• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Xbox 360 Release Delayed, Price Announced

Posted on: Saturday, 20 August 2005, 06:00 CDT

By Wade Zarosinski
Daily Evergreen ( Washington State U. )

(U-WIRE) PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Xbox 360 is coming. Eventually. Microsoft announced Wednesday that it would be releasing two versions of the highly anticipated Xbox 360, its new gaming console scheduled for release later this year. Microsoft will release a premium version which will cost $399.99 retail and will include a detachable 20GB hard drive and a wireless controller. The standard version will cost $299.99 and will not include a hard drive but will include a standard controller. The new console is set to have a wide range of optional peripherals available upon its release as well, which will include a TV remote and a headset for the Xbox Live online service. The original release date of the 360 was set to be Aug. 27 but was recently changed to an unannounced date in the holiday season, according to a Microsoft press release Wednesday. The release did not detail the reasons for the delay, but the buzz is that it's likely to maximize holiday sales and to give hardware manufacturers more time to meet the demand. Nov. 2 looks like the target release date, according to IGN.com, a leading game magazine Web site, and Electronics Boutique, a gaming retailer. Microsoft has announced a wide range of release titles, heavily focused on the First Person Shooter genre, with titles including "Quake 4" and "Perfect Dark Zero." So far Microsoft seems to have many of the American developers busy with a very large assortment of games, while the Japanese developers are focusing more on the upcoming Sony PlayStation 3. Sony has also pushed the release date of their next generation system back to 2006. The PlayStation 3 boasts powerful hardware and some of the most critically acclaimed games on the market such as the "Final Fantasy" series and the "Metal Gear Solid" series. The relative power of the PS3 compared to the 360 is still unknown, but it should be comparable. One remarkable benefit to the upcoming PS3 is that it will be completely backward compatible with both the PlayStation 2 and the original PlayStation. Microsoft has said that the 360, on the other hand, will only be backward compatible with some games because of hardware compatibility. Sony has yet to release a concrete price for its upcoming system, but most experts predict that the console will cost around $300. While Microsoft has released a massive amount of information about the 360 through various outlets including its own MTV special that aired in the early summer, Sony has yet to release in-depth specifics about its system. Both companies have given some information about when the consoles will be released and what hardware and software will be available. Nintendo has yet to say anything substantial about its new console, dubbed the Nintendo "Revolution." There is no release date, hardware specifications or price information. Nintendo failed to show anything substantial about the platform at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

(C) 2005 Daily Evergreen via U-WIRE

Source: U-WIRE

More News in this Category