«

>Recall that XBOX2 (or some derivitave) is rumored to be all things: a video
>game console, internet browser, DVD (MS hd anyone?), TiVo-like recorder,
>etc...
>
>And by keeping compatability with existing tech, they save on cost and have
>an installed library upon delivery.

However, there is such a thing as putting too much into something.

The X-Box should concentrate primarily on being a video game system. Being too
many things at once has never proven to be successful in the video game
business. Just look at the 3DO and the CD-i. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan wrote:
>>Recall that XBOX2 (or some derivitave) is rumored to be all things: a video
>>game console, internet browser, DVD (MS hd anyone?), TiVo-like recorder,
>>etc...
>>
>>And by keeping compatability with existing tech, they save on cost and have
>>an installed library upon delivery.
>
>
> However, there is such a thing as putting too much into something.
>
> The X-Box should concentrate primarily on being a video game system. Being too
> many things at once has never proven to be successful in the video game
> business. Just look at the 3DO and the CD-i. - Reinhart

I understand those arguments, and I sometimes make them myself, but I
think that one of the chief reasons CD-i and 3DO failed (first are high
prices and lack of games) is that technology had not yet caught up to
what they were trying to accomplish. Imagine a console that has
excellent support from game publishers and yet is a "do-it-all" wonder,
like the one described. It's possible that such a device could be made
and sold at a $300 price point. Once it has a HD how hard is it to make
it a video recorder and throw in some web browsing software as well?

--
"It is dark, you are likely to be eaten by a grue."
--Zork

Grand Inquisitor
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Oost

>I
>think that one of the chief reasons CD-i and 3DO failed (first are high
>prices and lack of games) is that technology had not yet caught up to
>what they were trying to accomplish.
The other factor was that the people who made the hardware were also trying to
make a profit off of it.

In the 3DO's case, the right to make the console was licensed to Matsushita
from the 3DO company.

In the videogame console business, the first party is expected to lose money on
hardware sales. Profit is made from software sales, from the first party's own
software sales and from royalties the first party collects from licensed third
parties.

Imagine a console that has
>excellent support from game publishers and yet is a "do-it-all" wonder,
>like the one described. It's possible that such a device could be made
>and sold at a $300 price point. Once it has a HD how hard is it to make
>it a video recorder and throw in some web browsing software as well?

The only problem is that adding more features may also increase the price to
make the console. Selling at a loss becomes far more costly and risky as a
result and would take longer for the first party to start seeing profit from
software sales.

Also, you still have to keep it in perspective. You make a videogame console
for videogaming first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. If the
extra features can be added at negligible cost, like Sony adding DVD playback
to the PS-2 simply because it would use a DVD-ROM drive and a hardware MPEG2
decoder for gameplay anyways, then it may work. But Microsoft is being too
ambitious and risky in a business that rarely forgives error. - Reinhart