Xbox 360 ...rushed?

Peteee

Hyzepher wrote:

The discussions over DVD Vs Blu-ray is a moot point imo. Sony are taking a serious gamble on Blu-ray - it's no where near a recognised format (not even produced yet) and when it does take off, if it does, we might be a few years down the road and talking about the next next-gen machines. I think this is an unnecessary risk for Sony - especially when including one will increase the cost of the console.

Agree with most of your points.

Sony is taking a *massive* gamble with blu-ray. Literally betting the company (i.e. if blu-ray takes off, royalties + electronics + movie + playstation divisions get a massive boost. Sony isn't doing all that well, and it really cant afford the PS3 to fail. Their electronics business is nowhere near as good as it used to be (because of ipods and TV's etc) and the Playstation business isn't as profitable as it used to be either)

However, I do think its a good idea to release it with blu-ray. Even forgetting the movies, I think next gen games will need the 25 - 50 GB of space. AFAIK GT4 came on a DVD-9 disc. HD textures dont come cheap.

By the time these consoles are replaced, it'll be 2010 - 2012 time. Lots can change in that time.

Very few people knew what an mp3 was in 2000. But its nigh on ubiquitious now.

Very few people know what HD is about now.

But looking at most tv's for sale, most are 'HD-Ready'. People will buy HD whether they know/care or not, because, as you said, it's being forced on them.

Whether thats a good thing or not, I dont know really.

As for price, theyd be fools to release it too high (Course it is Sony, and I wouldnt put anything past them). Remember what happened to the xbox on release, they had to drop the price within about 6 weeks cos it was far too high.

As for online, MS definetly has the best package, by far. Hands down.

Theres no way the xbox360 will be 50% price then it is now by the time PS3 is out. A 6 months - 1yr old console costing 150 - 200 euros??? I think not, considering thats what the current gen systems are going for now.

MrPinK

Peteee wrote:

However, I do think its a good idea to release it with blu-ray. Even forgetting the movies, I think next gen games will need the 25 - 50 GB of space. AFAIK GT4 came on a DVD-9 disc. HD textures dont come cheap.

The DVD limit is already being reached. The developers of Enchant Arms for the 360 have said that the game will have to be shipped on 2 DVD's or else they'll have to start cutting it back. http://www.games-digest.com/2005/09/xbox_360_dvds_n.html

I don't really see how Blu-Ray is a gamble for Sony. It doesn't need to take off, or gain acceptance in the movie industry. That would certainly be a huge bonus, but they need a high capacity storage medium for their games and that's exactly what Blu-Ray gives them. It's the safe option, sticking with DVD is the gamble.

Hyzepher

The problem with blu-ray is tha it is expensive. Both to produce drives and to produce the disc. If it becomes proprietary for Sony then they'll be covering the costs themselves and have a longer period before they reach economies of scale - this will hurt considering they will be selling at a loss to begin with.

Hyzepher

koneko

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000777069519/

"Retraction issued on PlayStation 3 price / date"

madrab

gotta love the scammers on ebay thanks to this 360 launch (although some people are just idiots)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Xbox-360_W0QQitemZ8236899036QQcategoryZ112848QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

bizmark

What an idoit :eek:

iregk

what fool would pay that for an email addy as crap as that!

LookingFor

Peteee wrote:

Agree with most of your points.

Sony is taking a *massive* gamble with blu-ray.

But so far it's paying off. At this stage, all of Hollywood minus one studio is supporting Bluray. Why? PS3. It's been explicitly cited by many execs at those studios that recently announced support for Bluray - that PS3 will drive Bluray adoption, as it will basically be a very subsidised Bluray player. Meanwhile HD-DVD is plodding along with less than half the support of Hollywood. Universal is the only remaining studio not to announce support for Bluray (and it is expected they will soon) - if it does, I would honestly expect Toshiba to capitulate and row in behind Bluray. Bluray is already the defacto standard.

PS3 is helping Bluray become the defacto standard now, and Bluray as the defacto standard would certainly help PS3. It's a neat circle

CiDeRmAn

Look how the PS2 kick started DVD ownership in a lot of homes, at the time players were rather pricy then out comes a console that kills 2 birds with one stone, together with the launch of The Matrix on DVD they really got the format into the publics hands, as for blu-ray it will probably got the same way with a fortunate major DVD release at the same time that makes the average guy on the street go "I have to have one".
However much the PS3 costs it will have to fit the bank balances of their market, an ultra expensive console won't sell to anyone but the die-hards and as Nintendo know having a core group who will buy whatever you release does not generate enough revenue, you have to capture everyone and expand your market, expect a large loss to be shouldered by Sony to make the new console a success, make it all back in licensing fees on the games, those and surcharges on peripherals will claw back any money lost in time, as will the sale of every blu-ray disk sold. whatever the player its used on.

secret_squirrel

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Look how the PS2 kick started DVD ownership in a lot of homes,

Do you have anything to back that up? You are correct in the matrix starting a DVD boom, but to suggest the PS2 did too is madness. The matrix was released on dvd r1 in late 1999.

By the time of the PS2 European launch in around the end of 2000 there were already loads of budget players. At most it let kids have a second dvd player.