Most likely because this game was released as a launch title for the Xbox, it was released in an incomplete state in the North American market in November 2001. As such, the European and Japanese versions of the game, which released a few months later, feature a new opening cutscene as well as extra content and gameplay updates such as new costumes and attacks for certain characters. Between June and September 2002, the Official Xbox Magazine distributed a "Booster Disk" for Dead or Alive 3, which included the new opening cutscene and all of the extra costumes released in the European and Japanese versions of the game. It did not, however, contain the new attacks or gameplay balancing that the other versions brought. This update would later be released as unlockable sync-able content under the name "DOA3 Booster Disc" in Dead or Alive Ultimate upon unlocking every costume in the game.