MS xbox360 launch hype tactics?

[mckmas8808]

I don't want to live on your block... that's a big corner (6mos to 1 year in NA).

Well you know I meant to the world. It's intro to the planet Earth should be what 4 to 5 months after the 360's? Not too much of a difference. That time will fly by quick you know.

 

[mckmas8808]

If you're selling out of your product, what's left to capture? Building brand awareness is only needed if the brand needs awareness, which Xbox and Xbox 360 probably do not. I would expect either a slow build up of marketing or a full press marketing if sales are off...

.Sis

Yeah basically you're right. They probably will build up the marketing bull slowly.

 

[Tap In]

Well you know I meant to the world. It's intro to the planet Earth should be what 4 to 5 months after the 360's? Not too much of a difference. That time will fly by quick you know.

just razzin ya Mck.

 

[Sis]

Well you know I meant to the world. It's intro to the planet Earth should be what 4 to 5 months after the 360's? Not too much of a difference. That time will fly by quick you know.

That seems supremely optimistic at this point. That would be March or April of 2006. Does anyone still believe the PS3 will release sooner than June/July of '06?

I'm actually betting the PS3 is a full year behind Xbox 360 (a Nov. launch in Japan only). And like the PS2, I also think it won't really matter that they were a year behind.

.Sis

 

[Carl B]

That seems supremely optimistic at this point. That would be March or April of 2006. Does anyone still believe the PS3 will release sooner than June/July of '06?

I'm actually betting the PS3 is a full year behind Xbox 360 (a Nov. launch in Japan only). And like the PS2, I also think it won't really matter that they were a year behind.

.Sis

Whatever the case in the US or Europe, I'm expecting a pre-Golden Week launch in Japan. Of '06.

 

[Sis]

Whatever the case in the US or Europe, I'm expecting a pre-Golden Week launch in Japan. Of '06.

Seriously? What is this based on though, other than Sony saying "Spring of '06"? Maybe I've missed a couple news bits here and there.

.Sis

 

[Carl B]

Seriously? What is this based on though, other than Sony saying "Spring of '06"? Maybe I've missed a couple news bits here and there.

.Sis

Yeah, that's all it's based on. That and the fact that Golden Week is the equivelent shopping holiday in Japan to Christmas here.

Now, what's your prediction based on? Just rumor and the thinking that playable games haven't been shown yet, right?

Well - for now I'll opt to go with Sony's spring claims, knowing how important a Golden Week properly hyped launch could be for them in Japan.

 

[mckmas8808]

just razzin ya Mck.

What does razzin mean anyway? I post it just because I like the face.

I'm actually betting the PS3 is a full year behind Xbox 360 (a Nov. launch in Japan only). And like the PS2, I also think it won't really matter that they were a year behind.

With all due respect Sis, most people are saying Spring of '06 because that's what Sony is saying over and over. May I can see too though. November of '06 in Japan is just not going to happen though.

 

[Sis]

Yeah, that's all it's based on. That and the fact that Golden Week is the equivelent shopping holiday in Japan to Christmas here.

Now, what's your prediction based on? Just rumor and the thinking that playable games haven't been shown yet, right?

Well - for now I'll opt to go with Sony's spring claims, knowing how important a Golden Week properly hyped launch could be for them in Japan.

I base my prediction on lack of anything substantial, given that by your estimates they are just a mere 5 months from release. It feels to me like the console is at least a year away still. I also surmised that Sony is not averse to a late-year release given their PSP launch in Japan of last year. I'd feel better about your claims if I heard of blu-ray laser productions kicking into high gear (or Blu-ray device manufacturing going ahead). And is there any info at all about the graphics chip, other than it's nVidia? Finally, what about the recent rumor/FUD about the heat problems of the Cell? Is it completely hogwash?

Again, all this information may be out there, but I'm not seeing it. But given all the uncertainty and given that it's in Sony's best interest to freeze consumers, I don't really have any reason to believe they can hit a spring launch.

BTW: I pre-ordered by Xbox 360 five months ago almost to the day. That to me is substance. (I realize that if it's a Japan only release, I wouldn't be able to pre-order , but I would expect there to be something...)
.Sis

 

[Sis]

With all due respect Sis, most people are saying Spring of '06 because that's what Sony is saying over and over. May I can see too though. November of '06 in Japan is just not going to happen though.

Absolutely--and I'm not necessarily saying the Sony is spreading FUD with this; they may honestly have wanted to hit Spring of '06. But like any complex system, you aren't always in control of dates.

Microsoft, for instance, did not want to wait until the end of next year to release Vista--they wanted to release it a couple years ago and said as much. But as it turns out, it was just not feasible. And I would not be shocked if end of '06 turned into mid-'07 for the Vista release.

The same could very well have happened to Sony.

.Sis

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

Delaying Vistas like that wouldn't be nearly as damaging to MS as delaying the PS3 would be to Sony. It just isn't going to happen. No reason to delay it in Japan anyway, they could release it with /nothing/ and it will still obliterate the competition.

 

[Carl B]

I base my prediction on lack of anything substantial, given that by your estimates they are just a mere 5 months from release. It feels to me like the console is at least a year away still. I also surmised that Sony is not averse to a late-year release given their PSP launch in Japan of last year. I'd feel better about your claims if I heard of blu-ray laser productions kicking into high gear (or Blu-ray device manufacturing going ahead). And is there any info at all about the graphics chip, other than it's nVidia? Finally, what about the recent rumor/FUD about the heat problems of the Cell? Is it completely hogwash?

Again, all this information may be out there, but I'm not seeing it. But given all the uncertainty and given that it's in Sony's best interest to freeze consumers, I don't really have any reason to believe they can hit a spring launch.

BTW: I pre-ordered by Xbox 360 five months ago almost to the day. That to me is substance. (I realize that if it's a Japan only release, I wouldn't be able to pre-order , but I would expect there to be something...)
.Sis

Well, just to start my reply - yeah that Cell heat thing is total hogwash. You can go read the numerous displays of evidence to the contrary if you like in that thread, but the rumor (the Gamestop employee aspect of it) was a total farce.

The rest of your argument makes sense, to be sure - but for me it doesn't push PS3's launch back. I'm quite certain that blu-ray read head production will go ahead per plan, and that PS3 will be one of the first devices containing it. I'm used to the dance companies dance I guess, and for whatever reason I'm pretty good at guessing the meaning behind the words. Every word, every sentence, every venue - it all gives an indication.

Now, I'm not saying that there's no chance that PS3 get delayed, but the very public claim on SCE's part that the console will launch in Spring tells me that at the very least, they also feel that's when it will launch; and anything between now and then that happens will have been unexpected.

So, although again PS3 might launch later than Spring, I don't believe any claim of theirs to the contrary thus far has been an attempt to 'dupe' the public pre-360 release.

I remember there were a lot of claims back in the day that Cell would not make it into the PS3, would not be ready in time, because of the incredible lack of info. And then 'Bam!,' there it was - ready to go. I'm sure Sony will pull a blitzkrieg with PS3 marketing and buzz when they are suitably prepared to impress.

Sony was quiet before E3 as well - nobody knew what they would show or do - but they were there in full force. Often I feel lack of information does not equate to lack of plans; different companies simply have different styles.

In essence, your assumption that PS3 has been pushed back is the assumption that something has gone wrong; and mine that it will be on time is the assumption that things are still under control.

 

[Sis]

Delaying Vistas like that wouldn't be nearly as damaging to MS as delaying the PS3 would be to Sony. It just isn't going to happen. No reason to delay it in Japan anyway, they could release it with /nothing/ and it will still obliterate the competition.

Vista being delayed has significantly damaged Microsoft through multiple facets; it's not like they WANT to delay. Sony can't just magic the PlayStation 3 into existence. If there's intractable problems their facing, they have to solve them, and sometimes that's by continual re-engineering until it's solved. This takes time.

.Sis

 

[Sis]

I remember there were a lot of claims back in the day that Cell would not make it into the PS3, would not be ready in time, because of the incredible lack of info. And then 'Bam!,' there it was - ready to go. I'm sure Sony will pull a blitzkrieg with PS3 marketing and buzz when they are suitably prepared to impress.

Sony was quiet before E3 as well - nobody knew what they would show or do - but they were there in full force. Often I feel lack of information does not equate to lack of plans; different companies simply have different styles.

Good point and one that I find MS screws up a lot: they overload consumers with information to the point of exhaustion such that when it is released, people don't consider it "shiney and new".

Apple is amazingly good at doing the opposite, and perhaps Sony as well. We shall see :smile:

.Sis

 

[Tap In]

What does razzin mean anyway? I post it just because I like the face.

it just means, giving you a hard time in a friendly/no harm intended manner.

 

[Powderkeg]

The only reason Sony isn't saying much about the PS3 is because they still have a major holiday shopping season left to go with the PS2. Sure they want to generate hype for the PS3, but not at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in sales during the rest of this year.

 

[fireshot]

I remember there were a lot of claims back in the day that Cell would not make it into the PS3, would not be ready in time, because of the incredible lack of info. And then 'Bam!,' there it was - ready to go.

The claims were right, 32 SPEs at 4Ghz isn't in the PS3.

 

[Carl B]

The claims were right, 32 SPEs at 4Ghz isn't in the PS3.

Oh Fireshot, why I deal with you...

Anyway the claims were that the Cell R&D wouldn't be completed in time; but it was.

The whole 1 TFlop thing was for the 'Broadband Engine,' nothing Sony ever claimed would be in the PS3. This has been discussed on this board and every other board I know of several times over.

The only relation is that the BE uses Cell(s) (composed of four of them) and Sony also said Cell would be in the PS3. A lot of people mistakenly assumed this was a promise of BE in PS3.

The Broadband Engine as such has not been implemented into anything - and it was really only ever a buzzword and a patent - but the performance required to reach it is there. 4 Cells (as in the BE patent) at 4 GHz would indeed surpass 1 TFlop of performance.

So the Cell's we see today are still up to spec with the intitial promises.

 

[jvd]

So, this kind of tactic would pretty much ensure the headlines:
"XXX sold out on day one, XXX launch the most succesful ever!"
"XXX software tie-in ratio 6:1!! The launch software is selling better than any console!"

If this is indeed true, can we please agree to ban all next gen sales figures topics, please

why ? all companys do this . IN fact gamestop and eb both made u buy acessorys and games with the unit on launch day in msot of the stores . For the psp if you bought online u had to buy a bundle. Should we ban all those sales ?

This is common practice and actually this is something the stores like and most of the time its thier own imposing as they want thier own tie in rates to be high. We are allways told to get people to buy more than one thing when ringing up and at least a reserve or sub . Thats because each store's numbers look better and then of course the disrict and then the region and then the companys numbers all look better .

 

[jvd]

why would they make commercials this far out before christmas, knowing that the first couple of waves of shipments are already sold out.

exactly. In our store we are getting 32 units now , 2 are core . We have 72 preorders and we don't thin kwe will fill them all untill december 28th . That is already after the holiday season. So most likely casuals aren't getting thier hand on thier system . So really why advertise something that they can't increase sales on ?

Now i expect the game comercials to start in another week or so