Just to be clear, the $37.99 price is for the Xbox version, not the Xbox 360 version.

Yes, that is correct.

Chris

I tallied the games played on the Gamertag list. I only got to the Ms, but I think this list is well represented:

Top Games on XBOX 360 as of Friday
(Sampled from ~50% of the DVD Talk population)

• Burnout Revenge
• Geometry Wars
• Fight Night: Round 3
• Ghost Recond Advance Warfighter, Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3 (tie)
• Dead or Alive 4
• Full Auto, Perfect Dark Zero (tie)
• Hexic HD, Marble Blast Ultra (tie)
• Crystal Quest
• Zuma, Bejeweled (tie)
• Kameo

Has anybody had sound problems with their 360. A couple of time I turn on the thing and start a game and there is no sound for anything. I am running optical through my receiver. I never had any problems with my PS2, so I assume it is the 360. I just turn off the unit and start again and it works fine.

yes, I have had audio drop-outs. Very frequently. I swapped out my optical cord, and that seemed to help a lot, but it still happens every now and again. I think it has to do with the 360 cable having a round optical input while every optical cord I have ever seen is somewhat square.

I have not had a single problem with the audio FWIW.

No issues here with sound:

The Outfit releases this week

Next week should be bigger though

No, it's the same size as all optical ports. MAYBE a hair too small so it slides out easily?

Only audio problems I have is music disappearing (WMC still needs some work, I take it) and the occasional game software glitch (King Kong comes to mind).

For some reason, any optical cord I use slides out really, really easily from the 360 connector. Not that I should be moving it around much, but it is a little annoying at times.

Quick question: I got the 12mo. LIVE kit that comes with the $20 off rebate, and it says I need to send in the UPC for the game. Do I have to cut the UPC off of the back of the game to send in, or is there another UPC I can use?

Try looking inside the instruction manual.

Has SCARFACE been cancelled for the 360?

The official site www.scarfacegame.com shows it coming for PS2, Xbox and PC.

I just sent my rebate in with Burnout 360.
It specifically says to cut out, from the game cover, the UPC with the words "Proof of Purchase" on it.

Hmmm, with PS3's delay til Nov., MS has a shot at selling 5 million consoles by then!

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../15/2003297499

Microsoft welcomes PS3 delay

POSITIVE SCENARIO: Ahead of the Thursday launch of the XBox 360 in this region, the firm said it would see any delay in the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 as beneficial

BLOOMBERG
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006,Page 10

Microsoft Corp said sales of its Xbox 360 video-game console will gain from a possible delay in Sony Corp's PlayStation 3, helping it steal share in the US$28.5 billion industry.
"We want to win," Andres Vejarano, regional marketing manager for Asia, excluding Japan, said by telephone from Hong Kong yesterday.

"Any delay does give us a first mover advantage. It benefits us," he said.

Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker and No. 2 in game systems, is betting on the Xbox 360 to help trim its reliance on the Windows program, which powers 95 percent of all personal computers. The Redmond, Washington-based company has spent more than US$12 billion developing the Xbox 360, which it will sell in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan from Thursday.

The Xbox 360 has met with "phenomenal" demand from pre-sales marketing in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, Vejarano said. "We want to make sure we've enough Xbox 360 for every consumer who wants to buy during the launch," he said.

The company's game player sold out within hours at outlets and online retailers -- including Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc -- when it was first released on Nov. 22 in the US.

Microsoft delayed sales of the Xbox 360 from an earlier scheduled March 2 in the three Asian countries because of "unprecedented global consumer demand out stripping inventory supply," Vejarano said.

The firm has added Toronto-based Celestica Inc as its third Xbox 360 maker, after Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Wistron Corp (緯創) and Flextronics International Ltd, based in Singapore.

The Xbox 360 will be priced from US$300 to US$330 for a basic set, and US$380 to US$410 for a package including a hard-disk drive and wireless controller, in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, Vejarano said.

Microsoft started selling the basic system at US$299 and the package at US$399 in the US.

Tokyo-based Sony, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics maker, last month said a postponement of the PlayStation 3 can't be ruled out after Merrill Lynch & Co reported a delay of as much as a year because of issues such as adding the Blu-ray high-definition DVD player to the console.

"There are no changes in our plan to release PlayStation 3 in spring," said Satoshi Fukuoka, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, the firm's games division, yesterday.

No date has been set, he said.

Microsoft is "on track" to meet its 4.5 million to 5.5 million unit sales target by June, Vejarano said, declining to give specific forecasts for geographic regions.

The company had sold 1.01 million Xbox 360 machines in the US as of Feb. 25, according to a JPMorgan Chase & Co report dated Monday. JPMorgan expects Asia to account for about 8 percent of Xbox 360 sales, similar to the contribution of the original Xbox consoles.

"We believe most of the uptake in Xbox 360 will be driven mainly by demand from US, Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, like Korea and Australia," analysts Adam Holt, Aaron Schwartz and Nitin Doke wrote.

The global video-games industry is expected to expand to about US$42 billion by 2010, according to San Diego-based DFC Intelligence. Microsoft may win as much as 40 percent market share with the Xbox 360, the researcher said.


Chris

Wouldn't that be something

So, if Sony meets their production goals, they will have 6 million PS3s within five months of launch.

If Microsoft meets their sale goals, they will have 5 million 360s within seven months of launch.

Doesn't that seem awfully close?

I beleive it said 6 million units in 2006 alone. That works out to 1 million units PER region per month. So 1 mil for US, 1 mil for japan, 1 mil for uk for nov, and same for december, totalling 6 million units worldwide for 2006 alone, as the article states.

Please see this which states:

The PlayStation 3 is set to launch in North America, Asia and Europe in early November this year, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi has announced, with the firm committed to shipping six million units by the end of March 2007.


So they are talking about fiscal year 2006.

Chris

This should light the fire under MS's ass to get everything fixed and get more 360's out there. I for one am very happy about this. I will hold off for a year or two to get a PS3 but this will bring some much needed competition into the nex-gen stuff. I can't wait for the platinum hits line to make it's debut on 360.

I fully expect a price drop in November to counter the PS3 launch.

Not if they are still selling them as fast as they can make em. Not to mention, if the PS3 is $500+ and you still have to buy the HDD, why lower the price anymore? Everything I have heard is that the PS3 is not really superior to the 360 and the games will be comparable so why lower the price a couple hundred bucks less? I doubt we see a pricecut unless Sony is selling like hotcakes and the 360 starts to lose sales.

Feeding Frenzy is available....

Hmm.. I'm waiting for Astopop. Hopefully that comes out today as well.