Search Results for: sony

An interesting interview with Jeff Henshaw, executive producer for the Xbox Digital Entertainment Group by the Official Xbox Magazine people in the UK in which Mr. Henshaw goes over why the Xbox 360 is a more versatile and brand name independant product than what the competition is trying to push out.

OXM: Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second – people accuse Microsoft of trying to rule your living room by having everything connected through their systems. How would you respond to that?

Jeff Henshaw: Well, I’d say having everything connected sounds pretty great! It gives me the ability to get at my digital entertainment content in the ways I want to, and that’s not about ruling your living room. It’s about freeing digital media enthusiasts to live their lives in the way they want and access their entertainment in the way they want. That’s really what the Xbox 360 is all about. It’s about putting the gamer at the centre of the experience. If you look at our launch line-up you’ll see a lot of games that really put the gamer in the middle of things, and Xbox Live lets them take that persona they’re building through their gameplay into a broader community of gamers. We’re really all about thrilling the gamer.

But when we go into broader forms of entertainment the Xbox 360 handles that stuff in a very open and very connected way. If people have a PC at home with their digital music or digital photos on that PC the Xbox 360 lets them get at that content, wired or wirelessly. If you’re going to walk around with a digital device, whether it’s an iPod, a PSP, a Sony Camera, a Panasonic camera, whatever, to Xbox 360 it doesn’t matter. Whatever the device, Xbox 360 lets you get access to that content.

So for us it’s not about owning the living room. We don’t care what kind of TV you have. We don’t care what kind of digital audio player you have. We don’t care what kind of digital camera you’ve got. Xbox 360 works with everything. There are other companies out there that want you to own a brand ‘S’ console. They want you to own a brand ‘S’ TV and a brand ‘S’ digital audio player and a brand ‘S’ portable gaming device. To me, that looks more like trying to own your living room, trying to lock you into a single brand. That’s absolutely not what we’re about. We’re about partners and an open ecosystem where everyone can share content, regardless of what kind of device you have.

And we all know what brand ‘S’ stands for don’t we? (Hint: S-O-N-Y, okay, I know that was not a hint, but still, you should have figured it out sooner.)

Link to original article.

Sorry all you Xbox 360 fans, it looks like you were not a major part of a recent survey, and thus another report of the PS3 beating the Xbox 360 is out on the net.

The survey, carried out by the NDP Group polled 15,000 people between the ages of 13 to 44, and it showed that the PlayStation 3 is the best known brand. This put the Xbox 360 in second, and the Nintendo Revolution in third.

Another noticeable fact from the survey was that Sony’s existing fans have a high level of loyalty to the brand, and that might cause Microsoft some serious problems because we all know what most “geeks” think of the Micro$oft name.

Source: Playfuls.com

Low Supply Shaping Up as Big Problem

An article on ABC New’s website goes over how Microsoft might have ruined its place in the Next-Gen console line-up by not producing enough consoles for those interested, and thus ruining the buzz, and sales fever they had built up with all of their marketing campaigns.

Analysts say Microsoft, which announced a goal of selling up to 3 million Xbox 360s by year’s end, may have missed a big marketing opportunity.

“On one hand, this was Microsoft’s opportunity to really take advantage of having the next-generation market all to themselves and not having enough product is a squandered opportunity,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group, which tracks the gaming industry. Rubin says that with Sony’s new Playstation 3 not scheduled to come out until spring, the extremely competitive console market was primed for the Xbox 360 to make a big splash.

But not having enough units to fill pre-orders, and lacking the consoles to stock stores in time for the holidays, may mean that when the PS3 is released, the 360’s head start is rendered moot.

Looks like the BBC News understands the current gamer, as we sit and wait to have our chance at getting one of the consoles.

Some Xbox fans who pre-ordered the console as far back as August are angry after being told they may not receive the machine before Christmas.

“You might have thought that Microsoft, if they are determined to topple Sony from the console marketplace, might have learnt from the stock shortages that plagued the PSP,” said one gamer in an e-mail to the BBC News website.

“You can’t be a market leader if you have no products to sell to customers!”

This is pretty much the mindset I am in right now. I know a few people have the games already, but no console. I would be one of those people if I was not so stubborn, as I want to have something to play the games on before I drop the money for them. I think it is getting pretty rediculous, and if the reports of a small second wave this weekend are untrue, then my confidence in Microsoft will be soundly shaken as it has been more than a week and there have been no new large shipments of Xbox 360’s for an eager market.

Hackaday, well known for their varying tech articles and being a great source for modifying and changing things from the norm has a look at the Xbox 360 in their article entitled Xbox 360 first impressions.

Why would an anti-Microsoft, pro-open source geek jump to the front of the line to grab and Xbox 360? Well, to see what it can do of course.

I purchased this box on the first day because early versions of consoles are generally easier to modify. With the PSP ver. 1.0 it was easy to run homebrew code, but with each successive firmware version, Sony makes it harder. The original Xboxes that are being sold now make it almost impossible to run Xbox Linux because of a hardware change.

They look over the Xbox 360 in detail throwing links to other great articles and pictures as they go. Very good review.

Over at 360 Insider there was some Xbox 360 loving as he was able to run error free and test out all the Xbox 360 has to offer, including getting addicted to Geometry Wars, an Xbox Live arcade title that has been getting many thumbs up from those that have tried it.

This isn’t my first prolonged experience with the Xbox 360, but this is the first time I’ve been able to get on Live, check out the Marketplace, and do some online gaming. The verdict? I freaking love this system.

He also gave a thumbs up to how they look in different scenerios, testing it with his 27″ 720p LCD and 57″ 1080i Sony HDTV. It looks like for him, the Xbox 360 is shaping up to be all he had hoped.

Anandtech has a detailed look at the Xbox 360. It’s amazing how many people are looking at the Xbox 360 in detail before the launch…lucky people!

With the Xbox 360, Microsoft gained some benefits of the original Xbox success. Xbox didn’t win the sales battle against Sony’s PlayStation 2, but the first Xbox was strong enough to cement Microsoft’s name in the world of console gaming manufacturers. For their second time around, there is less worry of the Xbox 360 being viewed as a just a PC, so Microsoft took a bolder approach.

Honestly, with the Xbox 360, Microsoft could have put forth another PC in a black box and it probably would have done fine. But with their second gaming console, the target was growth — and Sony. With an established name and fanbase, it was time to take the market seriously and start to exert some dominance and thus the Xbox went from being a clunky black box of a PC, to a stylish consumer electronics device.

The best part is that they start to take it apart and look deeper than most people do. I guess when you work for a big company Warranties don’t mean much.

Found thanks to Gizmodo, that the CEO of Sony decided to let some details out of the bag on the Playstation 3. (thank goodness!)

In a demonstration of the swift collaborative response to consumer-driven marketplace changes that a revitalized Sony can deliver, the company soon will unveil a line of compact, portable video devices to fill the time gap before PlayStation 3 launches in Japan in March and in the U.S. a year from now.

In keeping with the PlayStation business model, PS3 will roll out at a loss for the first six months, then rapidly turn profits on game-license fees. PS3 will be bundled with a selection of preloaded films, TV programs and games and sell for between $300-$400.

Does this mean when you buy the PlayStation 3, you will get some bundled content already on a… hard drive? memory stick? As long as its not just on a Blu-ray disc, I will be happy.