Was the Lack of Big Xbox 360 News at CES a Letdown?

By David Walker | January 7th, 2008 comments icon Comments


xbox eliteBill Gates’ last keynote ever at CES has come and gone, and Brier Dudley at The Seattle Times believes the lack of a big Xbox 360 announcement at CES was a missed opportunity. What’s interesting is not the dismay that Brier has expressed, but rather, what he’s dismayed about. Recent rumors were flying around that Microsoft would “finally” integrate an HD-DVD drive into a new Xbox 360 SKU, although the company has constantly reiterated that it has no plans to do so. This rumor, though, wasn’t what Brier was expecting.

Rather, Mr. Dudley was expecting to see third party Xbox 360s announced along with a wish-list that included an Xbox branded portable game and media device, and an Xbox with a built-in TV Tuner and DVR type capabilities. While many people have been clamoring for a portable Xbox gaming device for a while, I don’t know that there is as much buzz for third-party developed Xbox 360 units. The door, however, is still open for a development of this sort since Microsoft announced that British Telecom would be getting the first rollout of IPTV for the 360.

I’m not sure that Microsoft is willing to let the Xbox brand branch out into the hands of other manufacturers, but the idea is intriguing. Would an IPTV or DVR device with the ability to play Xbox 360 games be more appealing than the console itself? If nothing else, the speculation alone should yield some interesting ideas that Microsoft is sure to attempt to capitalize on.

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  • David Walker said: Would an IPTV or DVR device with the ability to play Xbox 360 games be more appealing than the console itself? If nothing else, the speculation alone should yield some interesting ideas that Microsoft is sure to attempt to capitalize on.


    I think that's what Microsoft is trying to do with Mediaroom, but without the game play. Though, I definitely think an all encompassing device priced under $500, that's not a full-blown PC, would be very attractive.
  • David Walker
    What's interesting is the idea of shoe-horning in the 360 technology into an IPTV or DVR/Media Center device rather than the other way around. It would be like selling the 360 functionality as an "add-on" rather than the feature. I'm not sure if it makes good business sense, but then again, if it could establish an even larger 360 install-base, it yields MS more game residuals.
  • brianworkman
    I think that he was hoping for that article that was in Smarthouse.au or Smarthome.au, I can't remember which. But it was a Toshiba built Xbox 360 with full MCE capabilities. I have to agree, it would be nice.




    But as far as it's use, I think Microsoft would see it the other way around if they released the product, which would be using a high end 360, to help put a verison of MCE in more peoples living rooms.
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