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XBox (Games)

3 Million in Xbox 2 Sales At Christmas? 151

Posted by Zonk from the could-be dept.
Forbes has a look at the upcoming release of the Xbox 2 console, from Goldman-Sachs. Speculation is put forth on the unit's cost as well as how it might do in sales. From the article: "The research firm, which rates Microsoft at 'outperform,' expects Xbox 2 to be available for retail sale in October or November at a retail price of about $249 to $299."
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3 Million in Xbox 2 Sales At Christmas? More

3 Million in Xbox 2 Sales At Christmas?

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  • 3 million? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by the_skywise ( 189793 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @02:32PM (#12214757)
    And pigs might fly out my butt.

    Okay, seriously. if they have them in STOCK this year and Sony's PS/3 doesn't come out at the same time, then maybe. But it took almost 6 months to reach the million mark for PS/2's.
    • Well, considering the XBOX2 is supposed to launch in 2005 (probably near the end), and PS3 isn't launching until 2006 (last I heard Spring/Summer), that discounts that problem. I do agree that they'll never *produce* 3 million units by Christmas.
      • I had read that they were going to *announce* at E3 and made the assumption that they were going to release at Christmas as well (to go head to head with X2).

        Unless the reason for the XBox shortage they had over Christmas was because they had stopped XBox development and were building X2's I don't think they'll have 3 million built by Christmas either. (They couldn't meet demand last Christmas... I talked my uncle into getting one and we went to 5 stores in a major city and they were all empty.)
    • I'd just like to point out that the most recent US console launch (PSP) sold 600k in 2 days. Doing 5 times that in a few months (at Christmas no less) doesn't seem that far fetched to me.

  • It depends (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MilenCent ( 219397 ) * <johnwh@nOsPaM.gmail.com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @02:33PM (#12214772) Homepage
    It depends almost entirely on what lineup the system has at launch. An enhanced version of Halo 2 may help, but it won't be enough. If the system lacks backwards compatibility it'll be tougher going.

    • Re:It depends (Score:3, Interesting)

      by bigman2003 ( 671309 )
      One of the latest rumors, was that a dressed up version of Halo 2 (or 2.5, whatever) would be installed on the hard-drive/whatever-memory of the Xbox 2.

      Of the 6 million or so people who bought Halo 2 in the opening months...a super-deluxe version in HD with new maps, and an ending would entice at least a million people to buy right away.

      Including me.

      MX vs. ATV is an HD game...but it looks like ass. Yes, very clear ass, but still ass. I would like to see what the Xbox 2 hardware can do with HD.
      • I am really starting to wonder if the Halo-fan crowd has ever seen a good first person shooters. Halo2 was fun, but it would be just another shooter lost in the mix if it was released on PC.

        Why all this unnecessary hype. Is like celebrating the release of tetris on Nokia because it is such a dry platform. Xbox library is riding literally on about 10 top games.

        • Personally, I played just about every FPS released on the PC from 1999 to 2003. And I ended up liking Xbox Halo and Halo 2 a LOT. Sure, a lot of people don't like it, and that is okay. But then again Halo 2 sold over 6 million copies, while Half-Life 2 is languishing around 2 million. [gameshout.com]

          And just think about the difference in installed base of Xbox vs. PC.

          Now there must be SOME reason that 6 million people are willing to buy the game. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that everyone else shares
          • I am not saying Halo is not fun or doesn't deserve to be top 10. I am saying all the worshipping from xbox users is becoming annoying.

            You just mentioned "Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, TOCA Race Driver 2". All of these are available on other platforms.

            Also you should compare xbox install base with PC-gamers install base. If you count PC install base in general, that will count corporate users with no intention of gaming. And like it or not, 6 million peopl
      • Of the 6 million or so people who bought Halo 2 in the opening months...a super-deluxe version in HD with new maps, and an ending would entice at least a million people to buy right away.

        Including me.

        I'm not so sure, would one-sixth the people who bought Halo 2 buy the same thing, again, and an entirely new system to play it on, in order to play it with better graphics? I think for most people to take the plunge again, it'll take more than just this, especially since Halo 2 was the big console game *thi

  • First to Market (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Moby Cock ( 771358 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @02:36PM (#12214818) Homepage
    I think that Microsoft believes that being first to market with a next-gen console will solidify their position in that market, and I further believe that they are wrong. I'm not sure that the current generation of consoles is played-out. When the PS2 launched, it was time, the PS1 had been around for years and the envelope on that tech was pushed to the limit. The PS2 (and Nintendo) launches were timed well. I know PS3 is coming (maybe this year too) but I expect much of that is because of MS pushing to get XBox 2 out early.

    My main concern is that developers will not be ready to properly take advantage of the technology at launch. Thus, there will be a laundry list of ho-hum crap on XBox2 and the early launch will begin the decline of XBox. This is all speculation and conjecture but my gut tells me that XBox 2 will be about as big a hit as the PSP. That is, some hardcore gamers will rush out and pick it up, but most will have a wait-and-see-PS3 mentality.

    • Re:First to Market (Score:4, Insightful)

      by neverkevin ( 601884 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @02:45PM (#12214942) Homepage
      "I'm not sure that the current generation of consoles is played-out."

      I am not sure what you mean by "played-out" but the current gen is not adequate for HD. Microsoft is trying to beat everyone to the market with a system that can truly take advantage of HDTVs, I believe this may be a good strategy for them. The jump from standard def to high def is going to be more noticeable then the jump between the that last gen of consoles to the current one.

      • Re:First to Market (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Daetrin ( 576516 )
        Microsoft is trying to beat everyone to the market with a system that can truly take advantage of HDTVs, I believe this may be a good strategy for them. The jump from standard def to high def is going to be more noticeable then the jump between the that last gen of consoles to the current one.

        So they're targeting those with too much money or too little sense? I don't know if the XBox2 is going to do well or not, but if _that's_ their marketing plan i'm going to downgrade their odds a few notches.

        The PS2

        • Re:First to Market (Score:4, Informative)

          by neverkevin ( 601884 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @03:04PM (#12215201) Homepage
          HDTV is not expensive anymore. My mom just got a 32" HDTV for about $500, which is about $100 more the the average standard def 32" TV. HDTV is not just for the rich anymore.
          • I would have pegged 32-inch standard-definition TVs as around $300 or maybe $350, and those come with a built-in tuner (or two in some cases), unlike most HDTVs, which are advertised as "HDTV monitors." The exception is a 30-inch Sanyo I've seen at Wal-Mart for a little under $600 and have actually been tempted to buy.

            So in addition to the mark-up for improved picture quality, to get much use out of it beyond progressive scan DVDs and upcoming consoles, you have to either buy a tuner and be lucky enough t

            • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Informative)

              by ZephyrXero ( 750822 )
              In 2006, the US gov't will require all TV broacasters to use digital HD format. HDTV sales will be going through the roof next year, and this is the perfect time for MS to take advantage of that.

              As the parent mentioned, the 32" 16:9 is smaller vertically than the 4:3 32". I really wish companies would quit using the diagonal dimensions to make consumers just go "Wow! a 32" screen" even though it's the same size as a regular 25" vertically (just guessing). They need to just tell us the width by height ins
              • You're pretty close. A 32" 16:9 is the same height as a 26.1" 4:3, and I would say that same height means same size, since if you are watching 4:3 content on a 16:9 screen, and want it to display the same size, you are going to have vertical bars on the left and right side, wasting part of the width, and thus, you want the height to be the same.
                A 32" 16:9 screen has dimensions 27.9x15.7 while a 4:3 would have 25.6x19.2.

                A 32" 4:3 (25.6x19.2) would need a 39.1" 16:9 screen (34.1x19.2) to get the same height.

            • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Interesting)

              by bigman2003 ( 671309 )
              About 18 months ago I took a chance on a 4:3 HDTV. I figured that MOST of the TV I watched was 4:3 anyway. And, since my limitation is width (TV cabinet limitation that is) a little extra height would be okay.

              Just this weekend I finally ran 1080i for the first time. I was very happily surprised when my TV showed the image in a letterbox format...I was a little worried that it would just chop off the edges.

              So my gamble paid off- I've been enjoying a nice big 4:3 TV for a year and a half...and I am ready
      • My question is simple. Can it play on non HDTVs? If it can great, but if not then there are going to be a lot of lost sales due to the fact that most people I know that have a video game system do not own an HDTV (I know 3 people that have HD TVs that have a game system attached compared to a dozen that don't). This whole upcoming generation of game systems reminds me of the Turbo Graphics 16, Genesis, and SNES generation release.

        • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Interesting)

          by ZephyrXero ( 750822 )
          I wouldn't be surprised if the standard output cables that come with the Xbox are some sort of HD format like HDMI, and then you have to buy a seperate one for older Composite(RCA) or RF connections just like you do with the current generation for RFs.
      • So how many HDTV's are there to which to hook a new Xbox? Enough to make "3 million sold by xmas" sound realistic? Ha!

        Yes, if there were lots of HDTV's in living rooms already, it might be true that the "current generation of consoles is played out." But as it stands, there are precious few. Well, I guess we'll see what Xbox2 looks like and what games there will be. It took a while since the launch of the first Xbox to convince people that the games are worth buying. I suspect the same this time around. I

    • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Interesting)

      by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
      I know PS3 is coming (maybe this year too) but I expect much of that is because of MS pushing to get XBox 2 out early.

      The PS3 is scheduled for a 2006 release.

      Despite the fate that hit the consoles trying to launch before Sony (Saturn, Dreamcast) I believe MS is going to take first place with the Xenon. Sony had their two generations on the top now, their policies are starting to piss devs off and the Cell might prove to be a bigger problem for devs than thought to be. MS has the momentum, they are seen

      • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ivan256 ( 17499 ) *
        Nintendo and Sega after two... it was always the newcomer who took the crown.

        How do you figure?

        Remember that the SNES and the Genesis were in the same console generation. You'd be hard pressed to say that either company "won" that round, and Sega was hardly a newcomer at this point. You can't call Microsoft a newcomer anymore either.

        • The Genesis did well in the US and Europe, but on Japan, it was a massive flop. The Sega Saturn was just the reverse, it did well in japan (for a while), and flopped everywhere else.

          Back to your point, considering the fact that the Genesis only won for a short while, in Europe and the US, and then was swept by the SNES everywhere, yeah, I could say that the SNES won that round.

          (this from a proud genesis owner).

      • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Interesting)

        by brkello ( 642429 )
        There are 3 companies...Microsoft not being the top player...how can you call them a monopoly? Gaming is becoming more mainstream...the market may be able to handle 3 players now. I think right now is perfect...we have 3 strong competitors which is always a benefit to the consumer. MS is not going to take over this market. They are making a lot of good choices though (like signing Japanese game making companies to make games for them). I am looking forward to all of the next generation consoles. I am
        • I fail to see how more competition is always better, especially in this industry.
          Because of more competition, owning all the consoles will probably cost more than $1000. Even if one waits for the consoles to drop in place, it'll still probably be $600-$700.... Not many people can afford that. Most people will probably only buy a single console and a single portable system. I'm one of those people, to be honest. I picked the console that has the most of the games I like, but there are still games for the co
          • Competition breeds creativity, innovation, and lower prices. Why do think everyone is bitching about EA monopolizing football? Because they except EA to milk the cash cow while barely making any noteworthy improvements.
          • I really don't get your post. In general, it is true that competition in a capitalist society is a good thing. Maybe there is some example you can come up with where it is bad, but it certainly isn't the console market. Because of competition, you aren't paying $1000 for one console. If they weren't competing with each other, they wouldn't be selling their consoles at a loss (at least initially). This may be a strange concept to you, but no one is forcing people to buy all the consoles. You did the ri

        • Re:First to Market (Score:4, Funny)

          by ZephyrXero ( 750822 ) <zephyrxero@nosPAm.yahoo.com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @04:05PM (#12215920) Homepage Journal
          The market will not support 3 consoles. It isn't right now, and no one but those big three want it. We need an Open Console Standards group to form and create an open format so that all games work on all systems.
          • Right.... and immediately after that group gets formed and all games work on all systems, we'll forn another group and make sure all software works on all computing platforms, ie Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.
            • Right...because I have to buy a Sony DVD player to watch Sony DVD Movies, and a Mirimax DVD player for all my Mirimax DVDs huh? It's possible...it's just a matter of getting these bullheaded companies to see the longterm benefits over the shorterm profits.
              • If Sony had it their way, they would probably love to have you NEED a Sony DVD player to play Sony movies.
                I don't really see any benefit. Homogenizing the hardware for compatability would mean that developers wouild be less likely to program for anything but the lowest common denominator. Hardware differences and software library are the two things the console companies use to try to sell their systems. And they want you to buy an Xbox game, or a Gamecube game or whatever - because they make their money off

          • Re:First to Market (Score:2, Interesting)

            by fondue ( 244902 )
            "The market will not support 3 consoles."

            Where have you been for the last four years?
            • Watching things very closely. You? Seriously, look at the Gamecube right now... it's not doing so hot, no matter what kind of spin people want to put on it. The majority of multi-platform games are just coming out for PS2 and Xbox now as if the GC didn't even exist. Nintendo hasn't really released any games for it in quite a while, with the exception of the up coming Zelda game. Even though I think the GC is a great piece of hardware...I'll be honest that it's days are numbered much shorter than the other g
      • the PSP might hurt them

        How would the PSP hurt them? One reason I believe Nintendo is still in the console game is because of the gameboy. I'd think the PSP would have a similar effect on PS3 sales that the iPod has on Mac sales.

        Sorry, not trying to flame you, I just don't see the PSP as anything but postive for Sony.
        • I agree that the PSP will be positive for Sony in itself, but I can definitely see it hurting the PS3 a little.

          I don't think your iPod->Mac comparison makes a lot of sense in this area. The iPod dominates its niche, while the Mac is a niche product. The PSP->Playstation situation is the complete opposite. Playstation is the videogame console brand now (though you could reasonably argue Xbox has is on top nowadays when it comes to "cool").

          But even more importantly I don't think one platform transfers

    • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Jakeypants ( 860350 )
      "[T]here will be a laundry list of ho-hum crap on XBox2"

      That's how system launches go nowadays. Here're the best games (in my opinion) to launch with systems in recent years:
      Dreamcast: Sonic Adventure
      PS2: SSX
      GBA: Super Mario Advance (Mario 2)
      GameCube: Luigi's Mansion
      Xbox: Halo (well, I hated it, but I'm the only one)
      DS: Mario 64
      PSP: Lumines (I haven't played it, but this is what they say is the best)

      The DS and PSP still need more time to prove themselves, but the rest of those games, save for

      • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ZephyrXero ( 750822 )
        With the exception of Halo and Mario 64, all those games were bland, medium quality games. Launch titles usually suck these days and the good one's don't come out till the following christmas. And I agree the DS and PSP have to be out over a year or two before we can pass an honest judgement on them. I won't make be buying any of the new consoles until all 3 have been out for at least a year and I really know which one's the best. I bought the Dreamcast at launch, and we all know what happened there :( ...I

      • Re:First to Market (Score:3, Insightful)

        by adler187 ( 448837 )
        First of all your not the only one who hated Halo, I did too.

        Also, The best launch title for the Dreamcast was by far Soul Calibur. It was actually better than the arcade version, not only in extras but also graphically. You are correct though, for the most part launch titles suck.
      • Well, let's look a little further back. The N64 had Super Mario 64, which was amazing. The PS1's real breakout title was Final Fantasy 7; even though it wasn't really a launch game, it gave the system a crucial boost over the Sega Saturn (esp. in Japan). I think it's fair to say that the drop in launch title quality is a consequence of the first to market madness. I miss the old days when Nintendo just didn't give a fuck when you wanted a game.

        BTW, I didn't hate Halo, but I thought it was mediocre. Halo (1

    • Re:First to Market (Score:4, Insightful)

      by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @04:09PM (#12215963) Homepage Journal
      "I'm not sure that the current generation of consoles is played-out."

      There's a difference between "played out" and "I wanna see something new". Assuming the XBOX 2 is visually better than the XBOX (given the serious upgrade in texture RAM, I'd say this is likely) there'll be demand for it. Since the XBOX does have a decent following right now, they've already got their early adopter base.

      "My main concern is that developers will not be ready to properly take advantage of the technology at launch."

      The extra RAM alone will be more than enough. Textures will come in at higher res and in multiple passes. It's not like they'll have to turn the dev kit upside down to make this happen.

      "This is all speculation and conjecture but my gut tells me that XBox 2 will be about as big a hit as the PSP. That is, some hardcore gamers will rush out and pick it up, but most will have a wait-and-see-PS3 mentality."

      Eh. I don't think it's that clear. Part of the PSP's problem is that it's too expensive. Another part of the PSP's problem is that it's a portable PS2... so what? The XBOX 2, however, is (or at least should be) considerably more powerful. It shouldn't be any more than $299, which is a fairly standard price. And it's likely MS will show some compelling demos to say "Yep, this thing is cooll!" I've seen a few screengrabs of next-gen samples, and yeah, the difference will be noticable.

      I can't say you're wrong, but you definitely will not be right until the event has happened.

  • Well, Zonk's sold. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by misfit13b ( 572861 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @02:39PM (#12214866)
    As for me, I'm getting a bit burned out already, and it's still a few weeks before the MTV wankfest.

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing my Xbox, but the early bird pre-unveiling expectant hype before the hype is a bit much, no?

  • More market spin (Score:2, Interesting)

    by bigdady92 ( 635263 )
    The firm expects Microsoft to ship about 3 million units of the Xbox 2 worldwide in the December quarter.

    That's what was said in the article. This means that the quarter can range from NOV to JAN and beyond. So this is not saying that DEC it will sell 3 million units alone but over a 3 month period.

    I SERIOUSLY think this is an insane notion but at least they are keeping the price right at $249-299. That's about the breaking point for most consumers nowadays.

    Me? I won't buy one until the modders got it an
    • What's the spin? "December quarter" is exactly what it says -- 3 months total, one including December. The only ones that are "spinning" it is Slashdot, saying "at Christmas"...
    • Well, you know MS is planning on having 3 different versions of the Xbox2 right? I wouldn't be surprised if the plain jane Xbox2 (w/o harddrive) was released for $250, and then the Xbox2 w/ harddrive (whether it's built in, or an attachment bundle) for $300. That'd be the smart move... a bad move would be for the plain one to come out at $300 and the harddrive edition for $400. I guess we'll know in a month ;)
  • MSFT to outperform the market?

    It hasn't moved in years [netscape.com], so they think that the XBox2/NeXT/WTF is its saviour?

  • Scope of Launch (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    3 million units sold in a worldwide launch is not all that tough of a task. With their mass market approach (MTV) in the US and well respected designers/publishers overseas, M$ has a good chance of hitting this.

    The question is, can PS3 have the same influence as the PS2 did over the Dreamcast? PS2 wasn't even out and at the time and people had already made up their minds on what console to purchase.
    • Sony still has the name advantage. They've had two wildly successful consoles, and they're currently making a respectable bid in the handheld market. It's certainly not shapping up into the PS2 vs. Dreamcast scenario some people expected, but Nintendo's stranglehold of the handheld market is nigh on over. Microsoft has had some success so far. They've done well in the US, but no Japan. I haven't kept up on the numbers in Europe. If they want to move that many units, though, they're going to need a very goo
  • Then it just might be possible. I think they have some advanced knowledge of what the next-gen Xbox could come bundled with or some kind of killer app that is going to ship with it. There's gotta be some reason they think MS could move 3 mil units. That's a lot of hardware.
  • Hasn't the price point on a new console consistently been $299 since the Sega Genesis was released? Why bother teasing us with the possibility of something lower?

  • Can't wait to stop spending money! (Score:3, Funny)

    by superultra ( 670002 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @03:12PM (#12215276) Homepage
    I actually can't wait until the nextgen hits. It's clear that console devs have wrapped their brains around this gen, and with one hit after another (Gods of War, Psychonauts, Jade Empire, Doom 3, Splinter Cell, etc etc) I'm clean out of cash.

    I need a new console generation if only to stop spending money, so I can get a breather and watch the devs stumble around with the technology for 3 or 4 years. It's just now that they're figuring out that it's not Havoc physics or glowy effects that make a game.

  • Going to depend on how many they can deliver (Score:4, Insightful)

    by slusich ( 684826 ) * <slusich@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @03:13PM (#12215291)
    I think 3 million is probably a good estimate, IF they can get them into stores that quickly. With the release being so close to the holiday season, I'll be surprised if it's not a major hassle to find one between the release date and xmas.

  • I Don't Consider Forbes Reliable (Score:3, Informative)

    by robbway ( 200983 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @03:17PM (#12215337) Journal
    Last March, Forbes acknowledged the multimedia aspects of the PSP, but failed to recognize those aspects as significance, saying it did "little else" than play video games. Also, the article was dated April 8, 2005, a full 2 weeks in the future from when it was published.

    Now, just because I don't think they know anything about video games other than historic sales figures and stocks, that doesn't mean they aren't reliable for business news. They're just a little sloppy in the games department.
  • If you haven't already, take a look at the quasi-official pics of the controller (from ourcolony.net) and the emailed, real-looking, but possibly fake pics.

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/04/06/news_61 2 18 11.html
    http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/04/11/n ews_61220 58.html

    Based on the supposition that the second batch of pics are real (let's say the blurriness was due to a cell phone cam), I think that there will be a trackball in the middle of the Xbox 2 controllers. Hence the name Xbox 360. You heard i
    • A trackball? Didn't Atari have one? :)
    • I played Counter-Strike for a while with a Logitech trackball. One of the ones with the ball on the left side so you moved it with your thumb, while fingers were used like on a normal 3-button mouse. I actually liked it pretty well. If I recall correctly, I think I found inverting the mouse Y-axis worked well for reasonably intuitive movement.

      If it has a trackball, they'd better make sure you can remove it and clean it easily. I'd wager console controllers would get gunked up more quickly than at a PC.

    • There is no way that is a trackball. Unless you have really long fingers there would be no way to comfortably hold the controller while using it. More than likely it is a white Xbox logo, IF this the real controller. Microsoft is seemingly taking the Sega track for Xbox 2 however. Going from black system to white, releasing it before everyone else, and (most likely) using a disc with less capacity (Dreamcast used a GD-ROM instead of DVD). Probably other similarities as well.

    • Years ago, after hurting my wrist/hand playing Magic Carpet II (had been playing it solid for a couple of days) I switched to a trackball.

      Since then I've played every computer game, FPS or not with a trackball, and I'd have to say it works great. However, I've got a Logitech Mouseman Marble with the large mouse ball you can actually grab with thumb and opposing fingers, so fine movements are easy.

  • Why so early? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Andy_R ( 114137 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @03:40PM (#12215624) Homepage Journal
    The longer they waited to launch, the better the launch titles would be, and hardware improvements will mean they could either make the machine better, or reduce their losses for the same spec.

    If they do go early, they are trading off just one christmas as the only next-gen console in the shops against 4 years of being the least modern console when the other 2 arrive.

    There are only 2 ways this strategy is going to be cost effective:
    If they can get a contolling market share over that first holiday season or;
    If they have the processor power/locked in developers needed to compete on the quality of games for the next 4 years, or however long this generation lasts, despit the others having more hardweare development time.

    Given that Nintendo already tried the second option and pretty much failed to set the world on fire with the Gamecube, and Sega tried the first option with the Dreamcast and got burnt to a crisp, I really don't know what Microsoft are thinking.

    I wouldn't be surprised if the Xbox2 strategy was a quick cash-grab before folding the home gaming divison, especially if Sony's cell chips deliver the computing power they are promising in a usable form.
    • In theory, waiting does produce better games (or no game *cough Duke Nukem cough*), but companies need to know where the sweep spot is and pull the trigger. Given that IBM is reportedly manufacturing all 3 next gen console chips, the technology many be similar. M$ is playing it safe by going with advanced, but existing technology which developers will likely be used to. Plus they get the hype and holiday. Sony is taking the risk with their cell technology. There are a lot of unknowns with it and likely chan

      • Re:Why so early? (Score:4, Funny)

        by ArsonSmith ( 13997 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @05:55PM (#12217261) Journal
        I bet all three marketing and management teams got tegether at some big convention and made a bet. They'll all three release systems with the exact same hardware (from IBM) but spin it in their own marketing manor and plan release times according to all the theroies you see thrown around and see who can win.

        It would be an interesting experiment at least.

    • Not sure about the cash grab idea since these things will be selling at a loss like all consoles do. I could see that by going so early they give themselves a chance to fuck up royally and still get another shot with X-Box 3 on the market during the next generation. As long as they believe it will profit them in the long run Microsoft can throw money at the console market until they own it.

  • Wireless controller? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by solowCX ( 796423 )
    I don't know if anyone else noticed, but in those (possible) controller images, there is no cord. Could it be wireless will now become standard?

    • Re:Wireless controller? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Ayaress ( 662020 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @05:54PM (#12217254) Journal
      I hope not. I've always had bad luck with wireless controllers. They're great and all, but all it takes is a glitch in the signal for a split second while a boss is about to bring a huge hammer down on my head, and it'll suffer one of those unfortunate warranty-ending accidents.

  • Two words - Blu Ray (Score:4, Interesting)

    by GreatDrok ( 684119 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @04:15PM (#12216041) Journal
    I think MS is in an unfortunate position if they want to grab the HD high ground as their XBox2 is supposed to only have a DVD drive. While it is conceivable that they will push more of their WMV9 HD DVDs for this platform I would say it is much more likely that there will be significant HD movies on the Blu Ray discs that the PS3 is going to use. More to the point, the extra capacity of the discs will give PS3 developers more room to do some great things. The more I look the more the XBox2 looks like the Dreamcast of this next generation. The DC had a CD-ROM drive whereas the competition have DVD drives. The DC came out too early and the game developers couldn't justify working just on that platform so games didn't really shine compared with those for the PlayStation. It doesn't bode well for Microsoft. They really should wait until HD-DVD is ready and go with that but of course then they lose their six month (at best) head start on Sony. Without an HD video format the XBox2 is going to look old hat before its packaging is cold....
    • I actually think that prior to its death the DC games did shine.

      Look at Soul Caliber or Shenmue or even Shenmue 2. The DC had some nice looking racing games also.

      I do think that having a CD was a huge minus for the DC, but the games on it were spectacular compared to the competition (early on especialy).
    • Many Playstation 2 games use a pretty large amount of the space on their DVDs for annoying cinematic FMV files. Audio/video/image compression is improving as well, and with the more powerful processor the Xbox 2 could save space that way.

      The only super valid point you have there is over the standalone movie playing, but people with high-end TVs generally don't use the current generation consoles to play movies anyways.
    • The dreamcast used proprietary GD-Roms with 1Gb capacity actually. Lot of good it did them...it was the easiest to pirate for. Other than that, I agree with you. I think people tend to forget how significant the PS3 BluRay drive is. Not so much because of the storage capacity (it's not needed for games) but because of the ability to play BluRay movies.
  • I think Microsoft is trying to be the first to market to capture the people who wanna be the first on their block with one. Even if it is indeed mediocre (probably not, but hey, I saw a pig fly today), us american capitalist consumers tend to like having the newest, the best, and the most expensive stuff when compared to our neighbors.
  • Xbox has great momentum right now,(I am Nintendo type of guy), but this would be shooting themselves on the foot. The XBOX has been out for 4 years by Nov. Every successful console has lasted 6+ years on the market.

    NES:1984-1993
    SNES:1991-1998
    Genesis:1988-1997
    PS1: 1994-2000 (Still has new games made for it)
    PS2: 2000-2006* Expected


    This is a grave mistake, but I am happy because this will bring the console war only to Sony's and Nintendo's door. Microsoft does not see that with the DS and PSP out, c

  • Backwards? Who cares.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Taulin ( 569009 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @05:07PM (#12216681) Homepage Journal
    Who cares if the XBox2 is backwards compatible if I can't transfer my game saves to the new system. There are many games (mostly by Tecmo) that don't allow memory card saves.
  • The idea that a development kit for a console should be done like a PC game development kit was a radical idea upon X-box's entry upon the industry. It just wasn't done like that, and yes, Eastern culture's infuence had something to do with this fact. SDK's were made to accomodate the hardware, not the developer's. In the end, no matter how complicated a development kit is developers who are familliar with it and talented enough to use it as the tool for the proper task will create great work with it.
    Of
  • It'll be portable (ala PSP); it'll have a home docking station (ala desktop PC) and it'll probably have a "car" docking station for playing video's, mp3s, etc.

    You just wait...

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