Xbox

Why the Xbox 360 will win the console war

Lately, there has been a considerable amount of discussion on which console will win this generation's war. Will it be the Wii with its established base and strong sales? Will it be the Xbox 360 with its steady growth? Or will it be the Playstation 3 with its strong sales over the past few months?

If you ask me, it'll be the Xbox 360.

Now I know what you're thinking -- "how?" The answer is actually quite simple: the Wii is not nearly as strong as some want to believe and Sony's strong growth is the result of a lower hardware price, which is allowing it to catch up to the pack.

Of course, Sony's Kaz Hirai doesn't agree with that sentiment. According to the company's gaming chief, Sony will follow a "ten-year cycle" with the PS3 that should propel it to the top spot in the industry once it's all said and done.

And while his desire to do that isn't quite rooted in reality, I guess you can't blame a guy for trying.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 719: Yotta yotta yotta

There's a lot of storage headed your way in the coming years. A lotta, in fact. We'd even go so far as to say it's a yotta. Byte. In other news, no one in the tech industry will be taking a vacation between June 15 and July 12, due to the second coming of the iPhone, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu is getting behind a more democratic music industry. Try that one on for size, RIAA. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 719

Comcast mulling metered access, 250GB monthly bandwidth caps http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080507-comcast-mulling-metered-access-250gb-monthly-bandwidth-caps.html… Read more

Zune struggles to find the right pitch

After a decent freshman year, the Zune appears to be having a bit of a sophomore slump.

In its first year on the market, Microsoft shipped 1.2 million Zunes, reaching about 3 percent of the U.S. market for MP3 players by the first quarter of 2007. A year later, the company's market share stands at about 4 percent, but that slight gain comes as Microsoft has expanded from one hard-drive model into a family of products that includes both flash-based and hard drive-based units.

As part of its announcement of a Zune video store this week, Microsoft … Read more

Zune: Welcome to the video

A year and a half after debuting its first Zune, Microsoft is finally offering some content that makes use of that big color screen.

The software maker is releasing an update Tuesday to its Zune service that adds a video store with about 800 TV show episodes from NBC Universal, MTV, and a couple of other producers. For the moment, though, the store is far smaller than the TV options from iTunes or even from Microsoft's own Xbox Live Marketplace and offers no feature films.

"We feel it is more important and--customers tell us--to focus on short programming … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 716: Hope for old people (like Tom)

There's still time for us to strike entrepreneurial gold, we talk "malicious circuits," and Microsoft blah blah blah blah. Also, Popcorn Hour starts shipping its magical streaming box of wonder and it looks like we're in store for some wiener whistles. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 716

Microsoft leans toward a hostile bid http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120966628366460063.html

Xbox 360 Blu-ray console shipping by September? http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/02/ xbox-360-blu-ray-console-by-september/

Researchers design “malicious circuits,” warn of potential risk http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/01/ researchers-design-malicious-circuits-warn-of-potential-risk/

Popcorn Hour’s … Read more

More rumors that XBox 360 will add Blu-ray drive

Following HD DVD's demise, there's been a lot speculation that Microsoft would add a Blu-ray option to the XBox 360. The latest rumor has a subsidiary of Asus, Pegatron Technology, making a premium Blu-ray-equipped version of the XBox 360 that will arrive in time for the holidays. This one follows on the heels of a report that Lite-On was going to be the one making the Blu-ray drives for Microsoft's game console.

If you speak Chinese, you can translate the Asus rumor from Economic Daily News, a publication that Gizmodo calls a "Taiwanese rag." While … Read more

Xbox 360 to shred with new board controller

Microsoft may be working on its own version of the Wiimote but, until it surfaces (so to speak), another wireless controller is heading for the Xbox 360. The only difference is you use your feet, not your hands.

Qmotions has cut a deal to develop versions of its skateboard controller for Microsoft's game console, according to I4U News. The company, which also makes controllers for golf, baseball, and other games, plans to release its "Big Air" full-size board for the Xbox in the second half of this year, possibly following up with other Microsoft-endorsed products.

As for … Read more

Microsoft cuts Xbox 360 prices in Asia

Microsoft is ratcheting up the battle against rivals Sony and Nintendo in the hotly contested Asian market, cutting the price of its Xbox 360 between 5 percent and nearly 20 percent in four areas throughout the region.

The price of the 20GB model was cut 17 percent in Taiwan, 10.7 percent in Hong Kong, and 5 percent in South Korea. The steepest reduction was made in Singapore, where that version of the gaming console dropped 19.5 percent and the company cut the price of two other models: The 120GB Elite was reduced 12.5 percent and the Arcade, … Read more

Releasing sequels isn't enough for Nintendo

The New York Times recently featured a compelling piece on its pages that delved deep into the world of Nintendo. The piece focused on the Wii's customers and outlined the fact that people simply aren't buying enough games. And while seemingly everyone knows about this issue and that it could spell trouble for Nintendo, the company seems like it doesn't care.

But if it doesn't come to its senses and realize that video game sales will propel the hardware forward as console sales start to dwindle, what will be left of Nintendo's venerable console?

Some believe that Nintendo will dominate this generation no matter what, but I'm not so sure that's true. Is the company controlling the market right now? Sure. And with its installed base of over 20 million, there's little chance Sony or Microsoft will overtake it anytime soon. But as we tread deeper into this generation, Nintendo may not be able to rest on its laurels forever in the hope that its hardware will continue to sell the way it does.

In other words, Nintendo's tried and true tactic of selling compelling hardware and its many popular franchises may work for some time, but I don't think we can expect it to last forever.… Read more