Xbox Price Drops For Australia And Europe 565
wallitron writes: "Due to slow sales in Australia, Microsoft is looking to drop the price of it's XBox to $399 (around $200US). With a fast CPU, wizzy graphics card, ethernet, DVD and TV out, it would be a handy thing in the living room if it ran a real OS. At that price it seems good value. Check out the article on the price drop." There are price drops in Europe, too.
From their adverts (Score:3, Funny)
I think their adverts are not that subtle either: one of them runs along the "nice way to die" line. Maybe a 240 volts escaping through a programming hole?
Re:Grammatical correctness (Score:2)
I am not an English Major. I did poorly in it at school. Still, I have made a concious effort to improve my English since leaving school.
English majors, as a class, are not writers. Just as in programming, "writing good language", and "writing things that people will get excited about" are quite different properties.
Poor journalism is more to do with corporate image. The ABC and the BBC put a lot of effort into grooming their on-line people.
I have 50 karma as well. But then, I care about this.
Cheap Hardware (Score:4, Funny)
Arathres
Re:Cheap Hardware (Score:3, Interesting)
The harddrive and DVD drive are more or less standard components with slightly altered firmware.
Re:Cheap Hardware (Score:2, Funny)
Apprently, they already sell vacuums [msvacuum.com]
The disc doesn't spin backward (Score:3, Informative)
The DVD is probably all proprietary stuff - since it supposedly can spin both ways.
This urban legend has been applied to several video game systems. It's probably not true. It originated from the fact that some of the systems start from the outside of the disc and go in, as opposed to regular CDs and DVDs that start from the inside and go out. The PS2 and Xbox both have their boot sectors on the second layer of the DVD, which is typically written starting at the outside.
EU regs? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:EU regs? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:EU regs? (Score:2)
straight out of the box.
Re:EU regs? (Score:2)
Re:EU regs? (Score:2)
Re:EU regs? (Score:2)
To clarify:
1) You get a composite cable with the PS2.
2) The composite is rubbish.
3) You can play games with RGB.
4) You cannot watch DVDs on a vanilla PS2 in RGB - the screen would be greened. This is "to prevent piracy" and is, IMO, a stupid decision.
5) There are 3rd party ways around this OR
7) Just use the almost-as-good SVHS cable instead.
I've SVHS into a 36" TV, looks lovely and sounds good. Only one DVD/Audio-phile friend notices the
difference.
Re:EU regs? (Score:4, Informative)
Hopefully they get sued, and are forced to sell at cost >:).
BlackGriffen
Re:EU regs? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:True (Score:4, Interesting)
A few weeks ago, I read an article about MS wanting to cut the prices on xbox, but that EU threatened to take them to court if they did. Now, just a few weeks later, they do it anyway and not a single word about that law is heard. I smell some heavy lobbying.
Re:True (Score:2)
Re:EU regs? (Score:3, Interesting)
What, you mean like mobile telephones?
Re:EU regs? (Score:4, Insightful)
What, you mean like mobile telephones?
In a number of EU countries (like Finland, home of Nokia [nokia.com]), it is illegal to subsidize phones with forced long-term subscriptions. This is not quite the same thing, but the net effect is the same: phones are sold at full price. Oddly enough, this actually increases competition, as hopping between operators is much easier.
Cheers,
-j.
Re:EU regs? (Score:2, Interesting)
jh
Re:EU regs? (Score:2)
Wrong, there is nothing wrong mith low prices (even if below manufacturing costs. There is sometihng wrond and illegal with the technique called dumping. That is sell at very low prices to drive the competion out, and then to raise prices. The raising of prices is illegal and dumping then thus illegal but just low prices is okay, as long as you keep them.
Re:EU regs? (Score:2, Informative)
And injury is defined as meaning "material injury to the Community industry, threat of material injury to the Community industry or material retardation of the establishment of such an industry." (article 3(1))
And dumping is "A product is to be considered as being dumped if its export price to the Community is less than a comparable price for the like product, in the ordinary course of trade, as established for the exporting country." (article 1(2))
So, one way or another, the price drop is probably OK. Now, 299 is not much below the US price of $299 (according to this [yahoo.com] it's $266.17 as I write this) so whether dumping is happening is questionable. And also, given that selling below cost price is standard practice in the console industry, I would be doubtful as to whether the price drop causes injury, as defined above. And of course, there would need to be some EU console manufacturers (or at least, a fledgling industry) to hurt before anything could be done.
Previously stated strategy. (Score:4, Informative)
This may be a little faster than they had hoped to lower the price, but MS knows it's gonna take heavy losses to get the market penetration required to start making serious money on the software.
At least.. (Score:3, Informative)
"Those who have already bought the console at the higher price will, luckily, be compensated. Anyone who already has an Xbox, or buys one before April 25th, will receive two free games and a free controller"
Re:At least.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:At least.. (Score:2)
How to kill Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
Step 1) Earn $400 billion
Step 2) Buy 1 billion X-boxes and use them as computers, without buying any games
Step 3) Watch as Microsoft begins to collapse upon itself since it loses money on each unit!
Step 4) Tell all your buddies that Microsoft is dying and that they should switch to the superior Linux OS
Step 5) Play Tux Racer
Step 6) Repeat step 5
You have completed the six step program. Microsoft is now dead! Have a nice day!
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
it was noble tho...
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2, Insightful)
I attempted to play Tux Racer and I got bored pretty quickly. I got through maybe one full hour of gameplay and didn't even make the cut to get an icon in my gnome panel.
Now, I have SSX Tricky for PS2 and thought it would in no way inspire me but I became addicted because of the great soundtrack, the hidden courses, the various players with different physics depending on board, etc... If Linux advocates *insist* on claiming that Tux Racer is on par with games that could be obtained via the consoles then they're smoking some of that Hawaiian shit that my friends have all supposedly sampled with their girlfriends in Canada.
The best way to advocate Linux is to say, "This is what it's capable of..." but if you put Tux Racer into the hands of a 19 year old telling them, "don't look at the EVIL Microsoft Borg-ware, look at this great game!" then you, my friend, are soon to be extint.
~~~~~~~
- Michael SimsRe:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
1) Give software away for free
2) ????
3) Profit!!!
Are you suggesting... (Score:2)
Hm, Gnomes...perhaps it's time for an underwear theme for Gnome...
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2, Funny)
Step 6) Repeat step 5
You have completed the six step program. Microsoft is now dead! Have a nice day!
Since we have '6 GOTO 5' how can we complete this six step program?
Oh, wait I forgot, Linux is so fast it can complete an infinite loop in 5 seconds
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah I know this is a geek-oriented site but - for the love of Jehovah or whoever - quit bitching about MS. They came up with a great product at a cheap price that is now even cheaper.
If any multi-millionaire was as grim as you are and actually bought all these X-Boxen they'd be idiots. I'd rather they gave the money to charity rather than spend it on a beef with BillG.
And who mentioned Tux-Racer? Listen, I love the idea of Linux as much as the next geek but how *average* is that game? And thats the best they can come up with?
Grow up guys!(you are all guys, aren't you??)
- seany.
Re:How to kill Microsoft (Score:2)
1) First, become a millionaire
2)
US: why not buy AUS X-boxen? (Score:2)
Re:US: why not buy AUS X-boxen? (Score:2)
Re:US: why not buy AUS X-boxen? (Score:3, Insightful)
As if the OS matters... (Score:4, Insightful)
Why would it matter what OS it runs? If it used Linux instead, it wouldn't suddenly have more functionality. It wouldn't suddenly have the ability to open your curtains or turn on your coffee machine. It already does what it's supposed to do: play games.
No console game player should ever care what OS their game system uses.
(I wonder if the Indrema never came to light because they expected gamers to manually mount the DVD drive before playing each game.)
it does (Score:2)
Beating a dead horse? (Score:2)
microsoft is beating a dead horse with this one; nobody's really buying them, and their's shit all for games
compared to the competition, even fewer worth paying for. I for one am glad to see them failing, the more
markets left open to fair competition the better. But, like most other markets microsoft treads on,
they'll probably keep trying til they get it right, and if history has taught me anything.. they will,
eventually; IE was a piece of crap until version 3, windows 95 was terrible, etc. Afterall,
they have billions and billions of dollars to throw at the problem.
I really hope the justice department can get their shit together and do something soon.
I wonder how this will go down for Nintendo... (Score:4, Interesting)
As far as I recall, the launch price for the GameCube in Australia is going to be $399. Whenever I've told people that price, then compared to the $799 Xbox, people would be shocked. Then they'd realise they could get a GameCube and a couple of games for the same price as a gameless Xbox. I know first-hand of a couple of people that have held back and waited for a GameCube because of this.
All well, there'll be two interesting things to observe from this: Nintendo's reaction, and early Xbox adopters' reactions.
I wonder if Nintendo will drop their GCN launch price now? To be honest, I don't think they have much of a choice if they want to remain competitive. As for the Xbox owners: They get what they deserve! Err, seriously though, I bought a Nintendo 64 on March 7th 1997 (a week after the launch in Australia) for $399. 3 months later, the price dropped to $299. Nintendo had a very quiet promotion of "free game for early adopters". It's where my copy of Mario Kart 64 is from.
I wonder if Microsoft will do the same now?
Re:I wonder how this will go down for Nintendo... (Score:2)
Excuse my error.
And in continuing replying to myself... (Score:2)
I wonder if "products" are going to be full games/controls/accessories...
One more self-responce... (Score:3, Informative)
Hurrah, etc.
Alarm bells going off at Dell and Gateway (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft are positioning themselves to be a hardware company, muscling Dell and Gateway out the PC business. The next M$ monopoly will be on PC hardware. A one stop solution, so to speak - Microsoft will supply the OS, hardware and software.
Re:Alarm bells going off at Dell and Gateway (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Alarm bells going off at Dell and Gateway (Score:3, Insightful)
These products serve vastly different markets. Putting a keyboard and mouse on an XBox does NOT make it nearly as versatile as a PC. Set top boxes have tried that several times and failed. Why?
Where's my XBox? In the living room.
Where's my PC? In my office.
When I'm surfing the web or writing an email on my XBox, nobody else can watch TV.
I also don't have as much privacy, and I don't have anywhere convenient to put the mouse or keyboard.
Get it?
Re:Alarm bells going off at Dell and Gateway (Score:2)
I bet these distinctions don't matter quite as much to the masses that use their PC as an overpowered AOL terminal. Microsoft is in an *excellent* position to, er, position, XBox as the central household "computer appliance" (and they've even hinted as much).
XBox IS nearly as versatile as a PC because it is made out of commodity PC parts! Games are just bait to get it in the living room. Then they integrate internet connectivity, and TiVO capabilities, and BLAM, one-stop computer appliance monopoly. It also is a great way to wedge in their new "software-as-service" concept. Once you have your XUniversalBox, whaddya gonna do if you need upgraded software? You think every schmoe out there is gonna crack open their XBox just to upgrade software ("wait, we can't do this, it's an 'appliance', it'll void our warranty")? No, they are going to shell out a fee, and download the newer software from MS.
Of course, get enough of these in the hands of geeks and this could backfire horribly for MS 8)
Re:Alarm bells going off at Dell and Gateway (Score:2)
The relative cost of gaming.. (Score:2, Informative)
The problem for the average aussie gamer, is that titles/consoles that are sold here are basically sold in USD prices, converted to local currency.. i.e. That $40US game will be released here at ~$80AUD. However, the average aussie wage is the same (or less) in AUD than an equivalent job in USD..
So the aussie gamer is effectively paying "twice" as much for games with his hard earnt cash..
i.e. Two kids working at mcdonalds say, are bringing home their $8/hr local currency for 20 hour week.
The US kid, $160 USD buys them 4 games. The Aussie kid, $160 AUD buys them 2 games.
Of course the best solution for the aussie gamer would be if they sold the title for an equivalent local amount.. But if that was the case, then wouldnt everyone overseas just turn around and import/mail order stuff from these countries where the local dollar was weak. You'll already see people pondering about doing this exact thing in the comments.
Will this establish a driver for more "affordable" gaming prices in Australia, or will it just provoke a massive mail order business by US folks looking to score their gaming at cheap rates..
I'll be looking on with interest
New M$ strategy (Score:2, Funny)
Also, M$ will announce that the next version of xbox will use their new operating system called Unix# (that's Unix Sharp, not Unix Pound, or Unix Waffle, or Unix Tic-Tac-Toe, or Unix Number). Unix# will be just like Unix, but much better for end users and developers as it will make their lives much easier. Differences include forcing all shared libraries to have the
In the meantime, Bill Gates, who is personally funding xbox from his personal "play" account, is forced, due to weak sales, to postpone the purchase of the country of Belize until the next fiscal quarter.
Europes the news... This headline's backwards. (Score:2, Interesting)
The price drops in the UK and Europe are the most important... there's like 300 million people here and like what, 5 in Australia?
This announcement comes only a few days after news reports came out saying it was obvious that Microsoft wasn't going to make their sales targets. I don't know WHAT the hell they were thinking at first putting the price up so high in Europe, the economies here are much, much weaker than in the U.S. Almost no one can afford 450 for freakin' game machine.
There was no real reason for the prices to be that high, especially since they're making the XBox's in Hungary, not a place known for its high labor costs, hey?
I read that Microsoft wasn't probably going to lower prices in the U.S. until Sony does, but it seems that Microsoft is looking at the numbers and not the competition (at least in the rest of the world) so maybe they'll get a clue.
Has anyone hacked this bad boy with Linux yet? Then to me it would be worth the price of letting a Microsoft product into my home.
-Russ
Re:Europes the news... This headline's backwards. (Score:4, Informative)
Danny.
Re:Europes the news... This headline's backwards. (Score:2)
"5" is a little bit off the mark, you know.
As an Australian I'll reciprocate - let me have a guess for the UK population
And as for X-Boxes? They were retailing for $629 in local outlets in
To turn that into another universal indicator, $629 will buy you 600 cans of beer in Australia. Most Australians are just not that keen on yet another game console. I think they'll have trouble at half the price - and with games being $80 - $100 a pop (er, 76 - 98 cans of beer) they'd have better luck getting blood out of a stone.
(And , beer jokes aside, is it really worth it? Graphics are nice , but the gameplay? I dunno.)
Re:Europes the news... This headline's backwards. (Score:2)
We don't cheat in hockey. We simply invent the rules =)
What next, 5,000 yen? (Score:5, Informative)
Week 4/8-4/14, Japan Hardware Sales
* PS2: 55,000 units (total this year: 1,323,000)
* GBA: 31,000 units (total this year: 969,000)
* GameCube: 10,000 units (total this year: 510,000)
* PS1: 3,000 units (total this year: 74,000)
* WonderSwan: 2,000 units (total this year: 11,330)
* Xbox: 1,800 units (total this year: 169,000)
* Dreamcast: 1,500 units (total this year: 12,000)
(from IGN [ign.com])
Re:What next, 5,000 yen? (Score:2, Informative)
The wonderswan is a rather lovely little handheld device - similar in size to a GBA. I've got two of them...
In hardware terms it supports one or two rather unique features. The display is full colour and comes with a brightness control which helps in extreme lighting conditions - still no backlight though. It's also got any number of rather unique peripherals (most of which are only usable in Japan) such as the Wondergate for multiplayer gaming via a mobile phone and a link up cable for the PS/2. Cream of the crop though is the mighty wonderborg" [channel.or.jp] which *everyone* should play with!
There are some good games available, although for the western gamer it's a slightly mixed bag - like many JPN only consoles it's heavily dominated by Japanese language RPG's (including rocking versions of Final Fantasy I & II) and a few survival horror things. Namco have got a few of their arcade conversions available as well (Mr. Driller, Final Lap) as do Sammy (Guilty Gear) and capcom (Makimaura - Ghosts and Goblins to you and me).
Ebay is always a good place to buy, several hong kong based distributors sell consoles and games. You can also buy at Lik Sang [lik-sang.com]
Anyway, probably more information than you really wanted... And yes, it is a much more exciting machine than the bloody xbox.
Cheers
Chris
M.A.M.E. port (Score:2, Interesting)
No big deal. (Score:2)
All it's gonna take is a couple really GOOD games, not Halo-good, but 'Legend Of Zelda' good. If they can hit that sweet spot, things will change.
The hardware is certainly there, as if the software/OS. What I think is holding them back is that developing for a PC takes a slightly different mindset. I doubt some companies already heavily invested in Playstation gaming want to move over to XBox. Given the length of release cycles in PC games, I doubt the big PC game makers (Blizzard, etc) can even reasonably expect to get the game out. Besides, most PC companies don't have the mindset, either; they seem to sell lately on the idea of multiplayer, and expansions. The console market seems small, I would suspect.
Dunno. What's it take to develop on the XBox? Can I just pick up a copy of Visual Studio
Spam faxes (Score:5, Interesting)
The gist of them is that if I sign up for an MSCE course I'll get a free X-Box
It shows every sign of a truly desperate company trying to shift stock, and certainly makes it look like the X-Box is a tacky trinket.
It figures (Score:2)
Microsoft can only aim for those who do not own a console allready or those who want a new console and their is no "upgrade" for their current cosole and it's games.. and those are few. The people who did not buy a gaming console in the past are most likely not going to buy one now just because Microsoft is the manufacturer. Those who do will most likely ask around their friends to see what they use so they can swap games etc..
Microsofts best bet is "giving away" the console at very low prices hoping that people with less money to spend will choose their Xbox. Not because of the games, not because of the Microsoft tag and certainly not because of the fact that it is "superior" to other consoles..
Innovation (Score:5, Funny)
A game console with tv out? Amazing, it's bound to sell like hotcakes with innovation like this.
If the XBox fails, it fails - its not a PC or TiVo (Score:5, Interesting)
2.) XBox as a DVR (or TiVo type device). Well, considering there currently isn't a TV input for the XBox I dont think this will happen. I suppose they could feed video via ethernet over broadband but this would be insane. Again, the changes of MS doing something like this is next to nothing.
3.) Chances are if the XBox does fail - its dead. Yes Microsoft has put tons of money behind the Xbox but that doesn't mean they have to keep supporting it if its a loser. Look at UltimateTV - Microsoft put a lot behind that and while they are still providing support for their existing customer base they certainly aren't pushing the product anymore.
I own an XBox, a PS2 and a Dreamcast. In every market some products win, some fail - not everyone can win. The Xbox hasn't even been out a year yet and everyone is expecting its demise - I would have to give the product at least a year from now to more properly speculate what its life will be like. Only time will tell. The best we can hope for if the Xbox fails is that by some grace of god M$ gives regular users what they need to 'hack' the box. Fat chance.
As for the MS Hate talk:
While Slashdot is website built for a community -the boring, redundant "M$ Sucks, M$ is Evil" rhetoric gets really boring, redundant and repetitive. Yes everyone has an opinon but the "Me too!" posts suck - Everyone knows you hate them so shut up already.
Re:If the XBox fails, it fails - its not a PC or T (Score:2)
Of course they don't want it percieved that way, there OS distributers(getawat, Dell, etc...) would drop a brick. No tts a game console. that will, coincedently, be turned into a computer, once it is in a few million homes. MS will be like "Hey we sold a game console, now are customers want a more robust operating system, we're just meet customer demand..."
Even if this wasn't there original plan, In a desperate move for somebody to save their ass, I can see it going that way.
"2.) XBox as a DVR (or TiVo type device). Well, considering there currently isn't a TV input for the XBox I dont think this will happen. I suppose they could feed video via ethernet over broadband but this would be insane. Again, the changes of MS doing something like this is next to nothing."
I wonder if they could use the USB 2.0 port to do that(with adapter, of course)? I tend to agree with you, but if your a company, and your contracted to produce a million units, and your not successful you:
a)go out of business. Not going to happen with MS
b)Buy out the contract
c)Find another use for those products sitting in warehouses costing you money.
If then X-Box failes, which it is, I would think thet'll go for C.
As for the MS hate talk, hate talk, if you don't ignore it, it will just ruin your day. Beside someone has to tell the newbies that MS sucks.
What about the games (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, what fun is it, if I have to think about my budget for the whole month when buying a game? I don't want my game buying decision to be a well-thought, rational financial decision, but instead I just want to think whether this game will be entertaining me enough in order to justify the amount of money I'm giving away for it.
The high price of the games takes that fun away, and atleast for me, the Xbox remains on the shelf at the local store, waiting for those game prices to come down.
And really, don't start with that piracy thing and how it really justifies the high price. It doesn't.
Re:What about the games (Score:2)
Absoblimminlutely!
I've bypassed the last couple of generations of consoles because I seriously grudge paying £70 for a game. Even £40 or 50 is too high. My Gameboy (original, big grey brick style) has a stack of about 40 games built up mainly over a couple of years when it was new. Thats about £1000 worth of games for a bloody handheld. Why did I spend that - because if I fancied a game I'd spend 25 quid on it and if I got a couple of weeks of fun out of it I was happy.
But popping into the games shop you don't just splash £70 on a SINGLE game. I can score a decent amount of charlie for that!
make games £20 again and I'm right back in the market!
MS to cut back sales of Xbox (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft said on Thursday it expected to ship a total of 3.5 million to 4 million Xbox video consoles by the end of June, a drastic scaling back of previous expectations of 4.5 million to 6 million units, due to weak sales in Japan and Europe.
Yeah, but the games are the real cost. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Yeah, but the games are the real cost. (Score:2)
Buy 1 or 2 games that you can play for months (like Super Smash Brothers) and the price isn't bad at all.
On the other hand, new consoles are relatively expensive compared to the $100 Nintendos of the 80's but the prices come down eventually.
Sony's Response (Score:5, Insightful)
Why the double standards? (Score:2, Insightful)
Little known fact. (Score:4, Funny)
Now you get their systems too. 3 systems for 200 dollars... Score!
Existing Owners Get Two ExtraGames - Whoopee (not) (Score:2, Informative)
Trouble is, of the games on offer, you're certain to already have at least one and the others might not really appeal (speaking as someone who took Amped back to the shop and got his money back).
The games are:
Halo
Rallisport Challenge
Project Gotham Racing
Amped
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Dead or Alive 3
Bloodwake
Fuzion Frenzy
Still, it's probably worth getting them just to use as coffee mats - it costs M$oft money and that can only be a good thing...
What ever happened to getting... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm not super programmer, but I'd be quite happy if some kid (or adult) somewhere figured out how to make one of these a nice little computer system.
After all, a $200 computer for the parents and a happy smile (for taking the cost out of Gate's pocket) would make a happy, happy man. (Is there something wrong when you feel joy at another man's loss?)
Buy a Dreamcast (Score:2, Interesting)
No Brainer... (Score:5, Informative)
They are shit-scared of the Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo has been running a HUGE marketing campaign here in OZ. There about about 4 or 5 commercials for the GameCube every night on all three major TV stations. Not to mention Print and Radio. I have seen a total of ONE TV commercial for the XBox. The GC isn't even due til May 17th!.
Guess how much the GC is going to be when it is released. Yep... AUS$399. Funny that.
(This is also completely ignoring the fact that the XBox is so damn big, and the controller is just wrong.)
To be perfectly honest, I would love to see Sony and Nintendo drop their prices to AUS$199. This would basically wipe the XBox off the face of the planet.
xbox failure = microsoft gaming dead (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't buy it.
The XBox looks likely to fail. It's getting its ass whipped everywhere but America, and even here the GameCube has started to outsell it despite no strong releases on the GameCube side. When Resident Evil, Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Eternal Darkness, and Star Fox Adventures hit the GameCube (supposedly all this year), Microsoft will need to have some damned strong support on their side to survive just in North America. And, barring some big surprises being revealed at E3, it doesn't look like they have too many great games coming, at least not that will stand up to Zelda and Mario. In any case, no matter how they do here, I think it's very likely that Japan, Europe, and Australia are lost causes.
Suppose they do fail utterly -- they have to discontinue the XBox because people aren't buying it. Now, this is Microsoft, so of course they go back to the drawing board and release the even-more-powerful XBox 2. Twice as powerful as the Playstation 3, say, and a bit cheaper. Sounds great, right? Microsoft can just keep shoveling these things into the market until one of them sticks, the same way they've done with everything else.
Well, no. Firstly, Microsoft's first-party games won't support the XBox 2 by itself. Nintendo is the only game company in the world that can pull that trick off. So the XBox 2 will need third-party support in order to have any games at all, and without games nobody will buy the system, no matter how powerful it is.
Even after the XBox failure, many PC game companies might be willing to port their stuff to the XBox 2 for a quick buck. But can you imagine *anybody* developing exclusive software for the XBox 2, after the complete and utter failure of the XBox? Well, it's not impossible, but the XBox 2 would have to have a lot going for it in order to attract any third-party game companies. The Japanese third-parties, in particular, would be unlikely to touch the thing after the obvious failure of the first. They're leery enough dealing with the first one, and only tremendous work on Microsoft's part got any Japanese support at all.
I'm well aware that Microsoft has deep pockets and can afford to buy game companies outright in order to force them to develop for the XBox 2 -- but that's not the point. They've already bought Bungie, and shovelled money at others, and it doesn't seem to be making a hell of a lot of difference. They need to fix the problem *now*, or it will be far, far more expensive to try to salvage the XBox 2. Microsoft isn't stupid -- they are perfectly well aware that unless they succeed now, it will be *really* expensive to try to make a comeback.
In my view, if the XBox fails, it's all over for Microsoft's game console business. It will be really tough to buy back consumer and third-party confidence after the fiasco that looks to be shaping up.
Re:xbox failure = microsoft gaming dead (Score:3, Informative)
The XBox is getting its ass kicked in worldwide sales. Even in North America it is being outsold by the GameCube (although the GC is still behind in terms of total NA sales).
If you like playing little kiddie games thats great. I'll stick with my Halo, Wreckless, Max payne for now. Also sorry to burst your bubble.
Well, I'm glad you enjoy those games. Good for you. I happen to enjoy Mario and Zelda, and I'm a married adult -- I don't think that makes me "kiddie". For the record, I'm also getting Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness, both of which are very bloody and horrific.
Xbox E3 lineup will be awesome.
Glad you think so -- you've made quite an investment in the XBox, and I hope you get games you enjoy for it.
However, names like "Mario", "Zelda" and "Metroid" are important to a lot of people. Nintendo is showing all of their best franchises at E3 this year, and I very much doubt that any journalists will see Microsoft or Sony as having a better showing this year. We'll see in a little over a month, though -- feel free to scream "I TOLD YOU SO!" if a significant number of journalists (as supposedly objective parties) think MS trounced the competition at E3. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.
However I dont think you understand that XBOX does have very good 3rd party support.
And I don't think you were listening to me. I didn't say the XBox has lousy third-party support now -- I was referring to a hypothetical situation in which the XBox has failed. Obviously, at that point, all third parties are out the window, and the XBox 2 would have to start rebuilding support.
Picture, if you will, how Sega would have fared had they tried to introduce the Dreamcast 2. The situation facing the XBox 2 will be the same, if the XBox flops.
The xbox price cut is a good thing.
I don't recall saying otherwise.
Before you make you doom and gloom predictions and start talking about xbox 2 please do a little
research. Just pulling out of your ass all these prediction about the xbox 2 is pretty weak
I was speaking hypothetically. IF the XBox fails, there will be no XBox 2 -- at least not a successful one. Yes, I also predicted that this situation is likely, but the main point of my post was the logical conclusion that an XBox failure all but forces an XBox 2 failure.
Go back to your GC fanboy message boards. I think thats where you belong.
Ooookay. I think we have an insecure college kid on our hands, folks.
Re:Amazing (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Amazing (Score:2)
a Gamecube on steroids with something like BeOS on it for around $450 would be vaguely doable, and there's a killing to be made IMO
Re:Amazing (Score:3, Insightful)
"Killer app" means "killer application," which in turn implies some use of a technology that is desired by a lot of people, and not easily satisfiable otherwise. Even if you did install a general-purpose OS on your video game console and hooked it up to a TV, what do you have? Pretty much just a PC hooked up to a TV, which in itself is not all that exciting; it certainly doesn't demonstrate a "killer app." TiVo has a killer app, IMO, but the important part there is the monthly directory service and the software interface.
Re:Amazing (Score:2)
Other posts have pointed out the fact that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. At ~$200 it is quite the temptation to redirect the ends of the original means.
Re:Amazing (Score:3, Funny)
Re:IE vs Konqueror (Score:2)
Microsoft signed an agreement not to bundle IE with Win9x. That's why bundling it with Win9x is illegal, while bundling a webbrowser with WinNT, KDE, MacOS etc. is not.
The complete and utter lack of any sense of justice is astonishing in the pro-MS department.
They really think that MS doesn't have to fullfill their agreements, they think that laws apply to everybody except MS and they also think that when MS just breaks the agreement with a vengeance (like bundling it in a way that it's hard to unbundle it again), the agreement ceases to exist.
If I manipulate my Ferrari to not go slower than 200, I also can't say later in court that they have to allow me to go faster than 200.
Re:Impressive (Score:2, Insightful)
2 sacks of pocket change should cover it.
Re:Incentives (Score:2)
Scott McNealy has offered to do some time in the dunking booth, though. In drag, even!
Re:Incentives (Score:2, Interesting)
Making it run linux would be a nice littel project and quite a funny thing to do to MS
Re:I wonder if Australia XBox is compatible with U (Score:2, Insightful)
To save your $100 youd have to get around region coded games, incompatable tv color standards, different voltage, lack of locally redemable warranty and the cost of international shipping.
Actually why don't you go ahead and do that. It sounds like the smartest thing you'll ever do in your life, you damn karma whore.
Re:I wonder if Australia XBox is compatible with U (Score:2, Informative)
This guy should know that if he has his receipt Microsoft will give him 2 XBox games and an extra controller for free. They're doing this for all early adopters who bought an XBox beore the price break in Austrailia and Europe.
A big Thank You to all Xbox gamers! [xbox.com]
As a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who bought an Xbox before 26th April we are offering, until 1st July 2002, the chance for you to get 2 games and an Xbox Controller for FREE! That means you could be playing games like Halo, Rallisport Challenge, Project Gotham Racing, Amped, Oddworld or Dead or Alive 3 amongst other great games for free!
Re:I wonder if Australia XBox is compatible with U (Score:2)
Re:If the Price Cut Comes Stateside... (Score:2, Funny)
*nod* They should port Office to it!
Re:Good Old EULA (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Good Old EULA (Score:2)
Well, you could refuse the EULA and get your money back. Same with Office, when you read the EULA you can disagree with it and return the product for a full refund -- but it's a hassle and a half.
I'm sure you could also inspect the EULA before you purchase if you wanted to.
Re:Port box (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft are in a much better position than they'd have been in if Sony had used their extra year of time with the PS2 on the market effectively.
Personally I'm leaning toward buying a Gamecube. This change in price brings the X-Box down to the same price, but I just prefer Nintendo's style (and franchise characters).
Having 3 consoles on the market is doing great things as far as I'm concerned, as a gamer. When you can develop a game for one of two systems, often you'll only do one. But if sticking to one system cuts you out of a large portion of the market, you're more likely to develop for them all.
Re:This is what Sega did before Dreamcast died (Score:3, Interesting)