This is going to run Monday, so no the 360 isn’t launching Saturday, unfortunately. Just, you know, think of it like a time machine to Monday.
A word on the 360 launch
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the next generation console wars when Microsoft’s Xbox 360 officially launches. I’ve done a couple of assessments of the future of the console market, but 360 launch poses some new issues to consider, particularly since it’s not looking like the smoothest launch in history in Microsoft’s efforts to get it out the door before Christmas. Since I’ve already talk a great deal about the online component and its importance (though I never explicitly discussed the Marketplace), I’m mainly going to deal with the launch itself.
Odds are you aren’t going to get one. (I’ll get to why in a minute.) And if I were anywhere other than NYU, I’d say odds are you can’t afford one, either. Actually, while I’ve carped incessantly about dropping $400 on a console, upon considering what the original Xbox launched for ($300) and what you got in that versus what’s in the 360 package, the price isn’t entirely ridiculous. The “core” system is only $299, but you’d be a moron to buy it. The core is the system without a hard drive - which costs $99 on its own and is required to play your old Xbox games - standard definition AV cables and a wired controller.
Meanwhile, the actual system at $400 comes with the hard drive, high-def AV cables, a wireless controller, Ethernet cable, remote control, and the Xbox Live headset. You’d be a ‘tard to get the Core system. Still, even if the system price is fair, the price of accessories has indeed ventured into absurdity, with wireless controllers clocking in it at $50 a pop. Your friends had better start bringing their own. The standard price for games is also set to shift to $60, though Rare’s titles seem to be an exception. Also of note is the fact that the wireless adapter for broadband is an eye-gouging $99, utterly ridiculous given a) the wireless emphasis of the system b) it’s free in the Revolution c) wireless cards are cheap.
The reason you’re probably not going to get one is due to massive shortages in supply. The US looks to be getting only half of what was originally promised (600-800k units) and the bulk of those are going to Best Buy, which according to Kotaku is looking to get 20-60 units per store, while chains like Gamespot are looking to get a mere 10-20, when the average store has around 90 pre-orders.
Why Best Buy? Because it specializes in sodomizing customers. Dubious rumors abound right now that Bill himself will be at a Manhattan BB for the launch. Most of my friends back home work at BB, so I already have a pretty decent knowledge of how BB works. But according to documents leaked to Kotaku by a mole inside BB, in order to get your 360 after waiting for hours in line, you have to run through a maze setup to expose you to everything BB wants you to walk out the door with. Namely, third party accessories since they have the highest markup. According to my friend who works at BB, they’re shooting to sell at least $100 worth accessories with each system, which is roughly standard at BB, and the success of each store’s media section is rated almost solely on that. In any case, BB is looking to make around $40 million from the launch. Oh, and you won’t find those 26 pages of documents on Kotaku anymore, since BB threatened to sue the living shit out them, and Gawker Media folded.
There are questions as to whether the shortage has in fact been engineered to drive up demand, but if it was unintentional, it was stupid, given that every major system launch has faced these kinds of shortages. Though in this case it could be due to the fact that the 360 is one of the more impressive rush jobs in retail history. Microsoft went so far as to press the discs for its presumed system-seller Perfect Dark Zero before they were certified in order to have the title ready for launch according to a number of publications.
The 360’s advertising actually interests me quite a bit, particularly its emphasis on its multimedia functions - digital photos, mp3 player, media streaming according to one ad - and how the 360 “revolves around you,” a slogan and ad campaign I might take on in-depth in a future column giving the number of ways it could be looked at.
The 360, with its emphasis on online play, also seems to mark a new era in video game journalism. GameSpy will start reviewing games after they’ve launched in order to test the online component in real world conditions, instead of the idealized or beta ones reviewers are typically treated to and stick with in their effort to have a review up before anyone else. Hopefully other major video publications will follow its example.
In one sense, the launch will be a success - the 360 will sell out and will be hard to come by through the holiday season. However, whether that will translate into actual ground gained in the war is as good as anyone’s guess, as a 1up.com feature on the history of system launches proves, an amazing launch of a great system - the Dreamcast - doesn’t directly translate into long term victory. Most Wall Street analysts are predicting the PS3 catching up and overtaking the 360 over a two year stretch after its launch. If it ever gets out the door.
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