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Amazon.com and the 360, something fishy.

C

Core407

Banned
itsgreen said:
FCC filings can be embargo'd... happens all the time.

With all mayor company's.

And slim is stupid, they can barely displace the heat now, and there is no new chip. Xbox 360 slim eta 2010, during xbox 720 launch.
Click to expand...

The inside of a 360 has a lot of empty room. Coupled with a reduction in chip sizes from .90nm to .65nm and eventually to .45nm, there is definitely potential for a redesign.
 
G

gcubed

Member
Agent Icebeezy said:
They'll never get it. Microsoft tried to prolong the battle by making the HD-DVD drive. They were never going to put it in their console. It is amusing to see them keep up that argument though. Having a physical format win goes against what they want to establish and that is their XBL marketplace downloadable service.
Click to expand...

*Scratches head* i thought it was relatively common knowledge that MS was going to show a 360 with a built in hd-dvd drive at CES until the whole thing got shitcanned. The "replacing the pro" was pure speculation, but the fact that MS has a mock-up/prototype of a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive is NOT speculation
 
C

Core407

Banned
gcubed said:
*Scratches head* i thought it was relatively common knowledge that MS was going to show a 360 with a built in hd-dvd drive at CES until the whole thing got shitcanned. The "replacing the pro" was pure speculation, but the fact that MS has a mock-up/prototype of a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive is NOT speculation
Click to expand...

MS knows Sony is going to release a redesigned PS3 and they would be stupid to not follow along.
 
I

itsgreen

Member
Chittagong said:
Bypassing by pre-announcing iPhone and AppleTV both 6 months early?
Click to expand...

Macbook Air?

FCC filings are most of the time embargo'd.

Sometimes just parts (like photo's and technical specs), but alltogether also happens.

MS doesn't want a 6 month lead time for a slim 360... it would destroy the market for the regular 360. When the slimline 360 happens it would most likely be in stores withing 3-5 weeks.
 
I

InterMoniker

Member
itsgreen said:
FCC filings can be embargo'd... happens all the time.

With all mayor company's.

And slim is stupid, they can barely displace the heat now, and there is no new chip. Xbox 360 slim eta 2010, during xbox 720 launch.
Click to expand...

Ya I agree if the consoles are overheating now how the hell are they going to make it overheat less while making it smaller at the same time?

Godspeed Microsoft.
 
M

MaX_PL

Banned
new prediction: MS announces that xbox 360 production will continue, but as rebranded hardware made by others. this is why there have been no leaks.
 
R

Redd

Member
Too lazy to read the thread can anyone give me a brief summary about what's going on. Looking to buy a 360 by the end of this year so this news interests me. thanks
 
M

macewank

Member
MaX_PL said:
new prediction: MS announces that xbox 360 production will continue, but as rebranded hardware made by others. this is why there have been no leaks.
Click to expand...



sexbox1.jpg
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Redd said:
Too lazy to read the thread can anyone give me a brief summary about what's going on. Looking to buy a 360 by the end of this year so this news interests me. thanks
Click to expand...

Well then you better hurry up, get them while they last!
 
P

Psychotext

Member
gcubed said:
*Scratches head* i thought it was relatively common knowledge that MS was going to show a 360 with a built in hd-dvd drive at CES until the whole thing got shitcanned. The "replacing the pro" was pure speculation, but the fact that MS has a mock-up/prototype of a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive is NOT speculation
Click to expand...
No... it's relatively common fact from bored blogs. I'll say it again... if this was ever going to happen we would have seen the thing by now. People have been talking about the "ultimate" ever since the HD DVD addon came out, just because it seemed like something a company supporting HD DVD would do.

And there's the catch... MS never gave a shit about HD DVD other than to slow down BR adoption.
 
I

itsgreen

Member
Reyzor XMG said:
This guy's got the scoop (sorry if old):

Next Xbox 360 Designs are "Opus" and "Valhalla"

Sounds like they're definitely replacing the current models to increase reliability and customer confidence. RROD may become jokes of the past, much like "nobody wants Blu-Ray."
Click to expand...

its old, but I can see an all 65nm 360 as soon as mid march. But the one that matters is the integrated CPU GPU one. When they fix that at 45nm...
 
S

stotch

Banned
beerbelly said:
Since GDC starts tomorrow, should we expect announcements to start tomorrow or mid-week?
Click to expand...

MS keynote Wednesday. It'll be discused in the shoot'em'up edition of 1up yours with people from bungie and criterion. No one at 1up mentioned XNA integration at all but I'm hoping that's revealed and the bungie and criterion guys might have a lot to say about indie devs and what-not.
 
I

itsgreen

Member
beerbelly said:
Since GDC starts tomorrow, should we expect announcements to start tomorrow or mid-week?
Click to expand...

From MS side I expect a few smaller announcements pre-keynote.

The keynote itself is only an hour long and I expect the following:

* Great sell through of 360 hardware in 07
* Third party software sales were great: the income of developers was as large as Wii + PS3 combined
* XNA: it will be open to the public through the spring update, scheduled for early May 2008, a lot of independent devs have gathered behind the initiative for Live Arcade.
* XBLA arcade is going great, some sellthrough numbers about specifics titles and how almost every game makes a lot of money. Maybe a 'shock' XBLA release available 'now'.
* Fable 2 demo, 'right now on XBL'
* Clifford B. will be called to show work on his new title and will demo some new key online functions. They will also announce UT3 will have Mods via XBL which are managed by Epic.

And thats it. 60 minutes of fun. No really interesting things except first look at Gears 2. And NO NEW SKU's or a pricedrop.
 
Truespeed

Truespeed

Member
itsgreen said:
FCC filings can be embargo'd... happens all the time.

With all mayor company's.

And slim is stupid, they can barely displace the heat now, and there is no new chip. Xbox 360 slim eta 2010, during xbox 720 launch.
Click to expand...

Is that why Apple had to announce their iPhone well before the launch date?
 
Truespeed

Truespeed

Member
Piper Az said:
you don't believe that FCC business with major corporations is that transparent...right?
Click to expand...

Transparency is relative. You need to know what you're looking for and unfortunately that little search box isn't going to help you out this time.
 
I

itsgreen

Member
Truespeed said:
Is that why Apple had to announce their iPhone well before the launch date?
Click to expand...

I believe Apple acknowledged they had to come out with the iPhone because they needed market awareness but more important: it would have come out anyway with the lots of people involved in the actual roll out of the product (ie. the AT&T staff)

There are a lot of products on the FCC site that are embargo'd/
 
M

MirageDwarf

Member
Truespeed said:
Is that why Apple had to announce their iPhone well before the launch date?
Click to expand...
That could be one exception. Lots of time Apple had announced products which you could order just after announcement.
 
P

pswii60

Member
itsgreen said:
From MS side I expect a few smaller announcements pre-keynote.

The keynote itself is only an hour long and I expect the following:

* Great sell through of 360 hardware in 07
* Third party software sales were great: the income of developers was as large as Wii + PS3 combined
* XNA: it will be open to the public through the spring update, scheduled for early May 2008, a lot of independent devs have gathered behind the initiative for Live Arcade.
* XBLA arcade is going great, some sellthrough numbers about specifics titles and how almost every game makes a lot of money. Maybe a 'shock' XBLA release available 'now'.
* Fable 2 demo, 'right now on XBL'
* Clifford B. will be called to show work on his new title and will demo some new key online functions. They will also announce UT3 will have Mods via XBL which are managed by Epic.

And thats it. 60 minutes of fun. No really interesting things except first look at Gears 2. And NO NEW SKU's or a pricedrop.
Click to expand...

No, no, no. Microsoft's Keynote is about "Unleashing the Creative Community". They may well be discussing own products and XNA, but they'll be addressing GDC so cannot turn it in to a sales conference. Think more along the lines of Sony's keynote last year discussing how to let the user create their own content - HOME and LittleBigPlanet fell perfectly in to that remit, it wasn't 100% self promotion, nor should a GDC Keynote be. Keynote != Press Conference.

I think there will be announcements and reveals from MS this week, but most will come from outside the keynote, through press releases, web-site exclusives, show-floor demos and interviews. Also through other talks, eg the Fable talk from Molyneux and the MMO talk from Dave Jones.

speculawyer said:
But those models don't come until fall 2008. What is happening now?

I guess it was just an air bubble in channel.
Click to expand...

It's simple. MS didn't want to manufacture or ship any more than they needed to last quarter as they wanted the quarter to be seen as profitable as possible.
 
M

MechDX

Member
MaX_PL said:
new prediction: MS announces that xbox 360 production will continue, but as rebranded hardware made by others. this is why there have been no leaks.
Click to expand...


Toshiba announces the BD-XA 1. HD DVD/BD combo player with 360 gaming capabilities built in.

I can dream.
 
Q

Quazar

Member
pswii60 said:
No, no, no. Microsoft's Keynote is about "Unleashing the Creative Community". They may well be discussing own products and XNA, but they'll be addressing GDC so cannot turn it in to a sales conference. Think more along the lines of Sony's keynote last year discussing how to let the user create their own content - HOME and LittleBigPlanet fell perfectly in to that remit, it wasn't 100% self promotion, nor should a GDC Keynote be. Keynote != Press Conference.

I think there will be announcements and reveals from MS this week, but most will come from outside the keynote, through press releases, web-site exclusives, show-floor demos and interviews. Also through other talks, eg the Fable talk from Molyneux and the MMO talk from Dave Jones.



It's simple. MS didn't want to manufacture or ship any more than they needed to last quarter as they wanted the quarter to be seen as profitable as possible.
Click to expand...


http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17403


Microsoft says Schappert's keynote "will provide an exciting view into this year’s plans for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business," and plans to make video highlights of the address available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
 
W

Walshicus

Member
Anyone else curious about what Major Nelson's show is going to be about tonight
rather, this morning for us WET/CET volk
? He seems to be quite excited by it - reckons it could be 120 minutes.
 
T

tak

Member
Sir Fragula said:
Anyone else curious about what Major Nelson's show is going to be about tonight
rather, this morning for us WET/CET volk
? He seems to be quite excited by it - reckons it could be 120 minutes.
Click to expand...
That is a good point. There are few things that have been announced/hinted at on his show directly before an event happens; however, I believe the majority of the announcements have been really small, so I would not expect anything to ground breaking.
 
P

pswii60

Member
Quazar said:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17403


Microsoft says Schappert's keynote "will provide an exciting view into this year’s plans for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business," and plans to make video highlights of the address available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Click to expand...

I already know about that, and we'll see. I think that'll only be a very small part of a much larger picture, judging by the keynote's title. Just don't get your hopes up for some E3-style non-2007 MS press conference.
 
I

itsgreen

Member
Sir Fragula said:
Anyone else curious about what Major Nelson's show is going to be about tonight
rather, this morning for us WET/CET volk
? He seems to be quite excited by it - reckons it could be 120 minutes.
Click to expand...

I believe his Twitter said 'great weather in seatle'.
 
Randy Lanzarote

Randy Lanzarote

Member
Sir Fragula said:
Anyone else curious about what Major Nelson's show is going to be about tonight
rather, this morning for us WET/CET volk
? He seems to be quite excited by it - reckons it could be 120 minutes.
Click to expand...

Looking at his Twitter the only thing confirmed is....

"Working on a Frontlines Fuel of War interview for my show Sunday"

Although this seems to be a strange update;

"Lot's of folks working late tonight in my building. Especially for a Friday."

What is going on at Xbox Live I wonder....
 
Q

Quazar

Member
pswii60 said:
I already know about that, and we'll see. I think that'll only be a very small part of a much larger picture, judging by the keynote's title. Just don't get your hopes up for some E3-style non-2007 MS press conference.
Click to expand...

Not getting my hopes up but obviously you'd have to be in some sort of denial to not expect anything from this keynote/XBL coverage.
 
S

squatingyeti

non-sanctioned troll
pswii60 said:
It's simple. MS didn't want to manufacture or ship any more than they needed to last quarter as they wanted the quarter to be seen as profitable as possible.
Click to expand...

They're not losing money on the hardware. You will notice in a companies financial report, they will say profit was slowed by increased sales of X system if it's losing money. They could also say their loss widened because of increased sales of X system. However, when they associate a profit with X system, it is because they're not losing money on them anymore. MS expressed just that in their financial report.
 
F

FightyF

Banned
One of my 360s died and I was getting a replacement from Futureshop as I had extended warranty, but they've been out of Premiums for 3 weeks now (well, at least whenever I check, maybe they get them in smaller batches now), so it seems like a general shortage is taking place.

Considering that MS is known for leaks, things like a redesign, a GTA pack, or HD-DVD console don't seem likely as none of them were strongly rumoured.

So it is pretty puzzling. I am guessing it's something as trivial as channel mismanagement.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
squatingyeti said:
They're not losing money on the hardware.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter. Let's put it this way.

You have x million machines in stores awaiting sale.
You slow production for a couple of months, reducing expenditure.
You sell most of the consoles in stores increasing profits... but only for a couple of quarters.

If this was the case I'd expect to see a fairly significant loss in either the quarter coming or the one after that (as they incur large costs from ramping up manufacturing again to stock the retail channel).
 
S

speculawyer

Member
More grist for the GAF mill:

Microsoft discusses hardware shortages, fuels GTA IV fire
By Andrew Webster | Published: February 15, 2008 - 12:12PM CT

During an interview with NextGen.biz, Microsoft's David Dennis answered some questions about the company's recent problems with hardware shortages. According to Dennis, the problem was simply that the demand was much greater than expected. "We saw the sales outpacing our forecasts as far back as November," he explained, "but because we had inventory built up in advance of the holiday, it really didn’t become a shortage issue until the latter half of December. The sales continued to be robust through January, so it just continued to worsen." Dennis went on to say that Microsoft has increased production, and he expects that they should be able to catch up with demand by March.

Dennis also explained that while the PlayStation 3 was able to sell more units in January, he believes that this was mainly due to the supply constraints faced by Microsoft. "I hate to predict," he said "but I certainly believe that once we get the supply out there, with the demand continuing, that we’d certainly hope for the 360 to get back into its pre-holiday rhythm." Part of the reason, Dennis says, is because of the "marketing muscle" that the company is going to put behind some of the big-name software being released in the coming months. Strangely, he used Grand Theft Auto IV as his example, despite the fact that it will be coming to both the PS3 and 360. He then went on to fuel some of the fire surrounding that game by saying, "We believe that the value-add of having additional premium content for Grand Theft Auto on our box will certainly be a sales driver for the console."

The next couple of months will reveal a lot. In March, we will get to see how a healthy stock of 360s fares against the surging PS3, while in April we finally get to find out once and for all what Microsoft gave Rockstar all of that money for.
Click to expand...
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thu...iscusses-hardware-shortages-fuels-gta-iv-fire
 
R

RBH

Member
Looks like the Premiums may be slowly starting to reappear in stores:

Well looks like the Pro's are starting to come back in stock.

I just got back from my local Target which had 2 of them in the case BOTH LOT #802 TEAM FDOU.

Then I went by Best Buy to pick something else up and they also had Pro's (3 of them) also ALL Lot #802 TEAM FDOU.

No Elite's though !

Xfactor

P.S. I am in Sacramento Area, California. These were the Roseville Stores.
Click to expand...

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155197&page=50
 
T

tanod

when is my burrito
Truespeed said:
There is no redesigned 360. If there was then you would have seen an FCC application filed some time ago.
Click to expand...

Not unless they change the signal for the wireless controller or add wifi.
 
D

dogbowl

Member
squatingyeti said:
They're not losing money on the hardware.
Click to expand...


No, but hardware still cost money to manufacture. If you can bring in cash by selling previously manufactured (and paid for) product and then cut back your current spending, you will have (artifically) inflated revenues. I'm sure somebody need to prove to Ballmer that the 360 could have a profitable quarter, and did some managing to make sure thats exactly what happened.

I think this theory might actually be whats going on here. Makes the most sense to me... January and Feb. are slow selling months anyway; MSFT can rebuild inventory over the next few months.
 
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