Topic: Xbox 2 arrives in oct.-nov.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

Xbox 2 will release "in late October, early November"

It's been known in industry circles for months, but the news is now finally starting to leak. You'll be able to buy the next generation Xbox in both America and Europe in 2005, say experts.

While internet news sources today have reported that Microsoft is readying to launch its next generation Xbox hardware in America and Europe in the fourth quarter of this year, Eurogamer has learnt that the specific timing for the machine's roll-out is late October or early November, and merely weeks after the US launch. The exact date is yet to be solidified.

[Caillan]

Nintendo have placed emphasis on launching early, earlier than their competitors. Right now Revolution development kits haven't even been handed out, so it looks like they're full of crap. Possibly the worst outcome of this is that the development kits may be rushed as a result. Every developer I've talked to didn't like Nintendo becasue they have expensive development kits that are worse than the XBox and PS2's. Revolution development kits need to be handed out free to big publishers and cheap to small ones. If a game is going to be multiplatform, give them a free kit to ensure it will be released on the Revolution.

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Is that so? I've always read that they plan to release around the time of their competitors, therefore reducing the time between releases.  And how is Nintendo supposed to know when their competitors are  going to launch?  Psychic mind powers?  Full of crap? Right....

[Bloodworth]

I thought they said Sony.  Nintendo still doesn't see MS as their biggest threat.

[Caillan]

I was always under the impression they were to release no more than 2-3 months behind their competitors, but I guess I was wrong sorry.

It's still important, however, to ensure they're not far behind the XBox 2. XBox 2 kits have been available for a while, and Nintendo will of course have contacts within the North American industry so claiming innocence isn't an excuse. Targeting Sony is okay because right now they're their main competitor. Microsoft is currently popular in America and Europe, but the wait can't be too long becasue if the XBox 2 releases early and has two or three high-profile games from Japanese development houses then Microsoft could establish a userbase in Japan as well. They pushed Nintendo out of America pretty successfully, so with third party support they could do so in Japan as well.

EDIT: I saw on N-Sider that Nintendo did indeed state whey would launch along side their competitors.

[Ian Sane]

"Nintendo have placed emphasis on launching early, earlier than their competitors. Right now Revolution development kits haven't even been handed out, so it looks like they're full of crap."

I don't think they're full of crap.  I truly think they'll try to launch before the PS3.  I just don't think they realize what damage could be caused by a rushed launch with nil third party support.  Look at the DS launch.  We're only just now getting the first original first party title in North America and apparently it can be beat in an hour.  I don't think Nintendo finds anything wrong with the current DS launch lineup.  Since the DS is a success they probably feel a similar launch will work alright for the Revolution.  I hope I'm wrong on this but realistically they can't give third parties less than a year to work on any decent titles and not have it be a complete disaster.  When it comes to third party relations Nintendo seems incapable of figuring out stuff that people with no previous knowledge of videogames could probably figure out.

This is why I want Nintendo to show us as much as possible at E3.  Not releasing devs kits yet when the console has to launch next year doesn't sound good.  I need confirmation from Nintendo that it's all fine and they have it under control.  And if they can't confirm that to me then the Revolution is screwed already.  There are no excuses.  They have to be on track by E3 and they have to tell us that they're on track.

[KDR_11k]

Perhaps Nintendo has given out dev kits to many devs already but those are under NDA and some might not bother with making games for a system that far off? After all, they aren't working on PS3 games, either.

[Gamefreak]

Nintendo never said they would place an emphasis on launching early. In fact Nintendo's stance has always been "launch around the same time as PS3"
Microsoft is the one with the early stance.
Neither PS3 nor Rev. dev kits are out, trust me.

[mjbd]

Nintendo definately looks at Sony as their biggest competitor, which is a good stand to take.  Go after the big dogs market share, they have more to give up.  We may be underestimating what Nintendo has in mind.  Revolution may have features that make certain gameplay aspects only possible on Revolution.  If these gameplay aspects are high desired from developers, Nintendo will have a real contender next year.  If X-box 2 needs to make good use of the head start their taking, if they dont, PS3 will probably crush them when it arrives.

[pudu]

I'm really hoping that atleast some third party developers have already gotten Revolution Dev Kits.  I believe that 2006 is going to be the year that makes or breaks the system, especially the first half of it.  If Nintendo yet again shows a lot less third party support they are going to be stuck in the same place they have been in for the past two generations.  

I love Nintendo made games but, as everone already knows, they are all about making games that everyone can enjoy.  While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, if it turns out they realease all first party "E" games at launch they are destined to be stuck in their "youngster" image no matter how good those games are.  I'm sure these titles would utilize the new "revolutionary" technology well but it just may not be enough to convice people.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: Caillan
Every developer I've talked to didn't like Nintendo becasue they have expensive development kits that are worse than the XBox and PS2's.

I'm not sure what developers you have talked to, but I'm pretty sure that it is common knowledge that PS2 had the worst development kit and it was the most diffucult to program for.  GC was a close second to Xbox for ease of use, and getting the best results for the least amount of work.

[Caillan]

I talked to Earnest Adams and a few random developers I haven't heard of at a small game developers conference. He's a pretty respected figure in design so I think its fair to trust him to an extent. He doesn't have much programming experience though, so his information would be second hand from his team members.

[Gamefreak]

Dude, everyone knows the PS2 is the worst to program for.

[Caillan]

Yes, but that's because of the archetecture, not neccessarily the official development kit. I guess its irrelevant because if you're making a multiplatform game the PS2 will be your platform of choice anyway. My point is that for whatever reason the devs don't seem to like their kits.

[KDR_11k]

I've heard lots of complaints about the PS2 SDK as well, stuff like lots of undocumented features and some things aren't even implemented and you have to code them yourself using assembly language.