Microsoft has announced details of which Xbox titles will be compatible with the Xbox 360 console when it launches in Europe and Japan. 212 games are on the list of compatible titles for North America, but still less than a quarter of the Xbox' portfolio of titles, and lacking a number of key games including the Splinter Cell series.

In Europe, players will get 156 titles from launch, according to the list published by Microsoft on the firm's UK Xbox website, although most of the key titles from the US list are retained.

In Japan, however, only 12 Xbox titles will work on the Xbox 360 at launch - namely Crimson Skies, Forza Motorsport, Grand Theft Auto Double Pack, Halo, Halo 2, Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black, Rainbow Six 3 and The Simpsons Hit and Run.

That list misses off several of the titles which have actually been successful for the Xbox in Japan, including Tecmo's Dead or Alive beat 'em ups and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball sports / dating title - neither of which will work on European or American Xbox 360s either.

However, Microsoft has already committed to updating the emulation software on the Xbox 360 on an ongoing basis over Xbox Live (and in fact, you'll need to connect to Xbox Live in order to emulate any of the games on the lists - with the exception of Halo and Halo 2), and hopes to finally emulate the entire back catalogue of Xbox software.