2.7 million Xbox 360 (MS FY11 Q3 report)

I personally think Microsoft is an annoying company. They've sort of arranged their Xbox 360 business practices in a way that makes it very hard to predict what they may or may not do. They really give themselves a lot of options between the various SKUs and the various means of revenue generation. The only issue I have is that as I can't even tell what their objectives are I cannot even understand why they make certain decisions. Sure we can sit back and criticise here but if their objectives were to make the Xbox 360 the most profitable console by 2011 they have definately succeeded.

Edit: Windows Phone 7 makes it even more annoying too because you have to consider their Live strategy with Xbox 360 in the context of the Nokia deal... Bah!
 
Squilliam said:
I personally think Microsoft is an annoying company. They've sort of arranged their Xbox 360 business practices in a way that makes it very hard to predict what they may or may not do. They really give themselves a lot of options between the various SKUs and the various means of revenue generation. The only issue I have is that as I can't even tell what their objectives are I cannot even understand why they make certain decisions. Sure we can sit back and criticise here but if their objectives were to make the Xbox 360 the most profitable console by 2011 they have definately succeeded.

Edit: Windows Phone 7 makes it even more annoying too because you have to consider their Live strategy with Xbox 360 in the context of the Nokia deal... Bah!
Click to expand...

I don't think they are hard to predict. Grow the brand, get as much profit out of it as they can. Expand it into other areas. Live is their media delivery product, the nokia deal buys them significant inroads into the mobile market. Live integration there could pay dividends in bringing more people to the xbox brand.

Right now they are in a good profitable position so delaying makes sense for them, Wii2 could change all that, so I'm sure they'll have a contingency next gen product to follow it shortly if necessary. A Wii1.5 (slightly more powerful than ps360) probably wouldn't draw an immediate reaction.

It's also interesting to note that Microsoft is now moving out from under DOJ watched status which might bring about some acquisitions.
 
eastmen said:
i'd still like to see better sensors / cameras esp . its alot of fun where you see pictures or videos of what crazy stuff you did in the game but they all look terrible.

Also i'm sure xbox next will come with usb 3.0 and i'd like to see them take advantage of the greater bandwidth
Click to expand...
As would I. Don't get your hopes up though. It would be difficult to do for the same reasons we haven't doubled the memory or CPU in the console. Developers in the console world like to have a fixed target to aim at.

As to the next gen console, I'd certainly hope there is a high speed interconnect, be it USB, some wireless thing, or lightpeak. It would make an improved sensor very difficult without it. (Note this is speculation on my part, I have no knowledge of any specifics on any next generation console, and would not be able to comment on them if I did)
 
AlphaWolf said:
I don't think they are hard to predict. Grow the brand, get as much profit out of it as they can. Expand it into other areas. Live is their media delivery product, the nokia deal buys them significant inroads into the mobile market. Live integration there could pay dividends in bringing more people to the xbox brand.
Click to expand...


But specific goals as to what they might be looking to achieve over the next 2-3 years between Xbox 360 Kinect and the Xbox next console? Are they going to be maximising profit? Market share? Are they going to be diverting a large proportion of their income into investment for Live infrastructure? How are they going to secure content for the launch of the next Xbox? Are they going to focus on spreading Live around the world and give feature parity to Europe and Asia?
 
BRiT said:
From what I remember reading, part of the Kinect limitation is the USB implementation on the XBox 360, something about not having full USB 2.0 bandwidth available and being just a tad bit over normal USB 1.0 if it's any faster at all.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they limit it to 15MB/s, same with any connected USB memory sticks or HDDs. hmm.... I know 480mbps (60MB/s) isn't attainable for a single device in real-world practise (roughly half that), but isn't that the total combined for all devices? What I mean is, shouldn't they be able to have Kinect get up to 30MB/s whilst still having plenty of bus bandwidth for others? I mean, that's even if someone were to use a USB flash stick as a replacement for the HDD... And it's not like the USB network adapter (for non-slim units) should need a lot of bandwidth.

:s
 
AlphaWolf said:
Wii2 could change all that, so I'm sure they'll have a contingency next gen product to follow it shortly if necessary. A Wii1.5 (slightly more powerful than ps360) probably wouldn't draw an immediate reaction.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure both MS and Sony are already working on their next gren hardware. They're not going to wait for the Wii1.5 to be out and only then start working on something to counter that. We've seen Microsoft posting jobs for that already.

There are also evidences for the next Kinect (Kinext?) with similar job posts for their AIT group. And while Kinect is a combination of Hardware and software, it does sound like they have some new next-gen prototype planned (either for the next gen Xbox, or as an independent product):
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1520911
General background:

Advanced Imaging Technologies group (AIT) is part of the Xbox division in Microsoft. It is focused on hardware and software technologies in the Kinect project.

A few words on Kinect:

Microsoft ‘s Kinect for Xbox 360 is the latest motion sensing technology for gaming and entertainment. Instead of a controller, your body becomes the input device. It uses a full body tracking system which is based on 3D sensors and highly sophisticated computer-vision and machine-learning algorithms. Kinect’s aim is to revolutionize the entertainment in the living room. It sold 8 million units in the first 60 days after launch, on its way to become “the fastest-adopted consumer electronic device” (as reported by ReadWriteWeb).

Responsibilities: Prototype development.

Requirements:

The candidate’s mission involves planning and developing new prototypes using cutting-edge computer vision technologies. We are looking for highly motivated, self learning, independent and creative engineers with the following skills:

The ability to plan thoroughly and implement new ideas.
Click to expand...
 
swym said:
I'm pretty sure both MS and Sony are already working on their next gren hardware. They're not going to wait for the Wii1.5 to be out and only then start working on something to counter that. We've seen Microsoft posting jobs for that already.

There are also evidences for the next Kinect (Kinext?) with similar job posts for their AIT group. And while Kinect is a combination of Hardware and software, it does sound like they have some new next-gen prototype planned (either for the next gen Xbox, or as an independent product):
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1520911
Click to expand...
Interesting news and post by the way. I just want to react to the bold part.
According to the rumour we have N next system look more like a Wii 2.5 almost 3 (no matter it's in fact a 360 1.5... :LOL: ).
 
swym said:
I'm pretty sure both MS and Sony are already working on their next gren hardware. They're not going to wait for the Wii1.5 to be out and only then start working on something to counter that. We've seen Microsoft posting jobs for that already.
Click to expand...
It's silly to call NES6 Wii 1.5. It's entirely new hardware, not a partial upgrade like GC > Wii. Heck, at this point we don't even know if the new system will have Wii's waggle!

There are also evidences for the next Kinect (Kinext?) with similar job posts for their AIT group. And while Kinect is a combination of Hardware and software, it does sound like they have some new next-gen prototype planned (either for the next gen Xbox, or as an independent product):
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1520911
Click to expand...
That doesn't indicate much. Could just be an RnD position like Richard Marks and Anton Mikhailov, who have worked on all sorts of camera based tech for years without them being targeted to a specific product. This AIT could just be to research possible camera technologies and applications, for the current Kinect or future products, or just RnD like MS's other research departments. No way of knowing.
 
Not to derail the hangups of x.5 nomenclature but these are some really good numbers for the 360, I'm hesitant to say EDD but since they are the division I guess I will. Microsoft has already sold-in more this FY than prior entire FY's and there is still a quarter remaining. In prior years Q4 has been flat against Q3 if that trend holds then MSFT is looking at 14M+ for the FY.
 
liolio said:
Interesting news and post by the way. I just want to react to the bold part.
According to the rumour we have N next system look more like a Wii 2.5 almost 3 (no matter it's in fact a 360 1.5... :LOL: ).
Click to expand...
Shifty Geezer said:
It's silly to call NES6 Wii 1.5. It's entirely new hardware, not a partial upgrade like GC > Wii. Heck, at this point we don't even know if the new system will have Wii's waggle!
Click to expand...
It indeed is silly - and to tell you the truth I didn't even realize that I wrote that (Something subconscious maybe)?

They should avoid numbering anyway: WiiHD will be an awesome name marketing wise. :)
 
I've never liked Skype on PC. It's definitely ropey, not as good as something like Uncharted's voice chat. The latest PSN titles I've used VC on have been telephone quality, but I get echoes and drops a bit with Skype. Of course, Skype has the added value in ubiquity which makes it very useful, but I wish they'd improve the quality, at least in certain quality class connections if you're only chatting with one other person at a time or something.

Edit: reading the article - wow! The idea of Skype for PSN goes out the window. Were Skype doing anything technologywise that MS weren't? I wouldn't have thoguht anything, which suggests this is a purchase of a userbase more than the tech. As such it kinda extends the Live install base to Skype users now. Everyone using Skype will perhaps get upgraded to MS Live, offered additional features like phot sharing, and via that route MS can compete with Facebook again.
 
What does this mean for Skype in the PSP?

Btw thats a very important move from MS. Skype is seeing its way in numerous devices including TV's (and I think Blu Rays?). Strong strategic advantage. Sony and others will want Skype in their devices as well.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
I've never liked Skype on PC. It's definitely ropey, not as good as something like Uncharted's voice chat.
Click to expand...

Opposite results here, I use Skype a lot and it's quality is really good, that's even when I talk with people in the USA, UK, or even Singapore. It's better quality than both console online voice from my experience.
 
joker454 said:
Opposite results here, I use Skype a lot and it's quality is really good, that's even when I talk with people in the USA, UK, or even Singapore. It's better quality than both console online voice from my experience.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've had pretty good experience as well. (Singapore too :eek:)
 
joker454 said:
Opposite results here, I use Skype a lot and it's quality is really good, that's even when I talk with people in the USA, UK, or even Singapore. It's better quality than both console online voice from my experience.
Click to expand...

Using it a tonne myself. My whole company uses it for everything by default, with mobile and landlines as backup. Makes internal meetings a breeze. We do have occasional hitches though, but generally it works well.

I started a separate thread for this, think it deserves its own topic.

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=60124
 
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