Microsoft Gears Up to Release Xbox 360 with New Chips

Weedmonk, I love that comment, it shows clearly why Microsoft in particular and the computer industry in general puts out such crap. Why fix our current product when we can build a new one. The product we have now is a unreliable POS. We have billions in the bank and have no intention of fixing it, let's just move on to the next generation. Yeah, it's thinking like that, that led to the downfall of GM. Regards Joe Dokes

^ 2 out of 3... not bad ...

In May/June/July? of 2007 they started putting new heat syncs on the new 360's and on the RROD returns. To the best of my knowledge those versions have held up. Prior to then people had multiple returns until the new heat sync. I bought mine in May of 2006 and it RROD in September of 2007. It came back with the bigger heat sync. In September/October of 2007? They came out with the Falcon models that had a shrunk CPU .65nm, and the new heat sync, plus a smaller power brick 175watts vs 230? Anyhow none of those have had the RROD either. This new version is probably aimed at reducing product cost more than combating overheating which is probably not a problem anymore especially after the Falcon models. These latest ones will allow for more CPU/GPU's per wafer reducing the cost to make a 360. Plus a die shrink on the GPU will lower power requirements possibly shaving even more cost off components in the PS are of the 360. Basically this all .65nm version with the quieter DVD drives from BenQ should have been the shipping version of the 360.

RunTime, yep it's selling well, and hopefully they can sustain sales. But Paul ha a good point that many will have the novelty wear thin. My 14 yr old nephew just gave his Wii to his sisters so that he could get an Xbox 360. The Wii was a xmas present, so it was just 4 months old. He felt that it was too 'childish', but loves his Xbox, although he has only owned it for a month. Of course, even if yoou buy one and then replace it, it's still a sale. My nephew got caught up in the hype as his enjoyment did not last long. he is a very bright kid [from my side of the family].

tayme/RunTimeError Wii consoles sell well, but the 360 sales more games per month than the PS3 and Wii combined. My conspiracy theory is that Nintendo purposely keeps Wii console supply tight to hype the demand. Seriously looking at the technology in the Wii/360/PS3 and the Wii was built with off the shelf products. Nothing was cutting edge, like a new GPU/CPU that was clocked high to the point where you were concerned production yields like the PS3/360. The PS3 could not get enough BluRay diodes and the 360 pushed the initial CPU to the limit of IBM's capability with the 3.2ghz 3 core .90nm CPU. Why they cant make more Wii's is beyond me. They should be able to. They make money on each one, since it came out, something like $100. I honestly think if they flooded the market they hype would go away as soon as people would see the shelfs full.

I dunno Joe. I think Lindy has a point. If demand is high, you can keep the price high, increasing profitability. If more are on the shelves, you may need to lower price, [e.g. iPhone], and the hype of "did you get one yet?" dies down. But I could be wrong. I too think that production should have increased by now.

Lindy, that was my point on a prior discussion that you must factor profit on game sales as well, but that is if they are sold by the console maker. Sure it is a measure of success as well, but my point was to consider any game profit on the Xbox. However, I am not sure who sells the games.

@joe-dokes http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/01/28/360-attach-rate-now-7-games-per-... http://www.cnbc.com/id/22840905 http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/04/27/xbox-360-leads-software-attach-rate-e... The 360 makes money per console sold, has since early 2007. Not as much as the Wii. The 360 games make more per game. According to Next Gen Wars, the Wii has sold 21million consoles and the 360 has sold 18 million. Add in the money made from live membership, and downloadable content, the 360 as horrible as it is hardware wise, is trouncing the Wii as an overall money maker by a big margin. I actually agree with Paul, out of the 10 or so people I know that have a Wii, 8 say it sits and collects dust and they played it alot for the first 30 days after they got it. Its not a bad console, and in its target group, young kids and traditionally non-gamers it does well. That said there is a reason it gets horrible third party support.

Anyone who has ever worked in the gaming industry retail side will tell you, the money is NOT in the consoles but in the software being sold. Thats why MS held the rights to DOS, Windows, Office, and every other piece of software it developed. The Wii did sell twenty million units. But that is a one time sell. What happens when it reaches market saturation? Then Nintendo will need software sales of games to sell its products. Since the numbers I've read say the Xbox 360 sales rate 4 to every 1 Wii game, Nintendo could be in big trouble when the Wii reaches the saturation point. My brother has let me borrow his Wii because honestly he doesn't play it anymore. Right now MS is killing Nintendo with game sales. MS has always known where the money is to be made. I do agree with Lindy's comments that Nintendo is deliberately keeping supplies tight. I don't buy any manufacturing issues when it has historically been able to crank out consoles in the past. I think the refresh of the 360 console will bring its console sales back up. The big thing that will put MS over the top is a Blu-Ray add-on or specialty integrated unit. Most reviewers have even haled the 360 as a better media unit. I think it comes down to a gimmick vs actual performance features. Wii may be a fun system, that I do not dispute. However, being able to do more than just game is the growing evolution of modern consoles. This is where the Wii falls short because you don't have the same options as a PS3 and Xbox 360. I think once the hype around Wii finally settles down, the 360 and PS3 will trample over it. Game changer or not, I think Nintendo is in trouble. If Wii games are outsold 4 to 1 or 7 to 1 and you are the head of GameStop/EB games, Walmart, Target, etc.... Which games will you promote harder?