I know people have said that the current xbox still has plenty of life left in it and that the 360 has come along to soon, I believe that the xbox is till a very viable console and in a perfect world could of continued for another 18 months but I don't think Microsoft had any other option but to release the 360 now.
They had three option, release the 360 before the PS3, at the same time or after. Releasing after wouldn't be a good idea, a lot of people would of committed cash to buying a PS3 and wouldn't even contemplate buying another console. If they release at the same time then they force gamers into a choice between the PS3 and the 360. Even xbox fans who own both a PS2 and a xbox might side with the PS3. Only a small percentage of the people who buy consoles would buy both at launch. A far bigger percentage would buy both if they were released a decent time apart. Launching at the same time would mean the 360 would always trail the PS3.
So Microsoft's only option was to release the 360 before the PS3. They probably guesstimated that the PS3 would hit Japan in early to mid 2006 and hit the states for Christmas 2006. Now I get the impression that in Japan Christmas is big but not as big as it is in the USA and Europe in terms of a buying period. I think you can launch a console outside the Christmas period in Japan and still sell millions of consoles. But in the USA/Europe the best time to release a console is pre Christmas. So if MS assumed the PS3 would hit the states in Christmas 2006 that only gave them Christmas 2005 as a time frame to release the console.
I believe MS had no choice but to release their console now, they had to set a cut off point for the technology to get it on shelves for Christmas 2005. If this meant being slightly less powerful than the PS3 then so be it. I don't think this power difference will matter, by the time the PS3 launches with some games, the second generation of 360 will be launched and look very nice compared to PS3 1st gen games which by the sounds of it wont be utilising the cell technology to its full potential. And by the time the PS3 hits the USA it will be launching with mainly 1st gen PS3 games and the 360 will probably release some 3rd gen games which will probably out perform the PS3 graphically. Obviously the PS3 will catch up quickly with some awesome looking games but not at time of release.
With regards to the world wide release this is where Microsoft are in a unique situation. The majority of all previous consoles had the largest market share in Japan. Nintendo and sega in their hey day were big in the USA but just as big if not bigger in Japan. The xbox's biggest market is the states and Japan is very small. If they released the machine in Japan first it would p*ss of the USA and probably push a lot of people to the PS3. The console wouldn't make the big impact that MS need. Plus there would most likely be thousands of spare units sitting on shelves. So they have to hit the states first, but they realise how important Japan is, they need to have a market presence if the 360 is going to succeed. So that means Japan and the states at the same time. But then that would mark Europe down as a unimportant market and Europe is bigger than Japan for the xbox. Bit of a dilemma, they need to launch in all three territories at the same time. They probably weighed up the pro's and cons and thought it was better to have sold out signs every where and have people lusting over the 360 rather than people looking at the PS3 release date and waiting for that.
They had three option, release the 360 before the PS3, at the same time or after. Releasing after wouldn't be a good idea, a lot of people would of committed cash to buying a PS3 and wouldn't even contemplate buying another console. If they release at the same time then they force gamers into a choice between the PS3 and the 360. Even xbox fans who own both a PS2 and a xbox might side with the PS3. Only a small percentage of the people who buy consoles would buy both at launch. A far bigger percentage would buy both if they were released a decent time apart. Launching at the same time would mean the 360 would always trail the PS3.
So Microsoft's only option was to release the 360 before the PS3. They probably guesstimated that the PS3 would hit Japan in early to mid 2006 and hit the states for Christmas 2006. Now I get the impression that in Japan Christmas is big but not as big as it is in the USA and Europe in terms of a buying period. I think you can launch a console outside the Christmas period in Japan and still sell millions of consoles. But in the USA/Europe the best time to release a console is pre Christmas. So if MS assumed the PS3 would hit the states in Christmas 2006 that only gave them Christmas 2005 as a time frame to release the console.
I believe MS had no choice but to release their console now, they had to set a cut off point for the technology to get it on shelves for Christmas 2005. If this meant being slightly less powerful than the PS3 then so be it. I don't think this power difference will matter, by the time the PS3 launches with some games, the second generation of 360 will be launched and look very nice compared to PS3 1st gen games which by the sounds of it wont be utilising the cell technology to its full potential. And by the time the PS3 hits the USA it will be launching with mainly 1st gen PS3 games and the 360 will probably release some 3rd gen games which will probably out perform the PS3 graphically. Obviously the PS3 will catch up quickly with some awesome looking games but not at time of release.
With regards to the world wide release this is where Microsoft are in a unique situation. The majority of all previous consoles had the largest market share in Japan. Nintendo and sega in their hey day were big in the USA but just as big if not bigger in Japan. The xbox's biggest market is the states and Japan is very small. If they released the machine in Japan first it would p*ss of the USA and probably push a lot of people to the PS3. The console wouldn't make the big impact that MS need. Plus there would most likely be thousands of spare units sitting on shelves. So they have to hit the states first, but they realise how important Japan is, they need to have a market presence if the 360 is going to succeed. So that means Japan and the states at the same time. But then that would mark Europe down as a unimportant market and Europe is bigger than Japan for the xbox. Bit of a dilemma, they need to launch in all three territories at the same time. They probably weighed up the pro's and cons and thought it was better to have sold out signs every where and have people lusting over the 360 rather than people looking at the PS3 release date and waiting for that.