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Microsoft May License Out XBox Software
myheroBobHope writes "Apparently, Microsoft may license Xbox software to 3rd parties. Could this lead to the death of the standalone console? With the possibility of Media PC's with XBox software installed on them, why bother buying an Xbox?" From the article: "Gates hasn't offered specifics about the kind of software or which companies would be involved. He also hasn't said whether the arrangement will involve manufacturers making products other than game machines, such as digital consumer electronics gadgets that combine PC functions with home appliances." Update: 07/01 13:48 GMT by Z : From a comment by StingRay02, a link to a Gamespot article in which MS says this won't happen.
I mean when CDI and 3DO did this, it completely elminated the standalone console....oh wait.
To me this just seems like a grab at some media attention. Heaven forbid that everyone stops talking about company Z for a few minutes. Perhaps they're just throwing it out there to see how Sony and Nintendo react to the proposition.
If they do, do this it's win-win for Microsoft all the way. First they get money when anyone wants to add Xbox functionality to whatever device they want. Then they get money whenever anyone buys an Xbox game to play on that piece of hardware. They don't have to worry about anything but counting all the money that rolls in.
Since Microsoft has poured a lot of money into the Xbox 360, they really need to make it succeed. They can't go on having the Xbox lose money all the time. This means they can't really spent much effort with their current generation machine once it launches. Since it runs on and Intel chip, which a lot of PCs use anyway, it shouldn't be hard to create an Xbox Virtual Machine or have someone else buy the rights to create one to run on some other type of hardware. Microsoft has just found a way to continue expanding the Xbox platform without having to do any work. Even if it's a failure, it doesn't hurt Microsoft as much because they're not directly involved.
It'll be interesting to see what comes of this.
Look at the markets where embedded devices work, and where they don't.
Embedded VCR's sold well - provided you only wanted a 13-inch TV. They failed to sell well when the TV was any bigger. Why? Because they were only space-efficient at the point where you had that tiny a TV. Rednecks living in trailer parks and college students living in dorms, who couldn't fit anything bigger than a 13" TV into their living space anyways, bought TV's with VCR's built in. Everyone else bought a TV, bought a VCR, and were quite happy to have them separate.
Plus, everyone who had a separate VCR never had to worry about what to do when the inevitable happened and the VCR ate a tape or had a belt slip. Most of the 13" TV's with a built-in VCR couldn't even BE repaired because they weren't built for anyone to open them up.
Embedded gaming systems have been around for ages. Where do you find them? Hotels. Pay-per-play Nintendo, SNES, or even Playstation titles built into your hotel's TV in case you get bored watching their ultra-stripped-down cable that gets all the boring local channels plus CNN and the in-house pay per view movie channels.
In home theaters what do you find? People want their components separate. They buy a DVD player separate from the TV. Even if the DVD player came as a set with the speaker system, it's removable - you can plug another DVD player or something else into the sound system just as easily.
Why do they do this? Because modular systems work best.
Think about it seriously. Say you buy a nice, 36" TV. You want your TV to work with your DVD player, your Xbox, your Gamecube, your Revolution, whatever else you hook up to it.
You want to know that three years from now, the TV still works and you can hook up something new to it. You want to know that if your DVD player is on the fritz you can unplug the DVD player, plug something else in, and go.
The LAST thing you want is to have to take the TV in for servicing because the Xbox part broke down. Now not only can't you play your Xbox games, you can't do anything ELSE until it comes back from the repair shop because your TV had to go with it.
These will sell well to hotels but if someone thinks they're going to sell any appreciable number to home consumers they're delusional.