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Surprises in store for the XBOX 360

Microsoft's Richard Teversham talked a lot without saying much in regards to anything important about the XBOX 360. Teversham continued to beat the corporate drum that the PlayStation 3 is priced too high and that the company is taking its fan base for a ride. That being said, he still feels that the Sony faithful will snap up the consoles as fast as possible -- at least in Europe. “Sony has got great loyalty and they are going to seriously use that loyalty to ensure that they sell a console. On day one they will have pre-sold most of what they’ve got. But the question is, will they actually be able to launch in Europe and if they do, what are the tiny quantities going to be in Europe," said Teversham to MCV.

Teversham went to say that the Wii is little more than a Gamecube with a DVD drive and the company likely wouldn’t have enough supply to meet demand. He also reiterated that Microsoft would not be dropping the price of its XBOX 360 before year's end. This should put a stop to some of the rumors that have been flying around recently. Instead, he threw the ball back in Sony's court, "The question is: When are they going to drop the price? I think a lot of gamers out there are going to be saying ‘I’ll wait for the price to drop,’ or even better they’ll buy a 360."

Teversham also promised a few surprises for its console in Q4, but failed to at least drop a hint as to what could possibly be in store. As far as we know, he could be talking about the already announced external HD DVD drive or some top secret, developed in a locked basement “killer game” that no one was expecting.


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Microsoft will fall behind.
By Araxen on 8/1/06, Rating: 0
RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Souka on 8/1/06, Rating: 0
RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By RandomFool on 8/1/2006 5:25:45 PM , Rating: 2
I don't. A cheap console with a recognizable name and an innovate new control scheme. Nintendo is doing a ton of work to get third party developers on board and has done a great job generating buzz on the console. The Wii is setup to win this console war.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By BioRebel on 8/1/2006 5:27:55 PM , Rating: 1
And what does Sony bring to the table other than fancy graphics?


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Samus on 8/1/2006 5:49:25 PM , Rating: 3
Well, the PS3 is a full blown media center (much like the XBOX360) but incorporating bluray...which doesn't really mean much these days considering its limited success in the retail market.

XBOX360 is well priced, will feature an HD-DVD addon and already has a huge jump start. Halo 3 will ensure its success.

Wii will be successful no matter how you look at it because its targeting all markets: media center, backwards compatibility, new slightly improved gamecube graphics (which by todays standards are still adequate) and price. Don't forget its revolutionary control, either. There are going to be games developed for this console that were never possible, only time will tell what people come up with.


By ssvegeta1010 on 8/1/2006 5:55:50 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
And what does Sony bring to the table other than fancy graphics?


Not much. I don't need a "media center", I don't have an HDTV (I will at some point, but even then, I'm not a huge movie fan), and OMG GRAPHICS isn't good enough for me. I've seen Oblivion, HL2, FEAR, and all that, and graphics just don't do it for me anymore. Maybe if developers brought more gameplay depth to the table, then I would be happy. It looks like the Wii has some possibilities here. And for those who do like graphics, I've seen Nintendo do some amazing things with old hardware. They pushed the GBA to do some rather nice looking 3D. (If only they hadn't skimped on the resolution for the DS, I'm sure they could do some amazing things.)


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Ard on 8/1/2006 6:32:10 PM , Rating: 3
I do. Nintendo had a recognizable name with GC and they even lowered the price to $99 and yet they still ended up in third place. What's any different now? Oh, that's right, the magical controller that will change the face of gaming. No, not likely...


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By mushi799 on 8/1/2006 6:45:24 PM , Rating: 2
nice statement, didn't work out so well with the gamecube now did it? GC was cheaper out of the three, it had a strong start but had a really bad finish.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Xavian on 8/1/2006 7:54:03 PM , Rating: 3
You also forget that the GC had really bad third party support compared to the Xbox (which brought third parties for exclusives) and the PS2 (the Thirdy Party wonder child).

This time round it seems the Third Parties are on Nintendo's side, plus they are also on microsofts side too. This leaves Sony and its Ps3 out in the cold. That is if the rumours that say that developers are cancelling development on the PS3 because of the incredibly bad reaction it got over the past 3-4 months (after E3).

Nintendo's achilles heel has ALLWAYS been the lack of good advertising, they are good at drumming up hype for Nintendo Fans but outside of that they are hopeless. But with the DS Lite we are seeing more advertising that usual and thus i believe we will see the same change for the Wii.

I personally believe Nintendo is pushing all the right buttons and none of the wrong ones this time round. They have the 'killer app' (the new control scheme which will inevitably be copied down to the last screw by Sony and Microsoft), they have a fantastic launch line-up, they are drumming up hype from outside the Nintendo fans and the fans themselves and they have exclusives for the Wii that are truely exlusives (would be very hard to port to other consoles).

They also have a lot of recent experience in getting the mythical non-gamer into gaming (see Brain Training, Big Brain Academy and various other titles, i believe theres a 'How to cook' game for the DS with real japanese recipes out in Japan). The big problem is the Wii is a wildcard, no-one really knows if it will bring in non-gamers, it could be a massive success that could bring Nintendo back to the top of the console market, or it could be a big flop. Its a big risk for Nintendo, but personally i think they will succeed.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By FearlessUser on 8/1/2006 6:08:32 PM , Rating: 2
When are people going to stop referring to Microsoft as M$. That is the stupidest thing ever. Never was funny. Why can't anyone be original and call Sony $ony. That horse is dead. Stop beating it.
I know I contributed nothing with this post, but it had to be said.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By BZDTemp on 8/2/06, Rating: 0
RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By vortmax on 8/2/2006 1:14:18 PM , Rating: 3
You forgot to mention that Microsoft is the only company in existence to use those types of business practices and places it's profits over everything else....

That was sarcasm...couldn't resist.


By THEREALJMAN73 on 8/2/2006 8:33:00 AM , Rating: 3
When people stop being jelous of Microsofts success they will stop. That is not likely to ever happen so you should just get used to it.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Wegmans on 8/2/2006 8:47:41 AM , Rating: 2
I think the battle will be between Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo has been good at differentiating themselves from other consoles. Perhaps when looking at how the top three will finish, it could be said that Nintendo will probably be second, leaving MS and Sony to battle it out for first. Nintendo has an angle, and apparently MS and Sony just have prettier graphics and new games.

I’d also like to point out that the majority of the market is unfortunately not the people who read posts at this site. Whether you want a Blu-Ray player or not doesn’t reflect all the parents who are getting these things for their children and haven’t a clue what the components are. Just a thought…


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By kitchme on 8/2/2006 1:59:05 PM , Rating: 2
When you say battling for the first place, it usually means one will be First and the other Second. But you place Nintendo in the second place.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Wegmans on 8/2/2006 2:07:37 PM , Rating: 2
I'll clarify.

It will either be:

1:Sony
2:Nintendo
3:MS
-OR-
1:MS
2:Nintendo
3:Sony

Therefore Sony and MS are vying for 1st


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By 9nails on 8/3/2006 4:56:45 AM , Rating: 2
Considering Japanese buyers, you cannot have an American backed console system in first place. They're a closed minded society against buying foreign consumer electronic goods.

You're list, while likely true in the UK , AU or USA, will not hold true for JP consumerism. JP speaks for a minority of the console sales, but a sizeable portion of games are developed from there. So their portion is still significant to the game market.


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By Wegmans on 8/3/2006 7:53:27 AM , Rating: 2
That's a good call, I didn't think about that market. The market in Japan is very unique though; I wonder if throughout the world it will average out still having an American backed console in first?


RE: Microsoft will fall behind.
By ToeCutter on 8/2/2006 9:54:57 AM , Rating: 2
Six months ago, I would have completely disagreed with this opinion, but how times have changed. In talking with other console fans, I've noticed that for the first time......
EVER, enthusiasm for a new Sony console is simply MIA. At $500, it's simply too much of a gamble. Even those who have purchased XBOX 360 simply aren't that pleased with the lineup and are pissed they spent so much to get on board.

With regards to the media center approach, I just don't see gamers *that* intersted in this "feature". Most already have some type of streaming DVD player that does the media stuff FAR better than XBOX 360. What they really want are *games* (go figure).

You also have to consider the "Mom Factor". We've had 4 consecutive months of waning consumer confidence due to record gasoline costs. I think most Moms and Dads will tell their kids "It's Nintendo or nothing, I'm not spending 4 bills on a video game..."

I think Nintendo will just sit back and let MS and Sony duke it out while their cheap GAMING consoles fly off the shelves this Xmas.


By Locutus465 on 8/2/2006 12:42:26 PM , Rating: 2
Well, the uber 360 is a tad pricy, but the basic unit is actually right in line with the expected cost for a new game console (at least it matches the X-Box/PS2 launch). So the idea of parents getting their kids a 360 isn't that far out there, they'll just buy the basic one and a storage card instead of a hard drive. Soney is screwed because even their basic PS3 is out of line price wise, and I'm sure PS3 game prices aren't going to be much better. 360 games are already averaging $60/game.