Microsoft is getting cheap with the Xbox??

[HiTek21]

My friend just found some article about Microsoft using a cheaper video card in their XBox unit to cut costs... They said the unit itself will cost less but you'll be getting lower performance. Hmmm So I guess if you want to get an XBox better do it now while they're still selling higher performance machines...

 

[datalink7]

Wrong info. The chip costs less, but same performance.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Bad info, it's the video encoder, not the GPU. Won't be made by conextant (sp) anymore.

 

Reduced performance would sort of go against the point of a console.

 

[diskop]

If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

 

[MrHappyMonkey]

Originally posted by: diskop
If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

10x? riiiiiiight. I highly doubt it would apeal to normal NON-GEEK-TYPE people.

 

[oniq]

If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

How would this be profitable for MS? Microsoft makes profit off of games sold, so if people started to buy the console to just watch movies they downloaded off the 'net, they'd just lose money. Of course there are projects like the Linux on the Xbox project which would, eventually support Divx, etc.

And to stay on topic: Reuters article

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: oniq

If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

How would this be profitable for MS? Microsoft makes profit off of games sold, so if people started to buy the console to just watch movies they downloaded off the 'net, they'd just lose money. Of course there are projects like the Linux on the Xbox project which would, eventually support Divx, etc.

And to stay on topic: Reuters article

I'm unaware of microsoft's involvement in the movie industry. Can you show me what movies they have financed/produced that they would stand to lose money on due to piracy?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Lucky

Originally posted by: oniq

If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

How would this be profitable for MS? Microsoft makes profit off of games sold, so if people started to buy the console to just watch movies they downloaded off the 'net, they'd just lose money. Of course there are projects like the Linux on the Xbox project which would, eventually support Divx, etc.

And to stay on topic: Reuters article

I'm unaware of microsoft's involvement in the movie industry. Can you show me what movies they have financed/produced that they would stand to lose money on due to piracy?

MS would lose money because a bunch of people would buy the thing just to have a nice set-top divx player rather than buying the games, which is where the money is made. the console is sold at a loss (a pretty darned big one, too)

 

[Lucky]

Ah, OK. Misunderstood. The linked article does say MS is in arbitration with nvidia to reduce costs though.

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Lucky

Originally posted by: oniq

If I were MS, I would put built in Divx, SVCD and VCD support in their new llines. That would drive up sales of their consoles 10x.

How would this be profitable for MS? Microsoft makes profit off of games sold, so if people started to buy the console to just watch movies they downloaded off the 'net, they'd just lose money. Of course there are projects like the Linux on the Xbox project which would, eventually support Divx, etc.

And to stay on topic: Reuters article

I'm unaware of microsoft's involvement in the movie industry. Can you show me what movies they have financed/produced that they would stand to lose money on due to piracy?

MS would lose money because a bunch of people would buy the thing just to have a nice set-top divx player rather than buying the games, which is where the money is made. the console is sold at a loss (a pretty darned big one, too)

It's true they would lose some money at first. But I think once they get a bigger install base, since right now they're losing almost 10 to 1 to PS2, they could license more companies to develop games and maybe even sign exclusive agreements with them. Lure away the competitors from other consoles. More high quality games mean more sales, and more sales mean more money.

Right now they already have programs that allow you to watch the divx on xbox, but it's not built in and probably don't work all that well

 

[FSUpaintball]

I don't think Xbox is losing 10 to 1 any more. I work at a store that sells GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, and Xbox seems to be selling more right now than even PS2. Even if it's not doing as well, it's not nearly 10 to 1 against them.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Lucky
Ah, OK. Misunderstood. The linked article does say MS is in arbitration with nvidia to reduce costs though.

MS had to break their contract in order to continue manufacturing the thing, otherwise the hardware loss would be so great that 5 years of software licenses wouldn't overcome it. since nvidia does make money on the nv2a they will sell it at a lower price rather than not at all, but you don't hear of nintendo breaking contract with ATi (of course, i'm pretty certain that nintendo owns the rights to the gecko processor, and therefore isn't under contract with ati for it to the extent MS is with nvidia)

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
I don't think Xbox is losing 10 to 1 any more. I work at a store that sells GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, and Xbox seems to be selling more right now than even PS2. Even if it's not doing as well, it's not nearly 10 to 1 against them.

I'm not sure what it is now, but that's the figure I got about a month, maybe month and a half ago. I think that's also accounting for worldwide sales, it's selling horribly in Japan and Asia, and also very badly in Europe too. The US is just about the only place it's doing well in.

 

Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
I don't think Xbox is losing 10 to 1 any more. I work at a store that sells GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, and Xbox seems to be selling more right now than even PS2. Even if it's not doing as well, it's not nearly 10 to 1 against them.

There is something like 30 million PS2 units world wide, as opposed to 4 or so million each Xbox and GC. So it's something like 7 1/2 to 1.