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Xbox 360 Confirmed For November
Gamespot has word that indeed, the Xbox 360 is finally confirmed for a release this year. What's more, the 360 will probably be released this November. The MTV 360 preview scheduled for later this month has literature which reveals the exact month of the new console's release. From the article: "The listing appears to cement suspicions that the next Xbox will launch on the fourth anniversary of the original Xbox's release in mid-November 2001. However, despite the clear wording of the MTV listing, Microsoft representatives said they could not comment on it for the time being."
From the post: "Xbox 360 Confirmed For November"...
;)
..."What's more, the 360 will probably be released this November.
Hmmmmmm.......looks like the Slashdot editors are just making stuff up now!
Digital Sailor
The fun part about that is that Microsoft more or less bullied Sega's Dreamcast out of the market. I still LOVE my dreamcast, and it died a far premature death.
How do you figure this? The general concensus is that the Dreamcast was killed by a combination of the popularity of the PSX/PS2, the poor public image Sega had after the failed SegaCD, 32X and Saturn, and lets not forget the rampant piracy of Dreamcast games. In fact, Microsoft actually helped Sega somewhat by releasing a version of Windows CE that was used by some developers to make their games.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Dreamcast, but by the time the XBox was released, Sega was already out of the race.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
The fun part about that is that Microsoft more or less bullied Sega's Dreamcast out of the market.
Oh really? A lot of irate Dreamcast fans blamed Sony, whose PS2 vapour (claims of real-time rendering at a quality comparable to Disney/Pixar's Toy Story) discouraged the general public from buying Dreamcast consoles and games, making continued support for the console uneconomic.
Others blamed widespread illicit copying of commercial games.
PS2 does an awful job of presenting the online experience. The configuration of network settings is a pain in the ass, there are no global friends lists so that you can see what games your friends are actually playing at the time, and there's nowhere near the depth that xbox has (in terms of leaderboards, game modes, content downloads, headset support, etc.)
On top of that, Xbox has a much stricter code of conduct and more power to suspend and ban obnoxious players because you are playing through the xbox live system.. i.e. If I am being a jerk in Madden on xbox, they can suspend my xbox live account so that I cant play anything online... If I'm playing something on the PS2 and I am being a jerk, they can pretty much only ban me from that one game or possibly from games from that one developer, since there is no ruling body covering all online conduct for Playstation.
As much as I hate Microsoft, I have to say when it comes to online, the xbox does it right. I would happily pay $5 a month for a feature that is as fully flushed out as this.
not so. consumer hardware usually has a much longer lifetime. the CD player I bought 10 years ago still plays new CDs I buy in the store today. I can plug the TV I bought 20 years ago into the outlet in my new flat. I can play monkey island on the Mac I bought last year. for my N64, on the other hand, the only games I can buy are used. almost no more psx games are being made. such quick change is most unusual for consumer electronics.
The entire point, however, was comparing the value of a free online experience to a subscription one. The element of the actual game playing may be the same for both, but the bells, whistles, ease of use and everything else is what puts xbox ahead IMO.
No one argued that one service was smoother/faster/more reliable in terms of actual gameplay. The question was "Is it worth it to pay less than $5 a month for a service that delivers so much more than the PS2?"
(In addition, don't forget that the PS2 network adapter was a $30 to $40 addon for the first few years of the system... )