Xbox being pulled from the marketplace, production halted...

[Nostromo]

I find myself becoming bored of computer games. I'm not sure why. Games used to keep me entertained for long periods of time. But lately games only hold my interest for a couple of days. I cancelled my World of Warcraft account today (though it's still active for a couple more weeks). I've lost all joy in gaming.

Get yourself a nice gal and play that new game they're raving about these days, they call it the Kama Sutra. Btw, you can always use my sig as a pick up line We should do a gaming versus sex thread instead. Sex would pwn gaming.

[Drake Tungsten]

The Kama Sutra is not a game. It is deadly serious ****. Do not **** around with it unless you want to join the legions of poor bastards with unnecessarily torn groins, destroyed joints or ruined backs.

[Nostromo]

How do they create profits? (insert question here)?

With the games, presumably.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Frankychan
Asher-

Lemme get this straight. Microsoft was actually LOSING money with each X-Box created? If so, why did they create the machine in the first place? How do they create profits? (insert question here)?

Because Sony's "Computer Entertainment" system posed a threat to MS' empire. What if what Sony promised became a reality, and the PlayStation becomes the center of the home...instead of a Microsoft product.

The Xbox was sold at a substantial loss hardware-wise, and they made money off each game sale (and a lot more off of first-party games like Halo), but still an overall large loss. But that was part of their business plan.

They intend to make money this time around, which is why I think the box will be $399 to start, not $299.

[Asher]

Back on topic now, more info...

http://news.spong.com/x?art=8509

Exclusive - Xbox 360: Downloadable Demos From Day One, Wireless and more
Revealed – massive 'try before you buy' program readied in Redmond.
31st Mar 2005

SPOnG can reveal today that the Xbox 360 will see an unprecedented downloadable demo offering from day one, with Xbox Live being shaped to deliver massive levels of on-demand content.

Microsoft is expected to announce plans for the system at its pre-E3 event in Los Angeles next month, highlighting what was described to SPOnG as way of highlighting “key titles” to users, as well as offering further added value to the groundbreaking Live service.

“It will mean more work for developers,” our source told us, “though it will offer what is essentially hype-free evaluation options to the consumer.”

Microsoft’s decision to include demo software in downloadable form is far from good news for the magazine sector, which to date has seen Official Xbox Magazine sales propped up on the back of the demo discs included on their covers.

This news could also be seen as a shot across the bows of traditional retail, with console gamers being further conditioned to look for gaming kicks online through Live rather than in-store. Currently around half of the price paid for any game goes straight into the retailer's pocket. Offering direct sales to gamers would cut out this expense and may be seen as a way of combatting escalating development costs which will inevitably have to be passed on to the consumer. Some estimates have talked of next-generation software titles hitting £70 or more at retail. Downloadable content would enable Microsoft to offer next-gen gaming without the hefty price tag.

Should the demo program prove successful, it would make sense for Microsoft to offer full game downloads in time, though the viability of this still rests with the as-yet unknown possibility of hard disc inclusion for 360.

However, Xbox lead J Allard recently hinted that the new Xbox may well come in different forms to suit preferences on a per-region basis, saying “I think we need to have a global foundation, and then personalise within region.”

Interestingly, SPOnG has had it confirmed by several senior sources that the Xbox 360 will feature wireless connectivity out of the box. Furthermore, data storage via PC will be featured, though information seen to date makes reference to this being used solely for media storage. However, downloadable Xbox content could, in theory, be stored too, though we should make it clear that the possibility of such content being stored in this way is mere speculation at this point.

[Nostromo]

The Kama Sutra is not a game. It is deadly serious ****. Do not **** around with it unless you want to join the legions of poor bastards with unnecessarily torn groins, destroyed joints or ruined backs.

Yes, but you forget that Diss is one hell of an athlete.

[Nostromo]

the Xbox 360 will feature wireless connectivity out of the box.

That would be great.

Now why in God's name do they want to call it Xbox 360?

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by nostromo


That would be great.

Now why in God's name do they want to call it Xbox 360?

Because all the fans will spin around excitedly chasing their tails until they get one.

[ixnay]

Originally posted by nostromo

Now why in God's name do they want to call it Xbox 360?

360 is a bigger number than 3, so obviously it is 120 times better than the Playstation 3 is going to be.

ps Nintendo's revolution will have wireless out of the box, too

[Nostromo]

It's one of the reasons I'm not on Live right now. I would have to buy a router, a long ethernet cable, hook up my Xbox on my PC, and make sure that cable doesn't make my living room look too fugly... Of course, there are wireless solutions right now, but they're expensive.

[Nostromo]

Man, even Xbox LeBaron would be a more catchy name...

[Asher]

Originally posted by ixnay
360 is a bigger number than 3, so obviously it is 120 times better than the Playstation 3 is going to be.

ps Nintendo's revolution will have wireless out of the box, too

Nintendo's playing "me too" a generation too late.

Sony is still trying to play catchup to MS and failing miserably.

[Verto]

Nintendo should just concentrate on the handheld market with Mario fluff games. Leave consoles to the big boys.

[Ted Striker]

I thought this was gonna be an April Fools joke.

[Nostromo]

I found this on Gamespy:

The rumors of a touch screen controller weren't addressed, but Iwata did comment that current controllers "may satisfy the hardcore gamers, but they've become too difficult for more casual gamers."

"For the next-generation console, we plan to introduce a friendly user interface so that, for example, a mother who's watching her child playing a game might say, 'Oh, I'd like to try that too,'" Iwata said. "However, user interfaces are devices that can easily be imitated by other companies, so I can't reveal any details right now."

So now they want to expand their core demographics from kids to their mommies?