http://www.gamesarefun.com/ has some closeups of controller and remote that look much less fake, but keep with the same design motif. btw, I don't like the white/ beige shit, I know they're going for some ipod crap but black and silver match the Home theatre setups much better.
5/9/2005 1:49:44 AM
wierd...loads fine for me, even after clearing session data...and the ones in the above link are the same pictures...[Edited on May 9, 2005 at 1:53 AM. Reason : ]
5/9/2005 1:52:00 AM
didn't see the closeups in the prev link
5/9/2005 1:56:04 AM
ah, i didn't see them in your link until just now...hehoh well, i saw those on another site linked to on slashdot... (http://engadget.com/entry/1234000200042615)only one of them though i suppose[Edited on May 9, 2005 at 1:59 AM. Reason : ]
5/9/2005 1:58:22 AM
their second dns server is off-line. that would explain why i can't access it.
5/9/2005 2:18:59 AM
More pics including the DVD remote (has on/off this time around) and the controller's USB connections:http://www.xbox365.com/news.cgi?id=GGGNrLrLNH05071340Edit: The site loads ridiculously slowly.[Edited on May 9, 2005 at 5:21 PM. Reason : ]
5/9/2005 5:19:15 PM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050510.wxxbox0511/BNStory/Business/
In what the boss himself calls one of Microsoft Corp.'s most ambitious projects, the world's largest software company is pulling out all the stops to push the next version of its Xbox gaming machine into the mass market, using pop television, obscure websites and a dose of viral advertising.
The $300 (U.S.) device isn't expected on store shelves until November, but tomorrow night chairman Bill Gates is to appear with a host of celebrities and athletes on MTV and CTV to take the wraps off the Xbox 360. A stream of well-orchestrated “leaks” about the product has been cranking up the buzz for days. One website with apparent ties to Microsoft, ourcolony.net, is running a reality game with stealth marketing features that teases players with the promise of photos of the new console.
While the list of anticipated features on the next Xbox sounds impressive, from the ability to support high-definition television to running music and video entertainment off a personal computer, the most important part of the new device is the central role Microsoft wants it to play in digital home entertainment.
“The next Xbox is going to be Microsoft's spear into the living room,” said Matt Rosoff, lead analyst on consumer products and services at Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm in Kirkland, Wash.
Microsoft has spent billions of dollars to play in the gaming space, an industry dominated by Sony Corp.'s PlayStation.
Analysts estimate that since launching the first Xbox in 2001, Microsoft has lost as much as $1.2-billion a year on the device, in part because it subsidizes the hardware to sell software.
With the Xbox 360, it has become clear that Microsoft sees the technology as complementing its efforts to make the PC the hub of the digital entertainment environment in the home.
“We see the Xbox as a couple of things. Clearly it's a great gaming device,” said David Hemler, president of Microsoft Canada Co. “We also think of it as a key adjunct in the digital home. With our strategy in the digital home, the centrepiece for us is the media edition of Windows, where people store their information, their pictures, do their work, record their TV so on and so forth. Xbox becomes a great terminal to let you view that information.”
Microsoft has sold about 20 million Xboxes to date, making it the firm's most successful living room product. In contrast, it has sold only about two million copies of Windows Media XP Center, its operating system specifically designed for digital home entertainment.
The software giant has no intention of letting that momentum behind the Xbox slip, Mr. Rosoff said.
The Xbox 360 will include digital music features, it will be a medium for getting content to the TV and it will build on Xbox live, Microsoft's on-line community for interactive gaming, said the analyst, who has been briefed on the product by the company.
Mr. Hemler adds that the next generation Xbox will take advantage of the more than one million subscribers to Xbox live by creating an Xbox marketplace. Analysts have speculated that such a community would create a steady stream or revenue to both Microsoft and game developers.
The expectations for the latest Xbox model are greater than the original because Microsoft has had time to seed the market with more games that will run on the device. About 200 games should be available through Microsoft and independent developers by the time the Xbox 360 finally ships later this year.
In addition, Microsoft is getting its new device out as much as one year in advance of Sony, which isn't expected to launch the PlayStation 3 until late 2006.
The ripple effect of the release of the next Xbox will be felt by game developers and suppliers. ATI Technologies Inc. of Markham, Ont., is providing the graphics processors for the device. The contract will produce a steady stream of royalties for ATI and represents an important step in the company's efforts to move beyond the PC market into a wide range of consumer goods, from cellphones to television set-top boxes.
The “game console market is holding its breath, so stay tuned for the coming months. And that's about all I can say for that segment right now,” Dave Orton, president and chief executive officer of ATI, said on a recent conference call.
Martin Cecchetto, an analyst with UBS Securities Canada Inc., said the Xbox should generate a little less than 5 per cent of ATI's revenue next year and about 10 per cent of the company's operating profit. “They continue to build a good brand and the Xbox is an indication of that,” he said.
For the world's largest game developer, Electronic Arts Inc., the benefits of the next Xbox won't be felt until six to 12 months after both Microsoft and Sony have their new consoles on the market and the mass market consumer has a chance to compare them and select a favourite, said Evan Wilson, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore. “It's going to take a while before it has a big impact on their results,” he said.
For California-based EA, which does the bulk of its development in Vancouver, that means absorbing development costs for more than 18 months. Costs can range from $5-million to $20-million a game.
5/11/2005 4:28:53 AM
btttit'll be on mtv tonight at 9:30 PM
5/12/2005 1:48:48 AM
5/12/2005 1:13:48 PM
the tools they've been using to make the games have been availible for a while now.
5/12/2005 1:29:21 PM
Doesn't XNA allow easy game dev between PC and Box2?
5/12/2005 2:11:27 PM
Its meant for more than just easy cross-platform development. Its for game development in general. http://www.microsoft.com/xna/faq.aspx
5/12/2005 3:06:59 PM
From TeamXbox...
5/12/2005 5:01:29 PM
Thats a full, blown declaration of war.
5/12/2005 5:33:51 PM
okay i'm getting one of these when it comes out, and i don't even play video games.
5/12/2005 5:43:42 PM
^^^jesus christ, if that's remotely true this box would be hella impressive
5/12/2005 6:14:39 PM
the show on MTV was gay as hell.They barely even talked about the damn console. It was actually painful to watch.
5/12/2005 10:14:34 PM
http://www.ourcolony.net
5/12/2005 10:22:46 PM
2k7, whats the scoop?
5/12/2005 10:32:02 PM
^^ that vid is pretty nice^ huh?
5/12/2005 10:42:36 PM
don't know if this has been posted...but good link with tons of info...http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/608/608394p1.html
5/12/2005 10:56:27 PM
i'm down so long as I can rip games to the HD w/ a modchip so I can *coughrentagamefromblockbusterandneverbuyitcough*but I know they're gonna make every game basically like Steam, you hafta connect to play or something gay like that to prevent it. net checks are the new encryption.
5/12/2005 11:13:32 PM
yeah all the games are gonna be live enabledi hate this subscription crap for live. if i've paied for the console and the game, using servers should be free.
5/12/2005 11:18:50 PM
5/12/2005 11:18:54 PM
so on the xbox 360 it wont cost money for xbox live?
5/12/2005 11:38:29 PM
haha dream on
5/12/2005 11:42:28 PM
Kinda, and inda not. Weekends will be free with XBox Live. You have to pay to have unlimited and to get advanced features. Current subscribers will automatically have the highest level of access.
5/12/2005 11:52:47 PM
5/12/2005 11:54:40 PM
this system looks like it is going to be quite impressive, Sony could be in deep trouble if Microsoft pulls this off well.
5/12/2005 11:58:09 PM
they're making an america's army for xboxi hope they make it for the new xbox
5/13/2005 12:02:11 AM
If by "deep trouble", you mean seriously fucked.Every improvement that I could possibly want for Xbox (minus a blank machine with no OS on it) is on the Xbox 360 integrated with full live support. If they get the developers onboard, Sony will have to pull a jack rabbit out of a massive hat just to stay competitive.
5/13/2005 12:22:30 AM
reserved mine today
5/13/2005 12:53:07 AM
where did you reserve it? and what date did they give?
5/13/2005 1:27:37 AM
Xbox won't play HD-DVDs, the PS3 will. Considering the expected price of HD DVD players, that's a pretty big incentive for a lot of people right there.
5/13/2005 2:00:45 AM
did anyone else find the mtv "special" lack of details annoying?
5/13/2005 2:06:53 AM
yes, but we're nerds/dorks to even post in this thread about it
5/13/2005 2:19:36 AM
^^ yeah but you have to consider the audience
5/13/2005 2:21:28 AM
the MTV shit sucked but I'm buyin one the day it comes out
5/13/2005 2:30:04 AM
hmmm should i trade my ps2 now for an xbox and some games and have xbox live for the summer or should i save money and sell the ps2 when the xbox 2 comes out?
5/13/2005 2:33:44 AM
second ideaI cant wait for 360
5/13/2005 2:34:56 AM
I thought you wouldn't get as much for the ps2 after the new xbox comes out. even less when ps3 comes out.
5/13/2005 2:38:06 AM
I can't see these consoles being sold at anything less than a $250-300 loss. Do they honestly expect to pull in this much is software, live fees, and licensing their dev kits to developers on a 1:1 or better basis? Also, are they not practically inviting people to hack their shit with the usb ports, user upgradable hdd, and the ability to natively network to xp? I'm almost willing to bet you'll be able to rewrite the hosts file to point at a local hacked authentication servlet hosted on loopback or a pc on lan and play burned or copied versions of everything. Microsoft is yet to do anything really slick with piracy prevention.
5/13/2005 3:59:55 AM
You're acting like piracy isn't the single greatest thing to happen to the X-Box.
5/13/2005 4:23:30 AM
yeah, I guess this means it's time for me to finally buy/mod an xbox. I'll have a backlog of games to last me until the next gen consoles are a reasonable price.
5/13/2005 5:03:24 AM
buy mine dude.. only make a bid on the mod too [Edited on May 13, 2005 at 5:43 AM. Reason : ^^ oh hell yeah, thats the only reason I kept my xbox as long as I did.]
5/13/2005 5:43:13 AM
on a side note, it is nice to know the new nintendo "revolution" will play regular dvd format discs now..instead of the smaller ones..http://cube.ign.com/articles/613/613340p1.html
5/13/2005 9:29:23 AM
its important to remember that even with these mind-blowing screenshots, the graphics are probably going to increase by an order of magnitude once the software developers really learn how to put all three PPC's to use. Right now, due to the compressed scheduling, I doubt they're doing much more than programming for one processor
5/13/2005 9:50:37 AM
ninten-who?
5/13/2005 9:51:57 AM
^haha yeah, i don't even consider them to be in the market anymore. some people will argue mariokart is the best game out there and worth buying a gamecube for, but there's no way they are gonna get back in this race.
5/13/2005 10:09:07 AM
HD DVD would be cool but by the time they reach mass market Xbox 720 will be out.GG Sony.(hey at least it will have a memory stick)
5/13/2005 10:15:53 AM