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X07 Not Happening This Year

Posted by Zonk on from the why-pay-when-you-get-it-gratis dept.

For the first time since 2004, there won't be an XO event in Europe this year. Gamespot suggests that Microsoft's annual press event is superfluous this year, as last year it fell directly within the timeframe of the Halo 3 launch. "Speaking on the E3 podcast of Microsoft fan site Squad XP, Xbox Live marketing manager Aaron Greenberg flatly said that 'There's not a real X07 this year.' And while Microsoft's official spokespersons refrained from comment, last night Xbox Live director of programming Larry 'Major Nelson' Hyrb posted a small note (pictured) on his heavily trafficked blog morosely confirming X07's demise."

1 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft Easing Out Of Console Hardware? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    There has been a lot of speculation about Microsoft getting ready to exit the console market after this shockingly bad month for them. Look at what has happened:

    The 360 is selling as poorly worldwide as the first Xbox
    Microsoft only shipped 700k new 360s worldwide last quarter
    Nintendo is about to fly past them in worldwide sales next month most likely
    Peter Moore gets fired
    1.1 billion in costs for defective 360 repairs
    Another 360 exec selling off shares just before the 1.1 billion dollar defect bill was news
    X07 is canceled
    Microsoft bombs at E3 with almost nothing mentioned about 2008 releases or plans
    Halo 3 has become something between a yawn and a joke in the eyes of gamers
    Another class action lawsuit over defective drives scratching/destroying discs
    An increasing focus on Vista exclusive/online gaming
    So far no solution has been found to the 360 defect problem, 9-10 million 360s out there that will continue to fail over and over again
    Total Xbox losses now up to 7-8 billion over the life of the project
    HD-DVD is dead

    It is hard to imagine the situation getting any worse for Microsoft in the console market. Turning their focus to Vista seems like the logical thing for Microsoft to do. For a company with billions to spend on new markets you would think they could easily find the funds to hold their yearly Xbox specific conference just like the other two console makers are able to. There have to be serious discussions going on in Microsoft over the future of the Xbox project as we know it.