft also let it drop that its autumn software update for the console will upgrade it so that it can output game and movie content in 1080p; however, the company hasn’t announced any new games that are able to natively output 1080p.

The Japanese market will have 110 games by the end of the year for the Xbox360.

>> Microsoft - Official website of Microsoft