OMEN
08-22-2006, 12:53 AM
MICROSOFT plans to clear a path to Christmas for its Xbox 360 console with a heavy bombardment from more than 100 new game titles set for release before the festive season.
Standing in Microsoft's way will be a brand-new PlayStation, the new Wii console from Nintendo and industry scepticism about game publishers' ability to release so many new games.
There would be at least 160 Xbox 360 titles available in time for Christmas, well up on the 43 or so available now, Microsoft Xbox regional director David McLean said.
Microsoft itself would release "four or five" of the games, but publisher partners would account for the bulk of new titles, he said.
Most titles would be written expressly for the new console, and ports of games written for the original Xbox would be "negligible", he said.
New titles would take advantage of the processing and graphics power of the Xbox 360 -- the first of the next generation game consoles to be released here.
"By Christmas you are going to start seeing the second wave of titles coming out from developers, when they have really had some time to work with the platform," Mr McLean said.
While details of the releases would be worked out between game publishers and retailers, Mr McLean said he did not see any problems with the market digesting so many new games.
"They are across a whole bunch of genres and will launch at different times," he said.
Managing director of specialist games retailer EB Games, Steve Wilson, said he was "extremely surprised" by the number of Xbox 360 games due for release.
"It seems to be a huge number," he said.
There had not been enough Xbox 360 games to follow up the console's launch in March, he said.
"It's not desperate. There has been a steady flow of reasonable games, but we could have done with a few more," he said.
However, overall, EB was pleased with the performance of the Xbox 360, and particularly pleased with how it had maintained sales after the initial spike in demand from hard-core gamers.
"The Xbox 360 has maintained remarkably constant sales," Mr Wilson said.
Mr McLean repeated Microsoft's position that there would be no price cut for the Xbox 360 in the run up to Christmas.
Microsoft had sold 80,000 Xbox 360 units by the end of July, according to data from analyst group GfK.
Consoles were normally sold with three or four game titles and an additional wireless controller, Mr McLean said.
About half of Xbox 360 users had signed up to Microsoft's online portal, he said.
Overall, Microsoft was extremely happy with the progress of the Xbox 360, which was selling about 30 per cent more than Sony's rival PlayStation2 had at the same point after launch, he said.
Sales were above Microsoft's own expectations, he said.
But Sony's venerable PlayStation2, which dropped to $199 in June, has a massive installed base of almost 2 million Australian users.
Although the PlayStation3 was not due until November, the PS2 was an important tool for winning users, Sony Computer Entertainment managing director Michael Ephraim said.
"Every time we get a PlayStation2 in people's homes, they have more tendency to move up to the next model in the same brand," he said.
The $199 price-point was where 70 per cent of the original PlayStation1 units were sold, Mr Ephraim said.
"PS2 is completely outstripping Xbox 360. In fact, PSP is outstripping Xbox 360," he said.
GfK declined to release console sales data other than "life-to-date" figures, but one industry estimate put Xbox 360 sales at about 13,800 units over the past six weeks. By comparison, the cut-price PS2 sold 41,000 units and handheld PSP 15,000 units.
Overall sales leader was Nintendo's DS handheld, with 46,000 units sold.
Sony would begin ramping up marketing of the PlayStation3 in September, Mr Ephraim said.
The console would be accompanied by a new online strategy.
EB's Mr Wilson said he was more confident Sony would launch the PS3 in November.
A price of close to $1000 is expected to be a hurdle for the cell-processor powered console.
Nintendo had made no announcements on the release of its coming Wii full-sized console, other than to say it would make its debut in the final quarter of the year and would be priced at $US250 ($330) or less.
The Australian
Standing in Microsoft's way will be a brand-new PlayStation, the new Wii console from Nintendo and industry scepticism about game publishers' ability to release so many new games.
There would be at least 160 Xbox 360 titles available in time for Christmas, well up on the 43 or so available now, Microsoft Xbox regional director David McLean said.
Microsoft itself would release "four or five" of the games, but publisher partners would account for the bulk of new titles, he said.
Most titles would be written expressly for the new console, and ports of games written for the original Xbox would be "negligible", he said.
New titles would take advantage of the processing and graphics power of the Xbox 360 -- the first of the next generation game consoles to be released here.
"By Christmas you are going to start seeing the second wave of titles coming out from developers, when they have really had some time to work with the platform," Mr McLean said.
While details of the releases would be worked out between game publishers and retailers, Mr McLean said he did not see any problems with the market digesting so many new games.
"They are across a whole bunch of genres and will launch at different times," he said.
Managing director of specialist games retailer EB Games, Steve Wilson, said he was "extremely surprised" by the number of Xbox 360 games due for release.
"It seems to be a huge number," he said.
There had not been enough Xbox 360 games to follow up the console's launch in March, he said.
"It's not desperate. There has been a steady flow of reasonable games, but we could have done with a few more," he said.
However, overall, EB was pleased with the performance of the Xbox 360, and particularly pleased with how it had maintained sales after the initial spike in demand from hard-core gamers.
"The Xbox 360 has maintained remarkably constant sales," Mr Wilson said.
Mr McLean repeated Microsoft's position that there would be no price cut for the Xbox 360 in the run up to Christmas.
Microsoft had sold 80,000 Xbox 360 units by the end of July, according to data from analyst group GfK.
Consoles were normally sold with three or four game titles and an additional wireless controller, Mr McLean said.
About half of Xbox 360 users had signed up to Microsoft's online portal, he said.
Overall, Microsoft was extremely happy with the progress of the Xbox 360, which was selling about 30 per cent more than Sony's rival PlayStation2 had at the same point after launch, he said.
Sales were above Microsoft's own expectations, he said.
But Sony's venerable PlayStation2, which dropped to $199 in June, has a massive installed base of almost 2 million Australian users.
Although the PlayStation3 was not due until November, the PS2 was an important tool for winning users, Sony Computer Entertainment managing director Michael Ephraim said.
"Every time we get a PlayStation2 in people's homes, they have more tendency to move up to the next model in the same brand," he said.
The $199 price-point was where 70 per cent of the original PlayStation1 units were sold, Mr Ephraim said.
"PS2 is completely outstripping Xbox 360. In fact, PSP is outstripping Xbox 360," he said.
GfK declined to release console sales data other than "life-to-date" figures, but one industry estimate put Xbox 360 sales at about 13,800 units over the past six weeks. By comparison, the cut-price PS2 sold 41,000 units and handheld PSP 15,000 units.
Overall sales leader was Nintendo's DS handheld, with 46,000 units sold.
Sony would begin ramping up marketing of the PlayStation3 in September, Mr Ephraim said.
The console would be accompanied by a new online strategy.
EB's Mr Wilson said he was more confident Sony would launch the PS3 in November.
A price of close to $1000 is expected to be a hurdle for the cell-processor powered console.
Nintendo had made no announcements on the release of its coming Wii full-sized console, other than to say it would make its debut in the final quarter of the year and would be priced at $US250 ($330) or less.
The Australian