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Moore Refutes 360 Launch Rumours
Via Gamasutra, commentary from Peter Moore in the Seattle-PI about the furiously swirling Xbox 360 shortage rumours. From the article: "Is Microsoft purposefully holding back on shipments, trying to create an artificial appearance of extraordinary demand? Xbox executive Peter Moore says no -- pointing instead to the unprecedented scope of the launch. Microsoft, seeking to solidify its place in the living room and challenge Sony's dominant PlayStation franchise, is breaking from tradition by releasing its new machine in North America, Europe and Japan in rapid succession, over a span of three weeks."
Peter Moore admits it. The shortage is not a result of a malicious (but effective) marketing strategy by Microsoft. Xbox 360s are in shortage because the company can't get their act enough together to fill their pre-orders.
By doing a world wide launch they are creating a shortage. They knew they were going to do a world wide and should have produced enough units. So yes, they created a shortage.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Maybe the one I played in EB wasn't hooked up correctly, but the 360 didn't look or feel like anything special to me. Playing the demo made me want to play Kameo, but it didn't look any better than a regular XBox game to me.
e2 | LJ
The question (FTFA): "Is Microsoft purposefully holding back on shipments, trying to create an artificial appearance of extraordinary demand?"
The answer: No.
The other question: "Is Microsoft purposefully holding back on production, trying to create an artificial appearance of extraordinary demand?"
The answer: Maybe.
There's no way MS would hold on to extra inventory, it's too traceable, and also not a good idea financially. Instead, claim production insufficiencies -- you still getting reduced supply at release, without tying up cash in inventory, while having a believable justification.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
FFS, now it's not just /.ers, but also bloggers/columnists who are giving inflated prices for the XBox:
"The Xbox 360 Core System, without a hard drive, will cost $300, while the full-fledged Xbox 360, with hard drive, will cost $400."
Damn it, just stop!
Everyone should know by now that the prices will be $299 and $399, respectively.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
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i don't care
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For some crazy reason people like to think of Microsoft as a company full of evil geniuses.
In reality it is basically a bunch of dumb guys who think they are badass. Yes they still have some influence over x86 OEMs and companies locked in to the microsoft office format, but outside of that there just isn't anything there. Smart people don't end up at Microsoft - excluding of course the bogus Microsoft research part of the company which is more of a retirement home for industry people to sit around doing nothing all day.
Every gaming show since the very first xbox was announced people have been assuming Microsoft was just about to unveil some HUGE SECRET that would blow the industry away.
And nothing happens.
Every fuck up in the seemingly endless stream of Microsoft console fuck ups is assumed to be part of some SECRET PLAN that only the brainiacs up in Redmond could understand.
And nothing happens.
If you were to interview someone from the xbox team for a job, it would be like someone walking in with an empty resume and telling you if you hire them they will really "kick ass"
Save yourself the endless disappointments that overestimating these clowns brings. Once you wrap your head around what a bunch of dimwits the xbox project seems to attract, the whole xbox fiasco over the past five years makes perfect sense.
I'm going to believe the guy that's inside the conspiricy?
Trouble, a mistake or fun, your choice
is another slashdot article about the damned 360.
Someone hates these cans.
Although, as someone in the UK, I think a near simulataneous launch across Europe, Japan and North America is great, I can definatley see it causing a load of problems in the "getting enough machines ready in time" factor, compared to the usual technique of spreading the releases out by months between areas. I really don't think it's any holding back on their part, the reported undersupply seems way to bad to be any planned shortage, I really do believe they may just not have enough consoles ready. of course, as this is Microsoft, so everyone assumes they must doing it all for evil...
Of course, it is Microsoft's fault though for trying something really over ambitious, I think they mave have learning why other manufacturers never tried it before.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
All I heard was a MS executive passing the buck off to retailers. "Its the retailers fault for taking more preorders then they were going to receive! We aren't creating a shortage: they are selling more then they have!"
Which might be a valid argument, albeit one made from a position of extreme incompetance.
Personally, I think MS planned for a console shortage. Every commentator I have heard has stated that the new XBox has a weak launch-title lineup. Maybe that artificial shortage is a way of building hype without the same killer-app that the original XBox had?
Obv MS wants to sell as many consoles as they can. Here's another idea for the conspiracy-lovers - News of this conspiracy were part of a bigger conspiracy to sell even more XBOX 360s.
Hahaha, you have a superb grip on reality. It sounds like your opinions are completely based in fact. You seem to have excellent reasoning skills. You don't seem at all like a fanboy. I'm sure you are much more successfull than all of the "dimwits" who have gotten crazy rich at Microsoft. Good job.
Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".
This just in! A span of three weeks is now simultaneous!
What would Einstein say...
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Crazy rich, you mean, like on the console they're losing a ludicrous amount of money on yearly?
This summer a couple of my coworkers and I won free XBoxes from my company through a technical awards program. This was a new program so we didn't actually receive them but knew they were coming sometime in the future. After a couple weeks we learned that we could get them then, or wait and get XBox 360s when they were released. Naturally ( two of us already had XBox ) we decided to wait.
A couple of months or so ago we started hearing stories about the expected shortage of 360s and mentioned to management that we weren't finding them for pre-order in anything but bundles of $700+ for the good unit ( is anybody -really- going to want the non-HD/wireless version? The extra features of the enhanced model for the extra $100 seems awfully cheap to me ). We were told to go ahead and pre-order ourselves each a bundled system so we would have them on release. We were all very impressed with our management with this extra step up. My two coworkers each ordered a bundle at the Walmart web site ( one of the only one left that we could find that were still selling them ). I decided to hold off until closer to the launch date to get more information.
A few weeks ago another coworker of mine won. He asked if he could get something else because he really wasn't interested in the 360 and didn't even own a television in the first place. Management said sure, just keep the value close to the 360 bundle. He ended up buying a Nikon D50 which is a very nice Digital SLR camera; much more useful to him than the 360. One of my coworkers decided to give up his 360 and go with the D50 as well. His ordered 360 shows up on Monday and he has to ship it off to a coworker in a different city that missed the pre-order. I found out about this a few days ago. They got their cameras a couple weeks ago and are really happy with them.
I like the looks of the 360 and it's capabilities, but I've been having a hard time working up motivation for it. I'm sure I'll end up buying one but I'm in no great hurry to get one now. Sure the unit itself is great but I'm just not seeing the games that make me want to put up with the launch hassle to get one. Particularily when I have no idea when I'd actually get one. I'd rather not be forced to buy a bundle with a few so-so launch titles but wait until sometime next year when they have games that I actually want and I can just walk in and buy it.
I ordered my camera this afternoon. It's not as good as the Nikon, but it's a much smaller Canon that's much more convenient for travel. Hopefully I'll have it by the holiday next week, but I know it's going to be quicker and easier than it would be for me to get a 360.
Bitch.
Apparently Penny Arcade (www.pennyarcade.com) has confirmed the rumor off the record with retailers. According to their posts production of the 360 is being scaled back to create an artificial shortage (and through that an illusory demand). Even better yet, they report that retailers have been told to make 360's available not based on first come-first served but based on how many peripherals you buy. The more assorted stuff you're willing to purchase, the more likely they'll turn out to have a machine behind the counter. Is it true? PA's usually pretty reliable, and I absolutely can see MS doing that.