Xbox News Page
5/13/05
Microsoft unveils new Xbox 360, takes aim at Sony: Microsoft unveils new Xbox 360, takes aim at Sony: Microsoft Corp. unveiled its new Xbox 360 on Thursday, taking aim at Sony Corp. in the video game console market with a machine sporting high-definition graphics and features that make it an entertainment hub for the living room.
The world's largest software maker said its second generation Xbox will be on U.S. store shelves well in time for the 2005 holiday season that begins in late November, but it did not say how much the white-and-silver concave console would cost.
Among the features are three IBM microprocessors that are expected to deliver powerful computing and advanced graphics, as well as a detachable 20-gigabyte hard drive and the ability to customize the machine's front panel with detachable face-plates.
Microsoft's Xbox business is arguably the Redmond, Washington company's biggest bet, costing the software giant more than $1 billion in sunk costs every year since 2001.
Microsoft, with deep pockets and a reputation for persistently chipping away at competitors, has Sony squarely in its sights at a time when the Japanese consumer electronics maker is struggling with a top-level management overhaul and weak profitability.
Microsoft narrowly beat its closest competitor, Nintendo Co. Ltd., with the Xbox.
The smaller Xbox 360 is a departure from the original squarish black Xbox that debuted in late 2001, and is aimed at a wider audience, said J. Allard, Microsoft's vice president leading the charge behind Microsoft's push into the business.
Allard said Microsoft learned from its mistakes with the first Xbox, which launched a year behind its main rival, Sony's PlayStation 2 console.
Allard acknowledged, "We didn't get the controller right, we didn't get the industrial design right," referring to the original oversized Xbox controller and hardware that scratched DVD disks, generating customer complaints.
For the latest round, Microsoft hired U.S. and Japanese design firms to design a machine with smoother, more fluid lines to attract customers drawn to the iPod and Sony's products.
EYE CANDY
Microsoft unveiled the Xbox on MTV nearly a week before the start of the $10 billion gaming industry's annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3.
Despite all the multimedia features, however, the Xbox 360 will also have to be "first and foremost a good game system," said Robert Enderle of the Enderle Group.
Peter Moore, Microsoft's vice president in charge of Xbox marketing, said the Xbox 360 will be "gorgeous visually," thanks to upgraded graphics chips and full support for high-definition television displays.
Moore did not say how many launch titles Microsoft would have for Xbox 360, a key factor in driving early sales of the console.
In early game demonstrations, graphics quality has been boosted to the point where individual blades of grass are visible on moving landscapes while armies of monsters can be programmed to act individually or as a group.
For the internal gaming hardware, Microsoft replaced Intel Corp.'s central processor from the first Xbox with new PowerPC-based chips made by International Business Machines Corp., similar to the chips used by Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh personal computers.
Microsoft also swapped out the graphics chips, a key gaming system component, for chips made by ATI Technologies Inc. instead of Nvidia Corp..
Sony's PlayStation 3, expected to be launched in 2006, will feature an ambitious, advanced microprocessor called "cell" that is expected to power more realistic and advanced games.
Microsoft said it would extend its lead over Sony in the online gaming arena by introducing a two-tiered Xbox Live system for its new console.
By offering a free service, in addition to its current subscription service, Microsoft said it expected to have more than half of Xbox 360 gamers connected via the Internet, playing games and communicating together.
Another unresolved issue is whether Xbox 360 will be able to play games made for the older console, a tricky task because of the radical redesign. Microsoft did not say whether the new console would be backward-compatible. (Reuters)
Gates slips up, reveals when next Xbox will ship: Microsoft Corp. has been highly secretive about whether it will release its next Xbox video-game console this year or next. Apparently, Bill Gates didn't get the memo.
Speaking yesterday to a national convention of business editors and writers, the Microsoft chairman seemed to confirm widespread industry speculation about the timing of the release, referring to plans to ship the console "this year."
The remark, apparently inadvertent, came as Gates talked about consumer adoption of high-definition displays, which Microsoft is incorporating into its strategy as it takes on market leader Sony Corp. and its dominant PlayStation franchise.
"What will the year of high-definition be?" Gates asked, rhetorically. He then answered the question by saying that it would be tempting to think of it as "this year, because we're going to ship this next Xbox."
A representative of the Xbox team declined to comment on Gates' remark. Microsoft plans to announce details and timing for the next Xbox during a TV special next week.
Gates made the statement during the annual convention of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in Seattle, where he gave a speech and took questions on stage from BusinessWeek's Jay Greene.
Full story here!
Next-Generation Xbox to Be Media Hub: Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation Xbox gaming console will be more of a digital entertainment hub than its predecessor, making it even more of a PC hybrid than ever, Bill Gates told a meeting of business journalists.
The console, code-named Xenon, is due to be previewed in an MTV half-hour special later this month.
Gates, Microsoft's chairman and co-founder, was vague on specific features of Xenon but said the company's consoles would be evolving to include improved communications tools for making multiplayer online gaming more convivial.
He told the annual meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers that Xenon's software menu would be similar to that of the company's Media Center edition of Windows, which is designed for computers meant to be located in the living room.
"If you're used to that menu, when you use this Xenon you'll see a menu a lot like that that lets you get photos, TV, music and all those different things."
Video game players want to be able to chat with their buddies, know when others are present online, and will want to access their music and photos on their consoles in an interface already familiar to them, Gates said.
At a convention of hardware engineers last week, Gates said the company's investments in Windows Media Center software have paid off, with more than a million copies sold since the launch of the operating system's second version in October and a total of 2 million since the initial system shipped three years ago.
Gates also called the Web log phenomenon fantastic and joked that it's become more difficult than ever to provide a single company message to the public given the number of Microsoft employees who are now blogging publicly.
"I keep thinking about when am I going to start doing a blog," he said in answer to a question. "My rate (of posting) has proven to be irregular so far. When I turn out at least two a month they'll put me online," he joked.
The Microsoft chairman also drew guffaws when he took a dig at Apple Computer Inc. in response to questions about the rave reviews the competitor's newest operating system, Mac OS X "Tiger," received upon release last week.
The overwhelming consensus was that Tiger was far and away the best consumer operating system available now, with Microsoft not expected to match it in features in Windows until the end of 2006 at the earliest in its "Longhorn" system.
Gates said he was pleased that the media were getting excited about computer operating systems. And then he took his jab at Apple, whose share of the consumer market is nearly 4 percent.
"You can always tell if you're working on a Mac or a PC. Just take your applications and stick them in there and see if they run," he said, moments after calling Apple "the super-small market share guy." (AP)
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