Microsoft boosts Xbox 360 component orders due to upcoming Halo 3 launch

[B3D News]

Words on the street of Taipei has it that optical drive OEM Lite-On IT expects to increase its shipments of DVD-ROM drives for the Xbox 360 at the eve of anticipated launch of the third Halo game, Microsoft's biggest gaming franchise.


Read the full news item

 

[Platon]

I wonder if it is only Halo3 or if there is also a price cut that accompanies it. I have no doubt that there are those that have been waiting for the next Halo before they buy the 360 but I doubt that there are going to be that many that are tipped over by one game for a $400 console...

 

[Farid]

I wonder if it is only Halo3 or if there is also a price cut that accompanies it

One can speculate that, indeed.

 

[Titanio]

A price cut is a safe bet, it'll have been almost two years.

I hope for Microsoft's sake they haved fixed their reliability issues before ramping their volumes significantly.

 

[deathkiller]

I would say that the boost is more related to the upcoming Christmas than Halo 3 by itself, last year they shipped 4+ million of Xbox 360 in October-December.

 

[BoardBonobo]

...I have no doubt that there are those that have been waiting for the next Halo before they buy the 360 ...

Weirdly thats the complete opposite to myself and a few of my friends! We're waiting to play Halo 3 before we sell our 360's!

 

[Carl B]

Well, Platon's and BoardBonobo's views are interesting in their contrast, but for myself I'll just say that I don't expect a pricecut before Halo 3, but sometime after.

 

[Blade47167]

Weirdly thats the complete opposite to myself and a few of my friends! We're waiting to play Halo 3 before we sell our 360's!

Seriously I think thats the way alot of people are. I doubt Halo moves to many 360's considering most who plan to play Halo 3 have already bought one.

 

[Sis]

A price cut is a safe bet, it'll have been almost two years.

I hope for Microsoft's sake they haved fixed their reliability issues before ramping their volumes significantly.

Fixing their reliability issues must come before the price cut. But have we seen any real proof that reliability issues have been fixed? If so, I can see a price drop before Halo, in order to get two jumps; the first from the marketing of the price cut, the second from Halo. Given that we're only a couple months away though, that doesn't seem likely anymore. I wonder if reliability issues have kept them from dropping the price sooner.

 

[Tap In]

... considering most who plan to play Halo 3 have already bought one.

quite a stretch there.

.... for myself I'll just say that I don't expect a pricecut before Halo 3, but sometime after.

agreed

....But have we seen any real proof that reliability issues have been fixed? ....

extra cooling components in refurbs? maybe they are adding to new as well?

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Seriously I think thats the way alot of people are. I doubt Halo moves to many 360's considering most who plan to play Halo 3 have already bought one.

So... Going by that logic, MGS4\KZ2\[INSERT A BIG PS3 EXCLUSIVE HERE] is not going to move consoles either right?

 

[archangelmorph]

So... Going by that logic, MGS4\KZ2\[INSERT A BIG PS3 EXCLUSIVE HERE] is not going to move consoles either right?

Well no because most people who would hope to play those games don't already have PS3s (including me..)

 

[Love & Sacrifice]

I believe this is the first findings of info on a strategically placed price drop that may or may not be annouced at E3.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Its broken logic based on personal impressions.

While i am no halofan myself, i know its a huge title in america.

Halo 1 was the 8th best critically acclaimed game, EVER. Halo 2 is the 20th best ever. As a game series, no other games except for GTA has 2 or more titles in the top 20.

It sold what? 7-8? million copies, for a total of 20 million xboxes? 30% of all Xbox owners bought Halo. Halo 3 will have the biggest marketing budget EVER, for a video game. This is MS' baby, the name most commonly associated with the word xbox. It will have enourmous hype, commercials alone will see to that. Halo 3's marketing budget is probably bigger than most exclusive titles has for a total budget.

Its ridiculous to say that Halo 3 will not move consoles. Unless the game is completely broken, it will sell consoles. It may suck, and marketing alone will move a ton of consoles.

 

[Love & Sacrifice]

Seriously I think thats the way alot of people are. I doubt Halo moves to many 360's considering most who plan to play Halo 3 have already bought one.

One of the reasons Halo 3 won't move that many systems is because of the systems current price. When Halo 2 released the Xbox was $100 to $150 cheaper than the 360 is now. In order for alot of console to be moved the price will have to be dropped. No amount of high profile games will make a difference if the casual gamers can't afford to buy the system on the onset. However a significant price drop that stoops the prices of each sku down to a certain level will help.

 

[Inane_Dork]

MS isn't ramping up hardware for Halo 3. They're ramping up hardware for a price cut, the always-busy holiday season and a large collection of amazing games (of which Halo 3 is a part).

Halo 3 is important, but it's not THAT important.

 

[AzBat]

One of the reasons Halo 3 won't move that many systems is because of the systems current price. When Halo 2 released the Xbox was $100 to $150 cheaper than the 360 is now. In order for alot of console to be moved the price will have to be dropped. No amount of high profile games will make a difference if the casual gamers can't afford to buy the system on the onset. However a significant price drop that stoops the prices of each sku down to a certain level will help.

I agree to a certain extent. The original Xbox was $150 when Halo 2 shipped. Without a price drop I could see Halo 3 matching previous sales for both hardware and software. Once they have a price drop I expect sales jump up significantly. They will most likely exceed previous sales with at least a $50 price drop across all SKUs. Drop $100 and it will be crazy. LOL

Tommy McClain

 

[iceberg187]

the 65nm GPU should be getting ready to go into consoles soon.

 

[Tap In]

MS isn't ramping up hardware for Halo 3. They're ramping up hardware for a price cut, the always-busy holiday season and a large collection of amazing games (of which Halo 3 is a part).

Halo 3 is important, but it's not THAT important.

bingo... thread title is wrong

 

[EndR]

An "xmas"-bundle with Core + halo3 for 199 bucks?? could be a devastating deal for the competition...
...but I don´t think MS will have the guts... they are waay to profit-minded now.

(btw, when will MS make the shift to 65nm?)