Japan Will Have To Wait For Xbox

securitas contributed a link to this New York Times article which indicates a delay in the Japanese release of the Xbox. "MS insists it's going to meet its Nov. 8 North American release date. I'll believe it when I see it. Also, Namco has signed on to produce 4 games for Xbox including 2 exclusives." Ledge adds a link to this AP story carried by Fox News as well: upshot is that units won't go on sale in Japan till Feb. 22. (A chart comparing announced vs. actual dates for all the consoles would be interesting, since they all seem to be delayed.)

XBox is already too late

[sakusha]

It's already too late for the XBox. More delays in the Japan release will just mean fewer titles developed in Japan. The machine will flop in Japan, and if it flops in Japan, it will be a worldwide flop.

Now the REAL question is, since Bungie was bought out by M$, are they going to keep their promise and do a simultaneous Mac/PC/XBox release, or will M$ shaft everyone and force them to do an initial release on XBox only?

Re:I think that it is pretty clear to anyone

[flatrock]

That reminds me of something Bill Gates once said about Windows in it's infantcy. He was trying to get developers to write Windows applications, when everyone was still developing DOS applications. He had the vision of a highly integrated Windowed environment with applications that had a consistent user interface. He was far from the first to have this vision, but he felt that it had reached it's time. The x86 platform could finally supply the processing power, and the future was multithreaded/windowed environment. The problem was third party developersdidn't want to develop for it beacuse there was a much larger user base for DOS applications than Windows. So he forced his developers at Microsoft to develop Windows applications because MS developers didn't have a choice, they had to do what he wanted. The result was MS Office, which is undeniably MS's cash cow. That time Bill was right.

Now we have the XBox. Microsoft wants developers to develop for it, but they're not sure. There's a lot of PS2s out there, Gamecube is comming, and what does MS know about the console market? What does microsoft do? They buy some gaming companies to make sure there are some games for the XBox.
Bill has been wrong before, and MS has taken huge losses on projects in the pase (BOB comes to mind). But they're not afraid to try. And you never know, Bill might be right again.

Good news for Nintendo supportors

[waffle zero]

While the Gamecube was delayed in the US, allowing consumers to adopt the X-Box fist, the Gamecude will be able to establish a decently library if games after its meager offering in mid-September.

It looks like each will premere beifre the other in their home markets. This however will be better for Gamecube maker Nintendo and Gamecube console owners. Microsft could take a loss for several quarters until they have asserted some dominance because of thier desktop stranglehold, while Nintendo has all their efforts in the videogame market. (Although the Game Boy divion is a safety net, after dominating the handheld market for more than a decade.) As long as the Gamecube is a success in Japan, we will see most if not all games translated into English, unlike what we saw with the N64's relative failure (in hindsight).

Re:I think that it is pretty clear to anyone

[Anonymous Coward]

1) don't use the phrase "M$", it makes you look like a twat
2) Microsoft can't force people to buy Xboxes; however, they can make it as easy as falling off a log to develop games for the Xbox, and they have. In a year's time you'll see a huge proliferation of Xbox software, Nintendo will just be releasing their second game and there'll be a few okayish PSX titles. Which do you buy? This is why people buy Windows: the software you want runs on it. Expect the same for the Xbox.