Xbox2 smaller size, and no PS3 until after 2006?

[Tatsuya]

hmmm.... I don't like the looks of this.

 

-data-

Microsoft Japan hints at new console's size and launch date.

 

TOKYO--Microsoft Japan's new Xbox division chief Yoshihiro Maruyama says that his company's next generation machine, casually referred to by media outlets as the Xbox Next, will not see its shadow until 2006. Maruyama's comments support statements made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last year, when he told the Nikkei Journal that the console will be released no sooner than 2006 in Japan. But whether the Xbox Next will be out before or after Sony's next generation machine is not decided, according to an interview with Maruyama contained in the current issue of Famitsu.

 

"I hope that we can release the machine in the near future, but it won't be next year," commented Maruyama, who joined Microsoft last September after being hired away from Square Enix. "Considering that the PlayStation 2 is entering its fifth year and that its game lineup is in its prime, we're estimating that the successor to that console will be released after 2006. Whether we'll release the successor of the Xbox before the PS2's needs to be decided carefully. It has strong pros and cons."

 

One of the issues surrounding the original Xbox was the fact it was was considerably larger than other game consoles in the market. Rumors have been floating the Xbox Next will be considerably smaller and possibly uses notebook PC components.

 

While Maruyama did not comment on specifics, he confirmed that the Xbox Next will indeed be smaller than the current Xbox. "In terms of hardware, we get a lot of requests asking us to reduce the console's size. Actually, I was thinking so myself before coming to Microsoft. We promise that we'll make the new console smaller," Maruyama said.

 

As for the Xbox's disappointing sales in Japan, Maruyama commented that one of the reasons is there is no RPG--the most popular genre in Japan--for the console that suits Japanese tastes. Admitting that it can?t get a major third-party publisher to develop an RPG due to Xbox's comparitively paltry installed base, Maruyama is hoping that Microsoft's own entry into the genre, the MMORPG True Fantasy Live Online, will provide a spike in sales.

 

Maruyama also addressed overall differences between the Japanese and the U.S. markets. He commented on how game sales in the U.S. are more stable, particularly in the sports genre. ?In the case of America, they have sport games as the base of their retail offfering. Sports games sell steadily through out the year, with each sport having its peak sales period. Their business is about incremental sales of other genres on top of that. But Japan doesn?t have that base, so if one title gets delayed, that year?s sales can be quite severely affected,? Maruyama said. ?In a sense, the market in Japan is unique, and the users tend to drift towards games that are new or stimulating. It?s a serious issue for developers: how to come up with the next new thing, since the peak sales period for any one title is short.?

-data-

[Juniel]

oh great...and I was not going to buy PS2 because I thought the next PS would

 

be out sometime this year..... now I might have to buy one..

[Elazul Yagami]

until they bring back hardcore gaming i don't think i'm going to buy ANY new console.

 

i hate this mainstream crap.

[Diso]

Stick with....

PC for First Person Shooters and Adventures

PS2 for RPG, Action, Fighting, Single Player

XBOX for First Person Shooters and Action

GC is somewhere in there

 

Mainly you just want a PC because It could do almost anything

[Juniel]

I want to play tekkan 4... i'll just go and buy PS2 and the game tommorow...

[Diso]

I want to play tekkan 4... i'll just go and buy PS2 and the game tommorow...

oooorrr You can steal it from your friends!!!!

 

I don't think you'll be bored with it since PS2 was designed for people who like to press their screens against faces for 80 enjoyful hours..with many many breaks in between

[Juniel]

good idea dis,

 

I might try and steal the rest of that tekkan series....

[Alpha]

That's weird.. I remember reading something about XBOX 2 having no hard drive or a smaller one or something like that. Have you guys heard anything about this?

[Rag]

Hmm all I've heard is that Microsoft wants to prevent piracy of games. Apparently the reason people can use burned games with a mod chip on XBOX now is because of the hard drive or something. I don't know much about XBox, but I bet they're just trying to prevent piracy, just like everyone else I guess.

[Juniel]

but microsoft is over doing it...look at WINXP..

 

i think that piracy is IMPOSSIBLE to stop as long as there are people out there..

 

so to stop piracy, kill everyone on the planet..

[Rag]

Bit too drastic

 

Hmm what do you mean look at WinXP?