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Microsoft

No X Box for Xmas? 175

Posted by Hemos from the all-i-want-for-christmas-is-my-2-front-teeth dept.
occam writes "Nagging question in gaming console industry seems to be whether MS will make its Xbox launch in fall (as promised). Knowing MS, it seems unlikely, especially since an unstable console isn't nearly as useful as an unstable office PC (with an army of IT heads running around to support it). Plus, despite the heavy-hitting nVidia hardware in the Xbox, every month is ground lost to the PS2 and potentially also the Nintendo Cube. Daily radar has a good piece on the hurdles (even) MS faces with its Xbox launch, and why they'll try like heck to make their fall date. The 7 reasons why Microsoft cannot afford to push back the launch of the Xbox. Ironically, release in time for Christmas is not mentioned! So, there's an 8th reason MS needs to release on time."
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No X Box for Xmas? More

No X Box for Xmas?

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  • Why are retail stores still selling PSX2s *above* the MSRP of $299? How can Sony get pissed when music retailers and web stores discounting their CDs and bitch about undercutting, while not flaming retailers for selling their stuff above MSRP? And why is there still a shortage of PSX2s? It's six months later? WTF Sony?

  • Re:Don't Care (X) (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The DreamCast is dead. That is why the games are only $10-$20. I doubt that there will be any new development on it after this year. The real battle will be between Sony and Microsoft. My money is on Sony.

  • Re: Buy a Tivo, silly! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The only angle microsoft has on Tivo is the fact that it can record two shows at the same time, theoretically. (In actuality, 99% of users wouldn't be able to use this feature, since they have only one cable decoder box. Since most cable is moving to digital cable where all channels are scrambled, you can only tune to one channel at a time through the ultimate TV box.)

    I don't know where you live, but hardly anybody I know has digital cable yet...and we're talking several cities in several states on both coasts. Many people have cable boxes so they can get pay per view/premium channels, but the regular channels still come through the cable sans box.

    Can you see the obvious soulution to recording 2 channels at a time? (hint: you still couldn't record two premium channels)

  • Re:Thinking of previous X-box stories (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    nope looks like it will just be your Beowulf ccluster of REALDOLLS.

  • 7 bogus reasons ... (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    7. Sony's head start doesn't mean anything if the Xbox is ultimately a better platform. Successful consoles tend to have a very long lifetime. Microsoft just needs to win in the long run.

    6. See comment #7. Yes, Nintendo will ship eventually no matter what. The only thing that will protect Xbox from Nintendo, is if the Xbox is a better console, not an early ship date.

    5. I don't think this is a serious factor. Microsoft is a master at creating fake companies and organizations and planting news stories. They can make the public believe what they want whether its genuine or not.

    4. If there's anything history has shown us in the console industry, its that prefering timing to quality never works out. Observe the Sega Saturn -- it beat the Playstation launch, but it was irrelevant because it didn't have enough quality titles. Similar problem with DreamCast.

    3. During the majority lifetime of any console its technology is seriously obsolete. Consoles are sold on the quality of the content, not on the quality of the technology that makes them.

    2. Not true -- first generation Xbox games are really going to be roughly 4th generation Windows games. Optimization for Direct X and x86 CPUs is a well known process with tremendous volume of industry experience available.

    1. Microsoft care about its corporate image being tarnished by a delayed product???? You have to be kidding me.

    Paul Hsieh, (who still does not know how to log into Slashdot without going crazy.)

  • I can honestly say that I believe the console market is alive and healthy! I haven't seen this much vitriol spewed over consoles since the good old SNES vs. Genesis days! Woohoo!
  • Actually the reports so far indicate that it'll retail for $200, possibly less. Microsoft has more than enough money to sell the system at a loss to gain marketshare.

  • Re:Irony (Score:1)

    by pohl ( 872 )
    Irony \I"ron*y\, a. 1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as, irony chains; irony particles. [R.]
  • And I don't how the hell to classify "ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife"

    I can't attribute to this, but I've heard that "ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife" isn't ironic, it's moronic!

  • It looks to me that with the X-box being a simply a PIII 700 with a GeForce 3, 64MB of Ram and 32 MB of video texture RAM, as well as Ethernet and USB I.O, that the hardware alone will sufficiently beat a PS2. The Playstation 2 lacks ethernet out, has only 8MB of texture and 38MB of system RAM. and firewire/USB out.

    If you're the kind of person who judges the speed of a computer based on the "MHz" then sure, you'll think the X-Box is better hardware.

    The PS2 is a completely different design. It has 10 dma channels with multiply-accumulate on the data stream, 3 vector processors configurable at runtime, and bus bandwidth that makes last years mainframes look rather average. It's a 2560 bit bus!

    PS2 is doing everything correctly from a 3d streaming point of view: huge pipes and small buckets. The PC design that the X-Box uses is a flawed design: small pipes and huge buckets.

    This isn't to say the X-Box gets lackluster performance. It's actually impressive. But it's a forced design. They compensate for the bad PC design by throwing more local texture memory onto the video processor, exploiting video processor features to avoid using the system processor, and generally doing everything they can to avoid the limited PC bus.

    The struggle PS2 has is (a) people like you, judging computers based on mostly irrelevant figures like MHz and (b) games for the PS2 must be written to take into consideration the unique design.

    Except for lacking Ethernet,

    PS2/Ethernet is coming Real Soon Now.

  • I believe we need to not just have 1 article feeling sorry for Microsoft we should have an entire website. VA Linux should underwrite "microsoftdotcom.org" because we're just not seeing enough attention given to the X Box. The reason the X Box hasn't materialized, indeed 99% of Microsoft's software hasn't materialized is because of the lack of fan sites. I'm now going to drive off a cliff out of sorrow for Microsoft.
  • <i>There is absolutely no reason to assume that the Xbox will be delayed. </i>

    I'd say previous history <u>can</u> be a strong indicator, versus <b><i>absolutely no</b></i> reason.

    Sure MS's latest OSs are an improvement, but keep in mind that W95 was supposed to be released in '94, Windows 2000 was originally slated to be released in '97, there is a history to consider. WinME was supposed to ship at the same time as W2K but there were problems there too.

    I'm not saying that it will absolutely ship on time, but to say that there's no chance that it would be delayed is equally silly.
  • > Please shut up and maybe your verbal dribble will pass us by...complete fewking IDIOT

    Fucking, good sir. Say it. FUCKING. Not fewking, not f***ing, FUCKING.

    The only thing sadder than a flamer who can't flame is a swearer who can't swear.

    Believe me what you will. But *fuck* completely empty political correctness.

    --Dan
  • > Irony is, most commonly, "incongruity between
    > the actual result of a sequence of events and
    > the normal or expected result".

    Lets use your definition, why don't we.

    > * rain on your wedding day

    Lets see. Do you imagine your wedding day will have rain? No, I believe the expected result of a wedding day is beautiful, sunny, life-affirming sunshine, perhaps with some brilliant and vast cloud formations on an almost blindingly blue sky.

    Thunder and lightning on a continual background of a monsoon downpour is neither a normal nor expected image of one's wedding day. It's not even normal or expected weather in most locations on average, though it is known to happen ("I just never expected it'd happen to me!").

    > * a free ride when you've already paid

    Well, lets see. Consider a context in which you'd require a paid ride, i.e. a bus trip or a plane ride. Your normal and expected result if you *hadn't* paid was that you'd have been summarily kicked out and not given passage.

    That you *did* pay, but turned out not being *required* to, *is indeed* neither normal nor expected.

    > * the good advice you just didn't take

    What's the normal expected result of receiving good advice? Isn't it following it? If you don't follow it, and get really hammered because of it, at the last second before the hammer falls don't you say, "Great, and I was actually *warned* about this...how ironic that the one time I recognize good advice, I don't follow it."

    > * the black fly in your Chardonnay

    I ask for a wedding ring. I receive a sekret decoder ring. Definitely not the normal or expected result.

    Oops, not ironic. Fits your definition, but not ironic. Irony has some aspect of the betrayal by reality aspect which your definition doesn't cover.

    Its when I ask for a wedding ring, the perfect size, the perfect model, everything is wonderful and I worked so hard to make it so...then it slips off her finger within 5 minutes and gets flushed down the toilet(in other words--I made it too perfect). That's irony--if I hadn't worked so hard, I'd have been happier.

    It is indeed irony if you wouldn't have gotten a black fly in your drink if you hadn't ordered the Chardonnay, and is indeed *made* ironic that it's in the *more* expensive drink rather than in some cheap slop.

    > * a death row pardon two minutes too late

    Assuming a pardon is going to happen, it's normal and expected that it'll occur before the body is smoking with tens of thousands of volts.

    If it happens after, *during* the process of execution...oops.

    Remember, dramatic irony hinges on the fact that the reader knows something that the characters don't. A pardon must be delivered by someone--this someone doesn't know that the person is already in the process of being killed. An execution must be executed by someone--this person doesn't know that a pardon is forthcoming. The third party observer knows both, but can't do anything--thus the song.

    > * winning the lottery and dying the next day

    You finally get exactly what you want, despite its inherent rarity. Then you're hit by a bus the next day.

    It's not normal or expected to win the lottery.
    It's not normal or expected to get hit by a bus.

    If you get the former(an extreme good), you *really* don't expect the latter (an extreme bad) to happen shortly. Therefore it's ironic, by your definition.

    > * a traffic jam when you're already late.

    Have you ever *been* in this situation? You've got it calculated down to the microsecond exactly how late you're going to be, presuming traffic follows normal patterns and you speed a little.

    When you don't NEED it to be normal and smooth, it is. When you desperately REQUIRE it to be easily traversable, it gels into gridlock.

    > * a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

    Obviously not a smoker. Throw in "biological demand and expectation." It's a goddamn *CIGARETTE BREAK*, you've got all of two words to find an expectation in there.

    > * meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife

    Perfect mates are depressingly rare. The idea that you'd finally find one, only to learn that exactly what you wanted was no longer accessible to you due to someone more perfect for them than you is quite ironic.

    It's the betrayal by reality that really defines irony. It's the satisfaction of expectations, *along with a twist that makes those expectations unsatisfactory*. "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" is a perfect illustration of irony, and is more selective even than your standard.

    I do find it ironic that english professors insist with such regularity that something is not ironic when it rather clearly can be understood as so with a minimum of situational context.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky, CISSP
    http://www.doxpara.com
  • > Ironic doesn't mean unfortunate.
    > It means unexpected. It's unfortunate
    > to have rain on a wedding day, not ironic.

    Unexpected for who? My primary point, which I think I proved, was that a simple definition of irony as "unexpected" is insufficient, even by those who think Ironic Isn't.

    This is an interesting case of local vs. global context. Can something be locally ironic but globally predictable?

    It's clearly *more* ironic when *more* people don't consider something unexpected. But, again, dramatic irony involves one set of people knowing and watching and the other set unknowing and experiencing. So there's clearly an aspect of separated knowledge in terms of the concept of irony.

    Effectively, my point is that Alanis is singing about the personal perception of expected result (rain free wedding) vs. realistic possibility that actually "happened"(monsoon, which never happens on TV).

    If it happened TO YOU, you'd consider it supremely ironic. You'd expect an insect in your alchohol if it was from some shady dive of a brewery, but not from a Chardonnay. You'd expect rain any other day but the one day that was supposed to be perfect for the rest of your life. And for the love of god, you'd expect to get your pardon before the executioner pulled the switch!

    Irony is the betrayal by reality to an individual. It's intensely personal, and while the situation you listed was indeed much more ironic...I'm unsure it's really necessary for the personal perception of irony.

    You effectively marked "active participation against the circumstance, when such circumstance wouldn't have been suffered without it" as the ironic agent. This is a definite contributer to irony, but I'm unconvinced it's a required one.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky, CISSP
    http://www.doxpara.com

  • > I think you are confusing "expected" (as in,
    > average or mean value) with "desired" (as in,
    > dreamed or wished)

    That doesn't help your case. On average, it doesn't rain at most people's weddings. On average, there aren't flies in expensive drinks. On average, you're not going to meet the perfect person (though I suppose there's argument that, due to psychological misdefinition, they're almost certain to already have someone...that's *why* they're perfect.)

    --Dan

  • I love my PS2 (Score:3)

    by maynard ( 3337 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @05:22AM (#294255) Journal
    It looks to me that with the X-box being a simply a PIII 700 with a GeForce 3, 64MB of Ram and 32 MB of video texture RAM, as well as Ethernet and USB I.O, that the hardware alone will sufficiently beat a PS2. The Playstation 2 lacks ethernet out, has only 8MB of texture and 38MB of system RAM. and firewire/USB out.

    That said, I love my PS2. I plop a disk in and play, no screwing around. The biggest dissapointment came when I discovered that I can't attach a usb keyboard and mouse for use with Quake III Revolution, which is a problem with Quake III, not the PS2. I'm also dubious that Sony will sell an ethernet card which doesn't require Sony ISP service, or some other subscription model... so if the X box is open enough to allow me to hook it up to my home network and play across the Internet I'll consider it a significant improvement over the PS2.

    Except for lacking Ethernet, the hardware differences between the two appear to be noise and not significant. However, I'm willing to bet that the ease of porting x86 games over to the X-box (almost no porting whatsoever) will give this system the majority of games titles very quickly. I just hope my PS2 purchase doesn't bocome obsolete as quickly as all those Dreamcast owners...

    All that said, I still love my PS2 and I hope Sony does the right thing.

    --Maynard
  • Just a cursory examination of Ebay shows they are still selling $50-100 over retail.

    Vermifax
  • ...is the position XBox developers will be in if it's not ready when they are:

    They will have a product they cannot sell, which they've been wondering whether or not they should port to PCs. Their answer will magically appear: We have to!

    The port to PCs will be easier than to other consoles. That's what they'll do to raise some quick get-us-through-'til-launch cash. The result: When XBox eventually launches, its exclusive games will no longer be exclusive. (Some will even have already been rejected by the marketplace.)

    Releasing a limited number of consoles will be a safer option: Then the we're-willing-to-wait-all-night-in-line crowd will get them. Once you've made a fool of yourself buying console, you're not going to tell everybody it sucks (or that the games suck). You'd just look like a fool. Early adopters always evangelize.
  • I heard it'll be $300, and MS will take a $200 loss on every console sold.
    ___
  • Huh?

    The XBox got cut back to 64MB of RAM with a UMA architecture (the frame buffer and texture memory are from main RAM) sometime in January (I think). That 32MB was a "projected" figure which got cut when MS realized they actually had to sell this box for $300 (as it is the it'll cost them over twice that)

    This, quite frankly, is the biggest achilles heel I see on the XBox. 64MB of RAM is very little to begin assuming typical bloated Microsoft OS & MFC code (hence the real need for a HD - virtual memory!), then it has to share this memory for textures?!

    Granted, we are talking about a 640x480 screen, so how much freakin' texture memory do you need?! Too many whiny bitches running around thinking they're gonna make monstrous textures fit onto a TV set, bemoaning that they can't make it work on a PS2, yet somehow the XBox is supposed to overcome this "limitation." Great, so they can fit monstrous textures on the XBox. Too bad the hardware will forever be scaling them down to what can actually be displayed.

    Personally I'm of the opinion that 90% of console developers today would be absolutely, positively lost working on the 16-bit generation of consoles. "What?! Why can't we can't use C?!" Sigh

  • The PS2 has:

    4 Mb of VRAM on the same die as the rasterisers.
    32Mb of system RAM
    2 Mb of IOP RAM (hosts the OS)
    2 Mb of sound RAM (built in 4x compression)

    Plus various small (4-16Kb) buffers, and a kick arse DMA controller to manage it all.
  • Oops... Now I think you meant "3rd party game developers"... Nevermind...

  • Re:MS can release whenever they like... (Score:4)

    by Chris Burke ( 6130 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @07:35AM (#294262) Homepage
    Hmm... I can't comment on any of the unsubstantiated claims in this post, but I can say one thing, with a high degree of assurance.

    Nintendo have somewhere in the vicinity of 20 developers for GameCube, which pales in comparison to Microsoft's hundereds.

    More developers != better product (note for logically-challenged: more developers != worse product either). Especially in hardware, where understanding the whole (or large portions of it) is important.

    Witness K7 vs Willamette. Intel had more than 5x the developers on that project than AMD had, and the result is well documented.

    Have a nice day.
  • The Ethernet card and the hard drive are both massive boons for the Xbox. Consoles lack virtual memory, and reading (as well as seeking) from the DVD drive is very expensive. You'll see the hard drive used more as a massive L3 cache than a place to store save game files. More cache means all the "mores": more variety in the models, more animations, more sound effects.

    The PS2 actually only has 4 megs of texture memory, and lacks texture compression. Decent texture compression algorithms can easily get you 3.5 to 6:1 compression on your textures. The Dreamcast is the one that has 8 megs of texture RAM. Don't forget that the GeForce also has a very nice hardware T&L engine...

    It might be worth mentioning that the PS2 has a mere 2 megs of sound memory, while the XBox's unified memory space lets us as developers decide how much space to use for everything. 256 hardware-accelerated 3D sound effects won't hurt either (Whereas the PS2 has 48 voices and if you want 3D you do the math yourself...)

    Cheers,
    A Playstation2, XBox and Gamecube programmer
  • In actuality, 99% of users wouldn't be able to use this feature, since they have only one cable decoder box. Since most cable is moving to digital cable where all channels are scrambled, you can only tune to one channel at a time through the ultimate TV box
    too bad ultimatetv only works with directv satellite, so you would never be able to get it to work with a cable box. and you would need a dual lnb setup on the satellite (costs about $50ish depending) to use the 2 tuners.
  • Still, this thing is 1 DVD-ROM away from being made into a MSN\WebTV unit, or even a subscription-based Windows Terminal. When that happens, bundled services are bound to follow.

    Besides, they have to build some sort of automatic ISP setup service into it because most console home consumers probably don't even know what an IP address is. I'd expect a network connection wizard much like Windows currently has.

    Microsoft is pretending right now that that isn't going to happen, but IMO, that's just to not confuse the pre-release PR message. Let's see what the installed base looks like.
    --
  • I've had Netscape do this to Win2K also

    I had Netscape lock NT4.0 solid once too. Shouldn't happen, but Netscape found a way. Never once had a any other sort of application-level crash (well, IE can blow at the explorer, but you can always get back to the login screen). The Matrox TV card drivers are flaky as hell, and I've had tons of problems with those. However, I've been using NT long enough to be very cautious about hardware (HCL *system* and SCSI only please).

    As for the laptop battery issue, the fact that you have to remove the battery is a pure hardware issue. Have Linux's APM flake out on you and you'll see.
    --
  • Gordon Lightfoot?
    Triumph?

    Keep 'em coming,
    (jfb)
  • This article is pretty fucking retarded. Take their reason four for example. The Dreamcast was released according to the schedule Sega had followed for years! The Genesis was released (a technically inferior product) way before Nintendo managed to release the SNES. The SNES had a larger palette and could output more colours on screen (65,536 and 256 respectively) than the Genesis (512 and 64 respectively). Sega tried to outdo Nintendo by releasing their SegaCD but the idea flopped because it didn't add any graphical capabilities to the system, merely some extra storage. The Genesis came out first however and managed to get its foot in the door which kept it alive dispite the SNES whomping it in most areas iincluding licensees. Sega heard the rumblings of a 32-bit console from Nintendo and thus popped out the Saturn before Nintendo's planned release date, Nintendo's console however was scrapped and its partner Sony took the technology and made the PSX. The Dreamcast's launch was intended to give them a leg up on Sony and Nintendo with their 128-bit products. Lots of people buying the PS2 already owned another console many of these are Dreamcasts.
    The Xbox definitely has its work cut out for it in proving itself to be a major player in the console market. I don't think the technology is as problematic for sales as Dan Egger suggests. Everything has to do with games. A console needs to be widely accepted (the Saturn obviously wasn't) in order for people like Konami to develop their blockbusters for it. The important factor the PS2 has right now is that alot of developers have already released games and have lots in the works. The Xbox needs to show people some production shots of games people REALLY want and they need to show them off soon. No one cares how good the graphics look if the game sucks. I'm going to be picking up a PS2 so I can play the Final Fantasy series, I got my N64 off eBay for Zelda. I don't see myself grabbing an Xbox because there aren't any games planned for it that I'm dying to obsess over (I knew i would own a PS2 because FFX and XI were announced for it).
  • Whoa no way dude. Sony didn't know shit about the console gaming market when they launched the Playstation. The guy they had working with Nintendo on the sound system for the Nintendo 32-bit project (I think it was called project Reality or some such) had to persuade the Sony execs to let him start work on the PSX. Before the PSX was released in Japan Sony was in a similar position to where Microsoft is now. Everyone was really skeptical that the PSX would take off in a market that until then had only made anyone moderate profits. Nintendo and Sega were both recognizable names but then no one had really made a bajillion dollars in the industry. Nintendo's 32-bit project was meant from the get go to be a 3D box so everyone else decided they needed 3D toys too. Sega began work on the Saturn and soon released Virtua Fighter in arcades to show off some of the stuff you could do with 3D graphics. The PSX gains some corporate acceptance within Sony and then it comes out around the same time as the Saturn. Sony makes oodles due to the early entrance into the 3D console market. Nintendo plays catch up with the N64 but the lack of a CD-ROM makes it difficult for them to get some of the bigger game contracts (Square, Konami, Capcom). If Microsoft offers something exceptional before Sony or Nintendo does they will get their foot into the market. I think maybe the fact their hardware is familiar ground for PC game developers (Relic, Bungie, et al) will get them some initial ground.
  • - MS have well over 100 developers developing games for X-Box, theres gonna be a flood of games (like the PS1) and most likely they'll all be of an unprecedented quality as far as console systems go

    Isn't the Xbox reported to run a bastardized Win32 OS to begin with? I would imagine that not only will they have Xbox-specific games they'll have existing DirectX games ported with little effort..
  • >> Irony is, most commonly, "incongruity between
    >> the actual result of a sequence of events and
    >> the normal or expected result".
    >
    > Lets use your definition, why don't we.

    [SNIP]

    I think you are confusing "expected" (as in, average or mean value) with "desired" (as in, dreamed or wished)

  • Yeah, same here...I loved that show.
    "Welcome to the House of Next Tuesday!"

    • And I'm dubious that Microsoft will allow the X-box to just connect to any ethernet hookup, they could more easily force you to get MSN, after all, they HAVE the infrastructure for MSN in place, whereas Sony does not run an ISP to the best of my knowledge. (Doesn't stop them from using another isp as a partner.)

    Microsoft has mentioned in several places that they won't require you to use a specific ISP for the XBox. (I'm too lazy to do a web search. Try here [google.com].) What you will have to do is pay a subscription fee on The Zone for premium content (hey, kinda like their PC games Asheron's Call and Allegiance, eh?). Nothing wrong with that, as they'll surely offer free games over The Zone, as well (again, like they do with their PC games -- Crimson Skies, Allegiance, Starlancer, etc).

  • . . ."ten thousand spoons" is what our lawyers will use on you for quoting Alanis without compensation. You may then petition for a knife, to end it. . .
  • This article has one factoid wrong. Sony had promised [zdnet.co.uk] promised to have shipped 10 million PS2 units by the end of March, and subsequently met that goal. However, in many places, many of those units are simply stacked up in the backroom and haven't been sold yet -- the Electronics Boutique store I visited just this past weekend had more units than they could sell right away.

    I do agree that the size of the entertainment console market is large, but finite, and that the sooner one of Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo comes in and claims their stake, the sooner the next-generation console will be over. However, given that there are over 30 million PS1 units out there (not counting N64 and DC owners not owning a PS1, and not counting the substantial growth in the industry as a whole), it is evident that most customers are still sitting on the sideline, and not rushing out to purchase the PS2. With two more consoles coming out in the short-term, and very few great games available for the PS2 just yet, I think most consumers are taking a "wait-and-see" attitude.

  • nope-for a while, we had one digital cable box, and several other TV's plugged in to the regular cable--all from one split line,and the regular cable and the digital cable all workd fine!
  • I think something like this has been stated before, but to rephrase it:

    It's not imortant what a console is able to do, when it comes out or who build it.
    As long as there are games for the console which are worth buying the console I'll go for it (the console will be outdated 12 months after me doing so anyway..)

    I bought a PS when there where enough good games available
    I would have bought a DC now if Sony wouldn't have pulled it back because there are enough good games now
    I will buy a PS2 when there are enough good games available
    I will buy a X-Box when there are enough good games avaiable.

    What I don't give a damn about is: what are in the damn console or what will be in the next damn console.. as long as the games are worth buying that thing...
  • Is it ironic that everything she claims is irony in that song isn't?
  • I have a Super Nintendo console copier with a built-in cd drive for loading rom images...does that count?

  • Lik Sang (www.lik-sang.com) is where I got mine, but the listing on the site disappeared a week after I got mine...maybe I got their last one :).

    Anyway, the product is called "Gamestation" and is basically a SNES board, Game Doctor SF7, IDE controller, and CD drive all in one unit. Unsure of the actual manufacturer...the box has nothing but the word "Gamestation" and a picture of the unit, along with "Super Family Computer Video Game."

    However, for many hours of rom loading fun, you can still get Bung's DoctorGB Game Boy copier products from Lik-Sang. I've got one...it rules. 'Specially since (with a 64mbit flashcard) you can load up a shitload of older games. I think I have 40 or so on my current load. All the nieces and nephews loved me at the last family reunion.

  • no Xbox for europe in 2001 (Score:5)

    by Arlet ( 29997 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @05:12AM (#294281)
    Microsoft has admitted that the Xbox will not be released in Europe before 2002. Read this article:
    http://www.vnunet.com/News/1115777 [vnunet.com]
  • Finally, somebody talking sense! I own a Sega Dreamcast, and so far there is only one PS2 game I've seen that looks better than my Dreamcast games, and that is Metal Gear Solid 2. Which isn't even out yet!

    Sony DID screw up the PS2. Yes, it's sold 10 million units, the way it was hyped it would be hard not to. (Anybody else remember the Time magazine cover stating that the PS2 would revolutionize home entertainment?) But I still don't own a PS2, and it's because I'm unwilling to a) pay in advance and wait until one comes in or b) buy a $550 bundle with extra software and hardware I don't want. It is still NOT POSSIBLE to walk into a software store or Toys R Us, plunk down $300 and walk out with a PS2.

    Add to this the fact that developers are still trying to figure out how to get the maximum performance out of it. The PS2 simply was not designed with easy development in mind. You may say, "Well, that's the price of power" except that the Sega Dreamcast, XBox and GameCube are all much easier to develop for and are similarly powerful.

    It's true Microsoft doesn't have everyone. They don't have Square, yes that hurts. But Square isn't the only console RPG maker in existence - Game Arts did a FINE job on Grandia II for the Dreamcast. They may not get Namco. But they DO have Konami, and I will bet money that we'll see an XBox version of MGS2 eventually.

    Anyone who thinks that XBox isn't as powerful as PS2 needs to watch the gameplay movies from Munch's Oddysee at oddworld.com.

    Anyone who thinks that the XBox will become obsolete fails to take into account that standardized hardware platforms force designers and programmers to do more with less - just compare first-generation PSX games with those released near the end of its life cycle (like Chrono Cross). It's a world of difference, but THE HARDWARE HASN'T CHANGED.

    And anyone who thinks that the XBox will bluescreen is an idiot.
  • Actually, the bastards that came to install the dish (so called "free install") tried to rip me off, so I plan to install it myself this weekend. I haven't encountered the problem yet, nor have had the opportunity to download the patch.
  • As far as I know, Ulitmate TV doesn't have a box for regular cable. I bought it because for the price of a 20 hour Tivo, I get a 35 hour Ultimate TV recorder, a dual tuner satellite television system, and a usb port in the back of the box to connect my cable modem to (eventually).

    As soon as there is a non MSFT option, I'll gladly throw the Ultimate TV thingy out the door, but until then, I'll be able to record NOVA and Tales of the Gun at the same time, and then watch whenever I want.

  • That's where the satellite system comes in. I'll be able to get WGBH out of Boston...

  • I'm not proud of buying a Micro$oft product, but in the PVR market, I was led to believe they had the best product/service combination.

    Ultimate TV [ultimatetv.com] is a service offering from Microsoft, that like the X-box, has little to do with PC software. Well, I found out today that they fscked that up [yahoo.com] too.

    Whaddyagonnado?

  • I truely fear that someday I will play a X-BOX game and it will wipe out my entire HD)

    Hehehe. Anyone remember Crystal Dynamic's "The Horde" for 3DO? It would delete all non-Horde saved games from NVRAM. T'was not a bug, either. It was programmed to do so in order to help the player by providing the maximum amount of space for his or her Horde game saves.

    FPS Tetris II is now maximizing the available space on your X-Box. Please wait...

  • So, Alanis Morisette's song "Ironic" is about a bunch of non-ironic situations.

    Now that's ironic.

    Tee hee.

  • Big disappointments don't sell 10 million units. I'm not disappointed with mine, neither are my roommates upstairs, nor my brother, nor my girlfriend. They all like theirs.

    How about you? Just a little bitter you didn't think to reserve a PS2?
  • <The amount of money they have spent on their console game vs income will show on their 2001 financial reports>

    Aye, that $24 billion is cash is really going to show a hit.
  • Of course you own a PS2... that is why you are defending it.

    I have one too, and quite frankly, it didn't/doesn't live up to the hype. To say otherwise is a lie.

    Never ceases to amaze me how people will defend the gaming system they bought to the ends of the earth.

    GodHead- In all honesty, do you think the PS2 has lived up to its hype... or more importantly, your expectations? I put it on equal footing with my Dreamcast, which for $99 Has lived up to my expectations.

    Anyone needs a PS2, let me know. All the stores here in Jersey have them in stock.

  • I'm really starting to hate articles like this, which are published with little effort to verify facts. Throughout the whole piece, the author keeps saying that developers won't sign on with the X-Box because of XXX or YYY.

    Look at the X-Box developers list [planetxbox.com] -- these companies are either already making games, or have signed on to DO game exclusively.

    Another reason that the PS2 and GameCube won't be any competition is, well, pure numbers. The system specs [planetxbox.com] of the X-Box, in a handy chart comparing them to the GameCube and PS2.

    ------------
    CitizenC
  • You won't have to fork out another $30? What about the cost of the system itself? I imagine it will be much higher than the PS2.

    Anyway I agree about the Dreamcast. I think it's the best console I've ever owned. But to me, the next big thing will be Gamecube.

  • maybe if they spent more time on getting the xbox ready for release and less time doctoring photos [slashdot.org] it'd be ready to ship! But seriously, MS really needs to beat Metal Gear Solid 2 and Gran Turismo 3 out of the gate. Like a lot of people I bought stinky ZOE just to play the MGS2 demo and boy does it wail. GT3 looks equally as killer. Once sony gets a few titles like this out on the market, there'll be a point where MS won't be able to catch up. Sony's release games weren't great, they've been a couple alright titles since, but the time is ripe for MS (or nintendo for that matter) to really come in and clean house, but like they say time is money...and market share.

  • .. (Score:1)

    by vbrtrmn ( 62760 )
    Slashdot
    New About Xbox, This Stuff Doesn't Matter

    --
    microsoft, it's what's for dinner

    bq--3b7y4vyll6xi5x2rnrj7q.com

  • The page you linked to mentions a patch. Have you tried that?

  • Interesting, I assumed digital cable was prevalent now since it's all I can get where I'm at (San Jose) and where I was (Columbus, Ohio)...

    But you're right, it hasn't penetrated yet, here's an article [internet.com] on the subject.

    To clarify your "solution" point though, AFAIK with digital cable all channels are scrambled, so you couldn't record two channels at once under any circumstances.

    - Twid

  • > Whaddyagonnado?

    But a TIVO. I'm surprised anyone would say that ultimate TV is better than Tivo. The only angle microsoft has on Tivo is the fact that it can record two shows at the same time, theoretically. (In actuality, 99% of users wouldn't be able to use this feature, since they have only one cable decoder box. Since most cable is moving to digital cable where all channels are scrambled, you can only tune to one channel at a time through the ultimate TV box.) (By the way, isn't their ad campaign the WORST?)

    I have a sixty hour phillips Tivo and I'm very happy with it. I just got the 2.0 software downloaded and they have made many improvements. Tivo even hosts a open forum where they host a "hacking Tivo" board. And it runs Linux. You should be ashamed, hacker, for even considering an evil MSFT device.

    To be fair though, there are some problems with Tivo's, too. Some people with old Tivo's are having stuttering problems with the new 2.0 software.

    - Twid

  • you bought a PS2? you bastard :) it's good to hear a positive review of the box - i've been putting aside cash for a while with an eye to eventually buying one.

    -steve
  • Hate to be an a** but the X-Box only has 6 megs total memory, the 32Megs you are talking about is shared with the total 64. Second, the PS2 has only 4MB texture/Framebuffer.

    Does this mean that the X-BOX beats the PS2? NO, in fact this does not mean that the X-BOX is a 'generation' ahead of the PS2 ( a comment on another comment). Truth be told, we don't know what either box can truely produce in the terms of graphics. A few advantages the X-Box has are real VGA out and a HDTV out. (The HD/Ethernet are not advantages to games, I truely fear that someday I will play a X-BOX game and it will wipe out my entire HD)

    I don't think so, since the PS2 is playable today and the X-BOX isn't out yet. Don't believe the hype and don't even worry about getting one of these machines. (PS2 or X-BOX) If they are successful then you will be able to buy one.

    I already own a PS2, maybe I'll buy a X-BOX, but whatever box you buy, don't listen to Daily Radar, they are just a hype machine and always blow the stories out of proportion in order to get more web hits.

  • Sorry about the first line, it hav 64 megs total memory. Typo.
  • I meant acutal production parts in the development cycle. Most console video parts are the last thing to arrive, as was the emotion engine.

  • Why would it be delayed? (Score:3)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @07:58AM (#294305)
    There is absolutely no reason to assume that the Xbox will be delayed. Unstable OSs are pretty much a thing of the past with Windows on the PC. On the Xbox, there is only one hardware set to support and no need for all of the extra crap that might cause any problems.

    Aside from the fact that the video processor is arriving a little late (Which it does in most video console development, like the Dreamcast, PS2, N64, and GameCube.) there has been no evidence that this will hold back release of the machine. If anything, having a video processor from Nvidia makes it more likely that the machine will release on time, because of existing relationships with chip fabs that allow for higher volumes of chip production early on as compared to the problems making the custom chips for the PS2.

    If you want to insult Microsoft, go after their shady, anticompetitive business practices. Stability is no longer an issue, and given all of their careful work and partners on the Xbox, assuming it will be unstable and/or late is just idiotic.
  • I read somewhere that the real irony of that song is that none of the things mentioned in it are ironic. Maybe Alanis is more clever than we thought. :)

  • Irony (Score:3)

    by andy@petdance.com ( 114827 ) <andy@petdance.com> on Friday April 13, 2001 @05:09AM (#294318) Homepage
    Ironically, release in time for Christmas is not mentioned!

    There's nothing ironic about Christmas not being mentioned. Irony is, most commonly, "incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result".

    Here are some other things that are not ironic:

    • rain on your wedding day
    • a free ride when you've already paid
    • the good advice you just didn't take
    • a black fly in your Chardonnay
    • a death row pardon two minutes too late
    • winning the lottery and dying the next day
    • a traffic jam when you're already late
    • a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
    • meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife

    And I don't how the hell to classify "ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife"
    --

  • You expect that someone will be happy after winning the lottery. If the person dies instead, that's ironic. Don't quite see how the others work though.

    No, he didn't write for News Radio, he's just an unimaginative plagurist.

    The only "intuitive" interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned.

  • Re:Biggest waste of money (Score:3)

    by jvmatthe ( 116058 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @06:59AM (#294320) Homepage
    I suspect you're full of it.

    Please name the time, place, and circumstances under which you said you saw MGS on Xbox. The director/producer has already said "We're working on PS2 first. We'll start working on Xbox near when PS2 is done." (paraphrasing) So, how did you manage to see it?

    Further, the Xbox may cache things to the hard drive, but from what I've been able to get out of developers, the Xbox docs seem to indicate that the hard drive will house only preferences, high scores, saved games as persistent data. To get things cached onto the hard drive, you'll still have to deal with initial load times. That is, the hard drive is not some magical device that eliminates load times; it only mitigates them.

    And as for "no reason to buy a PS2" here were my reasons:

    • Ditch my old (i.e. first generation) PS1. It had been played hard but cared for to the point that it would only skip once in a blue moon on a movie. Not bad for a first gen. I hated to see it go, but being able to play my PS1 games on the PS2 (with some speed up and texture smoothing) was great.
    • Continue to enjoy the robust, rich used PS1 game market while waiting for the PS2 market to mature. In the meantime, cherry pick the very best PS2 games to play. Be a realistic gamer, not an idealistic one. (Hint: Xbox probably won't have a stellar lineup at launch either. It'll be the same as all other console launches. One or two great titles, the rest are crap. Similar to the PS2 launch, no?)
    • DVD player...we didn't have one and now we do.

    Now stop trolling. Thanks.

  • The real problem with the XBox may be that it can't yet be manufactured at a price anywhere near game console prices. Remember, from a parts perspective it's a reasonably good PC with a NV20 (GeForce3) graphics chip. That's a configuration that costs well over $1000 in a desktop. And at least half of that is real parts cost.

    Worse, they're launching in a recession. Selling at $500-$600 might have worked last year, but it it isn't going to work this Xmas. Microsoft may try to buy market share by selling a $600 box for $300. But that has antitrust implications. And they'll have to squeeze the retailers hard on margins.

  • There is no good reason to buy a PS2. For one, the graphics so far suck. My dreamcast has better looking games. The antialiasing on the PS2 is pathetic. I was fortunate enough to see a demo of Metal Gear Solid on the XBox and it blew the PS2 version away.. the difference was incredible.

    PS2 has the slowest freakin load times.. usually compensated in the games by long long lame ass teaser screens.

    XBox will have a hard drive.. meaning I don't have to fork out another $30 just to save my games.. also the hard drive will be great for lowering load times.

    The only thing Sony did right was build up a bunch of hype over the biggest dissapointment system of the year. I love my dreamcast and urge anyone with $300 to burn to buy a dreamcast, a couple controllers and a handfull of games for the same price you would pay for a PS2.

    -gerbik
  • Hmm, who do you think a site like planetxbox is going to be biased towards? Maybe the XboX! The playstation 2 is no comptetition to eighther of them, but I have seen video's of both gamecube and xbox games and the gamecubes look better I think. I still think that the xbox will have a little more power in the end, but not a whole lot. The gamcube has a chip from ATI that hasn't been disclosed yet to the extent that the geforce 3 has so its anyone's guess. A 400Mhz powerPC is probably just as fast if not faster than a 733 pentium 3 too.
  • It seems that most peiople are debating whether the ps2 is a threat or not. That's easy, it isn't and it won't be by the time the xbox launches at this pace. I want an xbox and especially a gamecube very badly, but I have no desire to get a ps2. The real competition is the gamecube and it should be obvious to anyone paying attention. Alot of people have said they don't care about the ps2 because they have a dreamcast and the games are better, and they are. The xbox might have more developers and probly will have more games at launch but that won't matter with the games nintendo will have. Mario, zelda, metroid, pokemon, waverace, and a star wars game. When people see these, not too mention that they will be able to use the already released gameboy advance with it, the temptation will be complete. The graphics look incredible, but the real kicker is of course the actual games. Banking on seeing character's everyone already loves in a new light is a good bet. What does the xbox have? Malice? I have never heard of any of the characters in any of the games that the xbox is going to be launching. Malice? never heard of it. Dead or Alive 3? Silent Hill 2? Maybe tony hawk and oddworld, but those are cheap gimicks compared to lineup of established games that are all but guaranteed to be of very high quality.
  • Why do people forget that as failed as the Nintendo 64 was Nintendo still sold double the gaming software of it's closest competitor [dailyradar.com], EA? Sure, this is due in large part to Pokemon and the Game Boy, but don't forget that while the PSX outsold the N64 in units, the N64 sold more games for the past few years. Nintendo and Rare have made a good number of the best console games in the last generation and I can't wait to see what they do with the GC.

    My point is this: Nintendo doesn't have to 'learn' anything. Some people just need to figure out that they really are in their own league. Sony and Microsoft are making computers to play video games, Nintendo is making games that just happen to run on a computer. I'm not saying Nintendo is going to "win" any kind of "console war", but they'll do just fine because they know how to make games that are fun, unlike a large number of the PS2's mature titles, which tend to seem like a chore you undertake just to get to the next cutscene.

    The other thing that bothers me is the assumption that Nintendo's games are for kids. I'm 23, I've been playing video games since I was four, I play Q3A, UT, Metal Gear, Total Annihilation, and a whole bunch of other "mature" games, and I still think that Mario Tennis is one of the most fun games I've ever played. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best example of level design in any game, period. Video games are supposed to be fun, if they happen to have blood and guts or "mature" themes, fine, but that isn't necessary. However, if it makes you feel any better, there do appear to be a good number of rated M games headed to the Cube at or just after launch, although Nintendo will probably only publish one of those (Perfect Dark 2, maybe, although it's my candidate for 'most likely to be delayed').

    As for the non-standard media, this is seen by many as a great move on Nintendo's part. Because you can't pick up black GameCube disks a Best Buy, it's harder to pirate the games (probably not impossible, but much harder). This is a nice selling point to developers trying to decide which console to publish for. Also, they are much cheaper to manufacture than the cartridges, and the licensing fees for the GC are said to be as good as, or better than the PS2 (source: IGN GC FAQ [ign.com]).

  • Is it me, or does the average Slashdotter want to see the XBox fail? Personally, I don't like witnessing Microsoft assimilate large industries into their borgness... but isn't Sony an even more evil company to have control the game industry? I remember John Carmack saying something like that.
  • Amen to that! I played River City Ransom for a couple hours last night, on my Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The NES comes from circa 1985, and can currently be had for around $20 off of Ebay, with the works (controllers, cables, etc...) The games have tons of replay value (I have been playing them for around 12 years now), and they can be had for around an average of $5 each.

    Yes, having the latest and greatest is always a fun thing for the gamer... but when you find yourself sitting around bored, waiting for next-gen game consoles... you need to do a reality check, and ask yourself: Am I having fun?

    Don't forget the classics.
  • ...you're wrong! $300 is the suggested price. [gamespot.com]
  • It's not just you. What they are saying here is:

    1) We've speculated wildly that since the European shipments are unlikely to make the deadline this will extend to the rest of the world. Of course, we are ignoring the fact that the chips are in manufacturing, samples have been given to the developers, and the GeForce 3 chip that was finished up only after NVidia was done on their XBox commitments will start appearing on AGP cards in the next few months.

    After saying all this, however

    2) Microsoft have denied the rumour as the bunch of factless speculation it is.

    but

    3) Another console company has a long history of missing shipping dates to release stable and good quality product!

    therefore

    4) We don't trust Microsofts denial, and our speculation must be true!

    Journalism at its finest once again.
  • Sure, there won't be any more games released after another year or so, but what you're not understanding is that if the system is really fun to use now, it doesn't matter what happens in the future -- it will *always* be just as much fun. Many have claimed that they've been playing certain titles for over a year without ever getting bored. The whole gist behind video games is the fun factor (tm), which is very high (just read the reviews and comments everywhere) for the Dreamcast. Sure, there's a fight for domination in the next generation of gaming consoles, but let's not be so hasty that we all forget about what's out there *now* and give up the chance for entertainment *now* just to *speculate* about the future (aka vaporware).

  • Don't Care (X) (Score:3)

    by ekrout ( 139379 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @05:05AM (#294333) Journal
    In the truth table for fun and entertainment, where the inputs are the various existing video game consoles as well as future ones, the X Box remains a don't care for me as long as Sega's Dreamcast keeps releasing games. With Dreamcast titles being sold for $10 and $20 *retail*, and the rave reviews for the large majority of these games, it doesn't matter when the X Box comes out; I'll still have my DC!

  • If the initial launch really is for around $300 like suggested, MS will initially be losing LOTS of money on each unit. In 2001 the hardware in the box would retail for twice as much.

    With that in mind, I expect Microsoft to meet their schedule the Sony way: release just a handful of consoles so that 31337s can flood Slashdot and other forums with declarations of superiority. Everyone else and their grandma will be on a waiting list and realistically, won't get their box before late spring--which might be a blessing, because by then some of the initial bugs will be worked out. People are more likely to wait it out once they see that some X-boxes have already sold, even if not yet to them: just a few months of gratification delay and they'll be blowing away their once-cool PS2 friends.

    Sure, PS2s will sell between now and the X-box rollout date, but that might have the effect of being a dare to the rest of the kids on the block who don't have a game station from this generation yet. All those kids will want the X-box.

    But here are some arguments against waiting that the article didn't consider:

    1. There is finally a real stampede of consumers buying DVD players, and it's not over yet. But if you have a player in your system already, that's one less reason to buy an X-box. I think DVD functionality appealed to the "prudent" side of current PS2 owners. Several of my friends said "I'll wait to buy a DVD player and get the PS2 instead"--and they did. Who will wait for the X-box depends on how long the wait is.

    2. Computers can come a long way in two quarters, and the longer Microsoft waits to release their console, the more reasonable it will seem to just upgrade your PC.

    Others?

    Spork

  • You already did apologize. Her name is Shania.

    /Brian
  • The Genesis was actually a pretty good machine, IMHO.

    My thought on the Xbox is that Microsoft is trying to squeeze into a new market about which they don't know quite as much as they think they do. Sony succeeded with the Playstation because they knew the consumer market; consumer electronics has been their business as far back as I can remember. Microsoft's position is such that they can firebomb the consumer with advertising but for the most part not even worry about the matter -- after all, they just do the software (and mice and joysticks). Their few-and-far-between attempts at consumer marketing have been hilarious failures (Bob, Microsoft Barney).

    I think the Xbox will not make it out the door when it's supposed to. I don't think it will be a debacle on a par with Bob; that would have more to do with the game producers than Microsoft itself. But I am inclined to agree that MS will either slam it out the door or delay it long past when it's supposed to be available. Sony's hurting enough from doing this (solely because of supply problems, mind you, not necessarily their fault) with the PS2 -- if they had been in this situation with the original Playstation they'd have been blown out of the water.

    Microsoft could be a danger to the market, but I don't think they can break in right now. They won't get it right with Xbox; maybe down the road a ways, but not right now.

    /Brian
  • But really, its a console... a fixed platform, as long as a developer thoroughly tests their game crashes (if any) should be VERY rare

    This is the point I think a lot of people are overlooking. They hear "MS Console", and start talking about Blue Screen's and such, but I doubt you'll see much of it.

    Dreamcast had some version of WindowsCE running it, and by all accounts it was very stable (if you don't count the bad batch of disks that went out at launch).

  • The XBOX OS is more stable than windows. (Score:4)

    by 0xffffffff ( 161827 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @07:32AM (#294342)
    Really people, when you take all that shit out of windows and only run the core (no services, a couple processes, simple memory management), it's not that bad of an OS for gaming. As an Xbox developer, I haven't found that much to cry about - at all. There are some bugs, but they have workarounds and have to do with the graphics hardware. It basically feels like DOS with a bunch of Win32 libraries... You could never run Excel on it ;)

  • As we have discussed just a few hours earlier, it will be possible to turn the X Box into a useful Linux station, perhaps even without opening the case. Therefore, there's something useful to do with it.

    Second point: I've heard that Microsoft's designated price for the X-Box is US $300 - which was considered a loss for Microsoft. More sales lead to more losses (well, I know that prices are affected by the demand, but there should be a few good months when Microsoft will lose money for every box it sells.

    To summarize, the X-Box will be a bunch of cheap, groovy hardware (a rarity these days), and it will be bought just for that.


  • Here we go again, an anti-MS article that just bashes because there are rumors they may be too late to launch for the Xmas season (which BTW, happened to Sony last year). The reason why , which everyone here seems to neglect to check out, is that the main graphics chip has not even been made yet. On paper, it is supposed to be able to render 2.1 million polygons per frame. In comparison, each velociraptor in the original Jurassic Park required 300,000. Not bad. BTW, for those of you with itchy flame triggers, I am getting this information from this month's Wired.

    So, jump off the bandwagons, dismount your highhorses, whatever, and realize that youve once again been suckered into looking like idiots. This is one of the most complex graphics chips ever envisioned and having to produce it in sufficient quantities for Xmas when the fabs arent ready yet is going to be tough.

    Microsoft or not, Im looking forward to seeing what this thing can do...

  • Hey, we're talking Micro$oft here. If it looks like they're not gonna make it they'll just release a calendar update for Windows marking Xmas 2001 somewhere in the summer of 2003 and within weeks everyone will have accepted it.

  • Microsoft has issued just-outta-beta products before. Why stop now?

    Or, on the other hand, it might be that there is a serious problem with the X-Box design requiring a rethink. Perhaps the green cylon light does not work. Gasp.

    Or (and this is my personal theory) there really is no X-Box. There never was. It was all vaporware to compete with Nintendo and SONY's offerings, given an arbitrary product launch timeline to place it between the two products. From what I've seen on the gaming sites, the X-Box is just a screen-shot generating device invented by Microsoft's PR department. [ridiculopathy.com]

  • As with Windows, over it's evolution, the Xbox is an ambitious project to be the 'be all, end all solution' for home-entertainment. Be the video game delivery system, web surfing, video programming, etc. Hell, they've probably got a plan for long distance worked out with AT&T into the mix. Anyone who has been around the block on any kind of big project knows that the more ambitious, the harder it is to manage. The harder to manage, the further behind things fall. I'd expect some sort of pared back Xbox, which you can upgrade later... oh, wait, that's a PC. ;-)

    --

  • Specifically, the free ride, the pardon and the lottery ticket. Depending on the situation, the some of the others may be as well.

    No, they aren't. Irony is when what something seems at face value is actually opposite from the truth. Here are two simple examples of irony:

    1. A giant man named "Tiny".

    2. The song "Little Things" by Good Charlotte, in which they describe life-changing events, such as their Mother's mental problems, their father abandoning them, and the social humiliation of being poor as "little things".

    By the way, "dramatic irony" is when the audience knows something the characters don't which enables the audience to interpret events differently from the characters.

  • Consider this:
    - PS2 was a big disappointment everywhere in the world... it is not likely to pose a large threat or gain much more ground.
    - MS have well over 100 developers developing games for X-Box, theres gonna be a flood of games (like the PS1) and most likely they'll all be of an unprecedented quality as far as console systems go.
    - Nintendo have somewhere in the vicinity of 20 developers for GameCube, which pales in comparison to Microsoft's hundereds.

    The Playstation 2 doesn't pose a threat to MS... when you look at the difference in graphics quality it is clear the X-Box is almost a full generation ahead of the PS2. What MS do want to be careful about however is the GameCube. Nintendo have been working on the GameCube alot longer than any other console thats due out and Nintendo are usually capable of delivering at least decent launch titles. As long as MS doesn't get the X-Box out too far after GameCube's launch they can really release whenever they like. It would probably even be best for MS to coincide with GameCube's release since the two machines will be side-by-side, and in comparison the X-Box ought to look technically superior.
  • Profits are made from licensing the games.
  • but I'm wondering why this place based an entire article on the following snippet:

    "However, we've been lied to many times in the past by console makers (*coff* Nintendo), so we can't put too much faith in Microsoft's denials."

    So, because we were lied to by Nintendo, this means that Microsoft saying they're going to hit their target is invalid? Considering we're talking about Microsoft, wouldn't it have made more sense to say "However, we've been misled in the past about Microsoft's ability to hit their ship dates, so we can't put too much faith in Microsoft's denials."

    If you're going to get paid to do articles, at least base them on something directly relevant.
  • Wired's article sucked. These sites all keep spewing out the same stuff on polygons per frame, colors, memory bandwidth and then comparing it to a single object in a movie. Even comparing it to 4 objects is not valid. I will be very surprised if the hardware in the xbox can apply all the special effects to high quality models at a high framerate all at once. Creating 1 dino is no big deal when thats all your doing (no background, no sound needing to be processed, no AI and interaction with the player). Throw that 1 dino in with a fully rendered background, all kinds of special effects and make it be interactive, in other words make it a game, not a screenshot. Like typical microsoft stuff I bet it turns out to be more PR than substance.
  • Dreamcast does not have WindowsCE running it. It is a Sega OS that is on the disks. The Dreamcast will support WindowsCE if the game disk uses it, but very very few did.

  • Re:Irony (Score:3)

    by CrackElf ( 318113 ) on Friday April 13, 2001 @05:19AM (#294397) Homepage
    And I don't how the hell to classify "ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife"

    In the same category as having 10k ms workstations when all you need is one reliable network server?

    not ironic ... really annoying
    -CrackElf

  • supabeast wrote, "Unstable OSs are pretty much a thing of the past with Windows on the PC."

    I guess you don't put much of a load on your Windows system, then. I've been developing code, Web sites, and other goodies under Win2K for almost a year, and while it's a lot more stable than Win98 (which crashes or must be rebooted at least once a day under heavy use), there's no stinking way you could call it "stable."

    A stable OS is one that doesn't get flaky when an application (like Microsoft Internet Explorer, for example) crashes and burns. A stable OS is one where a bug in the program I'm developing doesn't require me to remove the batteries in my notebook computer in order to un-crowbar it (I've had Netscape do this to Win2K also).

    Say what you wish about the Xbox. I don't know enough about its architecture to have an opinion. But if you say, "Stability is no longer an issue" referring to Windows, you must not be using the same OS the rest of us are.

  • Specifically, the free ride, the pardon and the lottery ticket. Depending on the situation, the some of the others may be as well.

    On another note: Did you used to write for "News Radio"? Because this exact same joke was on last night's (re-run) episode.
    --

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