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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.
The new X-Box is dead to me until they get DOAX working on it.
Then again $400 is a lot of money just to play a game I can already play on my old system.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
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?
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.
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.
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.
I bet they want to get Indians hooked on MS stuff due to Linux advocacy there.