Interesting Xbox 360 Rumors

[Eaglesfan27]

I couldn't find a good thread that this would really well in. This is very interesting and has some ring of truth to me, but it is just a rumor at this point. This comes from Gamespot who quote their sources:

Here is the Link:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=24552999&sid=6148224


Here is the story for the clicking imparied:

100GB HDD, $100 price drop lead Xbox 360 rumor avalanche (http://www.gamespot.com/pages/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=24552999)

Source: Spanish game site Meristation.com (http://zonaforo.meristation.com/foros/viewtopic.php?t=532235&m=) by way of xbox365.com (http://www.xbox365.com/news.cgi?id=GGrNNNLiPG04201202).

The official story: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation." -- Microsoft rep.

What we heard: Either Meristation.com is darn creative, or Microsoft has a serious leak problem. The Madrid-based game site claims to have received a laundry list of revelations from a chatty employee of the software behemoth's Xbox 360 division.

If true, the list augurs a host of major Xbox 360 developments in the coming months. Foremost among these is a price drop in October, shortly before the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution go on sale. According to Meristation.com's source, the price of the premium Xbox 360 bundle will go from $399 to $299, while the core bundle will drop $80 from $299 to $219.

The Microsoft mole also reportedly had revelations regarding some Xbox 360 peripherals. S/he said that the console's HD-DVD peripheral will be $100 and arrive in September, the same month that its EyeToy-like camera will ship. The camera will cost $50-$70 and come bundled with a game, will allow for Webcam videoconferencing, and be called "My Eye on You." (Insert snide Orwellian Bill-Gates-as-Big-Brother aside here.) The source also says that Microsoft is readying a 100GB hard drive for the 360, but did not have a release date or price.

On the game tip, the Meristation.com mole said that Halo 3 will be at E3 in two weeks in trailer form. The game will reportedly ship in March 2007, several months before the Halo movie is slated to hit theaters.
Another highly anticipated Xbox 360 game, Gears of War, will arrive the last week of October 2006 on the crest of a massive marketing push, according to the mole. Microsoft is also reportedly in negotiations to get exclusive rights for a high-profile "urban game"--which the site speculates could be the next Grand Theft Auto.

Though the above rumors are more than enough craziness for an asylum's worth of insane gamers, the Meristation story has more. It says that Sega has struck a deal much like its one with Nintendo to make most Genesis games playable on the Xbox 360 via a "virtual console." The site says said functionality will be available as of October, along with another wave of all new Xbox Live Arcade games.

Meristation's rumorpalooza wraps up with the mention that two new Xbox 360 dashboards are in the works, with one designed specifically for kids. It also says that Microsoft has signed deals with Epic Records for Xbox-360-exclusive music content, and with NBC to televise Xbox Live tournaments. Speaking of Xbox Live, the story also says that the bandwidth devoted to the online service will soon quintuple.
There's no question that the Meristation speculation will cause palpitations in just about any Xbox fanboy or girl. But once the enthusiasm generated by the story dies down, skepticism sets in. The simple fact is, with Microsoft maintaining its traditional wall of silence, there is no way to confirm or deny any aspect of the story. However, if even half of the details are true, Sony and Nintendo will be playing a serious game of catch-up when their consoles launch later in the year.

Bogus or not bogus?: There's no way of saying for sure, but take heart: Microsoft's pre-E3 press briefing is just over two weeks away.

[Galaxy]

The price drop would be awesome.

[Emiliano]

Mmm... Interesting. Although I'm not really sold on the 360 titles yet (except for NBA 2K6 & College Hoops 2K6) I might consider a Premium...

[Greyroofoo]

HD-DVD for a $100? Something makes me skeptical

[TroyF]

Not sure about half of those, BUT, I don't think there is any doubt Microsoft has some things up their sleeves for Sonly.

They aren't going to watch the PS3 get released and get the hype up without making a move of their own. They have the jump on Sony and are going to use their advantage in a big way.

Microsoft and Gates may be a lot of things, but they aren't stupid. I'd expect a few high profile titles to be launched at about the same time the PS3 is as well. They'll be on their second generation of games, have a decent library and a price drop at the very least.

Sony is going to need to pull off something really special or MS will take a dominating edge in the console market.

[SackAttack]

If true, the list augurs a host of major Xbox 360 developments in the coming months. Foremost among these is a price drop in October, shortly before the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution go on sale. According to Meristation.com's source, the price of the premium Xbox 360 bundle will go from $399 to $299, while the core bundle will drop $80 from $299 to $219.

Almost certainly true that we'll see a major price drop on the premium SKU, and the reason I think that is that they've already announced the fact that they're combining several chips onto one board to take some of the "heat" off the console (pun intended). They're already beginning their cost-reduction cycle, and so I think we'll absolutely see a price drop on the premium at that time, down to at least $349. I could see a drop to $299 if the PS3 appears to be headed to market at a significantly lower price than expected.

If they hit $299 on the premium, I could see them discontinuing the core unit and just selling everything at $299 - especially since if they sold the core for $199-219, they would likely see a large uptick in HDD sales anyway. Perhaps if the larger HDDs speculated upon are high-margin items for Microsoft, that could be a reason to preserve the core.

The Microsoft mole also reportedly had revelations regarding some Xbox 360 peripherals. S/he said that the console's HD-DVD peripheral will be $100 and arrive in September, the same month that its EyeToy-like camera will ship. The camera will cost $50-$70 and come bundled with a game, will allow for Webcam videoconferencing, and be called "My Eye on You." (Insert snide Orwellian Bill-Gates-as-Big-Brother aside here.) The source also says that Microsoft is readying a 100GB hard drive for the 360, but did not have a release date or price.

$100 seems way low, especially since I don't see any signs that point to Microsoft being particularly in love with the format. I think $199 is much more likely, and even that would be a loss-leader. The camera+game? Probably true. That's about right for what Eyetoy has sold for, and I don't see Microsoft pushing the envelope too much further than that.

The hard drive is a virtual certainty, particularly if the recent rumblings about being able to download HD movies and TV shows via Xbox Live Marketplace prove true. It's almost a requirement if they want to either introduce episodic content or start offering actual 360 games via the Marketplace (either as rentals or purchases).



Strongly doubt we'll see anything of substance on Halo 3 beyond a teaser trailer meant to let us know they're working on it. Gears of War getting the marketing love is a virtual certainty. Halo 3's not shipping this year, and that makes GoW their defacto Christmas drive title.

An exclusive GTA could be interesting, but honestly I think most people for whom that would matter will remember such exclusive Xbox games as Splinter Cell, which weren't exclusive for all that long, and bank on the same thing happening with the 360. They might trickle over eventually if it doesn't look like the game will come, but I can't see them jumping immediately for Xbox 360 if the PS3 has other games of interest to them.

[quote]Though the above rumors are more than enough craziness for an asylum's worth of insane gamers, the Meristation story has more. It says that Sega has struck a deal much like its one with Nintendo to make most Genesis games playable on the Xbox 360 via a "virtual console." The site says said functionality will be available as of October, along with another wave of all new Xbox Live Arcade games.

Very big deal indeed. Not so much for the concept - which is brazenly stolen from Nintendo's own recent deal with HudsonSoft and Sega - but for the integration of such with Xbox Live Arcade. That would be instant legitimacy for the service, and might lead to other classics quickly spawning therein.

It's almost certainly true that Microsoft is pursuing deals of this nature to make sure they aren't left out in the cold, since Sony recently announced a plan to do something similar with classic PlayStation games and Nintendo has been saying for a year or two now that there would be downloadable games.

It'll have to have an exclusive third-party bent, though, because there's no way Nintendo or Sony license them any first-party games for use on the service.

Meristation's rumorpalooza wraps up with the mention that two new Xbox 360 dashboards are in the works, with one designed specifically for kids.

Logical enough, given that they already have elements of this in place (if you're an Xbox Live user under 18, you don't see the ads that the rest of us do). It's just an extension of what they've already done with Xbox 360 Live.

Note that they don't mention something else from the same story, which is speculation that Microsoft could eventually completely subsidize Live via advertising, eliminating the Silver accounts and making Gold free for all.

It also says that Microsoft has signed deals with Epic Records for Xbox-360-exclusive music content, and with NBC to televise Xbox Live tournaments. Speaking of Xbox Live, the story also says that the bandwidth devoted to the online service will soon quintuple.

True that they're signing deals to provide music content. Natasha Bedingfield's already got stuff up there. NBC, who knows? That doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would catch on, but who knows.

And bandwidth = yeah, probably. Demos already take forever and a day to grab if you try to get them when they first come out. If Sega puts titles on Live Arcade and HD movies are also made available, either in streaming format or for download, that problem will only get worse. They'll need to increase bandwidth if they really do plan to implement all of those things.

[hukarez]

Something else to wonder about too:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31173


Box 360 to get CPU upgrade

Die shrink to cut costs
By Paul Hales (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:__doPostBack%28%27article_body$lnkEmailForm%27,%27%27%29): Friday 21 April 2006, 17:33
<script language="JavaScript1.1">ord=Math.random();ord=ord*10000000000;</script>
MICROSOFT’S Xbox 360 games console will get a new CPU early next year. Chip fab Chartered Semiconductor of Singapore says it will move the IBM-designed chippery to a 65 nanometre technology starting in the first quarter of 2007. The existing chip uses 90nm technology.
The smaller process means more chips per wafer and therefore more chips per buck. The smaller, thinner chip should also draw less power and generate less heat.
The console currently sports a pair of fans, together with an arrangement of heat pipes, to cool the three-core chip at its heart. Use of a new chip will allow the Vole to re-design the console, should it choose. Certainly, it will strip out redundant components to reduce the loss it currently makes on each box sold.

[ISiddiqui]

especially since I don't see any signs that point to Microsoft being particularly in love with the format.

Microsoft is one of the biggest backers (if not the THE biggest) of HD-DVD.

[SackAttack]

Microsoft is one of the biggest backers (if not the THE biggest) of HD-DVD.

Not entirely true. They're backing the format because it's in opposition to Blu-Ray, but I haven't seen any signs that they're particularly in love with it.

I doubt they'll shed a tear if both formats fail.

[Bee]

This sounds like someone took a bunch of rumors that have been floating around other places and combined them and fleshed them out a little to make them sound legit to me. I'm sure a couple of the items will prove to be true, but personally I doubt the validity of their "mole".

[The Destroyer]

Actually, since before the 360 came out they have said that Halo 3 would come out the same day as PS3.

[A-Husker-4-Life]

If this is true about the price drop, than count me in for a 360.. Plus, have you guys seen the NCAA07 pics they are wow just wow...

[Greyroofoo]

i always thought Microsoft's goal for HD movies is to have them stored on your computer?

[SackAttack]

Actually, since before the 360 came out they have said that Halo 3 would come out the same day as PS3.

No sir. Bill Gates said that, and Microsoft quickly backpedaled, leading to Gates eventually saying that he spoke too exuberantly - that he wanted Halo 3 to be ready for PS3 launch day, but ultimately it would be out when Bungie was ready to release it.

[ice4277]

If they hit $299 on the premium, I could see them discontinuing the core unit and just selling everything at $299

I seem to recall reading before the 360 was even released that the Core system would only be out for a limited time, and then it would only be premiums. I didn't even realize they were still selling the core.

One other interesting note from the quoted article is the bit about PS3 having access to the catalogue of Genesis games. That would be pretty f'in sweet IMO.

[SackAttack]

I seem to recall reading before the 360 was even released that the Core system would only be out for a limited time, and then it would only be premiums. I didn't even realize they were still selling the core.

One other interesting note from the quoted article is the bit about PS3 having access to the catalogue of Genesis games. That would be pretty f'in sweet IMO.

Already happening with the Revolution. I think at this point it's in Sega's best interests to make that catalog as widely available as possible unless a sweetheart licensing deal for exclusivity was thrown at them.

Rumor has it that Xbox 360 will be licensing that library, and if that happens there's no good reason to leave it off of PS3. And if the Sega library does well, watch for the flood gates to open on all three consoles as far as making classic titles downloadable - just like we saw retail go gaga over the plug-and-play games after the Atari ones did so well.

[stevew]

I'm all for downloadable content. Although it also depends on the pricing.

[ice4277]

Already happening with the Revolution. I think at this point it's in Sega's best interests to make that catalog as widely available as possible unless a sweetheart licensing deal for exclusivity was thrown at them.

Rumor has it that Xbox 360 will be licensing that library, and if that happens there's no good reason to leave it off of PS3. And if the Sega library does well, watch for the flood gates to open on all three consoles as far as making classic titles downloadable - just like we saw retail go gaga over the plug-and-play games after the Atari ones did so well.

Revolution is going to have the Sega catalog? I thought it was only going to be Nintendo/arcade stuff, but I don't pay much attention to Nintendo news.

[stevew]

Revolution is also going to have the TurboGrafix 16 catalog as well, I believe.

[SackAttack]

Revolution is also going to have the TurboGrafix 16 catalog as well, I believe.

What he said. Both of those items were announced one or two weeks ago, and I honestly believe those were the impetus for the rumors surrounding Sega's catalog coming to Live and PS3 Online. No sense letting Nintendo run TOO far afield in the category.