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Forums - Microsoft - Rumor: Microsoft to allow third party X360 manufacturing.

Darc Requiem on 27 June 2008

This is off topic but DOATS1 that has to be the funniest Sig Gif I've ever seen.



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Millennium on 27 June 2008

Didn't they already try this once with the MSX?



Complexity is not depth. Machismo is not maturity. Obsession is not dedication. Tedium is not challenge. Support gaming: support the Wii.

Be the ultimate ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today! Poisson Village welcomes new players.

What do I hate about modern gaming? I hate tedium replacing challenge, complexity replacing depth, and domination replacing entertainment. I hate the outsourcing of mechanics to physics textbooks, art direction to photocopiers, and story to cheap Hollywood screenwriters. I hate the confusion of obsession with dedication, style with substance, new with gimmicky, old with obsolete, new with evolutionary, and old with time-tested.
There is much to hate about modern gaming. That is why I support the Wii.

dallas on 27 June 2008
mrstickball said:
WiiStation360 said:
I do not see the benefit of doing this for the consumer, or for Microsoft.

There are a very, very important benefits for MS and the Consumer if they did this:

  • Better Hardware what if a 3rd party was able to take the RROD-machine (although Falcon has done a much better job), and employed smarter, better ideas into the 360, like making sure the GPU/CPU weren't directly on top of the drive? How about a slimmer, better looking 360?
  • New Innovations/Features One of the things that we've talked about for quite some time is the whole 360/IPTV intergration. If Microsoft allowed that a 3rd party was able to make the machines, they could re-do the 360 to be 360 game compatible, but allow for DVR-compatability, Blu-Ray, or a host of other options.
  • Lower Cost with it being built by other parties, chances are, costs will decrease...Fast. If other parties are able to set their own prices, we could see a DVD-type war go on, and see prices race below $300, $250, $200, or lower quickly, as 3rd parties try to pump out the cheapest 360's available.

On Microsoft's end we see:

  • Appeal lets face it, Microsoft isn't the most well-loved manufacturer out there. However, if Toshiba, Samsung, or a game company like Namco got ahold of 360-compatible gaming, the 360 might sell quite a bit more than we see now. It'll be hard to track if it comes to pass, but re-badged 360s might sell well in areas that it currently does not (Japan).
  • Licensing Fees Microsoft, like Sony's Blu-Ray, would get a decent sum of money for every 360 licensed out, just like the accessories. Certainly wouldn't hurt Microsoft.
  • Developer Support it's a long stretch, but if the device is more prolific in the marketplace, "regular" games-driven 360 owners will see more support for the console in the long run.

So it's a win-win for everyone involved if it came true. If Microsoft doesn't hold all the cards with their system, consumers will win out: just like when off-brand DVD players, and TVs come out. It'll keep the device competitively priced, and in the marketplace for quite some time. Look at off-brand 360 accessories...I can get a perfectly decent hard-wired 360 controller for $25 - $15 less than the official MS controller. A 360 would be the same way, and could even be better than the official box.

 

 

 don't get ahead of yourself yo, *every* console maker uses 3rd parties to make their hardware....this thread is neanderthal-dumb



Squilliam on 27 June 2008
Spectrumglr said:
Million said:
Wait Microsoft sells the 360 at a loss ( they do at least in europe ) how would a manufacturer manage to make one cheaper without a downgrade in already poorly made hardware ?They would need to make a profit from it.

This also opens up the possibility of piracy since I dought the hardware makers will receive anything from the sales of games so they won't activley fight piracy like microsoft.

There's also game incompatibility issues , imagine COD5 comming out the "pannasonic XBOX 360 owners want a patch because of poor framerates and crashes whilst the Samsungs 360 owners can't start the game at all".

With a large % XBOX 360 exclusives already on or heading to the PC what would be the point of a 360 ad on ?

I'm done.

 

  1. we don't know whether MS sells x360 at a loss (as for EU mind that at the current exchange rate the arcade model is sold for roughly 300$ here in EU: still more than in US)
  2. you know that little piece of paper with lots of clauses? ok, i think MS is able to reach an arrangement with a 3rd party manufacturer.
  3. well it will depend on MS ability to set the standard.
  4. assuming this is true...ok, what's the point of buyin a x360 then? go out and ask the 20M customers...someone must have the answer.

 

"@spec ,decent atempt at a response but not enough to justify another response"

Thats so rude.

Nice way to sidestep actually having to man up huh?

 



Tease.

Squilliam on 27 June 2008

 

 

 don't get ahead of yourself yo, *every* console maker uses 3rd parties to make their hardware....this thread is neanderthal-dumb


I think the better term is licenced manufacturers. Think DVD player manufacturers and it'll all make sense.

Tease.

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mrstickball on 27 June 2008
dallas said:

  don't get ahead of yourself yo, *every* console maker uses 3rd parties to make their hardware....this thread is neanderthal-dumb

Actually, your the one not understanding what Microsoft is wanting to do.

Microsoft is wanting to sell the rights to make Xbox 360's to other companies, not sell the rights for various manufacturers to make their Xbox 360 (such as Flextronics, Celestica, ect).

What this means is that a company could build a device, any device, that incorporates Xbox 360 functionality into their device without the exact product going entirely through Microsoft - the company could take the license, find various CPU, GPU and other manufacturers to build the device and incorporate whatever kind of functionality they want into the device.

It's like Blu-Ray disks. The license to make Blu-Ray disks, as well as Blu-Ray players is through Sony. However....Another company such as Samsung could license the ability to make Blu-Ray players, and meld them with another product, or idea outside of what Sony actually does (such as the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Dual Players. That's not a Sony device, but they're paying Sony for the right to build BR players on their own).

Does this make sense? Theoretically, Nintendo could buy the rights to make a Xbox 360, and release a combo Wii360 with functionality for both systems, because they would be paying Microsoft a royalty for each Wii360 made, as the 360 is a licensed product.

 



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.

dallas on 27 June 2008

i'm not trying to pick on mrstickball....I just find it amazing that people think that any of the console makers would abandon factories that they've spent hundreds of millions on, and quit producing after 3 years, and then pay somebody else while the factories would be sitting idle.

I'm not that smart but then again, I try not to rush to judgement about everything



dallas on 27 June 2008

No, no mrstickball, the link that I am going by, the one that I provided says that there is a rumor going around saying that MS is considering allowing any company that wants to, to make 360 compatible-addons, which implies at least to me, that there wouldn't be review and nogotiatiion of fees anymore, in other words MS seems to some extent to want to make their 360 more like a computer.

See for yourself: http://xboxkings.com/index.php?site=news_comments&newsID=1122&lang=uk



Squilliam on 27 June 2008
dallas said:
i'm not trying to pick on mrstickball....I just find it amazing that people think that any of the console makers would abandon factories that they've spent hundreds of millions on, and quit producing after 3 years, and then pay somebody else while the factories would be sitting idle.

I'm not that smart but then again, I try not to rush to judgement about everything

 

They haven't spent money on factories. They are made by third parties.

This is called the DVD effect. One specification - many different versions of the same thing.

Theres two basic points that I won't elaborate.

Diversified manufacturing. <--- Mrstickballs point.

Diversified applications. <---- My point.



Tease.

mrstickball on 27 June 2008

Dallas, you realize the article you read was not the article that the OP was referring to, which specifically mentions Xbox 360 hardware, the actual systems...Right?



Back from the dead, I'm afraid.