Late Night Consoling

Reports have been surfacing on internet forums--including a few posted here in the Shack comments--over the last few days regarding various problems people have been experiencing with their Xbox 360 consoles. Complaints include freezing, stuttering, crashes, overheating, and consoles failing to turn on. Some include pictures. GameSpot contacted Microsoft regarding the matter today. The company confirmed that problems exist, but also stressed that they are occuring with a proportionally very small number of Xbox 360 owners. Microsoft's support page has suggestions for some of the more common problems. Gamers who are unable to fix their console's problems can call 1-800-4MY-XBOX to see if they are eligible to receive a replacement unit or repair service. A Microsoft representative claimed that most repair or replacement orders will be resolved within five business days.

For my part, I've been lucky enough not to have any major problems with my systems other than the sometimes rather loud fan, which I'm sure is the case for the majority of 360 owners. I have been getting stuttering and framerate issues in Perfect Dark Zero, but not with Kameo or Project Gotham Racing 3, so that seems like more of a software issue rather than a hardware one.

Microsoft Entertainment & Devices president Robbie Bach stated today that Microsoft is "well aware that many gamers are disappointed to have not gotten their Xbox 360 on day one." He notes that the company still plans to replenish supply of the console to retailers on a weekly basis, despite the relatively low initial supply. To be fair, a more spread out launch rather than one giant first shipment has been Microsoft's stated position for recent months leading up to the console's release. The company may very well still have its hands full meeting demand, however, given that the console has still yet to launch in major territories such as Europe and Japan. While Japanese demand may not put too much strain on Microsoft's manufacturing capabilities, the European launch on December 2 should turn out to be a fairly big affair.

After months of curiosity on the part of Australian gamers, Microsoft has announced a launch date and price points for the country's rollout of its Xbox 360 system. The next-gen console will hit Aussie shelves on March 2, 2006, about three months after the console's initial availability in North America. (It does beg the question of how Microsoft can claim a worldwide simultaneous release...) The hard drive equipped Premium system will retail for AU$649.95 (~US$476), while the Core system will go for AU$499.95 (~US$366). Xbox Australia and New Zealand director David McLean commented that "Based on launch and production capacity, we are hoping not to have any stock issues, but it is difficult to forecast demand." Rather ironically, it was also noted that Australia is in fact Microsoft's most successful market worldwide from a market penetration standpoint, with the first Xbox system reaching a surprisingly high 35%-40% of the console market. McLean notes that Microsoft hopes to bring that number past 50% with the Xbox 360.

Square Enix made big news recently when company president Yoichi Wada claimed in a Reuters interview that main entries Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, the company's most well-known and profitable franchises, may see the light of day on a non-Sony console in addition to the requisite PS3. That same day, 1UP posted a quick news item stating that the report was "inaccurate," though Square Enix was unable to explain what exactly the inaccuracy was.

In what appears to be some kind of attempt at clarification, Square Enix has sent out an extremely brief press release. It starts off helpfully stating that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft all plan to release next-gen consoles, and then continues to say that despite widespread speculation about Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on other systems, "we have made no concrete decision on our strategic direction of this issue."

Square Enix has already announced Final Fantasy XI on Xbox 360 and a new Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles game for Revolution, so there have obviously been some decisions made, but presumably the statement is referring to future "main entries" in the series. Of course, while nothing was confirmed, nothing was denied either, so it's not quite clear what the purpose of the short statement was.

In keeping with the recent trend of developers speculating and proposing various game design ideas that could be employed on Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console, 1UP has spoken with five developers regarding the feasibility of various concepts on the machine. Unlike most other developer interviews on the matter, this one actually asks each developer about specific ideas that have already been concocted, either in Nintendo's official Revolution teaser video (ie, conducting a symphony) or by hopeful internet denizens (ie, lightsaber battles). The reactions were actually quite in-depth and positive, probably because each question was posed to a developer whose past game experience relates to the concept in question. For example, in one of the better interviews, the conducting concept was discussed with Harmonix president and co-founder Alex Rigopulos. Harmonix is of course known for its music-based games, such as Frequency and the recently-released (and critically acclaimed) Guitar Hero. Notably, Rigopulos stated that his studio is already brainstorming ideas for a Revolution game, waiting for "the one" to present itself.

Other developers questioned include Radical Entertainment's Eric Holmes, who most recently served as lead designer on The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (PS2, Xbox, GCN); Foundation 9's Chris Charla, who was senior producer on Death, Jr. (PSP); Atlus' Tomm Hulett, product lead on Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS); and Midway's Bryan Eddy and Alex Offerman, who worked on Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (PS2, Xbox).

Those of you lucky enough to get an Xbox 360 console at launch can laugh at IGN's feature of stories from the poor saps that didn't, and those of you who tried and failed can commiserate along.

GameSpot has a designer diary for Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan (PS2, Xbox, GCN, GBA).