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Xbox 2 To Be Unveiled on MTV May 12

Posted by samzenpus on from the anything-but-videos dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft confirmed this morning that the Xbox 2 will be revealed on live TV on May 12. MTV will air a half-hour long special to launch the system. 'It doesn't make sense to unveil the product behind a closed door, at a trade-only event,' according to Microsoft corporate VP Peter Moore. 'We wanted to talk directly to the consumer first.'" More coverage available on GamesIndustry.biz and Press the Buttons.

19 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. PSP by Yeldarb-7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The PSP "Launch Party" was a flop. Why shouldn't this be also?

  2. Definitely Next? by Reignking · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article (yes, I RTFA) calls it the XBox Next. Is it confirmed, then, that the official name of the new XBox is XBox Next?

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    One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
    1. Re:Definitely Next? by dwin902 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I believe I remember reading that Xbox 360 was a likely choice because it contained a "3", like the PS3. MS apparently thought that marketing an Xbox 2 would be difficult because consumers would think (subconsciously) that it was less advanced than the PS3. I've never really understood marketing techniques anyway.

    2. Re:Definitely Next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
      There have been three semi-official names kicking around:

      * Xbox 2

      * Xbox Next

      * Xbox 360

      Does it not speak volumes about Microsoft's perception of their target audience that they opted away from naming their second console with a two as the suffix due to the fact Microsoft thought consumers would compare it to the three in the "PlayStation 3" and think because three is higher than two...

      Now for something shiny.

  3. It's that bad? by Quasar1999 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Usually they build enormous hype by not showing it off to the consumer but rather showing it to select few reviewers, who then spill all sorts of happy, wonderful, everything is awesome, best thing since sliced bread reviews... everyone gets all hyped up, and by the time end consumers get to see the product for what it is, full of issues, the hype is so big that no one cares, and they sell millions...

    Why switch the perfect marketing model?

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    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
  4. Paid Programming by razmaspaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will this be the highest tune in ever for a paid advertisement that is not taking place during the Super Bowl? I mean really, I don't think MTV is giving away air time to Microsoft...right?

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    I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
  5. well.. at a trade show.. by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    you might be given some hard pressed questions from industry experts asking if the plastic case actually is the machine and if it actually works.

    a show on mtv would be just one way, them pulling all the strings and saying whatever they want of the device - without the possibility for anyone to ask questions about it.

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    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  6. Interested maybe, not, kinda? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm interested in Xbox2 only if it allows me to use it for:
    - internet browsing front end
    - music playback
    - video playback (mpeg1, 2, 4, wm)
    - video recording using external capture box
    - games
    - a .net virtual machine so I can run end user written code

  7. Good Move by slusich · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This is going to expose the product to the people who are going to be buying it early on. I personally can't wait to see it, and depending on the price point, I'll probably buy one farily soon after they come out. I've got all 3 of the current generation of consoles, and at present I own more games for the Xbox then the other 2 combined. The Xbox is a really solid machine, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next generation is going to be capable of.

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    DeviantArt Page

    NSFW
  8. Re:closed door? by Keeper · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Who said that it wouldn't be shown at E3? It isn't DEBUTING at E3; E3 is May 17-19.

  9. Re:"talk to" implies discussion by thehun101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They have a name for those: Infomercials.

    - the Hun

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    I'm a Tasty-vore. If it's Tasty, I'll eat it.
  10. Re:Music? Television by Mr.Dippy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I really do miss the days when video games were considered underground and for hardcore nerds. I do take offensense that the current video game industry sees me as an ADD High school cheer leader who can't get enough music industry dribble contained in shiney package presented by Paris Hilton. Everytime I watch MTV my head hurts from the constant camera shifting and bright lights they use in every shot. I know it's probably really extremem but I'm going to pass up on Xbox 2. I'm not crazy about playing games online and I'm not crazy about the way this product is being marketed to me. Please, for the love of God, won't somebody bring back the Sega Genesis/Dreamcast and let people who actually enjoy playing innovative games do just that.

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    -Dipster
  11. Re:Music? Television by northcat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually it *is* their audience. You might think that all gamers are intelligent beings who like games that mentally stimulate them, but mainstream gamers, just like mainstream-anything, are just mindless mtv-watching zombies who play anything that the media feeds them and play a new version of an American football game every year.

  12. Re:Own hardware by JoshRosenbaum · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But because ATI now supplies the GPU, there has been speculation that the Xbox2 will not be backwards compatible.

    You sure about that? I would imagine that MS would have an API accessing the graphics components, and that they would just need to change the back-end of the API. It seems far more likely that the backwards compatability problem will come from using a PowerPC chip which uses different machine code than an x86 chip, and would require all games to be recompiled/changed. NOTE: I have not read anything on this subject.

  13. Re:I'm taking all bets by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Why would MS have to make the specific claim that the Xbox could do 66 million polygons per second in order to back up the foul-mouthed poster's case?"

    That was more of a poke at Sony than it was a literal challenge. I'm not saying it never happened, but I don't recall MS claiming the XBOX was 6 times more powerful than it really was.

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    "Derp de derp."
  14. Re:This will be running a G5, right? by javaxman · · Score: 4, Interesting
    How long before someone figures out how to get OS X running on one of these? Or, if it's easier to get a PPC Linux distro installed, then it's just a matter of

    If we're taking bets, I'm going to guess ( for no good reason, without justification ) there's nothing like a Northbridge on this thing, so PPC Linux first.

    Besides, you're not breaking a software EULA to get Linux working on your Xbox, doesn't that mean anything to you people ?

    Damn, I need a sarcasm key for that last line.

    And no, not a 'G5'. Something like it, but likely not actually a G5. A 64-bit PowerPC chip. Not a G5. Though the difference might be slight... it could be significant. The "Cell" for the PS3 is a PowerPC chip, too, but it's quite different from the PowerPC 970.

  15. Two things: by Wraithfighter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    1: They aren't releasing it four days before E3, they're just showing it off with a few tech demos. Ya know, stuff that makes everyone go ooh and ahh and won't matter much because its all about the games, not graphical specs. Otherwise, Xbox and Gamecube would be the top-sellers in this generation, since they have the best graphics, instead of the PS2's lackluster visuals. 2: Just a note: The OurColony.net thing has a countdown timer that ends an hour and a half after this special, and its been pretty much proven that Microsoft is behind it all :). So two questions: 1: Why an hour and a half difference? Did they forget to account for daylight savings time or did MTV change the time? 2: What happens there when it hits 0?

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    Beyond the Polygons : Because 50,000 polygo
  16. Re:Music? Television by Fig,+formerly+A.C. · · Score: 4, Interesting
    "Good thing"?

    Elijah Wood will present the half-hour segment that'll be jam packed with celebs gushing over the console,

    Yeah, cause Frodo was an avid gamer in the movies. :P

    Seriously, celebs know dick about politics, economics, or video games. I don't think someone with an artsy-fartsy theater background or "duh captain of duh team" is qualified to review a game system or games.

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    Murphy was an optimist.
  17. I'm SURE someone will hack it to do that stuff. by TheLittleJetson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Microsoft's horrible security track record is to our benefit when it comes to their gaming consoles. They put the copy protection routines from the first xbox on a removable chip (I think it was even flashable.)

    The Xbox 2 is supposedly powered by 3 (three) PowerPC 970 (G5) chips, and some equally insane video processor. It would make quite the media-center PC if someone can hack it. I'm not so sure about .NET but I would expect to see Linux running on one of these, and a whole bunch of software shortly thereafter.