Ozzkev55
CAGiversary!
Fresh In From Gamespot
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_6124969.html
[quote name='Gamespot.com']Graphics manufacturer Nvidia announced last week that it will stop chip shipments to Microsoft after August 1, according to a Financial Times report.
The statement indicates that Microsoft will very likely discontinue Xbox production in advance of the Xbox 360 launch planned for this holiday season since Nvidia chips are an essential component of the Microsoft Xbox game console.
The move is surprising because console manufacturers have traditionally continued older system production for several years after the launch of its successor. Sony's original PlayStation, for example, has had a decade-long lifecycle. Originally released in 1995, Sony continued selling the PlayStation as a value gaming system years after releasing its successor, the PlayStation 2. The continued sales helped maintain demand for an aging game library and also introduced the PlayStation brand to new users who could potentially upgrade to a newer system.
Microsoft has indicated in the past that the current Xbox system has been expensive to produce, partly due to the fact that it must purchase chips from Intel and Nvidia instead of manufacturing its own silicon. Sony was able to reduce console production costs by redesigning systems year after year, but that option isn't available to Microsoft with the Xbox. At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Microsoft's Cameron Ferroni told us that the Xbox team had considered producing a cost-reduced design, but decided that the cost-benefit wasn't compelling enough.
"You never say never, but it's a pretty major, massive engineering undertaking, and I'm not sure that the bang for the buck is necessarily there,” Ferroni said. “The reality is that no matter what we did to the Box, there's still a hard drive in there."
An imminent halt to Xbox production is the largest sign so far that the Xbox 360 will be backward compatible with legacy Xbox games. With the Xbox's large game library, Microsoft can't risk discontinuing the current Xbox console unless it plans to offer legacy support in a future system.[/QUOTE]
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_6124969.html
[quote name='Gamespot.com']Graphics manufacturer Nvidia announced last week that it will stop chip shipments to Microsoft after August 1, according to a Financial Times report.
The statement indicates that Microsoft will very likely discontinue Xbox production in advance of the Xbox 360 launch planned for this holiday season since Nvidia chips are an essential component of the Microsoft Xbox game console.
The move is surprising because console manufacturers have traditionally continued older system production for several years after the launch of its successor. Sony's original PlayStation, for example, has had a decade-long lifecycle. Originally released in 1995, Sony continued selling the PlayStation as a value gaming system years after releasing its successor, the PlayStation 2. The continued sales helped maintain demand for an aging game library and also introduced the PlayStation brand to new users who could potentially upgrade to a newer system.
Microsoft has indicated in the past that the current Xbox system has been expensive to produce, partly due to the fact that it must purchase chips from Intel and Nvidia instead of manufacturing its own silicon. Sony was able to reduce console production costs by redesigning systems year after year, but that option isn't available to Microsoft with the Xbox. At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Microsoft's Cameron Ferroni told us that the Xbox team had considered producing a cost-reduced design, but decided that the cost-benefit wasn't compelling enough.
"You never say never, but it's a pretty major, massive engineering undertaking, and I'm not sure that the bang for the buck is necessarily there,” Ferroni said. “The reality is that no matter what we did to the Box, there's still a hard drive in there."
An imminent halt to Xbox production is the largest sign so far that the Xbox 360 will be backward compatible with legacy Xbox games. With the Xbox's large game library, Microsoft can't risk discontinuing the current Xbox console unless it plans to offer legacy support in a future system.[/QUOTE]
