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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.
Did anyone read penny arcade today? They make a good point about how marketing is done in stores. Hardly any store is actually actively marketing the N-Cube (because they are both supposed to come out November).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Heck, even the space shuttle gets delayed 1.5 times per launch!
:)
It's nothing tremendous, and, given the events in the past week a delay could be the best thing to do- give people a time to get out of their shell shock (and I am still in it) and move out into our life that Osama hates so much.
Personally, I won't buy one... but that doesn't mean another game console couldn't help
I don't ever recall MS missing a release date for other products. Wait, maybe it was the fact that they never met a release date...
When one of the X-Box consoles running Halo went out at E3, there was an RCA box behind the glass that the Microsoft people went to reset - so I don't even know if there's a working X-Box in existence.
The other funny thing is, I went into E3 expecting to be blown away by the X-Box and go ho-hum at the Gamecube...And I went out being blown away by the Gamecube and going ho-hum at the X-Box. (Personal opinion.)
Desperate parents will probably be able to pick up one up for their whining spawn off eBay for $25,000.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Since Nintendo delayed the GCN until the 18th or so, MS probably decided they've got a few extra days to churn out some extra units, as well as maybe build up the hype a bit.
But is anyone getting any new preorders in? I got mine at the local EB the first day they had them, but they were out of their allotted units within 5 days. Maybe with this delay, a few more will get their XBOX for launch day.
Personally, I was kind of waiting for the X-Box for hacking purposes. The standard CPU makes a lot more sense to hack than the custom CPUs in both the Playstation 2 and GameCube (although the GameCube's games seem to look the pretiest of them all).
Also, if reports are correct, you will soon be able to buy a new Dreamcast for $49.99. That's a nice bit of pocket change for a little system that can run a variant of BSD.
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
- - - - - - - -
Don't worry, being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep in a giant blender.
Any thoughts on how this will affect the Nintendo Game Cube? Can we expect imense competition, maybe even (gasp) an extra free controller or two? I loved the launch of the NES... it was expensive, but at least it came with two controllers, a lightgun, and two games. Fun and variety right out of the box! Some bundles even came with the R.O.B. robot and even more games.
Personally, I'd like to see the hackable X-Box make more of a splash. I love to work on various SW/HW hacks. The very closed GameCube, to me anyway, is a symbol of a vanilla money-hungry console of the past.
That Microsoft has been saying up until Wednesday that they will absolutly ship on time.
They have also repeatedly denied any production problems.
Assuming that they are not all simply lying scum:
My questions is how can a company wake up one morning and discover that they will have no where near the number of units on hand they said they would and will need to push a launch date back. It's been a two day span between nothing is wrong, everthing will ship to, "We are delaying and have 'moved past' talking about specific launch numbers." What this would seem to indicate is a truly SPECTACULAR level of ingorance or incompetence.
This follows of course on the Mhz reductions in their GPU and spec reductions across the board.
The collorary to the first question is when will the fan sites covering the xbox stop just eating up what they are told. I have yet to see a fan site use an iota of intelligence in reporting on the xbox, but blindy eat up overhyped stats. What type of control does Microsoft exert over these numbskulls.
It makes for great reading however... the fan sites are truly a bunch of nitwits who can't seem to critically evaluate a thing. I'd love to get the customer list for xbox buyers and call them selling the brooklyn bridge.
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.)
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
It makes sense that they aren't in production yet. Consider that essentially what they're selling is a repackaged PC. Most of the components in there are the same components any PC has in it. Now consider how much those components may well drop in price between now and mid-November.
PC manufacturers try to keep a parts inventory measured in a few days (Dell actually has negative inventory, considering that their terms usually say they pay 30 days after receiving the parts, or so I hear).
Sure, they're going to have to do a bunch of advance production to keep up with the initial demand, but it makes sense to minimize this.
And that's leaving aside the marketing advantages of creating the appearance of a hit product by constraining supply to create shortages.
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.
:)
Yeah...I'd say that production not beginning yet is a problem
It'll still be out before Duke Nukem Forever.
let's see,
canada has roughly the population of california (around 32 million).
the us has roughly 285 million inhabitants.
quick bit of math gives that to be about 1 in 9.
-sam
The REAL sam_at_caveman_dot_org is user ID 13833.
Wow, didn't Sony do this last year? Right before Christmas they delayed the release and then came up with drastically fewer boxes than they expected, thereby putting the market into a buying frenzy. Anything with the PS2 logo quickly sold out, and Sony raked in the money.
Get out and start standing in lines now, cuz those units that you grab at the local Best Buy will be gold on eBay. And if you keep one for yourself I'd like the box from ya so I can sell it to some rube on eBay for $1500.
I think Nintendo should move their release date forward, it would be a definite sign of confidence. It might cause some inconvienience but then again, Micrsoft would really be behind. Nintendo has the systems in place. They are meeting demand in Japan (which is less than expected, but not bad) so they could definitly pull it off. Not many people would wait over a week to spend more money on a worse product (that's right, flame on) from a unproven brand (in video games). Although the x-box will definitly be a quality product, it just isn't as good of an investment of money to most.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Remember when PS2 was delaying and initial shipments were constrained? People were selling PS2 on eBay before Christmas for as much as $5000.
:-D
Anyone with some spare cash should probably get their pre-orders in, it looks like another hot investment opportunity...
Which big corporation does everyone think of as inspirational, moral-always does the right thing, and makes everyone happy?
;)
I don't know of one. Granted, only a few others sport the sort of egregious abuses of monopoly power that Microsoft does, but so what.
You don't like Microsoft? Fine go buy a Nintendo. Have fun. Go buy your shiny new ball from a different evil corporation.
Any for-profit entity is *for profit*. You want to support a new order that respects people and the world in general? Then support, work at, and otherwise propagate non-profit entities.
I for one, probably won't buy any new game system at all. I don't have time for it anyway with the new Compaq Presario 7000Z I bought from the "evil" for-profit Compaq Corporation.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
I do hope your sig file is supposed to be ironic.
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
For your edification please see www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=toleranse
If you didn't mean it ironically, then I suggest you be more tolerant. A lifetime of self-hate really sucks.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
The scene: Xbox marketing and development lab conference room. Two MSX-droids hash out the ongoing
problems with the Xbox project...
Drone #1: Our box needs to kick ass, or we lose big time. The guys over in the hype machine have set the
bar seriously high! The later it gets, the better it has to be! We might not ever get done!
Drone #2: Yeah it is almost a PC now, maybe we should have thought that Dell offer through a little
more... It will be ok though because that is what we do best --hype now and build later. Half of them
don't even know the difference!
Drone #1: What are we going to do about the price? I mean everything but the kitchen sink is in there!
Parents know how much PC's cost, we have to drop that image, or they will never buy. They will say they
already have one. Everyone knows there is a difference between a PC and a game machine.
#1: That's ok, we will make it up on the licensing. Thats how those Sony and Nintendo guys do it.
Besides the hardware guys know what they are doing.
#2: For that it has to be closed. Damn! that means we have to get it right the first time. No
upgrades...
#1: We can use the expansion port! Everyone has one on their systems right? Anything we need to add goes
in there.
#2: Not everybody buys them though. Expansions make it messy for the dev guys. Remember they said they
would port if the environment was stable. If it gets ugly they will probably just stick to the PC. We
better just make sure we are covered on the hardware front and take the hit on the price. We have deep
pockets -everything will be ok. Remember the chief did say 'at any cost'!
#1: What if we don't have the best games? Damn Sony and their contracts! The bigger the initial loss the
more games we have to sell.
#2: Are you kidding? We have great games. Between Sega, the PC ports, and those cool guys over at the
Microsoft Game development team, our games are going to rock! We don't have to have the best games
silly, we just need the games that people are willing to buy. Remember Sony seems to mix in a lot of
that Jap Crap, we have an all American line up. What could be better for America than American games?
#1: Ok, we are covered on the games. Sounds good! --Wait! What about all those hippy Open Source Linux
running geeks?!? They are going to make webservers, mp3 players, emulators and all sorts of things on
cheap hardware we paid for! What about that!
#2: Linux does not run on Xbox, whats the big deal? Quit worrying.
#1: Man, Linux runs on everything! It's even on a wristwatch for Gods' sake! You don't get outside the
campus enough. Besides we promised the Hollywood guys that it would be closed and cheaper than Sony.
You know how they hate to pay one of their own for distribution -gives them fits just thinking about it.
It's our ace in the hole!
#2: We will just have to make sure it will never run. We can encrypt the ROM and CPU like they do with
some of the Arcade games. That combined with special hardware will make it tough. Who said you get to
leave campus? Running Linux are ya?
#1: No, never... b-but it's all over the web, just look at Slashdot! There are ports mentioned every
couple of weeks! Besides, if our stuff runs, then they can look at that to make their stuff go too. We
would just be adding to the price in order to put them off.
#2: Slashdot-Trashdot, that is why the DMCA was passed remember? You worry too much. Besides I hear
that we are buying another law. It will be perfect! Linux will be illegal because it is not certified
by hollywood and us to run, so even if they run it, they are screwed!
#1: So, does that mean we have to include a contract that requires owners of an Xbox to buy our games?
That is not going to make us look good at the DOJ. They seem to have backed off, but a lot of people
are still pissed.
#2: Which people? Oh, you mean the ones that don't have any money? They won't matter, we have some of
the best inside help working with us on this one. By the time they scrape together any sort of a plan,
this thing will go through right to the top!
#1: Maybe you are right, it is just complex. Why can't we just do what we need to do without all these
hassles?
#2: Ok here's the plan just in case. Every Xbox connects to a phone line and we set up a new free online
service like Sega did with PSO Online. When the machine comes on it checks its boot media, if a non
Microsoft OS is there, it stops and reminds the users of their duty as a citizen to follow the DMCA.
#1: That does not sound like a very fun game machine. Tech support is going to kill us. They are already
buried with product activation, and this will send them through the roof. Ever talk to a pissed off
Apple user. Clueless and angry, enough to drive you nuts! They are nothing compared to the parents who
have to call about the game machine they bought to keep their kids busy!
#2: It will be fine. Lots of things connect to the phone these days. Don't worry about it. Look at all
those cable users with a phone line on their box. The geeks even like their TVIO machines with a phone
line.
#1: The new rage is cell phones, college kids all over the place don't even have a normal phone, and how
are you going to do game parties? They don't want phones, they want ethernet!
#2: Ok you make the call, we have to have more input on this.
#1: No way! I remember what happened last time. That is why you are #2 --remember?
(In walks #3 fresh from school with visions of stock options in his head.... )
#3: Hey guys! What's with the long faces?
#1 & #2: Just in time! Hey we have a little project we would like to to head up for a while, you seem
ready for something new. Lets meet in our office later today to discuss the details.
To be continued...
Blogging because I can...
The Gamecube is launching at $200. Last I checked, the PS2 was still at $300, so that price drop will bring it to the GC level. I saw somewhere several months ago that Sony was going to do two $50 price drops this year, but aparently that didn't happen for some reason.
Microsoft makes good hardware, but they don't have final fantasy, zelda, mario or sonic
It's been said that there have only been seven video games ever made, and that all other games are remakes of these. I can't get more specific because Slashdot search seems to be broken.
For example, the Xbox may not have Final Fantasy(tm) brand final fantasy, but it does have Morrowind brand final fantasy. It may not have Zelda(tm) brand zelda, but it does have Azurik brand, Malice brand, and New Legends brand zelda, and these aren't cel-shaded like Z9 for GAMECUBE. It may not have Soul Calibur(tm) brand or Bushido Blade(tm) brand swordfighting Star Wars brand swordfighting. It doesn't have Mario Kart(tm) brand or Crash Team Racing(tm) brand kart racing/combat, but it does have Blood Wake brand water vehicle combat and Mad Dash brand foot racing. It doesn't have Goldeneye(TM) brand goldeneye, but it does have Halo brand goldeneye. It doesn't have side-scrolling mario, but neither does GAMECUBE.
On the other hand, OmegaMan mentioned that Sega develops Xbox software and may release Sonic(tm) brand sonic.
DISCLAIMER: Trademarks in this comment are used for comparative and comic effect.Will I retire or break 10K?
On behalf of all America, I'd like to say that this person does not speak for our country's videogamers. Plenty of us play our KoF, DDR, UO, Sims or old school systems, and can think and communicate in an educated manner using more than trite cliches and a solid block of rant.
Thank you.
--
Evan "Who is more of a dice and pencil gamer, but now spends his fair share of time in the local arcade and in front of a variety of consoles" E.
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Although it was designed and coded in the short time since the terrorist attack, developers felt the game would have fewer bugs than, say Myst III: Exile.
Full story
Box art
Screen Cap
All this means is that I've got to wait another week before PS2 drops to $199. *sigh*
When you say "it has been said," what you mean to say is "I have said, over and over and over."
No, I refer to a specific comment made here a few stories back, which I can't find at the moment because Slashdot's search seems to be broken.
Non-Miyamoto Zelda is not Zelda
You got that right; bad gameplay and buggy code puts the 'blo' in a popular imitator.
Let us be clear: when a poster says, "It doesn't have Zelda, Metroid, Perfect Dark, etc.," he or she is not talking about trademarks. It is a matter of preference in design teams and fundamental vision behind the projects.
True; metroid, z3, and pretty much everything by Rareware rock. But moms still have whiny kids who want their Pokemon regardless of how bad the gameplay is (not counting the GB titles but rather the merchandising, which is all based on the $#!++y TV show). As Pikachu says: "BEAT THE JEW!"
You mentioned Perfect Dark. Good game, but expensive, as it costs nearly $800 to enjoy fully: $50 for Perfect Dark, $100 for an N64 to play it on, $40 for a RAM expansion pack (required for all modes except a couple 2P deathmatch levels), $90 for 3 extra controllers, $30 for Perfect Dark for Game Boy Color (required to unlock some PD features), $70 for a Game Boy Color system to play it on, $50 for a Game Boy Camera to create face textures, $50 for a Transfer Pak to copy the textures to the game (nintendo says the msrp for the Transfer Pak by itself is $20, but I havent see Transfer Paks in stores apart from the Pokemon Stadium 1 bundle), and at least $300 for a TV large enough to fit a 4-player split screen. You can get an entry-level PC with Quake III Arena and 1000 hours of AOL(tw) for that price.
But what do you know about games? How can anyone who knows what he's talking about associate a serious simulation like Bushido Blade with Soul Caliber?
I gave them as examples of swordfighting games. I should have just mentioned the souledge series without bringing up Bushido.
Will I retire or break 10K?
It's not like no other store in Canada wants them: I work at a computer store where we have access to a large college market. However they're still intent on selling only to the F-Shop.
"My guess is Nintendo will do some cool bundles for the Thanksgiving and Christmas ones, where you pay $200 but get an extra game or a Pokemon version instead."
The Pokemon Nintendo 64 was released 4 years into that console's lifespan. I doubt Nintendo would be redesigning the GameCube so soon...
"The controllers are going to be Game Boy Advance - throwing in spares eats into the GBA upgrade path from the GB Color that they're looking at right now."
This idea that Game Boy Advance units can be used as GameCube controls is wrong. True, there are some games that you can link a GBA with to control the game or aspects of the game with it(Kirby springs to mind from Spaceworld), however the GBA will not just work as a control for any game.
The GameCube control has two analogue control sticks, a digital D-pad, Digital buttons A B X Y Z and Start. The Game Boy Advance has a digital D-pad, digital buttons A B L R and Start. Even if Nintendo wanted to use the GBA as GCN controls, they simply lack the required functionality.
"Now if they could just release some of the cool Japan-only games for North America and throw those in the bundle, that would be severely cool."
What cool games on the GCN are Japan only so far?
If you hadn't heard already, Best Buy (big USA chain) bought Futureshop a month or 2 ago.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.