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One of the main reasons why Bill spoke at the Tokyo Games Show (see below - from*), was that Microsoft desperately need to convince Japanese gamers that the Xbox, from an American manufacturer, will actually be something that the Japanese gamers want - they've never taken to American developed systems before, so this will be a real challenge.. something that will see Microsoft either sell them by the truck load, or just get laughed at.
The big announcement wasn't anything near as "big" as many gamers had expected, so if the rumours in the days and weeks before were expected, then gamers would have been very dissapointed - It wasn't Microsoft buying out Sega.. It wasn't the Xbox being compatible with Dreamcast games.. and it wasn't that Xbox had exclusive rights to a huge number of great new games..
All of this could be seen as a bit of a dissapointment - if Microsoft had of announced "We've bought Sega, and there's 11 exclusive Sega titles coming to the Xbox" then it'd probably have found that it'd just won it's place in many doubting gamers hearts.
Instead the announcement was really more hype and sales pitch, and big exciting entusiastic messages from Bill and some of the key staff working on the Xbox project.
The Sega news can be seen as being great for Sega fans.. it means that there's a console which is getting good support from Sega, and some amazing new games are heading towards the system.. obviously this will please anyone who wants to play new Panzer Dragoon, or Jet Set Radio titles, but if you're not a die-hard Sega fan, then the whole thing might just seem like "just another developer showing their support"..
Other than the announcement that Sega were to develop 11 titles for the Xbox (from what I can tell, they will be available first on the Xbox, with other formats getting titles later, so they aren't exclusive to Xbox) there was no big thing that could really make gamers get really excited about Xbox - yes it looks nice, yes it sounds like it's going to be great - yes the online broadband play sounds fun, especially with Microsoft's pledge to make it a more social thing, but there just wasn't that biggy that could really book Bill's place in the Japanese marketplace.. worrying, really.
It's still to be seen how the Xbox will fair in Japan - personally I think the keynote speech was very impressive, and the Sega partnership is the real crunch winner of the whole thing - before I wasn't too sure about getting an Xbox at it's European launch, now I want one.. but ONLY if the broadband always connected gaming service makes it to Europe, and it's got to be a true worldwide gaming service.. only if it's everything that Bill said it'd be in his speech.. if so, then the Xbox will be great and Microsoft will amaze all with their success in Japan, if not, then it could sadly just flop, with pie on Bill's face.
**************************
The scene, a dark conference room at the Tokyo Games Show, the start, bright lights, bold music, huge green Xbox logos, and, Bill standing up on the stage, ready to take Japan, and the world, by storm..
Microsoft already has a huge challenge ahead of them.. they need to break into the Japanese games market, and convince Japanese people that an American based games company can produce a system which would be the best, ever..
He started off talking about the fact that the advances in chip technology allow for constant improvements in video game consoles.
Microsoft saw that in using the very latest chip technology, that they could take advantage of the constant improvements. The memory capability in the Xbox is what determines the richness of what can be displayed, and they say that it's not just 64mb of memory, but that it can be used for any aspect of the game activity. This allows developers to use the memory for exactly what they want to use it for. The hard drive is also seen as a step forward for developers - this will allow features such as new levels can be made available, and constant additions can appear in games so that it's not just what can be fitted onto a CD.
There was also a lot of talk about the Broadband access, and that Xbox is to be the first console developed specifically for Broadband gaming.
This was followed by a technical demonstration (with an English translation). Obviously they were simply technical demos, and not actual games, but an impressive looking free flowing camera system, with panning and zoom, high speed, and slow speed, and this was apparently all ported to the Xbox in less than a day - pretty amazing!
The speech then covered the fact that Microsoft are so committed to giving the Japanese market what they want, that they have developed a controller specifically for Japanese people. Microsoft are the first manufacturer to create a different version of a controller for a seperate market, and this is thought to be another attempt to help the leaverage of Microsoft into the marketplace, and Japanese gamers hearts.
Attendees to the keynote speech were then treated to some video footage of some of the Xbox games currently in development, including Amped (Snowboarding), NFL Fever 2002 (American Football), Azurik (Action Adventure), Halo (Shooter). - Video quality wasn't too clear (as it was over a webcast) but they all looked pretty impressive..
Visuals look very fast and fluid, and there appears to be none of the drawbacks that previous consoles have had due to technical limitations. Charachters have swift clean movements, and look very realistic.
After a short video of some key Japanese developers showing their work in progress and talking about what they felt of the Xbox's capabilities, came the news of the day.. The partnership with Sega..
Sega will be officially participating, starting with 4 titles, and the development of 11 titles is underway. At E3 further game demonstrations will be available, and by the Autumn TGS there will be yet further titles on display.
Microsoft and Sega are also going to work on the online gaming aspect, where they hope to follow through the dreams of the late Mr Okawa, who had spoke many times with Microsoft about how they could work together to provide a full online gaming system. There was then a short teaser video showing some of the first games that Sega are developing for the platform, including 'Jet Set Radio Future'.
Microsoft want to make gaming more social, and more involving. They also feel that the online capability will change from being a novelty, to being a necessity, and will change the relationship between the user and the vendor.. Mr Gates feels that having new levels and downloads over the internet to the built in hard drive will allow for a constantly evolving game, where the capabilities can keep being pushed further all the time.
Broadband appears to be the way forward for Microsoft's Xbox, and their partnership with NTT communications will allow users to use ADSL to connect to the ethernet port which is built into every Xbox. The idea being that the console is always connected to the internet, and that you have a low latency multiplayer system.. something that gamers can, and hopefully will, use 24 hours a day.
NTT wants to provide the broadband gaming fun to Japanese people as soon as possible, and say that they want to explore a totally new online game crowd - it all sounds very exciting, and let's hope that it makes it to Europe too!
So, there you have it.. Microsoft's attempt to win over the Japanese market, and show just what the Xbox can offer.. If the platform can live up to all that was talked about, then it's going to be very exciting.
I think I'll go and pre-order my UK Xbox right now.. looks like this one's going to sell like hot cakes......
The big announcement wasn't anything near as "big" as many gamers had expected, so if the rumours in the days and weeks before were expected, then gamers would have been very dissapointed - It wasn't Microsoft buying out Sega.. It wasn't the Xbox being compatible with Dreamcast games.. and it wasn't that Xbox had exclusive rights to a huge number of great new games..
All of this could be seen as a bit of a dissapointment - if Microsoft had of announced "We've bought Sega, and there's 11 exclusive Sega titles coming to the Xbox" then it'd probably have found that it'd just won it's place in many doubting gamers hearts.
Instead the announcement was really more hype and sales pitch, and big exciting entusiastic messages from Bill and some of the key staff working on the Xbox project.
The Sega news can be seen as being great for Sega fans.. it means that there's a console which is getting good support from Sega, and some amazing new games are heading towards the system.. obviously this will please anyone who wants to play new Panzer Dragoon, or Jet Set Radio titles, but if you're not a die-hard Sega fan, then the whole thing might just seem like "just another developer showing their support"..
Other than the announcement that Sega were to develop 11 titles for the Xbox (from what I can tell, they will be available first on the Xbox, with other formats getting titles later, so they aren't exclusive to Xbox) there was no big thing that could really make gamers get really excited about Xbox - yes it looks nice, yes it sounds like it's going to be great - yes the online broadband play sounds fun, especially with Microsoft's pledge to make it a more social thing, but there just wasn't that biggy that could really book Bill's place in the Japanese marketplace.. worrying, really.
It's still to be seen how the Xbox will fair in Japan - personally I think the keynote speech was very impressive, and the Sega partnership is the real crunch winner of the whole thing - before I wasn't too sure about getting an Xbox at it's European launch, now I want one.. but ONLY if the broadband always connected gaming service makes it to Europe, and it's got to be a true worldwide gaming service.. only if it's everything that Bill said it'd be in his speech.. if so, then the Xbox will be great and Microsoft will amaze all with their success in Japan, if not, then it could sadly just flop, with pie on Bill's face.
**************************
The scene, a dark conference room at the Tokyo Games Show, the start, bright lights, bold music, huge green Xbox logos, and, Bill standing up on the stage, ready to take Japan, and the world, by storm..
Microsoft already has a huge challenge ahead of them.. they need to break into the Japanese games market, and convince Japanese people that an American based games company can produce a system which would be the best, ever..
He started off talking about the fact that the advances in chip technology allow for constant improvements in video game consoles.
Microsoft saw that in using the very latest chip technology, that they could take advantage of the constant improvements. The memory capability in the Xbox is what determines the richness of what can be displayed, and they say that it's not just 64mb of memory, but that it can be used for any aspect of the game activity. This allows developers to use the memory for exactly what they want to use it for. The hard drive is also seen as a step forward for developers - this will allow features such as new levels can be made available, and constant additions can appear in games so that it's not just what can be fitted onto a CD.
There was also a lot of talk about the Broadband access, and that Xbox is to be the first console developed specifically for Broadband gaming.
This was followed by a technical demonstration (with an English translation). Obviously they were simply technical demos, and not actual games, but an impressive looking free flowing camera system, with panning and zoom, high speed, and slow speed, and this was apparently all ported to the Xbox in less than a day - pretty amazing!
The speech then covered the fact that Microsoft are so committed to giving the Japanese market what they want, that they have developed a controller specifically for Japanese people. Microsoft are the first manufacturer to create a different version of a controller for a seperate market, and this is thought to be another attempt to help the leaverage of Microsoft into the marketplace, and Japanese gamers hearts.
Attendees to the keynote speech were then treated to some video footage of some of the Xbox games currently in development, including Amped (Snowboarding), NFL Fever 2002 (American Football), Azurik (Action Adventure), Halo (Shooter). - Video quality wasn't too clear (as it was over a webcast) but they all looked pretty impressive..
Visuals look very fast and fluid, and there appears to be none of the drawbacks that previous consoles have had due to technical limitations. Charachters have swift clean movements, and look very realistic.
After a short video of some key Japanese developers showing their work in progress and talking about what they felt of the Xbox's capabilities, came the news of the day.. The partnership with Sega..
Sega will be officially participating, starting with 4 titles, and the development of 11 titles is underway. At E3 further game demonstrations will be available, and by the Autumn TGS there will be yet further titles on display.
Microsoft and Sega are also going to work on the online gaming aspect, where they hope to follow through the dreams of the late Mr Okawa, who had spoke many times with Microsoft about how they could work together to provide a full online gaming system. There was then a short teaser video showing some of the first games that Sega are developing for the platform, including 'Jet Set Radio Future'.
Microsoft want to make gaming more social, and more involving. They also feel that the online capability will change from being a novelty, to being a necessity, and will change the relationship between the user and the vendor.. Mr Gates feels that having new levels and downloads over the internet to the built in hard drive will allow for a constantly evolving game, where the capabilities can keep being pushed further all the time.
Broadband appears to be the way forward for Microsoft's Xbox, and their partnership with NTT communications will allow users to use ADSL to connect to the ethernet port which is built into every Xbox. The idea being that the console is always connected to the internet, and that you have a low latency multiplayer system.. something that gamers can, and hopefully will, use 24 hours a day.
NTT wants to provide the broadband gaming fun to Japanese people as soon as possible, and say that they want to explore a totally new online game crowd - it all sounds very exciting, and let's hope that it makes it to Europe too!
So, there you have it.. Microsoft's attempt to win over the Japanese market, and show just what the Xbox can offer.. If the platform can live up to all that was talked about, then it's going to be very exciting.
I think I'll go and pre-order my UK Xbox right now.. looks like this one's going to sell like hot cakes......
No it won't!
Japanese people have some sence!
LOL!
:)
Japanese people have some sence!
LOL!
:)
I think X-Box will do well. I have pre-ordered one and cant wait to play on Halo. The Japanese will be won over as Dead Or Alive is an X-Box exclusive and many Japanese gamers want that game.
½pint wrote:
> you are really sad. The PS2 has by no means won. In fact, the XBox will
> probably win because it has an unlimited budget.
I am not biased towards the Ps2 in any way... however, EVERY industry analyst has predicted that the PS2 will outsell the console.
Sony, Ninty and MS all agree that the PS2, by sheer virtue of its headstart, the Ps2 will come out ahead.
After all, xbox advertising didn't start until well after the PS2 was launched and in many people's homes!
So, why should I be "really sad" for being a realist. I fully intend on buying a GC/xbox if I have the money... but millions of gamers won't.
Sonic
> you are really sad. The PS2 has by no means won. In fact, the XBox will
> probably win because it has an unlimited budget.
I am not biased towards the Ps2 in any way... however, EVERY industry analyst has predicted that the PS2 will outsell the console.
Sony, Ninty and MS all agree that the PS2, by sheer virtue of its headstart, the Ps2 will come out ahead.
After all, xbox advertising didn't start until well after the PS2 was launched and in many people's homes!
So, why should I be "really sad" for being a realist. I fully intend on buying a GC/xbox if I have the money... but millions of gamers won't.
Sonic
I was just saying that the number of 3rd party games for Sony is really good.
you are really sad. The PS2 has by no means won. In fact, the XBox will probably win because it has an unlimited budget.
Well, I don't think anyone would argue that the PS2 has "won" in terms of sales simply because it has the brandname, and the headstart.
More important for MS is to establish the Xbox brand in place for the next generation of consoles.
Sonic
More important for MS is to establish the Xbox brand in place for the next generation of consoles.
Sonic
One of the main reasons why Bill spoke at the Tokyo Games Show (see below - from*), was that Microsoft desperately need to convince Japanese gamers that the Xbox, from an American manufacturer, will actually be something that the Japanese gamers want - they've never taken to American developed systems before, so this will be a real challenge.. something that will see Microsoft either sell them by the truck load, or just get laughed at.
The big announcement wasn't anything near as "big" as many gamers had expected, so if the rumours in the days and weeks before were expected, then gamers would have been very dissapointed - It wasn't Microsoft buying out Sega.. It wasn't the Xbox being compatible with Dreamcast games.. and it wasn't that Xbox had exclusive rights to a huge number of great new games..
All of this could be seen as a bit of a dissapointment - if Microsoft had of announced "We've bought Sega, and there's 11 exclusive Sega titles coming to the Xbox" then it'd probably have found that it'd just won it's place in many doubting gamers hearts.
Instead the announcement was really more hype and sales pitch, and big exciting entusiastic messages from Bill and some of the key staff working on the Xbox project.
The Sega news can be seen as being great for Sega fans.. it means that there's a console which is getting good support from Sega, and some amazing new games are heading towards the system.. obviously this will please anyone who wants to play new Panzer Dragoon, or Jet Set Radio titles, but if you're not a die-hard Sega fan, then the whole thing might just seem like "just another developer showing their support"..
Other than the announcement that Sega were to develop 11 titles for the Xbox (from what I can tell, they will be available first on the Xbox, with other formats getting titles later, so they aren't exclusive to Xbox) there was no big thing that could really make gamers get really excited about Xbox - yes it looks nice, yes it sounds like it's going to be great - yes the online broadband play sounds fun, especially with Microsoft's pledge to make it a more social thing, but there just wasn't that biggy that could really book Bill's place in the Japanese marketplace.. worrying, really.
It's still to be seen how the Xbox will fair in Japan - personally I think the keynote speech was very impressive, and the Sega partnership is the real crunch winner of the whole thing - before I wasn't too sure about getting an Xbox at it's European launch, now I want one.. but ONLY if the broadband always connected gaming service makes it to Europe, and it's got to be a true worldwide gaming service.. only if it's everything that Bill said it'd be in his speech.. if so, then the Xbox will be great and Microsoft will amaze all with their success in Japan, if not, then it could sadly just flop, with pie on Bill's face.
**************************
The scene, a dark conference room at the Tokyo Games Show, the start, bright lights, bold music, huge green Xbox logos, and, Bill standing up on the stage, ready to take Japan, and the world, by storm..
Microsoft already has a huge challenge ahead of them.. they need to break into the Japanese games market, and convince Japanese people that an American based games company can produce a system which would be the best, ever..
He started off talking about the fact that the advances in chip technology allow for constant improvements in video game consoles.
Microsoft saw that in using the very latest chip technology, that they could take advantage of the constant improvements. The memory capability in the Xbox is what determines the richness of what can be displayed, and they say that it's not just 64mb of memory, but that it can be used for any aspect of the game activity. This allows developers to use the memory for exactly what they want to use it for. The hard drive is also seen as a step forward for developers - this will allow features such as new levels can be made available, and constant additions can appear in games so that it's not just what can be fitted onto a CD.
There was also a lot of talk about the Broadband access, and that Xbox is to be the first console developed specifically for Broadband gaming.
This was followed by a technical demonstration (with an English translation). Obviously they were simply technical demos, and not actual games, but an impressive looking free flowing camera system, with panning and zoom, high speed, and slow speed, and this was apparently all ported to the Xbox in less than a day - pretty amazing!
The speech then covered the fact that Microsoft are so committed to giving the Japanese market what they want, that they have developed a controller specifically for Japanese people. Microsoft are the first manufacturer to create a different version of a controller for a seperate market, and this is thought to be another attempt to help the leaverage of Microsoft into the marketplace, and Japanese gamers hearts.
Attendees to the keynote speech were then treated to some video footage of some of the Xbox games currently in development, including Amped (Snowboarding), NFL Fever 2002 (American Football), Azurik (Action Adventure), Halo (Shooter). - Video quality wasn't too clear (as it was over a webcast) but they all looked pretty impressive..
Visuals look very fast and fluid, and there appears to be none of the drawbacks that previous consoles have had due to technical limitations. Charachters have swift clean movements, and look very realistic.
After a short video of some key Japanese developers showing their work in progress and talking about what they felt of the Xbox's capabilities, came the news of the day.. The partnership with Sega..
Sega will be officially participating, starting with 4 titles, and the development of 11 titles is underway. At E3 further game demonstrations will be available, and by the Autumn TGS there will be yet further titles on display.
Microsoft and Sega are also going to work on the online gaming aspect, where they hope to follow through the dreams of the late Mr Okawa, who had spoke many times with Microsoft about how they could work together to provide a full online gaming system. There was then a short teaser video showing some of the first games that Sega are developing for the platform, including 'Jet Set Radio Future'.
Microsoft want to make gaming more social, and more involving. They also feel that the online capability will change from being a novelty, to being a necessity, and will change the relationship between the user and the vendor.. Mr Gates feels that having new levels and downloads over the internet to the built in hard drive will allow for a constantly evolving game, where the capabilities can keep being pushed further all the time.
Broadband appears to be the way forward for Microsoft's Xbox, and their partnership with NTT communications will allow users to use ADSL to connect to the ethernet port which is built into every Xbox. The idea being that the console is always connected to the internet, and that you have a low latency multiplayer system.. something that gamers can, and hopefully will, use 24 hours a day.
NTT wants to provide the broadband gaming fun to Japanese people as soon as possible, and say that they want to explore a totally new online game crowd - it all sounds very exciting, and let's hope that it makes it to Europe too!
So, there you have it.. Microsoft's attempt to win over the Japanese market, and show just what the Xbox can offer.. If the platform can live up to all that was talked about, then it's going to be very exciting.
I think I'll go and pre-order my UK Xbox right now.. looks like this one's going to sell like hot cakes......
The big announcement wasn't anything near as "big" as many gamers had expected, so if the rumours in the days and weeks before were expected, then gamers would have been very dissapointed - It wasn't Microsoft buying out Sega.. It wasn't the Xbox being compatible with Dreamcast games.. and it wasn't that Xbox had exclusive rights to a huge number of great new games..
All of this could be seen as a bit of a dissapointment - if Microsoft had of announced "We've bought Sega, and there's 11 exclusive Sega titles coming to the Xbox" then it'd probably have found that it'd just won it's place in many doubting gamers hearts.
Instead the announcement was really more hype and sales pitch, and big exciting entusiastic messages from Bill and some of the key staff working on the Xbox project.
The Sega news can be seen as being great for Sega fans.. it means that there's a console which is getting good support from Sega, and some amazing new games are heading towards the system.. obviously this will please anyone who wants to play new Panzer Dragoon, or Jet Set Radio titles, but if you're not a die-hard Sega fan, then the whole thing might just seem like "just another developer showing their support"..
Other than the announcement that Sega were to develop 11 titles for the Xbox (from what I can tell, they will be available first on the Xbox, with other formats getting titles later, so they aren't exclusive to Xbox) there was no big thing that could really make gamers get really excited about Xbox - yes it looks nice, yes it sounds like it's going to be great - yes the online broadband play sounds fun, especially with Microsoft's pledge to make it a more social thing, but there just wasn't that biggy that could really book Bill's place in the Japanese marketplace.. worrying, really.
It's still to be seen how the Xbox will fair in Japan - personally I think the keynote speech was very impressive, and the Sega partnership is the real crunch winner of the whole thing - before I wasn't too sure about getting an Xbox at it's European launch, now I want one.. but ONLY if the broadband always connected gaming service makes it to Europe, and it's got to be a true worldwide gaming service.. only if it's everything that Bill said it'd be in his speech.. if so, then the Xbox will be great and Microsoft will amaze all with their success in Japan, if not, then it could sadly just flop, with pie on Bill's face.
**************************
The scene, a dark conference room at the Tokyo Games Show, the start, bright lights, bold music, huge green Xbox logos, and, Bill standing up on the stage, ready to take Japan, and the world, by storm..
Microsoft already has a huge challenge ahead of them.. they need to break into the Japanese games market, and convince Japanese people that an American based games company can produce a system which would be the best, ever..
He started off talking about the fact that the advances in chip technology allow for constant improvements in video game consoles.
Microsoft saw that in using the very latest chip technology, that they could take advantage of the constant improvements. The memory capability in the Xbox is what determines the richness of what can be displayed, and they say that it's not just 64mb of memory, but that it can be used for any aspect of the game activity. This allows developers to use the memory for exactly what they want to use it for. The hard drive is also seen as a step forward for developers - this will allow features such as new levels can be made available, and constant additions can appear in games so that it's not just what can be fitted onto a CD.
There was also a lot of talk about the Broadband access, and that Xbox is to be the first console developed specifically for Broadband gaming.
This was followed by a technical demonstration (with an English translation). Obviously they were simply technical demos, and not actual games, but an impressive looking free flowing camera system, with panning and zoom, high speed, and slow speed, and this was apparently all ported to the Xbox in less than a day - pretty amazing!
The speech then covered the fact that Microsoft are so committed to giving the Japanese market what they want, that they have developed a controller specifically for Japanese people. Microsoft are the first manufacturer to create a different version of a controller for a seperate market, and this is thought to be another attempt to help the leaverage of Microsoft into the marketplace, and Japanese gamers hearts.
Attendees to the keynote speech were then treated to some video footage of some of the Xbox games currently in development, including Amped (Snowboarding), NFL Fever 2002 (American Football), Azurik (Action Adventure), Halo (Shooter). - Video quality wasn't too clear (as it was over a webcast) but they all looked pretty impressive..
Visuals look very fast and fluid, and there appears to be none of the drawbacks that previous consoles have had due to technical limitations. Charachters have swift clean movements, and look very realistic.
After a short video of some key Japanese developers showing their work in progress and talking about what they felt of the Xbox's capabilities, came the news of the day.. The partnership with Sega..
Sega will be officially participating, starting with 4 titles, and the development of 11 titles is underway. At E3 further game demonstrations will be available, and by the Autumn TGS there will be yet further titles on display.
Microsoft and Sega are also going to work on the online gaming aspect, where they hope to follow through the dreams of the late Mr Okawa, who had spoke many times with Microsoft about how they could work together to provide a full online gaming system. There was then a short teaser video showing some of the first games that Sega are developing for the platform, including 'Jet Set Radio Future'.
Microsoft want to make gaming more social, and more involving. They also feel that the online capability will change from being a novelty, to being a necessity, and will change the relationship between the user and the vendor.. Mr Gates feels that having new levels and downloads over the internet to the built in hard drive will allow for a constantly evolving game, where the capabilities can keep being pushed further all the time.
Broadband appears to be the way forward for Microsoft's Xbox, and their partnership with NTT communications will allow users to use ADSL to connect to the ethernet port which is built into every Xbox. The idea being that the console is always connected to the internet, and that you have a low latency multiplayer system.. something that gamers can, and hopefully will, use 24 hours a day.
NTT wants to provide the broadband gaming fun to Japanese people as soon as possible, and say that they want to explore a totally new online game crowd - it all sounds very exciting, and let's hope that it makes it to Europe too!
So, there you have it.. Microsoft's attempt to win over the Japanese market, and show just what the Xbox can offer.. If the platform can live up to all that was talked about, then it's going to be very exciting.
I think I'll go and pre-order my UK Xbox right now.. looks like this one's going to sell like hot cakes......