XBox 360 Launching Nov 22

EGSonikku writes "Microsoft has released an official press release regarding the XBox 360 world wide launch just prior to the Tokyo Game Show. Looks like the US will be getting it just prior to Thanksgiving on November 22nd. Europe will get it on December 2nd, and Japan on December 10th."

Comments

That's a first

[darkjedi521]

Holy cow. Europe's getting a major console release before Japan. That's got to be a first.

Re:That's a first

[dancingmad]

It is interesting.

Japanese consumers aren't stupid, they know the machine's coming out everywhere else before Japan. It's going to look like MS snubbing the country. They're not going to like it and the 360 is going to suffer from a draught of good Japanese games, I think (the titles reported to be in development is the bare minimum it needs and I doubt even those titles are going to buoy the machine too much in Japan).

Re:That's a first

[badasscat]

It would seem to be in Microsoft's best interests to get any many S-E games as possible to come out for the 360.

It would have been in their best interests last time around too, but it didn't happen.

Don't assume all this stuff happens in a vacuum. Sony is actively trying to thwart all of MS's moves in Japan and they have the advantage of playing on their home turf - they know the guys as S-E, they work with them all the time, they literally speak the same language. They also run their businesses the same way - the Japanese way. They understand each other, and know they can work together... especially if a bit of extra cash for an "exclusive" is thrown around.

MS was not able to get the offline FF series on the original Xbox and I doubt they will get it on the Xbox 360. This is still Square's bread and butter (as far as FF goes) and Sony knows it's what sells systems. I also doubt you'll see a Dragon Quest on Xbox 360 either - which is arguably even more important in Japan, where DQ outsells FF.

Square-Enix may throw MS a bone every once in a while, but it will likely be old games like FFXI that have run out their exclusivity deals, and crap like Drakengard that nobody really cares about anyway. All so MS can count S-E as a development partner and use it in their marketing.

I am not excited

[Anonymous Coward]

I purchased the PS2 and the XBox on release, but the XBox 360 does not have me excited. It doesn't use HD DVD, but standard DVD, costs 400 with hard drive. Wireless is extra, extra controllers are a lot extra. Games are 60 dollars and it doesn't play XBox games.

Where is the advantage in buying this thing? It's not really a huge leap in technology and it's not much to get excited about.

The PSP I bought (v1.5) is a much more interesting device, especially since I have to fly so frequently.

Re:I am not excited

[Spaceman Spiff II]

I know what you mean, but hey, at least it looks pretty cool. ;-)

One console that I am excited about, though, is the Nintendo Revolution due out probably some time next year. The president of Nintendo is going to do the keynote at this year's Tokyo Games thing, and will most likely reveal a giant mystery about it: what the controller is going to be like! Speculation is wide, and a lot of people are thinking it might use gyroscopic technologies to sense the moving of the controller. Also, the Revolution will be able to play every Nintendo game ever made all the way back to the NES!

Tune in at 7PM tonight to see what his announcement is.

Re:I am not excited

[supabeast!]

I agree, the Xbox 360 launch is pretty bland. I think that the biggest problem is a lack of hyped games - there was the big crazy launch party where they showed a bunch of CGI rendered on Powermacs and claimed it was what we'll be playing, and then went into hiding. Due to this big lack of important press, if I got an Xbox 360 for launch, I don't even know what the hell I'd be able to do with. If Microsoft wants to avoid stores with huge overstocks of Xbox 360s on December 26, they really need to shut up about the hardware and show us the games.

A new age for PPC

[Saven Marek]

What I am excited about is not that this is a new console, but that it is a new age for the PPC chip. And just when Apple has dropped it. Some technologies have all the luck?

While apple might not have the chance to use the version of the G5 with three cores and 3.2GHz or faster speeds I wonder if the price drop on those with microsoft buying millions and millions will cause IBM to build normal motherboards with PPC power. A 3.2GHz G5 motherboard built by IBM and guaranteed by them to work with linux by IBM writing the kernel modules for them would be a really great solution for a desktop if you want to get away from x86!.

again what a pity steve didn't wait to hear about this one. I bet the top G5 powermac will still be 2.7GHz when the xbox comes out at 3.2ghz and with one extra core and better graphics. and be cheaper. Apple could have benefited from that cost drop due to microsoft. Thats a pity

Re:haha japan!!!

[Red Flayer]

"more seriously, we know these huge publishers can do a simultaneous worldwide release, why don't they?? wouldn't that discourage a little bit of piracy by people who want to get things early?? i'd think they'd be all about that.... "

Well, in this case:

(1) They'd have to delay the release in the US, and possibly Europe. Producing the machines takes time and production capacity, which is not cheap. You don't want machines sitting in inventory if you can help it.

(2) They want to make sure they time the release with a major consumer purchase period. In the US, Thanksgiving weekend is the biggest retail sales weekend of the year. Not so in Europe or Japan.

(3) Multiple releases creates a psychological effect that encourages 'late' adopters to buy. More press. More games. "Holy crap, if people in Europe can buy it, should I have one by now?" By 'late', in this case, I mean the people who don't buy it at release -- not people like me, who will be buying in 2008.

Preorders?

[DanthemaninVA1]

Too bad the only preorders you can get for it online are for $600 and up bundles. Anybody know where you can preorder the vanilla $400 bundle?

Re:Geek Card Revoked!

[NitroWolf]

Okay, you've never had a console, but admit to playing Dance, Dance Revolution? I suspect your either a girl or gay. And I don't say that demeaningly. Its just I can't imagine a red-blooded male American (including Canadians) who would play it, except maybe in secret, and definitely true geeks don't have the coordination for it. Geezus what is Slashdot coming to?!?!

What world have you been living in? DDR is actually quite fun... I'm a 30 something male and straight. So that shoots your theory to shit.

DDR is decent exercise, and it's a fairly hard game. I've never played it in the arcade because I don't want to look like an idiot in front of people, so I opted for the home version both on the Xbox and the PC (Stepmania) and ended up buying some Red Octane Afterburner pads (wish I had went with Cobalt Flux in retrospect).

If you fancy yourself good at video games, I suggest you give DDR a try and see how much you truely suck at coordination. I can whip your ass up one side and down the other at any fighter you care to mention, but a 12 year old girl can kick my ass at DDR playing backwards and blindfolded. I will admit, though, that DDR is a lot about patterns and memorization... kinda like Mortal Combat.