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No, that wasn't a typo, rather a clever pun commenting on the way the XBOX is going. We all know how Bill has bottomless pockets stuffed full of cash...after all, his (in)famous Windows OS is running on 90% of the world's Personal Computers...but it has got to a stage where we gamers cannot just sit back and be quietly envious...Mr Gates is using his money for evil purposes!
Having comprehensively conquered the PC World (the global market for buying computers, not the naff shop), the head of Micro$oft decided to try his luck in the more competitive, and arguably more lucrative field of console gaming. The XBOX was launched, and the money flowed in at an even more alarming rate...right? Unfortunately for Mr Gates, wrong. As it was, Micro$oft were losing £80 on each console produced and, after a combination of poor sales and lower prices offered by the competition, that figure was moved to £180 as all new XBOXes had their prices slashed from £299 to £199, and all existing owners were compensated with 2 free games and a new official controller. Was that enough? Hell naw. Nintendo again lowered the Gamecube's price to previously unchartered lows, and the XBOX was upgraded from being an 'expensive' console to a 'console as expensive as the PS2'. Now, with Christmas coming, the PS2 and XBOX have now had their prices lowered to £179 and £169, but for the moment, that looks to be it. The console price wars seem to have reached a stale mate, with all three main contenders looking pretty good value for money...so what if Bill is losing £210 per XBOX? It's hardly gonna make his bank manager break a sweat, right?
Well, it doesn't end there. This has been dubbed the Software round of the great console boxing match, and XBOX has come out swinging right from the first bell. The PS2 has games like Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider to fall back on, and the Gamecube can rely on franchises such as Mario, Zelda and, up to about last month, Perfect Dark. Enter Micro$oft. New to the game, they don't make games themselves so what do they do? Buy Bungie, who created smash hit Halo (and are working on the sequel), for starters...but who next? Ever since they released that cheeky Christmas card, Rare rumours have been flying...but would anyone have the bravado to take Banjo, Kazooie and co away from The Big N? Gates' chequebook to the rescue to the rescue! Billy Boy stumped up something in the region of £225m to bring Perfect Dark Zero (or whatever it's going to be called) to the dark side...or, more specifically, the dark and fluorescent green side. The question is, with one huge gaming brand captured...who's next? Is anyone save? Is any name sacred enough to remain untainted by the allure of bags and bags full of moolah?
Recent rumours (albeit unfounded, and probably entirely made up) suggested Micro$oft were turning their attention to Capcom, the company that brought us popular survival horror and loads and loads of 2D beat-em-ups. Capcom need a buy-out, and the idea M$ would save them with a rubber ring covered in gold is totally plausible. We've seen many a multi-platform game offer XBOX players extra levels and new features, all because of suitcases filled with money (probably)...with Micro$oft looking so desperate to keep the XBOX name around in the ndustry for years to come, like the smell of your weird gran when she comes round at Christmas, would it really be that far fetched to predict an even bigger name being bought out? An established group like Activision, perhaps...or maybe even one like Konami, along with it Pro Evolution Soccer and Metal Gear Solid. Maybe, if he reached really deep, Bill Gates could cough up enough to take over Sega? This is a business were money is very important, and Micro$oft are proving this with terrifying success...
Or are they? The XBOX still doesn't have a GTA, or a Mario. It's not ahead of the Gamecube in sales, and still miles behind the PS2. In fact, there are rumours that Shenmue 3 will be appearing on a console other than the XBOX (making it the third stage for Sega's franchise), and the aforemention Konami have pulled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance from their Japanese menu. And they still can't shake off that 'PC in a freakishly huge black box' image, can they?
Maybe I'm being paranoid...but I love games, and I love gaming, and I hope that it is a world where nobody can buy a monopoly, but rather the different companies and developers can all compete in gentle harmony, pushing the boundries ever further to create ever more enjoyable games for you and me.
Thanks for reading. I hope XBOX fans don't go off on one after reading this...and I appreciate you're probably all sick of Rare topics, but I only mentioned them in one paragraph, so bah to you.
-El Blokey.
Having comprehensively conquered the PC World (the global market for buying computers, not the naff shop), the head of Micro$oft decided to try his luck in the more competitive, and arguably more lucrative field of console gaming. The XBOX was launched, and the money flowed in at an even more alarming rate...right? Unfortunately for Mr Gates, wrong. As it was, Micro$oft were losing £80 on each console produced and, after a combination of poor sales and lower prices offered by the competition, that figure was moved to £180 as all new XBOXes had their prices slashed from £299 to £199, and all existing owners were compensated with 2 free games and a new official controller. Was that enough? Hell naw. Nintendo again lowered the Gamecube's price to previously unchartered lows, and the XBOX was upgraded from being an 'expensive' console to a 'console as expensive as the PS2'. Now, with Christmas coming, the PS2 and XBOX have now had their prices lowered to £179 and £169, but for the moment, that looks to be it. The console price wars seem to have reached a stale mate, with all three main contenders looking pretty good value for money...so what if Bill is losing £210 per XBOX? It's hardly gonna make his bank manager break a sweat, right?
Well, it doesn't end there. This has been dubbed the Software round of the great console boxing match, and XBOX has come out swinging right from the first bell. The PS2 has games like Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider to fall back on, and the Gamecube can rely on franchises such as Mario, Zelda and, up to about last month, Perfect Dark. Enter Micro$oft. New to the game, they don't make games themselves so what do they do? Buy Bungie, who created smash hit Halo (and are working on the sequel), for starters...but who next? Ever since they released that cheeky Christmas card, Rare rumours have been flying...but would anyone have the bravado to take Banjo, Kazooie and co away from The Big N? Gates' chequebook to the rescue to the rescue! Billy Boy stumped up something in the region of £225m to bring Perfect Dark Zero (or whatever it's going to be called) to the dark side...or, more specifically, the dark and fluorescent green side. The question is, with one huge gaming brand captured...who's next? Is anyone save? Is any name sacred enough to remain untainted by the allure of bags and bags full of moolah?
Recent rumours (albeit unfounded, and probably entirely made up) suggested Micro$oft were turning their attention to Capcom, the company that brought us popular survival horror and loads and loads of 2D beat-em-ups. Capcom need a buy-out, and the idea M$ would save them with a rubber ring covered in gold is totally plausible. We've seen many a multi-platform game offer XBOX players extra levels and new features, all because of suitcases filled with money (probably)...with Micro$oft looking so desperate to keep the XBOX name around in the ndustry for years to come, like the smell of your weird gran when she comes round at Christmas, would it really be that far fetched to predict an even bigger name being bought out? An established group like Activision, perhaps...or maybe even one like Konami, along with it Pro Evolution Soccer and Metal Gear Solid. Maybe, if he reached really deep, Bill Gates could cough up enough to take over Sega? This is a business were money is very important, and Micro$oft are proving this with terrifying success...
Or are they? The XBOX still doesn't have a GTA, or a Mario. It's not ahead of the Gamecube in sales, and still miles behind the PS2. In fact, there are rumours that Shenmue 3 will be appearing on a console other than the XBOX (making it the third stage for Sega's franchise), and the aforemention Konami have pulled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance from their Japanese menu. And they still can't shake off that 'PC in a freakishly huge black box' image, can they?
Maybe I'm being paranoid...but I love games, and I love gaming, and I hope that it is a world where nobody can buy a monopoly, but rather the different companies and developers can all compete in gentle harmony, pushing the boundries ever further to create ever more enjoyable games for you and me.
Thanks for reading. I hope XBOX fans don't go off on one after reading this...and I appreciate you're probably all sick of Rare topics, but I only mentioned them in one paragraph, so bah to you.
-El Blokey.
Microsoft are a buisness, same as Nintendo and Sony....
They all throw cash around, its just buisness, nothing to complain about.
They all throw cash around, its just buisness, nothing to complain about.
Intresting post, but microsoft are only losing £50 a console now even though the console was lowerd in price as the parts are cheaper.
No, that wasn't a typo, rather a clever pun commenting on the way the XBOX is going. We all know how Bill has bottomless pockets stuffed full of cash...after all, his (in)famous Windows OS is running on 90% of the world's Personal Computers...but it has got to a stage where we gamers cannot just sit back and be quietly envious...Mr Gates is using his money for evil purposes!
Having comprehensively conquered the PC World (the global market for buying computers, not the naff shop), the head of Micro$oft decided to try his luck in the more competitive, and arguably more lucrative field of console gaming. The XBOX was launched, and the money flowed in at an even more alarming rate...right? Unfortunately for Mr Gates, wrong. As it was, Micro$oft were losing £80 on each console produced and, after a combination of poor sales and lower prices offered by the competition, that figure was moved to £180 as all new XBOXes had their prices slashed from £299 to £199, and all existing owners were compensated with 2 free games and a new official controller. Was that enough? Hell naw. Nintendo again lowered the Gamecube's price to previously unchartered lows, and the XBOX was upgraded from being an 'expensive' console to a 'console as expensive as the PS2'. Now, with Christmas coming, the PS2 and XBOX have now had their prices lowered to £179 and £169, but for the moment, that looks to be it. The console price wars seem to have reached a stale mate, with all three main contenders looking pretty good value for money...so what if Bill is losing £210 per XBOX? It's hardly gonna make his bank manager break a sweat, right?
Well, it doesn't end there. This has been dubbed the Software round of the great console boxing match, and XBOX has come out swinging right from the first bell. The PS2 has games like Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider to fall back on, and the Gamecube can rely on franchises such as Mario, Zelda and, up to about last month, Perfect Dark. Enter Micro$oft. New to the game, they don't make games themselves so what do they do? Buy Bungie, who created smash hit Halo (and are working on the sequel), for starters...but who next? Ever since they released that cheeky Christmas card, Rare rumours have been flying...but would anyone have the bravado to take Banjo, Kazooie and co away from The Big N? Gates' chequebook to the rescue to the rescue! Billy Boy stumped up something in the region of £225m to bring Perfect Dark Zero (or whatever it's going to be called) to the dark side...or, more specifically, the dark and fluorescent green side. The question is, with one huge gaming brand captured...who's next? Is anyone save? Is any name sacred enough to remain untainted by the allure of bags and bags full of moolah?
Recent rumours (albeit unfounded, and probably entirely made up) suggested Micro$oft were turning their attention to Capcom, the company that brought us popular survival horror and loads and loads of 2D beat-em-ups. Capcom need a buy-out, and the idea M$ would save them with a rubber ring covered in gold is totally plausible. We've seen many a multi-platform game offer XBOX players extra levels and new features, all because of suitcases filled with money (probably)...with Micro$oft looking so desperate to keep the XBOX name around in the ndustry for years to come, like the smell of your weird gran when she comes round at Christmas, would it really be that far fetched to predict an even bigger name being bought out? An established group like Activision, perhaps...or maybe even one like Konami, along with it Pro Evolution Soccer and Metal Gear Solid. Maybe, if he reached really deep, Bill Gates could cough up enough to take over Sega? This is a business were money is very important, and Micro$oft are proving this with terrifying success...
Or are they? The XBOX still doesn't have a GTA, or a Mario. It's not ahead of the Gamecube in sales, and still miles behind the PS2. In fact, there are rumours that Shenmue 3 will be appearing on a console other than the XBOX (making it the third stage for Sega's franchise), and the aforemention Konami have pulled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance from their Japanese menu. And they still can't shake off that 'PC in a freakishly huge black box' image, can they?
Maybe I'm being paranoid...but I love games, and I love gaming, and I hope that it is a world where nobody can buy a monopoly, but rather the different companies and developers can all compete in gentle harmony, pushing the boundries ever further to create ever more enjoyable games for you and me.
Thanks for reading. I hope XBOX fans don't go off on one after reading this...and I appreciate you're probably all sick of Rare topics, but I only mentioned them in one paragraph, so bah to you.
-El Blokey.
Having comprehensively conquered the PC World (the global market for buying computers, not the naff shop), the head of Micro$oft decided to try his luck in the more competitive, and arguably more lucrative field of console gaming. The XBOX was launched, and the money flowed in at an even more alarming rate...right? Unfortunately for Mr Gates, wrong. As it was, Micro$oft were losing £80 on each console produced and, after a combination of poor sales and lower prices offered by the competition, that figure was moved to £180 as all new XBOXes had their prices slashed from £299 to £199, and all existing owners were compensated with 2 free games and a new official controller. Was that enough? Hell naw. Nintendo again lowered the Gamecube's price to previously unchartered lows, and the XBOX was upgraded from being an 'expensive' console to a 'console as expensive as the PS2'. Now, with Christmas coming, the PS2 and XBOX have now had their prices lowered to £179 and £169, but for the moment, that looks to be it. The console price wars seem to have reached a stale mate, with all three main contenders looking pretty good value for money...so what if Bill is losing £210 per XBOX? It's hardly gonna make his bank manager break a sweat, right?
Well, it doesn't end there. This has been dubbed the Software round of the great console boxing match, and XBOX has come out swinging right from the first bell. The PS2 has games like Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider to fall back on, and the Gamecube can rely on franchises such as Mario, Zelda and, up to about last month, Perfect Dark. Enter Micro$oft. New to the game, they don't make games themselves so what do they do? Buy Bungie, who created smash hit Halo (and are working on the sequel), for starters...but who next? Ever since they released that cheeky Christmas card, Rare rumours have been flying...but would anyone have the bravado to take Banjo, Kazooie and co away from The Big N? Gates' chequebook to the rescue to the rescue! Billy Boy stumped up something in the region of £225m to bring Perfect Dark Zero (or whatever it's going to be called) to the dark side...or, more specifically, the dark and fluorescent green side. The question is, with one huge gaming brand captured...who's next? Is anyone save? Is any name sacred enough to remain untainted by the allure of bags and bags full of moolah?
Recent rumours (albeit unfounded, and probably entirely made up) suggested Micro$oft were turning their attention to Capcom, the company that brought us popular survival horror and loads and loads of 2D beat-em-ups. Capcom need a buy-out, and the idea M$ would save them with a rubber ring covered in gold is totally plausible. We've seen many a multi-platform game offer XBOX players extra levels and new features, all because of suitcases filled with money (probably)...with Micro$oft looking so desperate to keep the XBOX name around in the ndustry for years to come, like the smell of your weird gran when she comes round at Christmas, would it really be that far fetched to predict an even bigger name being bought out? An established group like Activision, perhaps...or maybe even one like Konami, along with it Pro Evolution Soccer and Metal Gear Solid. Maybe, if he reached really deep, Bill Gates could cough up enough to take over Sega? This is a business were money is very important, and Micro$oft are proving this with terrifying success...
Or are they? The XBOX still doesn't have a GTA, or a Mario. It's not ahead of the Gamecube in sales, and still miles behind the PS2. In fact, there are rumours that Shenmue 3 will be appearing on a console other than the XBOX (making it the third stage for Sega's franchise), and the aforemention Konami have pulled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance from their Japanese menu. And they still can't shake off that 'PC in a freakishly huge black box' image, can they?
Maybe I'm being paranoid...but I love games, and I love gaming, and I hope that it is a world where nobody can buy a monopoly, but rather the different companies and developers can all compete in gentle harmony, pushing the boundries ever further to create ever more enjoyable games for you and me.
Thanks for reading. I hope XBOX fans don't go off on one after reading this...and I appreciate you're probably all sick of Rare topics, but I only mentioned them in one paragraph, so bah to you.
-El Blokey.