Author: | Balu | (186 Articles)
Balu is tech-Gaming reporter @DNA, Bangalore. He started Game Bashing as a personal blog, a few years back. He writes on PC gaming, Gaming scene in India apart from doing game reviews. Feel free to mail author or tweet him
Stay tuned to this page for live updates on Xbox 360 arcade launch.
Media briefing will start in another 5 min (PR says so)
The video has started streaming now briefing yet to start
Xbox360 arcade configuration: Rs16990, with 7 bundled games, 250mb memory, wireless controller, HDMi interface, sounds similar to what I posted here.
Questions to follow presentation groan!
Event is being telecast from Zapak gameplex in Delhi
Jaspreet Bindra, Regional Director, E&D, Microsoft India, and Ashim Dass Mathur, National Mktg Manager speaking about Xbox Live and why its imp for MS
MS vision: Connected entertainment media centre PC+xbox360+TV
ahead of competition by 8mn.. whom are they talking about?
17mn people using Live service
What we pay for a game today is what a family pays for going for a movie (multiplex) once
Arcade as a platform: more party-family centric games
Watch movies/listen music etc etc
– Lot of blah blah get to the point! –
He is talking about how xbox360 is an entertainment platform
Rs17k for arcade a great value proposition? PS2 costs 7k dude!
Size of Ind market $100mn not imp for MS to get majority share but to grow the market as a whole
–F**k streaming site’s down!–
He is talking about how he could connect to netflix if he was in US =/
Q: are the stocks of arcade limited
A: no its not.. But limited outlets to sell them.. 100s in large cities
Q: 1. What’s the deal with retailers saying Arcades are in limited supply? 2. Why was the Pro console canned? Will Xbox 360s HDDs now be cheaper since the Pro isn’t available? Will you bring in the 120GB HDD and at what price? 3. Why isn’t the Classic games line-up being updated? 4. Why are Xbox LIVE subscription and MS Points prepaid cards so hard to find?
A: PRo not canned.. fewer available..
Q: Will HD prices come down
A: HD is costly than 6 months backs due to exchange rate so had an impact on pricing as far as 120 GB not offering in Asia.. might bring in near future
Q: Update of lineup
A: Can’t reveal now.. lot of competition also available
Q: Why are live subscription card hard to find
A: We had retail issue .. its changing changed infact.. with new console launch expect to see them back again.. if any shop is selling arcade is lunching and you dont see a card let us know
Q: Will MS make an extra effort to help develop India specific games for Xbox360? (Sony is already doing that) Y QUESTION =D
A: 1> Indians tend to prefer global content. want to see global social networking sites. People who play games here are similar to people in the west.
Only same quality as the western game will be made available here
no small quick games with inferior quality, that’s not what ind gamers want. we wont short change them
Q: Why no ad campaign for arcade?
We had to build a bran d when we launched cos there was no market for it.. we did it too.. effort now is not to build a brand but to offer them at right price. We will be investing in a lot of activity online
Q: But ghajini sold 10k+ and hanuman boy warrior is expected to sell around the same numbers.. (MY Q)
A: Console game is the richest experience you can get.. so there’s more going into it than a PC game.. Ghajini sold well so we are encouraged to expect more game sales in India
As far as hanuman lets see how it does in the market.. its an experiment.. far higher quality than other games when we do it
Q: Will prices of other Xbox models change with arcade
A: No change some models from the launch time still left
Q: How do you justify the price?
A: This s a present-gen console can’t compare it to 1st gen console (potshot at PS2 =D ) can’t compare HD TVS to CRT
No current gen console available for this price
Some of the component prices are out of our hand. We hope game prices come down to PC level. Main problem $ to Rs conversion rate. IF this stabilises will be available at a lower price
Q: Game line-up for India
A: 2009 is going to have a great line-up some god games planned for India
Q: People who bought the launch Xboxes will run out of their warranty by the end of this year, will they continue to receive support regardless of this?
A: Lot of warranties expiring this year. we will soon update you on this
Author: | Balu | (186 Articles)
Balu is tech-Gaming reporter @DNA, Bangalore. He started Game Bashing as a personal blog, a few years back. He writes on PC gaming, Gaming scene in India apart from doing game reviews. Feel free to mail author or tweet him