The Industry's Opinion: The 360 Launch

Gamasutra's ever-interesting question of the week queried individuals in the games industry for their opinions on the launch of the Xbox 360. There were opinions from both sides of the issue, with folks in between as well. From the article: "In my opinion, Microsoft did a superb job of establishing Xbox 360 as the premier next-gen gaming platform. However, it suffered a huge setback when it failed to get enough machines to the market for the Christmas holiday. While coordinating a console launch across multiple continents is truly a massive undertaking, a company as massive as Microsoft has no excuse for being so grossly unprepared. -Coray Seifert, Large Animal Games"

Comments

Price of being the first.

[imstanny]

While coordinating a console launch across multiple continents is truly a massive undertaking, a company as massive as Microsoft has no excuse for being so grossly unprepared.

??. Microsoft did get the xbox to market 6 months before PS3 is even slated to appear, and the Revolution to be debuted. This is a company that faces the realities of production vs time, and consequently it is excusable. There's a price to pay for launching the same type of technology 6 months ahead of your competitors; saying it's inexcusable is at best childish and at worst ignorant. Mind you, Microsoft is launching the console Worldwide!

Even with the shortages, I'm impressed.

Re:Price of being the first.

[2nd Post!]

You know, when Apple released the nano to such popular acclaim that they suffered SHORTAGES, they delayed the worldwide release by a couple months to make sure the customers that were waiting were able to acquire a nano in a timely manner.

Microsoft had options they didn't take; however I wouldn't be impressed. If they are facing shortages, I really do think Microsoft underpriced their console and essentially cheated themselves out of extra profit. They could have set $399 and $499 price points and still have sold out, and probably $499 and $599 pricepoints and have a comfortable amount on shelves for all buyers.

Re:xbox start is a failure

[Malor]

I haven't been paying attention for a couple of months, but as far as I know, Sony doesn't even have a finalized hardware spec... and they're supposed to launch in 90 days.

I don't see it. My guess is, a Japan launch for Christmas and a US launch in March of 2007. And the console will not make bread, do the dishes, and fold your laundry. It'll probably be quite good, but this is, after all, Sony. You know, DRM Sony? They're both braindead and known for overpromising and underdelivering(see: PS2 and 'real time Toy Story', hah).

I'm sure I'll buy one, just like I have all the other consoles. But I very strongly suspect it won't be that much better than the 360, if it's better at all, and I REALLY doubt we're going to see it in the US before 2007.

I wonder if the Cell processor will go down with Itanium in the 'hideously expensive boondoggles' category. That thing looks monstrously tough to program. They're gonna have to sell an awful lot of difficult-to-develop-for chips to pay for all those billions they spent on design.

Re:Sold Out = Successful.

[MrCopilot]

If you were a 3rd party looking to develop games for the 360, then a sell out is not what you're looking for. What you want to see is everyone who wants an X-Box gets one as soon as possible, so your game has more people to sell to. A shortage means people who might have bought your game won't, as they have nothing to play it on

Well I don't know about that, I think if I were a 3rd party developer, I'd rather have people lined up waiting to get thier hands on the platform than see a stack of PSP's at Best Buy. If they are selling out, you know you have at least that many potentially game-starved customers. And if it creates a rush on the consoles by Xmas then you get the rush too. You see.

Or You could have a pile of your software sitting next to the stack of unsold PSPs.

Sooner or Later (Read Decemer 21) MS will get XBox 360s to every single person who has the want and cash, don't let there be any doubt about that. Almost every new Console purchase brings at least one game purchase. And thats a much better place to be if you are a 3rd party developer.

There are advantages to being a MS only title, mainly the boat load of cash, but MS has to want you not the other way around. If you're lucky you trade in your 3rd party uniform for a 1st. Ship 1 or 2 games and quit to start a new 3rd party dev house.

Real Fun Next XMas

[blueZhift]

I think the real fun begins next Christmas which is the earliest that I think we'll see the PS3 launch in the U.S.. Shortages and hardware issues are typical of major console launches, so on that note there was nothing unusual about the 360 launch. The thing that sets it apart IMHO is launching in three territories in a relatively short period of time. Kudos to Microsoft for pulling that off.

I think that now Sony has to be careful not to pull a Saturn and push the PS3 out the door before it and key software is ready. Right now, I just don't see how they can get it out along with good games by spring. And missing XMas 2007 in the U.S. would be very bad for them too. Granted, I don't think MS is going to grab the crown from Sony this round, but spotting them not one but two Christmas seasons would not be a good idea.

And let's not forget Nintendo! Since they have chosen not to go bleeding edge on the hardware, they may be able to launch by XMas 2007 as well. An inexpensive Revolution, Xbox 360 with a year's headstart, and the Playstation 3 likely launch should make next Christmas very interesting.