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Xbox to hit Australia in March
By Louisa Hearn
November 22, 2005 - 5:30PM
Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox 360, its latest weapon in the gaming console wars, will hit Australian shelves at midnight on March 2.
The new unit, which was rolled out this week in North America, will cost Australian gamers either $499.95 for a "core" system or $649.95 for a unit bundled with additional features such as wireless capabilities, high-definition access and backward compatibility to current Xbox games.
The computer giant is hoping the new console will give it a competitive edge against next-generation gaming systems from Sony and Nintendo also due for release next year.
Along with the usual gaming functions, the system will include a DVD player that can also play CDs and display digital photographs.
About 200 games are in development for the Xbox platform and 30 of these are expected to be available alongside the launch in Australia.
Users wanting to play games from their old consoles on the core Xbox must buy an additional hard drive for $169.95.
Microsoft said all Xbox customers would receive a silver subscription to the online gaming service Xbox Live, for live video and voice chat, the facility to share digital pictures and music and a range of classic arcade games and puzzles. However an upgrade of the subscription is required for participation in multi-user gaming activities.
David Mclean, director of Xbox Australia and NZ, said although Australia was already the strongest national market for the original console, it was seeking to increase its share from the current 35-40 per cent to beyond 51 per cent.
He added the company hoped to avoid the availability issues widely reported in the US.
"Based on launch and production capacity we are hoping not to have any stock issues, but it is difficult to forecast demand," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/22/1132421656841.html
The next thing you know it will have a keyboard and be called a computer....Just bring the price down and cut the bs and give us consoles that play games FFS and leave my computer to do the other stuff.
PS Crappy about having to pay more to play the older games!
By Louisa Hearn
November 22, 2005 - 5:30PM
Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox 360, its latest weapon in the gaming console wars, will hit Australian shelves at midnight on March 2.
The new unit, which was rolled out this week in North America, will cost Australian gamers either $499.95 for a "core" system or $649.95 for a unit bundled with additional features such as wireless capabilities, high-definition access and backward compatibility to current Xbox games.
The computer giant is hoping the new console will give it a competitive edge against next-generation gaming systems from Sony and Nintendo also due for release next year.
Along with the usual gaming functions, the system will include a DVD player that can also play CDs and display digital photographs.
About 200 games are in development for the Xbox platform and 30 of these are expected to be available alongside the launch in Australia.
Users wanting to play games from their old consoles on the core Xbox must buy an additional hard drive for $169.95.
Microsoft said all Xbox customers would receive a silver subscription to the online gaming service Xbox Live, for live video and voice chat, the facility to share digital pictures and music and a range of classic arcade games and puzzles. However an upgrade of the subscription is required for participation in multi-user gaming activities.
David Mclean, director of Xbox Australia and NZ, said although Australia was already the strongest national market for the original console, it was seeking to increase its share from the current 35-40 per cent to beyond 51 per cent.
He added the company hoped to avoid the availability issues widely reported in the US.
"Based on launch and production capacity we are hoping not to have any stock issues, but it is difficult to forecast demand," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/22/1132421656841.html
The next thing you know it will have a keyboard and be called a computer....Just bring the price down and cut the bs and give us consoles that play games FFS and leave my computer to do the other stuff.
PS Crappy about having to pay more to play the older games!
