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Ballmer Reflects on Xbox Launch Errors
Steve Ballmer, cheerleader for all things Microsoft, was candid and reflective during the first official day of the expo. Gamespot has coverage of the one hour rap session he held with journalists, discussing game demos, the positioning of the 360, and their rivalry with Sony. From the article: "He voluntarily reflected on the poor pre-release showing the company gave the first-gen Xbox, calling those early demos 'a disaster.' Threaded through his comments in the freeform discussion were constant references to what the company must do to better its performance in the console wars with the Xbox 360." Update: 05/18 21:31 GMT by Z : Helps if I actually link to the article, huh? Interview with Ballmer up on Engadget, as well.
Commenting on the ease that game pirates can mod the Xbox, the execs agreed that "with the Xbox, it was too easy [to mod]. In the next generation, we want t o figure it out so even if they figure it out, it won't make economic sense."
Ruh roh.
"[previous product] sucked - I don't know why anyone used it... I'm ashamed of it... but [new product] is the pinacle of excellence and you'd be a retard to still use [old product] while [new product] is available for only [everything in your wallet, your favourite shirt and your new kitten]."
BlackNova Traders
You mean the same pre-rendered stuff and rubby ducky demo (which saw when the PS2 got announced), where none of the games ever came close to looking like that? Don't get me wrong, I watched all of it, and it got me excited in a 'what-if!?!?' sort of way, but I'm not stupid enough to think the actual Killzone 2 would ever look anywhere near what they showed in the CGI movie. God forbid Microsoft actually focus on showing actual games, that will actually be playable at the show and released in the fall, and people rag on them for it by comparing them to the pre-rendered CGI footage and tech demos from the PS3.