XBox Delayed

rumrum writes: "From CNet: 'The company says it will delay the launch of its video game console by one week to Nov. 15 but declines to clarify exactly how many units it will have available at launch.'" AP has a slightly more informative article which points to production problems, and the LA Times has a story noting that production hasn't yet begun.

Comments

More information/interesting interview

[stevarooski]

Interesting that they're choosing to delay it. In previous interviews I'd read, the Microsofties sounded pretty hyped about how they're not going to have the supply problems the PS2 had. This was then followed by the rumormill working overtime on a reduced launch.

Check these out, courtesy of Gamespot:

Some Microsoft comments on the delay.

Ed Fries discusses XBox launch

How it'll probably shake out

[jvmatthe]

Not that there is anything new, but...

Nintendo's advertising will probably start shortly. While Xbox may be building hype right now, Nintendo has year and years of name brand recognition and several widely known franchises (Mario, Metroid, Pokemon, et al) to their advantage. One good month of advertisements and kids'll be hocking their N64's like there is no tomorrow. Nintendo doesn't need to work as hard as MS to have the same (or greater) effect.

Second, Microsoft is in the unenviable position of having the most expensive console. Sony could potentially drop the price of the PS2 to $250 now that they're over a year into mass production. The Nintendo GameCube has always been targetted at a much lower price point ($200) so it has a fairly good advantage over Sony and MS both in that regard.

Finally, the recession is on the way (face up to it, boys and girls) and that means less money sloshing around to spend on toys. If a full-fledged depression hits, then Nintendo and Microsoft and Sony are all going to take a hit, and the odd man out, Microsoft in this case, will probably fall by the wayside.

Anyway, this doesn't touch on the issues that others might find problems with like (a) having to buy a special remote to use it as a DVD player (b) the network adaptor being effectively useless until at least March 2002, and (c) the lack of real support from Japanese companies. (Token games, for sure, just to test the waters, but they'll probably pull back real quick when the recession hits full on.)