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To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (135190)	5/16/2001 11:59:50 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Microsoft to launch Xbox on Nov 8 for $299 (UPDATE: Adds details, background, byline) By Scott Hillis LOS ANGELES, May 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.(NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) will launch its Xbox video game console on Nov. 8 for $299, the software giant said on Wednesday, using the crucial holiday season to challenge industry leaders Sony and Nintendo for dominance in the $6.5 billion industry. The launch date gives Microsoft just a few weeks to build a buzz around the Xbox before the holiday season, when it needs to make a big splash in the race to catch up to Sony Corp.'s popular PlayStation 2. Nintendo Co. Ltd. is launching its next-generation GameCube console around the same time. But despite the competition, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said it expected to sell from 1 million to 1.5 million Xbox consoles through the holidays. ``Neither one of us (Microsoft and Nintendo) are going to have any trouble selling hardware this holiday season,'' Robbie Bach, Microsoft's ``Chief Xbox Officer'', said in an interview at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the video game industry's annual trade show. The Xbox entry is controversial because some analysts doubt the market can support three different platforms, pointing to the failure this year of Sega Enterprises Ltd.'s Dreamcast machine. Microsoft plans to back the Xbox with $500 million in marketing over the first 18 months, making it the company's biggest product launch ever. It expects to have 600,000 to 800,000 units on store shelves for the Nov. 8 launch, Bach said. He touted the game's high-powered hardware, which will let players compete with each other and talk to each other online. He also said he did not expect the kind of production delays that plagued the launch of Sony's PlayStation 2 last year. ``The components are all there. We don't expect any bottlenecks. Everything is going really well,'' Bach said. The price tag is in line with the $300 analysts had expected. Console makers sell the hardware at a loss, hoping to build a user base quickly and then make profits on the games. A lower price makes the machine a more attractive buy, but means a bigger upfront loss for the company. Conversely, a higher price cuts initial losses but could put off cost-conscious consumers. Based on the same technology found in a personal computer, the Xbox is a new entrant into the console market dominated by the PlayStation and Nintendo's N64 system. Nintendo was expected to announce details of its all-new GameCube system later on Wednesday. Microsoft boasts the Xbox hardware will outperform both the PlayStation 2 and the GameCube, but analysts said all that power won't do any good unless software developers make great games that are fun to play. Bach said Microsoft will have about 15 to 20 game titles for the Xbox launch, and it has dozens more lined up for launch in the following months. Bach also highlighted Microsoft's plans to develop online games for the Xbox, promising players will be able to join an online game with a single click and will be able to talk to each other while playing. Microsoft's online plans contrast with those of Sony, which on Tuesday announced a deal with AOL Time Warner Inc.(NYSE:AOL - news) to let PlayStation 2 users access the Web, chat and send e-mail using the AOL service. ``All you have to do is ask game players what they want. People don't want to send e-mail from their couch, they don't want to browse from their couch, they want to play games,'' Bach said in an interview on Tuesday. ``Our online environment is about games, it's not about e-mail, it's not about other things, it's completely and totally focused on games,'' Bach said. Email this story - Most-emailed articles - Most-viewed articles