• The development of any software program, including, but not limited to, training a machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) system, is prohibited using the contents and materials on this website.

Australian XBOX 360 Release Pushed Back!

flyingfridge

flyingfridge

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2005
Messages
2,388
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Car(s)
Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec, VW Passat 118TSI
Yep I guess it was inevitable. I just recieved an e-mail from the Premiere Club that the 2nd of March Release date has been pushed back to the 23rd of March.

NOOOOOO!!

Heres the text:

XBOX VIP Premiere Club said:
Dear Sam,

The Australian and New Zealand Xbox 360 launch has been pushed back to the new proposed launch date of March 23 at 12:01am. I can assure you we went to great lengths to secure consoles for the region on the initial date of March 2; however, it recently became apparent that the date would need to be adjusted.

Globally our biggest challenge has been manufacturing enough Xbox 360 consoles to meet the incredibly strong demand for the product. As typical for a video game console launch of this magnitude, we faced some short term manufacturing issues due to component shortages stemming from challenges in ramping supply.

We believe that these challenges are short term in nature and have taken steps to resolve this in time for the new Australian and New Zealand launch. Next month we are bringing on a third manufacturing facility, Celestica, and expect to meet strong consumer demand in the near future.

The Xbox team is as disappointed by the delay as no doubt you are, as we believe the Xbox 360 will be one of the most exciting things to happen to gaming and home entertainment in ANZ.

Australian and New Zealand gamers are among the most loyal of Xbox supporters. It is therefore extremely important that we avoid any additional disappointment for gamers such as yourself in the lead-up to the launch. Because of this we are now concentrating our efforts during the coming months in two main areas.

The first area is working closely with manufacturing and distribution teams to ensure adequate day-one stocks and on-going supply. In addition to our new manufacturing partner, we're working at a local level to have adequate levels of Xbox 360 consoles at launch, and to regularly replenish stock in stores during the following weeks and months.

The second area we are focusing on is creating special gaming opportunities for our local Xbox fans before launch. We want to give you the chance to play the Xbox 360 yourself ahead of the revised launch date. In addition to putting demonstration units into participating retail stores in February, we're also in the process of finalizing additional opportunities for some of our valued customers. We will be announcing more during the coming weeks.

Finally, I want to let you know that we'll keep you informed about activities leading up to the launch date. You can receive this information via the Xbox 360 VIP desktop alerts, xbox.com.au or regularly reading any of the leading gaming sites and publications.

Regards,

David McLean
Regional Director
Xbox Australia and New Zealand
Click to expand...
 
Oh dear.

If you really wanted one you could get one from

http://www.dvdcrave.com.au

They imported a shippment of UK machines.

I've played around with one, was pretty nice looking, but not mind blwoing. Then again it wasn't on a big screen hi-def plasma but the small TV's they have set up around the store.
 
Oh what a shame. The recently converted XBOX360 fan won't get his console for a little while longer. Might I remind you of the rant you had over it..

Anyways, I hate those letters big companies send out to you. They don't get to the point and you really have to READ every word carefully to understand exactly whats going on.

Can't they just say - "Ok we've fucked up, give us another 3-weeks and you'll get your 360".
 
That sucks for you... But hey, if I would want to buy one, I would have to wait just as long, I guess... Haven't seen any ads recently that suggest additional Xboxes in my area...
 
^ but then again, you were probably busy looking for ads by Augustiner Brau and other breweries ;-)

I would like to have a 360, but i just don't have the money to buy a console and pay 50 euros for every game...i'm gonna stick by the computer for now.

I'm planning to buy a new guitar amplifier, so money is scarce for the moment :)
 
Since I decided to go for a bigger TV than 32" I don't have the money either... :-(
 
Well, it's bad luck that the release date is pushed back... but it's not like you can get any here anyway. They stores still don't have any in stock, and when they get some in they're all gone within a few hours... :thumbsdown: for Microsofts planning...
 
flamingice said:
Well, it's bad luck that the release date is pushed back... but it's not like you can get any here anyway. They stores still don't have any in stock, and when they get some in they're all gone within a few hours... :thumbsdown: for Microsofts planning...
Click to expand...

I honestly believe the problem is with IBM. IBM has NEVER been a reliable supplier of chips, (which is part of the reason Apple switched to Intel). I'm confident if IBM had the required production capability, every store would be fully stocked with xbox 360s. Luckily the 360 chip is a modified G5/970x which IBM is somewhat tooled to produce (especially after the end of the G5 order). I suspect its going to be 50x worse with the Cell processor, since its an all new design, and very dissimilar in architecture from the G5/970x line.
 
hokiethang said:
flamingice said:
Well, it's bad luck that the release date is pushed back... but it's not like you can get any here anyway. They stores still don't have any in stock, and when they get some in they're all gone within a few hours... :thumbsdown: for Microsofts planning...
Click to expand...

I honestly believe the problem is with IBM. IBM has NEVER been a reliable supplier of chips, (which is part of the reason Apple switched to Intel). I'm confident if IBM had the required production capability, every store would be fully stocked with xbox 360s. Luckily the 360 chip is a modified G5/970x which IBM is somewhat tooled to produce (especially after the end of the G5 order). I suspect its going to be 50x worse with the Cell processor, since its an all new design, and very dissimilar in architecture from the G5/970x line.
Click to expand...
Sony is making the chips themselves though, so they won't have to wait on IBM.

**Warning! Rant Ahead!**

I'm really disappointed in Microsoft's handling of the launch. The software side was there (the Live Arcade sounds very cool, and it already has some good stuff on it), but the hardware was just not ready for a November launch. I'm just a little miffed that they said they'd have a $300 console out worldwide in November '05, when the real console you want to buy is $400, "worldwide" means North America, Japan and Europe, and we're in 2006 and still don't have real availability of the 360.

Rant.off();

I'm sorry if that offended any Xbox fans, but I just had to get that off my chest. I'm not bashing the 360 either (it's a very good console with an excellent online service, and I plan to buy one if I can afford it), just how MS handled the launch.
 
^ agreed... All they did was trying to beat Sonys most optimistic availability guess by more than 3 months. They should have waited and implemented better hardware, especially a nextgen - DVD drive.
 
That's what you Aussies get for having Ford Falcon XR8's. :twisted:
 
XR8s suck, that boss V8 is soo big and heavy it fucks up the whole shebang. It's the Clubsport Monaro and Typhoon you should be jealous of...
 
BlaRo said:
That's what you Aussies get for having Ford Falcon XR8's. :twisted:
Click to expand...
Hehe the funny thing is the XR8's do suck as 'Fridge pointed out and most Aussies prefer a Holden than a Ford.
The Ford Typhoon is good though - It prooved that there is such thing as a V6 muscle car.
 
Ah but the Typhoon is not a V6, it's an I6
 
Ahh yes of course I know. Should have just said "6-cylinder muscle car..".
 
Buba said:
^ agreed... All they did was trying to beat Sonys most optimistic availability guess by more than 3 months. They should have waited and implemented better hardware, especially a nextgen - DVD drive.
Click to expand...

Microsoft purposely did not include an HD-DVD drive for one reason, load time. Current HD-DVD drives are only 1x, whereas a regular DVD drive runs at 12x - 16x, lowering the load times on games. Many games would take 10 - 5 minutes to load on a 1x HD-DVD drive, takes less than 20 seconds to load on a 12x drive. Making an HD-DVD addon allows fast access times and still provides access to HD DVD.
 
flyingfridge said:
XR8s suck, that boss V8 is soo big and heavy it fucks up the whole shebang. It's the Clubsport Monaro and Typhoon you should be jealous of...
Click to expand...
Oh, quit complaining! :lol:

It's still a rear-drive V8 sedan from Ford. When was the last time we had one of those? The Crown Vic? :cry:

Anyway, sorry to hear about the 360, but at least it wasn't delayed that long, like 6 months or so...
 
hokiethang said:
Buba said:
^ agreed... All they did was trying to beat Sonys most optimistic availability guess by more than 3 months. They should have waited and implemented better hardware, especially a nextgen - DVD drive.
Click to expand...

Microsoft purposely did not include an HD-DVD drive for one reason, load time. Current HD-DVD drives are only 1x, whereas a regular DVD drive runs at 12x - 16x, lowering the load times on games. Many games would take 10 - 5 minutes to load on a 1x HD-DVD drive, takes less than 20 seconds to load on a 12x drive. Making an HD-DVD addon allows fast access times and still provides access to HD DVD.
Click to expand...

Thats like comparing DVD 1x to CD 1x... Your figures aren't accurate...! I don't have a site confirming that, but DVD speeds weren't comparable either...
 
Buba said:
hokiethang said:
Buba said:
^ agreed... All they did was trying to beat Sonys most optimistic availability guess by more than 3 months. They should have waited and implemented better hardware, especially a nextgen - DVD drive.
Click to expand...

Microsoft purposely did not include an HD-DVD drive for one reason, load time. Current HD-DVD drives are only 1x, whereas a regular DVD drive runs at 12x - 16x, lowering the load times on games. Many games would take 10 - 5 minutes to load on a 1x HD-DVD drive, takes less than 20 seconds to load on a 12x drive. Making an HD-DVD addon allows fast access times and still provides access to HD DVD.
Click to expand...

Thats like comparing DVD 1x to CD 1x... Your figures aren't accurate...! I don't have a site confirming that, but DVD speeds weren't comparable either...
Click to expand...

Even with taking those measurements into account, the DVD drive is still faster than any currently available HD-DVD drive. DVD 16x drives are 25 - 30MB/s (dependent upon drive hardware), whereas the first HD-DVD drives weren't going to be able to push more than 20MB/s. That may have changed since CES, but this time last year, DVD9 was the clear choice for high speed data access.
 
well, we're inside a week from the release of the 360. FINALLY!! I have my pre-order at Harvies, and I'll be there at midnight in just less than a week to pick up my baby.

My gamertag is FLYINGFR1DGE, hope to see a few of u on Live soon!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top