A thought on the "next-gen" systems... (1 Viewer)

[Dean Cooper]

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the green on black just screams Matri... err, Xbox!
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Dean

 

[Gary King]

Gary --
That sounds exactly like the video that was shown at Gamestock.

Showing incomplete games 9 months before the console launches? Somebody stop the presses! I think everyone at Gamestock recognized that the Xbox (and its software) were nearly a year from completion, and almost everyone was impressed. Most of the software shown at Gamestock looked nicer than current PS2 software, and several titles were more polished and played better than a good chunk of published PS2 titles. Despite its low framerate (which will be fixed by launch), 8 player Halo is great (I've only played 4 player, but a friend of mine is loving the latest build, and says the story is great).
As compared to other alpha and beta software on display at E3, Xbox software crashed far less frequently than PC, Gamecube, or PS2 software.
Most people in the industry realize that the Xbox hardware won't be 100% finished until a month before the console ships. On one hand, that means that games will run at sub-60fps during previews, since the hardware is underclocked; but on the other hand, the hardware isn't obsolete before it's released.

 

[pitchman]

Most people in the industry realize that the Xbox hardware won't be 100% finished until a month before the console ships.

Gary, I couldn't agree more! The general public does not understand this (nor should they have to) and therein lies the rub. For Microsoft to stick this kiosk in a retail outlet like Toys R Us mere weeks before the Xbox launch as representative of the product, is just plain BAD marketing! This is what I do for a living... and this is NOT how it's done!
One can only hope that this is an isolated incident perpetrated by an overzealous TRU employee, because if this is going on across the country, it's not going to help the Xbox cause at all...
Gary
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[Morgan Jolley]

If the X-Box had such good games, then why did Nintendo have a better showing at E3? The general idea that I got from reading about E3 or talking to people who went there (I met someone who went there) was that Nintendo stole the show.

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Gary,
I hate to say this, but the X-Box video does exist, & we are showing it in the TRU where I work part-time. I saw the info package that we got from Microsoft, and that is their centerpiece, along with a display box & a poster.
Some of the footage does look okay ( WWF Raw Is War, Gotham (mostly) & DOA 3 ) but nothing with the exception of Jet Grind Radio Future stands out, & I've gotten mixed feedback from my customers there on the demo tape. That is why I'm saying that Gates & Co. has a much tougher road ahead of them if this is all they can come up with. I won't talk about something ( or recommended it ,for that matter ) unless I think that the product is okay. And time is running out.....
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"Don't make me angry....You wouldn't like me when I'm angry......"

 

[Gary King]

Yes and no. Microsoft has already sold almost all of the units it has allocated for NA - I think they're just trying to get the Xbox name out into the general public, now.
I should also mention that a few months before the PS2 US launch, Sony was playing a similar demo reel in the Metreon (and other retailers), which included footage of Madden 2001, Fantavision, Dynasty Warriors 2, and a few other titles. All of the VHS footage was significantly worse than the actual titles.