Slashdot Mirror
Xbox 360 Plans Move Forward
Despite the wait for big-name game releases, the folks at Microsoft haven't been sitting still now that the 360 is (more or less) on store shelves. IGN reports that plans are still moving forward for more backwards compatible titles, despite rumours to the contrary. No dates or titles to expect were released, though. Additionally, a launch in India is just a matter of time, according to a Gamasutra report. They consider the Indian market very important ... they just don't have a date in mind yet. The 360 is slated to launch in Korea on February 24th, and Australia, Taiwan and Singapore on March 2nd.
What stores have the 360 on the shelves?
Gamespot has a list as of the November 22nd. release date of the backward compatible titles. Considering how rushed the 360 was, it's not a bad list.
"Powers. I have them."
In India that is. Isn't that going to be a big part of wether or not the 360 is going to be a hit or not?
So the games that Microsoft plans to release is still slated for release, the backwards compatibility library they've been working to expand is still being expanded, and countries that they plan to sell the 360 in will still be selling the 360?
Since when is planning to do exactly what you originally planned today because that's still the plan news?
Virtual shelves at least. They've been there for almost a week ... WelMart and Circuit City have also had packages in the last week.
"Despite the wait for big-name game releases"
Huh? What were the following?
Call of Duty 2: Awesome game. Plays just as well on Xbox 360 as on PC. Received PC Game of the Year honors from many pubs.
Project Gotham Racing 3: Arguably better than Gran Turismo. Eye-popping graphics.
Ton of EA support: Argue quality all you want, but Madden and any of the other "2006" titles have big names. Heck, my grandmother has heard of Madden.
Kameo: Totally underrated and a lot of fun. Nintendo fans have known the name for years.
Perfect Dark: Again, underrated and a lot of fun. Everyone knows Perfect Dark.
Geometry Wars, Gauntlet, Joust: These have pretty much redefined "budget" titles. Click a button, pay a few bucks and start the arcade game. Who doesn't know the name Gauntlet?
Spin the launch all you want (Microsoft deserves it after not having enough boxes on shelves). Fact of the matter is there have been some very good games released at launch. Most consoles launch with 2-3 great games. Of the 20+ launch titles for Xbox 360, more than half received 90% or higher. Some were given "game of the year" honors.
"IGN reports that plans are still moving forward for more backwards compatible titles, despite rumours to the contrary."
Were there rumors that they would support fewer backwards compatible titles in the long run?
Hi-def anti-aliased boobies! The future is sweet, isn't it?
Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".
It wasn't a very useful comment to, well, anyone. It's like saying 'I won't buy anything from MS because they wouldn't replace my copy of Office95 that I shattered playing frisbee.' It just isn't relevant to anyone. You may as well be posting about the girls that blew you off yesterday.
It's a forum about a game console. Everything is subjective, and nothing is life-and-death. Excuse me for daring to chime in with my opinion.
Sheesh!
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Coming right out and canceling the 360 would be a huge PR disaster for Microsoft.
It looks like Microsoft is quietly letting the console die but still keeping the "OMFG!!! Teh 360 Is Sold Out Everywhere!!!" PR stuff.
They will most likely try to come back with another version sometime later - we've all heard the rumors about the various versions with bigger harddrives or BluRay/HD-DVDs. Maybe they will be able to come out with a version that has more power is able to at least look not as bad compared to the PS3.
well this is slashdot, your oppinion goes against the rest of the group, So naturally you get modded down.
well this is slashdot, your oppinion goes against the rest of the group, So naturally you get modded down.
/. groupthink is to hate on it. Something along the lines of: It will burn your house down and kill your children and no good games will ever come out for it. The archetecture sucks, the controller sucks, nobody really wants HDTV, it's too big, it's too heavy, it's too noisy, and by the way, Bill Gates has a long history of being a big dick. The Nintendo Vaporware Revolution is the only console you are allowed to salivate over without being evil.
LOL
That would be a good theory, if I had expressed my love and affection for the 360, but current
So the way to get modded down for unpopular opinions on games.slashdot.org is to rave about it, which I didn't do.
Seeing as how my post was not a "Troll", and my complaint was not actually "Flamebait." I suspect I'm enjoying the receiving end of a good ol' bitchslap my a moderator with an axe to grind.
Swerving back on topic: DOAX was a creative game in a lot of small ways which tend to go overlooked by those who see it and simply proclain "OMG! Boobiez!!!1! U R t3h P3rv!" Heck, even the volleyball part was pretty good. Either a sequel or a back-support of the original would probably pique my interest in the 360 a little bit, although I really want to see a few more high-quality games become available before it would really be worth the money.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
This hilarious thing is that the guy who replied to your original post with nothing but "hi-def boobies!" is currently at +3.
Sucka!
I'm confused... What happened to the worldwide launch all on the same day? Microsoft was really pimping that for a long time so no one country could claim technical dominance because they had Xbox 360s before another.
Well, to be fair, his comment is actually a little funnier when the post he's replying to is below your reading threshold. It sort of looks like he's just saying it out of nowhere, like those "this thread is getting too serious, here's a photo of a hottie" posts you sometimes see in the middle of Fark flame-wars.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
According to a Govt of India report released in 2004:
Penetration of Broadband, Internet and Personal Computer (PC) in the country was 0.02%, 0.4% and 0.8% respectively at the end of December, 2003.
This is just to give an idea of how important xbox360s biggest selling point(IMO) is to the Indian market.
I grew up in India. My first console was the mini-Atari 2600 in 1988. That was the "in" thing then, very few kids had them. My next console was one of the NES knock-offs. I did not know about Nintendo then but I used to play Mario and Baseball and Ping Pong. (I had a 24 ball games in 1 cartridge that noone in my city had... ah those days.) Even fewer kids had these systems. I could feel the negative vibes in the background if I played for more than 30 min or so. In the 90s, Only one kid in few blocks in a metro had a Playstation. I used to love it, but for some reason most kids never cared that they did not own a console. (not enough marketing was one big reason)
Even if they do market aggressively, it is extremely difficult for a console maker to convince parents in India to buy a video game "machine", something that will occupy the family TV, is very expensive(games too) and addictive enough to mess the study time of your child. They are not gamers and this is the biggest problem that I see. Very few of the "earners and spenders" have played Mario/Zelda.
You can do somewhat better in metros where people like to compete with neighbours with some good marketing. But there is no way you will see xboxes selling well in medium sized cities. Even in places like Mumbai, the current xbox is a perceived as a costly toy. It still costs about $300 and games cost about $40-$55.
Compare that with other options in toy shops, a cheap cricket bat and ball or a soccer ball. Also compare that with movies. Hollywood DVDs are typically available at USD11 - USD18. That is a good amount of money there. Spending three times that amount every other month might not be a practical thing.
There are a lot of factors, both social and financial, that spell doom for penetration of something like xbox360 in Indian market. And I have not even started on the possible public reactions on GTA and Manhunt. Surely, they can launch it there but the Indian market is not ready for it, yet.
You spent two fucking hours bitching about the moderation of your post???
You're retarded.
Out of random curiosity, how did you get this time frame?
Chances are any disscution on Slashdot will degrade into a flamewar about ID/Christianity within 14 posts.
Never had a lot of processing tasks forcing a lot of small chunks of "downtime" on you at work before?
You're too high-strung.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
I bet they want to get Indians hooked on MS stuff due to Linux advocacy there.
Out of random curiosity, how did you get this time frame?
I hope you're not serious.
I don't think it's unreasonable of you to not want to purchase a console until it has games you consider worthwhile. But hey, that's just me, I'm a little zany.
If it means anything, my understanding is that a sequel to DOABV is in the works. I seem to recall reading it somewhere (no proof, though).