Billy confirms xbox 360 for this year.

[theWacoKid]

From gameindustrybiz.com

Microsoft chairman breaks the silence on Xbox 360's launch date

Speaking at a business writers' convention in the United States, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has confirmed that the next-generation Xbox console will launch this year, and once again promoted the new system's multimedia capabilities.

Breaking with the company's policy of staying silent in public on the question of when the new console, widely believed to be called Xbox 360, will launch, Gates told the Society of American Business Writers and Editors that the system will ship in the current year.

Speaking about high definition displays, he asked rhetorically when the "year of high definition" will be - and followed on to say that it would be "this year, because we're going to ship this next Xbox."

His comment is the first public acknowledgement by the company that it plans to ship Xbox 360 before the end of the year, although it's been generally accepted around the industry for some time that the console will arrive in October or November.

Gates also talked briefly about the multimedia functionality which will be offered by Xbox 360, comparing it to the firm's Media Center PC software. "If you're used that menu, when you use this Xenon [the codename for Xbox 360], you'll see a menu a lot like that, that lets you get photos, TV, music and all those different things," he explained.

It's still not clear, however, whether Xbox 360 will offer this functionality in all of its retail versions. Several reports have indicated that the system will ship with two configurations, one of which, lacking a hard drive, will be less capable as a multimedia device.

Many questions about the new console are expected to be answered next week, when MTV broadcasts a television special about the Xbox 360 - airing on the evening of May 12th in North America, and on May 13th worldwide.

So, start saving those pennies, xbots, for the latest and the greatest, your train is now officially on the horizon.

[Superjoint Ritual]

M$ must be shaking in thier shoes at the prospect of a Ps3 showing at E3 dwarfing thier Xbox 360 hype. Xbox 360 has Dreamcast written all over it.

Plus, two versions of the console is probably the dumbest idea since the Virtual Boy. Apparently, the Xbox bleeding money had an effect after all.

[theWacoKid]

M$ must be shaking in thier shoes at the prospect of a Ps3 showing at E3 dwarfing thier Xbox 360 hype. Xbox 360 has Dreamcast written all over it.

Plus, two versions of the console is probably the dumbest idea since the Virtual Boy. Apparently, the Xbox bleeding money had an effect after all.

Well, here's an interesting analysis by a games industry analyst at Wedbush Morgan.

First out of the gate
Many in the industry have questioned Microsoft's timing. Is launching a next-gen console later this year too soon? Will their coming out first strategy backfire? Pachter doesn't foresee a problem, though. "If the [Xbox 360 and PS3] launch side-by-side then I think Microsoft would have 30% penetration, Sony would have 50-55% and Nintendo would have 15-20%. If Microsoft launches first, they're going to get sales for a year 'for free.' So, if they get 30% market from the day of the PS3 launch on plus whatever they sell the first year, they're going to do better than 30%," he explained to GameDAILY BIZ.

Pachter believes that purchasers of the Xbox 360 this year will largely consist of hardcore gamers that own multiple consoles and current Xbox owners that want to upgrade. "I think [Microsoft] is doing the right thing. It's just that I think the impact on current consumer behavior is limited to 30% of all consumers. Among pure PS2 owners (not those who own an Xbox and PS2), no one is sitting around saying, 'Oooh I can't wait for the Xbox 360!' ... 35% of the existing consumer base is going to slow its purchases in anticipation of the Xbox 360 launch. Next year, 50% of the consumer base will slow its purchases in anticipation of the PS3."

He continued, "So all I'm really saying is most people think this is a 0 [percent] year and next year is +20 because the transition occurs this year, but I've got this year +10 and next year +10. So we end up in the same place at the end of '06... and what does it mean for '07? That's where you get the ramp -- the PS3, and the Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Revolution and PSP all out and starting to mature."

Even with the expected head start that Microsoft will have with its Xbox 360, Pachter doesn't think the breakdown in market share will be all that different from the current generation of consoles, meaning Sony will continue to be the market leader, MS will follow closely in second place and Nintendo will take the third spot. "I think when we have this talk in 2010, Sony's going to have 55%, Microsoft's going to have 35% and Nintendo 10%, with all three of those having +/- 5%," he predicted.

On the relevance of b/c and its supposed uselessness. The same analyst.

Dealing with backwards compatibility
One topic that has been widely discussed when it comes to next-gen consoles is backwards compatibility. The PS3 is expected to include this feature just as the PS2 does, and Nintendo has even confirmed that its Revolution will indeed be compatible with GameCube games. That leaves Microsoft. Part of the problem is that MS switched GPU suppliers. The current Xbox utilizes an NVIDIA processor while the Xbox 360 will incorporate a GPU from ATI. It will take a significant investment from MS to include backwards compatibility, but Pachter is fairly sure it will happen, even if it means including the old NVIDIA chip alongside the ATI chip.

"NVIDIA will be very happy to sell Microsoft 5 million or 10 million graphics cards," said Pachter. He added that backwards compatibility is far too important in the mind of the consumer to leave out. "If you're told by Microsoft that your entire Xbox library is worthless, including Halo 2, you're not very happy about that. If they decide not to be backward compatible I question their judgment."

You listening, TMG. Does it need to be spelled out any clearer for you, that b'c is a key issue, that without it, MS is up the crick without a paddle. That base model is there for advertising purposes only, so MS can say they have a next gen console at the $299 price point. $399 is what you're really going to be looking at.

As for the ps3, time will tell.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

About the harddrive: I think it's actually good strategy to say "optional hard drive" as of now, just to see what the competition will have. If PS3 does have a hard drive, then I expect the Next Xbox to have a hard drive, with no more of that "optional" talk that's been going around. What MS has to realize is though they want to be the leader in console gaming, they aren't as of now, so taking any steps backwards will not help them in being #1, IMO.

I feel that the HD Era stuff is just a gimmick. I don't see a lot of gamers replacing their good non-HD TVs just to play Next Xbox in HD. Like Xbox Live, I see the High Def stuff as another option for gamers who are interested in it.

[theWacoKid]

About the harddrive: I think it's actually good strategy to say "optional hard drive" as of now, just to see what the competition will have. If PS3 does have a hard drive, then I expect the Next Xbox to have a hard drive, with no more of that "optional" talk that's been going around. What MS has to realize is though they want to be the leader in console gaming, they aren't as of now, so taking any steps backwards will not help them in being #1, IMO.

I feel that the HD Era stuff is just a gimmick. I don't see a lot of gamers replacing their good non-HD TVs just to play Next Xbox in HD. Like Xbox Live, I see the High Def stuff as another option for gamers who are interested in it.

Problem is, MS is announcing and releasing first. There's simply no way M$ can hedge any longer. Third parties have to know what's up. As for hard drives for revy and ps3, this is still a question mark and will remain so, even after E3. Since neither party will be releasing this year, there's absolutely no need to tip their hand.

Imo, the base model, should one exist is a smoke screen, a ruse, a bait and switch model, that only a very few will want to begin with. If the xbox hadn't come with a hd, I doubt I would've bothered with an xbox. Could you imagine all the loading screens you would've faced with Halo on top of the expense of mem cards. For xbox gamers who've grown accustomed to the hd, going to mem cards is liking asking someone who's driving a car if he wouldn't mind accepting a diesel tractor instead to get around town. Just not gonna happen.

The HD era is pointless especially when the bulk of gamers don't have HD sets. What's worse is forcing developers to code for 720p which will slow development. That's a lot of extra pixels to move around, a lot. Unless, they cheap out and just go with some upconverting algorithm, which means that HD games isn't really HD anymore than a dvd upconverted to 720p renders an HD image. HD is nice and all for those that have it, but just like broadband, how many have it? I'm not rushing out to buy an hd set when what I've got works perfectly fine.

[Horngreen]

Well I recall a few years back people saying that MS was wrong for only letting people with broadband play on LIVE but you don't hear that stupid talk anymore. Even the PS2 quit supporting dial up games. I believe the end of 2006 is the cutoff date for analog TV. This could and most likely will be changed but if you don't think HDTV is the future then you are way confused. You may ***** about MSs attempts to unify the 360 but after reading post about people confused how to set their Xbox and PS2 and Cube to run different games on HDTVs I understand. High Def is dropping rapidly in price and will continue that trend for years to come. Complain about MS all you want but even your post talk about the PS3 and Cube 2s hard drive (who did that first?) as well as their future attempts at going online which will definately copy LIVE to the letter. If MS does fail at least you will be able to enjoy the benifits they brought to the PS3 because God knows Sony won't bother bringing them on their own unless competition pushes them into it. I bet if it were not for MS that the PS3s online plans would be like the PS2s were before MS came along, just an empty option.

[Glockstar]

It's Gin Rummy, dummy!

Soory. Never mind me... just talking to myself.

Hmmm... Mr. Gates says a couple of... interesting... things ...
* "this year, because we're going to ship this next Xbox."
* "If you're used 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."

... hmph... or maybe it's what he doesn't say that's so interesting.(?) Yeah... like it's strange that he didn't once call it "360".

[theWacoKid]

Well I recall a few years back people saying that MS was wrong for only letting people with broadband play on LIVE but you don't hear that stupid talk anymore. Even the PS2 quit supporting dial up games. I believe the end of 2006 is the cutoff date for analog TV. This could and most likely will be changed but if you don't think HDTV is the future then you are way confused. You may ***** about MSs attempts to unify the 360 but after reading post about people confused how to set their Xbox and PS2 and Cube to run different games on HDTVs I understand. High Def is dropping rapidly in price and will continue that trend for years to come. Complain about MS all you want but even your post talk about the PS3 and Cube 2s hard drive (who did that first?) as well as their future attempts at going online which will definately copy LIVE to the letter. If MS does fail at least you will be able to enjoy the benifits they brought to the PS3 because God knows Sony won't bother bringing them on their own unless competition pushes them into it. I bet if it were not for MS that the PS3s online plans would be like the PS2s were before MS came along, just an empty option.

That cutoff date is what's proposed, but there's a lot of politicians who already calling it discriminatory and penalizing lower income households. You're talking about putting millions of american households read voters, literally into the dark. I'm sorry, but that's just not going to happen. The democrats could literallly win on this one issue alone. You take away somebody's tv, you don't stand a chance in hell of getting elected.

[yacobschlomo]

The HD era is pointless especially when the bulk of gamers don't have HD sets. What's worse is forcing developers to code for 720p which will slow development. That's a lot of extra pixels to move around, a lot. Unless, they cheap out and just go with some upconverting algorithm, which means that HD games isn't really HD anymore than a dvd upconverted to 720p renders an HD image. HD is nice and all for those that have it, but just like broadband, how many have it? I'm not rushing out to buy an hd set when what I've got works perfectly fine.

Surely you're not talking about yourself. Someone who can afford to have a non-progressive scan High Def TV ISF calibrated should have no problem spending the money on a decent HDTV. A decent HDTV will cost you less than a good ISF calibration on a RPCRT.

And if someone went through the trouble of having a TV ISF calibrated, that person obviously believes that great picture quality is of the utmost importance. It would seem to me that someone like that would want a system that required all games to support at least 720p.

[theWacoKid]

Surely you're not talking about yourself. Someone who can afford to have a non-progressive scan High Def TV ISF calibrated should have no problem spending the money on a decent HDTV. A decent HDTV will cost you less than a good ISF calibration on a RPCRT.

And if someone went through the trouble of having a TV ISF calibrated, that person obviously believes that great picture quality is of the utmost importance. It would seem to me that someone like that would want a system that required all games to support at least 720p.

You again, the best buy sales clerk masquerading as an audio/video expert.. Exactly what do you think I could buy with the $250 canadian I spent on ISF calibration. Clue me in, binky, I'd love to hear.

I got my set ISF calibrated for dvd film watching, NOT for playing games. An ISF calibration would mean jack squat for playing video games, but it makes a big difference when watching flicks.

Oh, btw, tell me again, how we don't need HD dvd players, because we can just do high def on our tricked out pc rigs.

[yacobschlomo]

You again, the best buy sales clerk masquerading as an audio/video expert.. Exactly what do you think I could buy with the $250 canadian I spent on ISF calibration. Clue me in, binky, I'd love to hear.

I got my set ISF calibrated for dvd film watching, NOT for playing games. An ISF calibration would mean jack squat for playing video games, but it makes a big difference when watching flicks.

Oh, btw, tell me again, how we don't need HD dvd players, because we can just do high def on our tricked out pc rigs.

Hey, I work at Circuit City, thank you very much.

An ISF Calibration for $250 Canadian, to watch movies on a non-progressive scan High-Def TV? Where I currently live, you'll spend at least $300 for a basic ISF calibration. Cheapest quote I got for a full calibration on my Mits was $800. Was told that the calibration would take at least 8 hours. $250 Canadian is a good deal, or perhaps it was a very basic calibration

An ISF calibration would not do much for games, but 720p vs 480i is a huge difference. For me personally, 720p support is more important than backwards compatibility. A decent tube HD TV has often been on sale at Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart etc. here in the states for about $300.

And when did I ever state that we don't need HD DVD players? I would be the first to pick one up if it was released. It would be even better if it was included with the PS3. I'd get two things in one (and it would probably be cheaper than a stand alone HD DVD player)

[joquito]

The more photo-realistic games become, the more relevant it becomes to get your TV calibrated. Even if I am playing Sonic the hedgehog, colors should still be true. Tails should look yellow and not orange or pinkish. All TVs straight out of the box have the sharpness up too high. You actually lose detail in the picture when the sharpness is up too high. So an ISF calibration can be appreciated even with videogames.

I think MS's marketing of the "HD Era" is good from a business stand point. For example, if Sony doesn't promote the High Def capabilities of the PS3, the public will think that the Next Xbox is graphically more powerful EVEN IF it isn't. High Definition is thought of by the public as the best in picture quality even though the public doesn't really understand what High Defifinition really is.

The partnership with Samsung is awesome for MS. Most in-store demonstrations of the Next Xbox will be on a Samsung HDTV. Given all the people who bought HDTVs to watch non-HD content (DVD), they will clearly prefer the look of a Next Gen game on an HDTV sitting next to an old game on a SDTV in their local EBgames.

[Mochan]

Will any of the next gen consoles be able to hook up to a PC monitor, I wonder? That would save on HD TV expenses by offering high resolution at cheap prices.

[joquito]

VGA adapters are even available for current consoles. Most likely the new consoles will have HDMI outputs which can be converted to DVI. Almost all LCD monitors have DVI inputs.

[joquito]

MS should put alot into their MAY 12th special. All they need is a seriously killer Halo 3 demo and fools like Ashton Kutcher or Orlando Bloom playing against P. Diddy on Nexbox Live. If MS doesn't get a lot of press time on MAY 13th, then you know they blew it.

[folken001]

VGA adapters are even available for current consoles. Most likely the new consoles will have HDMI outputs which can be converted to DVI. Almost all LCD monitors have DVI inputs.

Let's hope so. For some reason, I doubt it.