Friday, September 15, 2006

Just subtract 1

I'm amazed at the number of people that are surprised by the Wii's $249 price. I never thought it would be anything else, because of a simple rule that has never steered me wrong: when a company says it will release a product below a certain price, it means it will cost $1 less than that price. So when USA Today, in August, said that it had confirmed the Wii would sell for under $250 in North America, I knew it would be $249. Hey, if it was going to be $199, why wouldn't Reggie say under $200? Of course he would. Hence, $249.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Monday, April 11, 2005

Xbox 360 shown to the consumers first

Microsoft has just announced that the Xbox 360 will be revealed to the world on an MTV special May 12. This is just four days before E3. Personally, I like Microsoft circumventing the press and going straight to the people - that focus is arguably part of the reason the original Xbox was successful. Remember all the talk about focus groups and visiting gamers in their home to find out what they wanted? That's how they ended up with cords that were finally long enough. Let's hope they're still listening to the gamers.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Multiplayer Map Details

Head on over to bungie.net to get the nitty-gritty details, but here are the highlights: nine new maps, four in late April. Two for free, two to purchase. All the maps free by late summer. Oh, and a 19.99 retail release of all nine maps. Sounds all right to me.

New Halo 2 Maps Announced


sanctuary
Originally uploaded by Jerkob.
Bungie just announced today their plans for new multiplayer maps. The plan is quite complicated - it feels very apparent that Microsoft is trying to straddle the fence between raw profit-mongering and we-love-our-fans service. It's a wide fence, but Microsoft may just be big enough to straddle it.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Halo 2 downloadable content announcement coming

The Korean Xbox Web site supposedly has a listing for a Halo 2 expansion pack up right now, and when asked about it Bungie had this to say:

"Next week, we’re going to have a major announcement about the details of our new maps. Right now, there are some dates, details and ideas out there that are actually wrong, so please take everything you read between now and then with a grain of salt. We can't talk about how and when the new maps will be released, we'll leave that to the smart folks who actually do all the logistical work for this stuff – marketing and PR, but we can tell you this much - our entire plan is designed to make new content available for everybody, those with Xbox Live and those without Xbox Live. We hope in the end, everyone will be satisfied."

I'm going to be pretty pissed if they try to make me pay for this stuff. Perhaps even moreso because I know I'll buy it.

Monday, March 14, 2005

More Evidence of Revolution Online

In an interview with 1up.com, Reggie Fils-Aime had this to say:

"And we're also putting out there, for our fans, the fact that there's some things we could have done better on previous systems. The whole Internet gaming piece, we missed the boat on GameCube. We won't miss the boat in the future."

I got to tell you, I like Fils-Aime. He's very candid, which is a refreshing change for the company that didn't want to show Mario Sunshine because of its "innovative" water pack. I think the fact that Nintendo keeps putting him in the spotlight shows that they are committed to changing. At least I hope so.

Three Contoller Slots on Xbox 2?

IGN has a great piece up right now called "Everything you wanted to know about Xbox 2." They've done an excellent job of combining a lot of information, culled from a lot of sources, into a very readable and jargon-free analysis. But, one part really jumped out at me: Three controller slots? Here's what IGN had to say:

"There are three controller slots, two controllers on front of the system, plus one USB on the back."

Later they claim that the system will be backwards-compatible if the optional hard drive is purchased. Well, if it's going to be backwards compatible, it better have four controller slots. Not only that, but I don't see why four player games wouldn't be important in the next generation, even with Live.

Here's hoping this information is incorrect.