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MS Worried About Meeting 360 Demand
GamesIndustry.biz has an article up right now indicating that, at least in the UK, Microsoft is worried about meeting demand for the 360 because they think so many people are going to want to buy the console. From the article: "We feel as a company we've done the groundwork to get to a point where we can do the global release; we feel we're going to deliver and have a great Xmas...Will we execute well so retail will have good volume? Yes. But I don't think we're going to meet demand as people are going to come into this platform in a big way."
*cough* hype *cough*
Sounds like the beginning of a false demand being rumored to guarantee scarcity later on from frantic parents. What better way to create a sense of urgency than to start saying now, 5 months before launch, that the demand might not be met, and reinforce realtors to push the "Make sure you preorder to lock your availability in!", or "Don't disappoint little Johnny buy now because it might not be available for a long time." crap. It is just a vicious cycle being whipped up by M$. That way they can honk their horn about many preorders there are and blah blah blah...... I just shutter to think of the next XBox/MTV crossover event.
So, does anyone else remember the marketing ploy enhancing the desirability of Cabbage Patch Dolls? Once again, genius marketing.
(any guesses how inflated the price will be once the perception is out there the 360's will be "rare"?)
Its a marketing ploy , they are trying to drum up numbers by making it seem rare.
quite an old trick really
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Is that your intent? Thought so.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I see all the comments so far are basically saying this is a deliberate part of Microsoft's hype campaign.
They're probably right.
However, there's one indication I've seen that Microsoft's predictions might not be so far off the mark. I play FFXI; a MMORPG with a high (I'd guess about 40%) proportion of Japanese players. I've had conversations with quite a few Japanese players who are actually pretty exicted about the 360. Given the original X-Box basically vanished without a trace in Japan, this could be a potential indicator that the 360 is destined for bigger things. At the very least, it seems that Microsoft's deliberate targeting of Japanese developers is at least going some way towards achieving its intended effect.
This is one of those /. discussions in which every post, excepting the first, can be justly modded Redundant. Since we all had the same exact same thought, what can we actually discuss?
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Let's see... Sony underproduced the first run of the Playstation deliberately.
Then they underproduced the first run of the PS2 deliberately to claim it was "selling out."
Then they did the same with the PSP... as well as underproducing decent-sized Memory Stick DUO cards and then jacking the price up 200%.
I detect a subtle pattern here. Couldn't tell you what it is, though.
Let's look at the alternate option: MS is angling for their console to be the big thing. They're releasing it with NO competition, onto the busy holiday season, so there's definitely going to be competition for the units. Of course they want to have large numbers of preorders, because it's a marketing point.
Of course they want to get as many units out onto the street as they can. Only someone who actually has a unit is likely to be receiving and/or buying a game for it.
Yeah, it's a marketing spiel. But I'd rather they tell us right now, that they'll get as many as they can out the door and see what happens, rather than have them claim (like Sony did) that they had more than enough while secretly holding stock back in a warehouse just to create the illusion of scarcity.
...I'll be taking pre-orders shortly for the fifth printing of my new, yet-to-be-written novel. You know you want to read it, because I say so!
why? forty-two.
Think of the children!
while this is nothing more than hype, similar to that of when halo 2 was released (btw i went to best buy at 8 pm and got a special edition copy with out having to wait in line...)
the y still have one less person to worry about as i wont be buying one... i am personally waiting for the revolution from nintendo...as they are the only real gaming company left...
sony and MS are trying to sell gaming as a fad, the next hip thing...nintendo just wnats to push units to push games...look at the hype machines from all 3 companies...the two major players this year an undoubtly MS and sony...all they are touting is graphics capabilities...while nintendo realizes that they cant compete in that are so they dont...instead focousing on gameplay. when i play a game on any system, i want to enjoy my self. and frankly...i havent been enjoying all the BS hype from the 2 evil mega corps.
MS is still new to the industry and hasn't produced a game console like this with custom components before. Taking into consideration the early launch date and they need enough consoles to spread around the world...that's a pretty tall order.
I think this lets us in on the third step..
Step 1) Buy an xbox as soon as you can
Step 2) Sell it on eBay near Christmas for $100s over list price to some Midwestern mother who doesn't know any better and just has to have it for her spoiled kid.
Step 3) PROFIT!
Pssst. Kid, wanna experience revolutionary HDTV gaming (TM)?