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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.)
How does the Xbox compare with Gamecube, PS2, etc ?
Is it possible to install Linux or BSD on a Xbox ?
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Japan always seems to go its own way on a lot of techie things. Given the dominance of homegrown consoles in that market, is it likely that MSFT will take it over?
What about localisation issues for XBox, availability of games. local titles?
Some of the big games in the arcades here (China) are dancing games, drumming games, piano playing games (!), all very far away from traditional console fare. I've seen accessories for these for various consoles. Question, are MSFT going to push games which do well in their home market weirdness and ignore local weirdness?
dave "no mr. bond, i expect you to dance!"
...and the Xbox, in spite of "Halo", really doesn't have anything to compare to established game line that Nintendo is going to roll out for the Gamecube. While the Xbox looks like a nice system on paper, it's not going to be the "system to get" for Xmas 2001.
On the other hand, it has the marketing might of Microsoft behind it, a host of people who understand x86 and DirectX programming for it, and a sweet architecture. Xmas 2002 might be more interesting.
No car racing games please. I'm sure we'll see enough crashes.
That's what you get for making us wait forever for all your game systems!
And for not releasing any RPG's during the NES era!
And for dumbing down what RPG's you did release!
And for not releasing the Linux kit for the PS/2 here!
And for giving us all that tentacle pr0n! *shudder*
And most of all... that's for the fan abuse at the end of Evangelion!
So there!
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
You mean I'm going to have to wait 3 and a half months before I can get my imports?
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?
Securitas said MS insists it's going to meet its Nov. 8 North American release date. I'll believe it when I see it.
M$ will certainly ship the north american X-box in time for the X-mas season, even if it is full of bugs or has some major safety problems. The only time to make large advances in marketshare come during the christmas season in the U.S., so M$ would rather risk a recall or later fix if they can grab 40% of the game console market this year.
If the X-box does take off, they will then ramp up production and get units into secondary markets, or, as ioman1 points out, if the U.S. sales aren't spectacular Japan will see suddenly have a bunch of consoles available. But given the state of the world's economies right now, any product manager who mis-calculates demand could cost a company $$$billions if inventory just sits unsold in warehouses.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
So? The US market is MS' primary market, and with Nintendo's date being moved back 2 weeks, Microsoft has a chance to actually sell this unit. Sure, the Japanese market would help, but I don't see this console doing well their anyways (WAAAAAY too bulky for most Japanese, most prefer a smaller item like the GCN).
1, There are few developers, apart from M$ and Bungie willing to develop for it and those that do have little or no console experience. btw who whats to play pc games on a tv anyway.
2. It is overpriced for a consoles (around $299) and underpowered for a computer 600mh.
3. It is marketed towards the 16 to 25 market who are the most likely to own a computer and have no use for a Xbox anyway.
4. It is badly designed for a console, who whats a hard disk in their console, what do you do in case of a harddisk crash.
5. If you are into that cut down puter, intergrated graphics, sound and processor philosophy then Nvidia are about to bring out the nforce + there will prob be a million clone's even when the thing flops.
In short, the Xbox takes all the disadvantages of a console, such as the inablity to upgrade, low processor power, closed archtechure and paying to develop for it. While it add's all the disadvantages of a computer like bad design, hardware bloat and poor software implementation (ie directx).
I predict that M$ will both miss the us release date and not even attempt to sell the thing in japan.
The Xbox is the bastard child of anti-ps2 vapourware that even the marketing of M$ will never be able to sell.
*Four game controller ports
:(. However, I do actually think that the XBox could end up being a really cool console.
*A front-loading DVD tray
*An Ethernet card
*An NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU)
*An Intel 733MHz processor
*An internal hard drive
(information taken from xbox.com)
How does Xbox compare to others? Well, it has a NIC in it. This is something that no other console has. I am sure that this will increase the popularity of the XBox alot, since it is going to be easy to connect it to the internet using high-speed internet such as xDSL and Cable.
The XBox will also have a Hardrive. I am not sure how this will work, but I asume you will have to "install" games. This does allow for faster loading times.
Finally, the console is made by MS. No matter how much people dislike MS, it is clear that they will be able to get a lot of game developers on their "side".
I just read through my post and realized how much pro-MS I sound
Ok, yes Japan is the hear and sould of current console market. Japanese companies have developed the market, and currently rule supreme. But the kinds of games Japanese customers buy are often somewhat different, and the Japaneese market is actually smaller than the US market. It's going to take MS longer to produce games for the Japanese market. If they rush the release there, then they will flop there.
Microsoft has done well in the PC gaming market, and the xbox may allow them to extend that market into consoles. They may not initially lure away many hard core console gamers, but it they can get a good initial response in the US, then they will lure in more developers to create games for the Japanese market, and also get more traditional console style games written for their platform. For XBox to be successful they need to have solid hardware, and have a good development kit. I've hear many times how the PS2 is just too hard to develop for. If Microsoft can get enought consoles in consumers hands, and the developers like to develop for it, then it will be a success.
It's a question of if Microsoft has games for the Japanese market to go along with the console. I keep hearing how the japanese console market is different from the US and European markets. If MS doesn't have the games, then they shouldn't release it in Japan. It's better to hold off a few months than to flop.
Remember also that the Japanese economy has been in pretty bad shape for several years, and with our economy not exactly in the best shape I doubt Sony is going to have a really good christmas season in Japan this year. Their console has already been out a year, and if they drop the price of the console to maintain market share, then they are goint to lose even more money on each console. I'm not sure what to think about Nintendo. They have an awsome product in the gameboy advance. It would be even better if it were backlit, but it's still awsome. I'm just not sure if they'll be able to pull off the Gamecube.
Microsoft has the two things that can allow them to get a foothold in the market despite their entrenched competition. They have a well known name, and lots of money. With the release of XP they are going to have lots of cash comming in. They can definately sell at a loss much longer than Nintendo. Sony's consumer electronics division hasn't made much money for several years, but they may be able to siphon money off of their Music sales to keep fund selling their PS2s at a loss to keep market share. It looks like we're going to see a battle in the console market. Hopefully we'll end up with lower prices, good games, and some strong competition. It's kind of weird that Microsoft is the one bringing competioion to a market that's currently dominated by Sony.
"Intel Pentium III based processor": yes, I already said that.
"x86 instruction set": -1, Redundant (Duh)
"Nvidia GPU": yes, already said that, available on Mac G4s as well as PCs.
"Microsoft Operating System": As seen on Pocket PCs, WebTV, Dreamcast etc...
None of those things make the Xbox a PC.
or has some major safety problems.
Like this?
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
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).
Sigh. Oh well, here we go again...
b) There isn't a registry
c) The OS isn't "installed"
Try again.
The thing is, the PC market is shit, and has been for a while. Consoles are where it's at, and developers know this. The idea of a PC port somehow loses its relevance when you consider that we're basically developing for the consoles in the first place.
Maybe the games that would sell the thing aren't out yet. Enough fanatics exist to buy a few hundred thousand, but not millions.
Incidentally, if you want a Sony PS2, they're clogging the aisles at Costco and Fry's. Literally. There are pallets of those things in aisles. Full pallets. With no gaps in the stack, like none sold.
...and smell the maple nut crunch.
This is their opportunity. Japan is an aggressive and critical market for console gaming. While the X-Box is delayed, if Nintendo got something to market they could do really well. Pity it seems everyone in the console industry has gone belly-up and decided to just LET Microsoft win without a fight. =(
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger