Announced at CES 2006 and first publicly shown at E3 2006, an external HD DVD drive was released in North America on November 7, 2006 (for US$199.99) and in Japan on November 17, 2006 (for ¥19,800). In the UK, France and Germany, the HD DVD drive was released for €199.99/£129.99. The HD DVD drive was bundled for a limited time with an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote, as well as an HD DVD copy of Peter Jackson's "King Kong". The drive plays HD DVD movies, although all Xbox 360 games will remain on the DVD format. Microsoft had no plans to include an internal HD DVD player in future Xbox 360 designs. The drive connects to the Xbox 360 via USB and contains two integrated USB ports on the rear. Games can not be played on the HD DVD drive. Microsoft has since discontinued the HD DVD add-on since the format was officially dropped by Toshiba.