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[Lord Error]

and a possible 6 to 8 month window on the market alone should give them a pretty good foundation to battle PS3.

By 'them' you mean 'us', I hope, unless you no longer work for 'them'?

 

[Joe]

who says rockstar and microsoft wont be better friends next generation?

also a new mgs, halo, and gta are being released around the same time as we speak and halo is not being "quickly forgotten". if we're talking internet hype, halo2 actually trumps both.

 

[Mama Smurf]

It's hard to predict the next generation when we just don't know which games will take off. Nor which big games this gen will fail next.

Who could have seen GTA3 being so huge last gen? How about Halo? Some games traverse generations quite easily (Gran Turismo, Mario, Final Fantasy), but what about some of the huge games last gen? Tomb Raider, Wipeout, Crash Bandicoot...they gained decent sales this gen, but certainly aren't the system sellers they were.

You've just gotta keep releasing the big games and hope that one of yours turns out to be one of those rare Goldeneyes, Tomb Raiders, GTA3s, Sonics, DKCs, Halos, Marios. And that the sequels to this gen's big games aren't one of the few that will inevitably lose influence.

 

[open_mouth_]

:lol :lol @ the dillusional Xbots in this thread...

 

[seismologist]

PS3 launch will be huge by itself. Even if they launch with Fantavision the hype would be bigger than Halo 3.

 

[doncale]

I'm not one of em. I know PS3 is gonna hammer Xbox2. Halo3 or no Halo3

question is, can Microsoft build upon the marketshare they have now (~15%) ?

 

[Slo]

Not gonna happen. Not even close.

 

[jedimike]

I'm interested to see how MS is going to aproach Japan when the times comes to launch Xbox 2. Right now they are in a vicious cycle: No big Japanese games --- low console sales --- low userbase --- no interest by Japanse devs ---- no big Japanese games ---- repeat repeat.

MS's initial problems in Japan had nothing to do with games. The console was too big, the controller was too big, and then there was the rampant, widely accepted, rumor that it scratched discs.

That was MS's problem in Japan. They couldn't recover from it and Japanese developers lost confidence.

Can Xenon get a fresh start? No... MS will have to prove themselves from the get go.

They already have some positive things going for them though.

1. Ex- Square CEO running the Japanese division - he can pull some strings, grease the skids, etc.

2. XNA - Developers seem to like the concept and a simultaneous PC SKU reduces the Xenon risk.

3. Japanese slump - Japanese developers will be more willing to exploit the Western market.

 

[Mama Smurf]

You can't completely discount games, that has to go in there with the rest.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

They should either abandon Japan or buy up some studios there. That's the only sane things to do.

 

[Falch]

3. Japanese slump - Japanese developers will be more willing to exploit the Western market.

They won't put any big franchises on Xbox 2 as long as they know they're not going to sell in Japan. Doesn't change a thing, same vicious cycle.

 

[Joe]

:lol :lol @ the dillusional Xbots in this thread...

??? we're all just speculating.

 

[JJConrad]

MS's initial problems in Japan had nothing to do with games. The console was too big, the controller was too big, and then there was the rampant, widely accepted, rumor that it scratched discs.

That was MS's problem in Japan. They couldn't recover from it and Japanese developers lost confidence.

Can Xenon get a fresh start? No... MS will have to prove themselves from the get go.

They already have some positive things going for them though.

1. Ex- Square CEO running the Japanese division - he can pull some strings, grease the skids, etc.

2. XNA - Developers seem to like the concept and a simultaneous PC SKU reduces the Xenon risk.

3. Japanese slump - Japanese developers will be more willing to exploit the Western market.

#1 and 3 haven't helped the Xbox so far. There's no indication that that will change for the Xbox2. Due to the general absense of a Japanese PC market, #2 probably won't attract many eastern developers, either.

Pulling strings can only get you so far. If MS couldn't buy their way into the japanese market and if they aren't the default market leader, the only thing left for them to do is start building solid relationships with more japanese development houses. Tecmo was a good start, but they'll need much more than that. It'll take time to create a decent list of software supporters and an image of credibility in the east... probably even beyond the life-time of the Xbox3. Don't count on things improving just because new hardware is on the market.

 

[DSN2K]

this is new rumours ?

I knew this stuff about 2 months ago.

 

[element]

stop saying lunch, i just had dinner.

haha. I guess i was typing what I was thinking :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

MS are basically screwed in Japan. Look at Nintendo. Certainly miles ahead of the Xbox out there, but even further behind Sony. And that's with their own extremely popular franchises (Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash Bros etc), names like Final Fantasy, Mega Man and Tales of Symphonia and a big name exclusive (Resident Evil) on the system. Not to mention that they're a Japanese company and the controller was smaller, the console too (and cheaper).

So if Nintendo can't make headway with all that going for them, what chance do MS have? Even if they gained all the things there that they could (obviously they can't have Nintendo franchises or become Japanese), they're not going to get decent sales. I suppose MS would be happy with GC like sales in Japan next time round, but unless they can somehow gain a Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest exclusive, they're going to be behind again.

 

[ironichaos]

If I were MS, I wouldn't rely on Rare to produce the major launch title. Despite being one of the first houses with both N64 and GCN tools, they missed both launches by months. Their only game, in the last 8 years, that wasn't delay several times has been DK64. To ask for both a great game and a game ready on time seems beyond their reach. To think that they could have 2 games ready by launch is just a fantasy.

So very true. (except the part about DK64 not being delayed...that stupid-ass collectathon was originally intended to release on the 64DD.)

 

[bloke]

I'm interested to see how MS is going to aproach Japan when the times comes to launch Xbox 2. Right now they are in a vicious cycle: No big Japanese games --- low console sales --- low userbase --- no interest by Japanse devs ---- no big Japanese games ---- repeat repeat.

They're spending some big money on japanese third parties for initial Xenon lineup there. I dunno who all is involved, but maybe they'll got lucky and have some proper killer apps this time around.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

next year launch is too soon. They need to make these consoles extremely powerful so that they can hold the market for at least 5-6 years. Xbox still has a lot of juice left.

Reveal little bit of info at E3 next year and launch at Fall/Winter 2006.

 

[DopeyFish]

or release in the summer, so i don't have to stand in a line for 4 hours in freezing cold weather.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

or release in the summer, so i don't have to stand in a line for 4 hours in freezing cold weather.

heh heh I agree. But next year launch is wayy too soon! Wtf is ms thinking? I mean xbox is doing great! They are releasing two or three good games every month and xbox sold great this month. They gotta keep the momentum going.

 

[AssMan]

I just got my GI, and I had no idea those Elder's Scroll pics were from Xbox 2. Tell you the truth it doesn't look like a huge step from this generation.

 

[Mama Smurf]

They're thinking: "Let's get off this damn machine which is losing us so much money and on to the next one."

Well, it probably has more to do with launching a year ahead of Sony. Risky (I'm not going into all the points for and against it again), but potentially it could let them gain a marketshare equal to that of the PS3 (outside of Japan anyway).

 

[Doom_Bringer]

^ IAWTP

 

[doncale]

I just got my GI, and I had no idea those Elder's Scroll pics were from Xbox 2. Tell you the truth it doesn't look like a huge step from this generation.

you DO understand that what you are looking is from work in-progress on a highend PC or highend Mac, and not the actual Xbox 2, right ?

 

[LuckyBrand]

I want XBox 2 NOW!!!

no seriously, I love my xbox, and Ill probably still be playing it through 2005 and 2006; but I want my Xbox 2 for Christmas 05...

xbox 2 graphics being great will rock, but i am looking forward to xbox live 2.0 more.