No Blu-ray for XBOX360

Despite Microsoft's vehement assertions to the contrary, the rumour that a Blu-ray drive for XBOX360 would be released continues to have legs. Maybe this will put an end to it:

RetailBRIDGE: Xbox 360 Won't Support Blu-ray, Microsoft Says

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Aaron Greenberg, group program manager for the Xbox 360, told Reuters this week, emphasizing the fact that theirs is "the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content."

Downloads. It's all about downloads. All I'm saying is don't get too attached to your optical discs, okay?

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Microsoft upgrades XBOX360 downloads

The Retail Bridge: Microsoft Announces Game Download Service For Xbox

Networked gaming may be old news at this point, but Microsoft on Wednesday announced an update to its Xbox LIVE service that will add a new wrinkle to the online scene, allowing users to download full games directly to their Xbox 360 consoles.
...
The Xbox Originals service, scheduled to be included in a Dec. 4 software update that will go out to all Xbox LIVE members, will include a selection of full titles including "Halo," "Psychonauts" and "Fable." Additional titles will be added to the on-demand library in the coming months, Microsoft said.

That's great news for XBOX360 owners, and I'm happy for Microsoft, don't get me wrong.

However, yesterday I said:

Either Sony or Microsoft would really have to have something BIG up their sleeves to take the wiind* out of Nintendo's sails (sales?)

While this is a wonderful step forward in online content delivery (something that I'm 100% in favor of), I don't see this as being a deciding factor in making someone rush out and buy an XBOX360 who wasn't already predisposed to do so.

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New cut rate XBOX: Microsoft grasping at straws

It's rare that you see this much partisan negativity in a mainstream business news article.

Yahoo!: Xbox 360 launches Arcade model to challenge Wii

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Microsoft on Tuesday began US sales of a scaled-down Xbox 360 model billed by some analysts as a doomed bid to unseat Nintendo's Wii console as ruler of the casual video game market.
"It is squarely targeted at the Wii," Directions on Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff told AFP.

I would love to make some snide comments on this, but the news story already has all the best lines.

"It is not even remotely close to what the Wii offers the market," Hickey told AFP.
"The best they can hope for is someone naive goes to a store to buy a Wii and there isn't one there so they buy an Xbox 360 Arcade."
Wii consoles with unique motion-sensing controllers are a video game sensation, appealing to families, women, seniors and other "casual gamers" that don't fit the typically young male "hardcore gamer" demographic.
Hickey described Arcade as a "clumsy" repositioning of Microsoft's Xbox 360 Core model minus a hard drive.

Casual gamers won't buy it, and hardcore gamers will mock it. What else is there to say?

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Analysts see soft Christmas for Nintendo, even worse one for Playstation 3

There are those industry watchers who predict that the sun is setting on Nintendo's upstart dominance with the Wii.

The Retail Bridge: Is Nintendo's Run At The Top Coming To An End?

Nintendo's Wii video game console was the surprise hit of the 2006 holiday season and spent most of this year at the top of sales charts and industry reports.
But, according to a pair of analyst notes released this week, the company's stint ahead of the video game pack may soon be ending as Microsoft's Xbox 360 is expected to roll through the rest of the year.
Why? The recent release of Halo 3 has more than a little to do with it."We believe Halo 3 will spur sales of Xbox 360 consoles and Microsoft should be able to sustain this momentum with a strong release slate via-a-vis the Xbox 360," Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell wrote earlier this week.

On the other hand, industry watchers were wrong about the Wii going into last Christmas, so go figure.

To put a silver lining on that dark clound, they also think that Playstation 3 sales will continue to suck.

And so far analysts expect Sony's Playstation 3 to be little more than an also-ran this year, still suffering from the expensive console's overall lack of compelling content.
"Sony is facing a worst-case scenario this holiday season," Mitchell said. "Not only are there fewer titles to drive PS3 sales, but problems with major releases, such as Madden NFL 08 and Lair, show developers are still having a difficult time with the platform. The loss of high-profile exclusives, such as GTA IV and Assassin's Creed, means that there is a very little to drive incremental PS3 sales."

Personally, I think that this Christmas season in CE is shaping up to be a real nail-biter!

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Microsoft increases XBOX360 warranty, says "Oops!"

Good business decision making in action:

TWICE: Microsoft Expands Xbox 360 Warranty

Redmond, Wash. — Microsoft is expanding its global Xbox 360 warranty coverage.
Prompted by what the company called an “unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles,” Microsoft is now offering a three-year warranty from date of purchase to any Xbox 360 customer who experiences a general hardware failure.
Under the new warranty, the company said it will repair or replace any Xbox 360 that experiences the “three flashing red lights” error message within three years from the time of purchase free of charge, including shipping costs. It also said that it will retroactively reimburse any customer who has previously paid for repair expenses related to this error message.
Microsoft said it has identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures and has made improvements to the Xbox 360 console.
The company also announced that it is taking a $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion pre-tax charge to its earnings for the quarter ended June 30 to cover the anticipated costs of carrying out this enhanced warranty policy.

It's great to see a company actually take responsibility for its problems, instead of trying to blame them on outside circumstances. A billion dollars may be more than pocket change, even for Microsoft, but in the long run, this move will pay off for them.

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Hitler's Ultimate Downfall

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Microsoft announces XBOX 360 Elite

Tough break for the 8.76 million people who already bought an XBOX 360.

CE Pro: Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Adds HDMI, 1080p
Microsoft officially announced the new Xbox 360 Elite yesterday, confirming rumors and Internet buzz about an upgraded version of the gaming system and Media Center Extender. The new system will feature an HDMI port capable of 1080p video output, an expanded hard drive and a black finish.

So, my first question is, what gaming content are they going to announce that capitalizes on the upgraded unit's new capabilities?

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Microsoft takes cheap shots at Sony

from CE Pro

Really, who doesn't like taking cheap shots at Sony? I can hardly seize the moral high ground here. Apparently early positive reports from testers, and the expectation that Microsoft will actually hit their (revised) release date for Vista has given them a bracing swig of liquid confidence, as a senior MS exec responsible for XBOX360 came out swinging at Sony, who have just scaled back their expectations for the launch of Playstation3.

Xbox UK boss Neil Thompson has told GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft is not
surprised Sony has "backed away" from its commitment to a global launch for
PlayStation 3.
"We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch,
so it's not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced
launch plan, due to the unproven technology they are trying to pack in to their
console," he said.

It will be fun to watch this continue to unfold.

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