CES: Gates keynote

By Patrick Garratt Published 8 January, 2007

IPTV for 360, 10.4m sold, Live on Vista this year.

Microsoft uber-king Bill Gates delivered a CES keynote in Las Vegas this morning that kept gaming at its core and showed an extended vision for connectivity between Xbox 360 and Windows Vista.

Making several announcements - including an IPTV service for Xbox 360 and Live play between Vista and 360, both of which will be made available this year - Gates and Microsoft's entertainment head, Robbie Bach, delivered yet another compelling update to the corporation's involvement in gaming.

Gates in your face

After queuing for over two hours to get a seat at the speech, attendees were greeted with an intro movie, during which Gears of War was shown prominently, as was a group of "youths" using the Xbox 360 DVD remote.

'CES: Gates keynote' Screenshot 1

Some of Gates' speech was performed in semaphore.

Gates came on to a storm of camera flash, the scene suddenly reminiscent of the chaos everyone in the room endured to get through the door. Sweeping platitudes and reams of figures about the success of the PC and Windows finally gave way to a hands-on with Vista, which launches on 30th January.

A Vista feature called Windows Live became the first application to hint at the way games have been integrated into the new version of the OS. Using the Xbox 360 controller, we were flown around Las Vegas on a fully 3D modelled map reached using Windows Live through a link for the Hotel Bellagio in the new version of Word. The controller can be plugged into any Vista PC to play any Vista game, apparently.

A few video desktops and digital photo applications later, the next mention of gaming was in conjunction with HP MediaSmart Server, a home data networking system. Literally a mention. It hooks up to Zune as well. Like, cool.

Bach to the future

Then Gates brought out Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment devices division and perennial favourite of 360-lovers. Mobile, music and games are his bag, said Bill. Bach blasted on about Zune and mobile phones, finally arrived at gaming. He started with Games for Windows, saying Vista "will revitalise gaming for" the platform. He reckoned 200 million people per month play games on Windows.

'CES: Gates keynote' Screenshot 2

10.4 million units ought to keep him in a job.

"One of the cool things about Games for Windows is that, while it's for hardcore gamers, it's for casual gamers too," he said. He showed a video to prove it.

AOE III The Warchiefs, Supreme Commander, Shadowrun, Alan Wake, Spinworld, Luxor 2, Bioshock, Flight Simulator X, Bliss Island, a new Train Simulator, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, World in Conflict, Hellgate: London, Company of Heroes, a PC version of Geometry Wars, Lego Star Wars 2, Halo 2, Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures and Crysis all got an airing. None too shabby.

Then the meat. Bach spat the words: 10.4 million consoles sold worldwide by December 31, 2006, he said, the machine now sporting 160 titles in 37 countries. Hitting the 10 million mark before the end of 2006, as they said they would, is big news, and he certainly knows it.

"We're setting records every step of the way for a console at this stage of its lifecycle," he said. And with over 2.7 million copies of Gears of War sold, "That title is now a Halo-like franchise," he added, claiming more than 300 titles will be available for the machine before the end of 2007.

Moving onto Xbox Live, Bach claimed the service now has 5 million members, and that it's the most popular network service on TV.

Living the dream

He demonstrated Live on Windows. That's "Live on Windows". A nice lady called Lisa turned up and played a game of UNO with an Xbox 360 controller on a Vista-running laptop.

"It's drop dead simple," she said.

Live looks pretty much the same on Vista as it does on 360. We saw a Friends list, and Lisa found a guy called Albert playing Geometry Wars on Xbox 360 (he's sitting in a "lounge" on the stage). Live will hit Vista this summer, says Bach.

There was more, specifically the HD-DVD add-on drive and Xbox Live video. He pushed Media Center and how it can link to Xbox 360, and showed slides of partners offering downloadable video for Live video. Lisa demoed it using the DVD remote, downloading Superman Returns in high definition.

They showed IPTV running on a 360. "This is going to be the next generation of channel surfing," said Albert, and showed browsing through hundreds of channels. He took on a gaming invite for Gears of War while watching TV, and pointed out that he can chat to his friend through his headset while they both watch TV. Any way you look at it, that's pretty cool.

"This is everything I want," said Albert. "It's all in one box. It's all on Xbox 360."

IPTV will launch on Xbox 360 "Holiday 2007".

Gates came back out, but before anyone can stop him, he's off about cars and futuristic homes. He demoed voice and touch-screen technology in a kitchen. He shows off live mobile stuff standing next to a dummy bus stop.

"Because I'm so used to bus stops," he smiles. There's a low chuckle. Night, Bill.

Hasta la Vist… sorry, that's unfair

Microsoft looked brutally confident at CES tonight, and those Vista and 360 announcements should be genuinely exciting for gamers. Also highly significant is the 10.4 million sales figure Bach bounced around the stage, and in terms of gaming, it's doubtful anyone will be talking about much else at CES over the next three days.

All eyes now will turn to the Vista launch for both business and home users and gamers in general, and we should get a much better look at the new Windows this week. Lucky us, huh?

Picture of Patrick.

About Patrick Garratt

Read more articles from Patrick by visiting the Patrick Garratt archive page.

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Comments (82) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Arwin #1 5 years ago

    10.4 million *shipped* mind you, not sold. ;)

  • MadMirko #2 5 years ago

    Wasn't that along the lines of

    - When Sony says "sold" they mean produced
    - When Microsoft says "sold" they mean sold to retailers
    - When Nintendo says "sold" they mean sold to consumers

    ?

    All in all, you're better of only trusting more or less independent third parties for such figures.
    Edited by 2 at 08/01/07 @ 09:01

  • Garulon #3 5 years ago

    Nope. They said "SOLD" They'd SHIPPED 10m consoles way back at the end of November.

  • lambtron #4 5 years ago

    Regardless of whether its sold shipped or melted it doesn't really matter. What is clear is that Sony is in 3rd place in terms of sales. I don't expect that to remain the case for very long but 10 million units is a big headstart in anyone's book.

  • MadMirko #5 5 years ago

    vgcharts.org is pretty nice, too.
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 09:07

  • lambtron #6 5 years ago

    Ooft look at those DS sales figures!

  • richardiox #7 5 years ago

    So no mention of the rumoured "Zephyr" Xbox Mark II? I take it no announcement pretty much means that if it is real then we wont see it until second half of 2007.

  • Garulon #8 5 years ago

    "and Sony and Microsoft both mean shipped to retailers when they say sold"

    Isn't this the same thing, what with JIT and everything? Or do you think there are 8m 360s sitting on store shelves?

  • MadMirko #9 5 years ago

    vgcharts.org is even worse than nexgenwars.

    None of these sites were set up as a public service.

    Care to explain that? What is a "public service" if not a site on the internet, and what does that have to do with anything?

    /confused

  • Steroyd #10 5 years ago

    Sony doesn't use the word sold only shipped.

    Well maybe E3 is an exception to that rule i'll have to double check.

  • Tonka #11 5 years ago

    claiming more than 300 titles will be available for the machine before the end of 2007

    This is the important bit

  • TheMoonRat #12 5 years ago

    How is 1 game a franchise? (gears of war)

  • lambtron #13 5 years ago

    Cos they are probably already about to release GeOW lunchboxes, cereals, pyjamas ... ;)

  • MaskedDave #14 5 years ago

    Er... surely the retailers have to *buy* the console from Microsoft? So why does it matter if they might not have all gone to customers? They've already got the money, which is the whole point.

  • MadMirko #15 5 years ago

    Yes, retailers buy consoles from Microsoft. But they will stop doing so if consumers don't take them off their hands. Also, the "installed base" that is so crucial to possible developers is those consoles sold to consumers, not retailers. That's why it's also interesting to know how many consoles are actually in a living room somewhere.

  • AcidSnake #16 5 years ago

    Gears of War the colouring book!
    Gears of War the flamethrower!...The kids love that...

  • Garulon #17 5 years ago

    "Yes, retailers buy consoles from Microsoft. But they will stop doing so if consumers don't take them off their hands."

    So how many 360s do you reckon are "sitting on shelves"? Do you think retailers are just enjoying having all that captial tied up, or are you willing to admit the lag between being bought by a retailer and bought by a customer isn't more than a week or so?

  • asphaltcowboy #18 5 years ago

    Cos they are probably already about to release GeOW lunchboxes, cereals, pyjamas ... ;)

    I'd buy them!

    anyway, great news for MS and nice to see someone actually hitting a challenging target for a change!

  • MadMirko #19 5 years ago

    So how many 360s do you reckon are "sitting on shelves"? Do you think retailers are just enjoying having all that captial tied up, or are you willing to admit the lag between being bought by a retailer and bought by a customer isn't more than a week or so?

    How would I know (or you for that matter)? If you take the mean between vgcharts and nexgenwars and substract it from MS figures, that would be 1,5 mil. on shelves worldwide.

    I'm not "admitting", as I'm not arguing. Don't feel threatened. :)

  • lambtron #20 5 years ago

    Wonka, if you had ever had anything to do with Sony software you would not wish for a Sony OS!

  • Garulon #21 5 years ago

    "How would I know (or you for that matter)? "

    Well you're the one setting yourself up as some kind of retail guru.

    "If you take the mean between vgcharts and nexgenwars and substract it from MS figures, that would be 1,5 mil. on shelves worldwide. "

    That's really really unscientific though, and it'd mean either retailers absolutely suck at JIT or the 360 is selling 1.5 m consoles every two weeks, right?

  • lennon #22 5 years ago

    Surely all that matters is that a good game well marketed (read that how you will) can sell nearly 3 million copies in a couple of months on a single platform.

  • AcidSnake #23 5 years ago

    Does the exact figure matter that much?
    What if they sold 9.99 million? Would that mean they failed and are teh doomed?

    No, X360 has stunned everyone with these numbers, however I think a big part is due to errors/lateness of the competition...
    IMO as always...

  • MadMirko #24 5 years ago

    Well you're the one setting yourself up as some kind of retail guru.

    Wow. How did I do that?

    That's really really unscientific though, and it'd mean either retailers absolutely suck at JIT or the 360 is selling 1.5 m consoles every two weeks, right?

    JIT is more of a manufacturer thing, as a retailer can't really know when / if someone walks into the store to buy something. And Microsoft only dreams of 1.5 mil consoles every two weeks. :)

  • Blerk #25 5 years ago

    Bill was standing like that and nobody remembered to bring the cross and the nails? Man, what a wasted opportunity!
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 10:00

  • MadMirko #26 5 years ago

    Does the exact figure matter that much?

    Nope, 10 mil more or less is nice, and the result of good timing on MS' part.

  • J*C #27 5 years ago

    Very nice bill blah blah....blah blah blah, did you forget anything bill? like maybe HDMI for the 360, bigger hard drive maybe no? fuck off then.

  • Garulon #28 5 years ago

    "Wow. How did I do that? "

    "- When Sony says "sold" they mean produced
    - When Microsoft says "sold" they mean sold to retailers
    - When Nintendo says "sold" they mean sold to consumers"

  • lambtron #29 5 years ago

    @Wonka

    And were these programs, by any chance running on Windows? I was talking more about using Sony software that was written purely by Sony, (i.e. libraries, device drivers etc). I've had horrific experiences with those.

  • faselei #30 5 years ago

    I've changed my mind about MS a little bit... windows isn't too bad... BUT the EU or another trading regulator needs to stop them pushing the whole link the xbox to your pc thing and your pc to your telly and your xbox to your dvd players and your kettle to your pc thing. Its not fair competition, and in the long run its not good for any of us.

  • MadMirko #31 5 years ago

    @Garulon

    My point there was that the parent company of a console will usually quote a figure that looks most favourable, the intention is to make your console look like a hot item (duh, that's why I said "All in all, you're better of only trusting more or less independent third parties for such figures. ";). The whole Sony "shipped" numbers where around the news, as well as the Nintendo and the Microsoft habit, that is not something I as a "guru" know.

  • superdelphinus #32 5 years ago

    Whatever you think of them i reckon Microsoft really look like they are nailing stuff at the moment. Still not convinced it's going to be this generation cycle where everyone buys into the cross platform networking stuff though

  • AcidSnake #33 5 years ago

    Umm EG, just silently checking...
    But what are your plans for that exploding thread over there?!

    Couldn't you just announce you have but one key and you lost it or something?
    Sorry to have gone off topic, but try posting anything over there, it's washed away in seconds...

  • Garulon #34 5 years ago

    "My point there was that the parent company of a console will usually quote a figure that looks most favourable"

    Well their most favourable figure is the number of 360s they've shipped to their main distribution centres, like Sony's figure, but they didn't use that. I think Microsoft here are trying to give the most accurate figure they actually have visibility on, and one which pretty much reflects reality (give or take a lag of a few weeks).

    BTW if you're right about Ninty how on EARTH do Ninty know each retailer's sell-through figures? NPD take WEEKS to figure that out and N were bragging on a million sold back in early Dec.

  • Kostabi #35 5 years ago

    I can't believe you've all brushed over the most significant announcement...

    UNO on Vista!

    The Vista/360 connectivity certainly has me interested and if it's good will mean upgrading to Vista a lot sooner than I had planned.

  • thefjk #36 5 years ago

    WOW... M$ is ruling this gaming thing!

  • neuroniky #37 5 years ago

    *clap clap clap*

    One year ago, I would have never thought of getting a 360. The console didn't have anything really that interesting for me... and all in all the only thing that looked like it could interest me in this "next gen" was the then unnamed and unknown Nintendo Revolution. Personally, I thought gaming for gamers was almost dead.

    The 360 proved me wrong on a lot of fronts, and managed to become a very interesting palatform with a lot of great games both for hardcore gamers and non hardcore gamers... and selling a ton of machines in the meantime (and, yes, "sold" for a producer means sold to retailers).

    So, good work M$oft.

  • rhinoxious #38 5 years ago

    "JIT is more of a manufacturer thing, as a retailer can't really know when / if someone walks into the store to buy something."

    True, but large retailers like GAME can estimate very precisely how much stock they will need over a given period (launch craziness aside of course). The stock rooms of most GAME stores are very small and having a lot of a extra consoles about just wouldn't be possible in many branches.
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 10:52

  • SeesThroughAll #39 5 years ago

    Having used a number of Sony programs, they are well designed, work well and do a grand job.

    Sony rips off Open Source software (i.e., uses source code often without giving due credit). Even the OS that runs on most of their appliances is usually based on FreeBSD.

  • LOLLERS #40 5 years ago

    I can't believe 3/4 of this comments thread is just arguing over sales figures!

    Whats this IPTV thing all about then, do you have to pa a subscription, what can you download, is it an alternative to Sky+, needs more info and less irrelevant arguments!

  • Garulon #41 5 years ago

    "Whats this IPTV thing all about then, do you have to pa a subscription, what can you download, is it an alternative to Sky+, needs more info and less irrelevant arguments! "

    IPTV is basically telly over yer broadband network. You need something like a 5MB+ broadband connection for it (and way more for HD), but it allows personalised two-way content - for example, you could tailor a news channel to show the stories you're more interested in rather than wading through the whole thing. It's good, but we're going to need much thicker broadband pipes before it takes over Sky or Freeview.

  • GingerNathan #42 5 years ago

    Looking at the reported figures from all regions I very much doubt they've sold ten million yet, in terms of consoles in the hands of customers which is important as shops will only stock a certain amount thus if Microsoft start to ship more then demand then you get bottle necking of stock. I don't know about any of you but I haven't seen any Xbox360 Sold Out signs for a long time. :/

    But to be fair it doesn't really matter whether Microsoft have sold Eight million, ten million, or twenty million, only time will tell how much of an achievement that was. If in two years time Microsoft are spanking Sony and Nintendo in terms of hardware sales then the decision to launch early was critical in amassing a head start on their competition. If however the reverse of that happens Microsoft will be slated for rushing into the market too soon, and criticised for not capitalising on twelve months without any next gen competition.

    For now I'm working off the rough values that Microsoft have shipped ten mil. Nintendo have shipped four mil wii's, and Sony have shipped somewhere along the lines of two million PS3's. With only the Wii that's really sold out, whereas the other two you can find easily (except Europe of course - cheers Sony).

  • Kostabi #43 5 years ago

    I don't get why people are trying to call foul over this 10 million sold/shipped malarky. Microsoft know they would get called on bullshit by any number of agencies that work out the numbers worldwide, so there's nothing to be gained from outright lying.

    If they've shipped 10 million to retailers then there's no reason to doubt that well over 90% of those will have sold on to customers by now.

    Like someone else said, there are more interesting things from this keynote to talk about than debating sales figures...

  • Wobble #44 5 years ago

    wonka wrote: In the back of my mind i'm secretly hoping Sony are developing an operating system.

    That put shivers up my spine... can you imagine a more concentrated source of pure evil? *gnnnh* They could use your webcam to check that you were not violating any digital rights at the other side of the room...

    /back on topic

    Have they mentioned whether all the current Media center to 360 functionality will be available on vista? It seems logical that they would do this, but is seemed strange that they mentioned media center seperately to vista in that presentation.

  • chupachups #45 5 years ago

    "PSP figures are pretty nice too - especially for a first effort into the market. So why is everyone going on about how "PSP is t3h d00m3d!!!111!!"?"

    Because Sony and various tech journalists hyped it up so much that people expected it to be an instant market-dominating runaway success like the PS1 and PS2.

    If you believed the hype, the reality seemed a let-down: the PSP was outsold by the DS, which many of the same journalists had described as a clunky ugly white elephant with pathetic outdated graphics and a novelty control system.

    Sony's image problems are at least half their own making, they hype things up so much that when they don't reach their impossible goals it seems like a total failure. They really need to rein in their PR people, stop building up people's expectations on things they know they don't have the ability to deliver.

  • Garulon #46 5 years ago

    "For now I'm working off the rough values that Microsoft have shipped ten mil. Nintendo have shipped four mil wii's, and Sony have shipped somewhere along the lines of two million PS3's. "

    Sony have announced 1m PS3s in NA; working on Japan's data it looks like they've sold something like 400,000 in Japan (optimistically) - this puts the PS3 pretty much neck-and-neck with the 360 which sold 1.5m worldwide by January.

    I very, _very_ much doubt Wii has sold beyond 2m yet. Anyone got N numbers?

  • Kelduum #47 5 years ago

    Some of Gates' speech was performed in semaphore.

    Best. Caption. Ever!

  • Zane #48 5 years ago

    I was dissapointed with Xbox, but they've rectified a lot of mistakes this time round.

    The hardware still feels like it was rushed so they could be first, but it's still impressive.

    They're gonna be threatening this time round. All they need now to be dominant is a turnaround in Japan.

  • thinktank #49 5 years ago

    Uh this sold to retailer, sold to customers nonsense is dull and reeks of fanboy insecurity.

    Business don't buy in stock that isn't going to sell, read the opening chapter in any business or economics literature, it will probably be called "supply and demand".

    Units solds to retailers are as good as sold to customers, can we stop this now?

    I thought bill recently retired and gave billions of $$ to charity or was that one of my wierd dreams.

  • chupachups #50 5 years ago

    "I very, _very_ much doubt Wii has sold beyond 2m yet. Anyone got N numbers?"

    Worldwide it may well have, it's already sold over 800,000 in Japan alone:

    <a href="http://www.the -magicbox.com/topten.htm
    ">http://www.the -magicbox.com/topten.htm
    </a>

    Add in the US and European sales (where it's sold out pretty much everywhere) and you almost certainly get a figure over 2 million, which puts it ahead of both the 360 and PS3 launch period sales. Bear in mind though that launch sales aren't very meaningful.

    One major factor in Nintendo's favour is that the Wii is incredibly cheap and easy to manufacture, there's no new technology in it (the controller uses old technology in a new way), and Nintendo makes a profit on every sale so they don't have to worry about production costs as much as Sony. As long as they can sell every Wii they produce, they can ramp up production as high as they want.
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 12:33

  • Nomgle #51 5 years ago

    > wonka 08-Jan-07 09:49:02
    > Vista, i'm sticking with Xp. I've no intentions of an upgrade,
    > other than to an Apple Mac. In the back of my mind i'm
    > secretly hoping Sony are developing an operating system.

    COMEDY GOLD !

    Give that man a hand !

  • GingerNathan #52 5 years ago

    "I very, _very_ much doubt Wii has sold beyond 2m yet. Anyone got N numbers?"

    Confirmed sales of 800K+ in Japan, and NPD (US sales) of the Christmas sales of 1.8Million, plus strong European, plus other regions (Australia and Canada) means you're very, _very_much mistaken. :p
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 12:44

  • AtomicBanana #53 5 years ago

    'COMEDY GOLD !

    Give that man a hand !'

    Got quite a chuckle out of that myself!

  • Jabbaa #54 5 years ago

    who cares exactly how many units everyone has sold? Surely the most interesting thing announced here is the IPTV thing which, due to the BT logo being in the presentation, means that later this year we should be able to get BTVision accounts through a 360 (access to loads of telly and almost every premiership game, with HD coming later). This means that the photos doing the rounds at the mo of 'zephyr', the 360 with HDMI and a 120Gb HDD, are bang on. Now everyone can go mental about how microsoft have screwed early adopters by not giving us HDMI etc..... Personally not bothered, HDMI socket on my telly is in use already, had to use component anyway and it looks great. Upgrade to a bigger hard drive, fine, was expecting that anyway - thats why they made it detachable in the first place. Just hope they get a more competitive price on this one 12Gb - £70 -> 120Gb £700? ;)

  • Kostabi #55 5 years ago

    Agreed Jabbaa, the IPTV tie up with BT has me more than a little excited (yay for being a nerd).

    I like Microsoft's approach of expanding what the 360 can do, especially in the case of IPTV as it saves me from having to buy additional equipment (hopefully). Microsoft are welcome to my living room if the 360 can do everything they promise.

  • glaeken #56 5 years ago

    Yeah I don't mind about not having HDMI as long as they offer an upgrade path to the larger HD.

  • weaselrat #57 5 years ago

    either way.
    Vista and 360 together. The PC/Console battle everyone has waited years for. Talk about sticking it to Sony, this could well be the death blow for this generation at least. (doesn't know whether to cancel his PS3 order and stick with his 360 and Wii????? nahhhh!)
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 13:24

  • Bitkari #58 5 years ago

    I'm guessing IPTV is only for North America then?

    I doubt that anyone the UK would actually be able to use IPTV for more than a couple of days per month before their crappy DSL provider whacks a download cap on.

  • MadMirko #59 5 years ago

    Talk about sticking it to Sony, this could well be the death blow for this generation at least

    My prediction is, we won't see the death of anyone in this generation.

    What we will see is Microsoft and Nintendo doing better than last gen, Sony about as well as everybody else (or, in other words, much worse than last gen). Developers, the big ones like Square Enix, will try to not have a dominant player ever again to achieve a situation where console manufacturers need to compete for developing studios. See DQ abandoning the Playstation.

    This will be an exciting generation, much more so than the last. Can't wait. :)
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 13:35

  • kangarootoo #60 5 years ago

    "That title is now a Halo-like franchise,"

    Saying GEoW is like Halo, is the same as saying the BMX I had when I was 12 is like Streethawk.

    :)

  • Kostabi #61 5 years ago

    I doubt that anyone the UK would actually be able to use IPTV for more than a couple of days per month before their crappy DSL provider whacks a download cap on.

    BT will have that covered in some kind of subscription I would imagine, there's no way they would apply a bandwidth cap to that kind of service as noone would bother to sign up.

    Of course, it probably all relies on you taking BT as your ISP so it's win/win for them.

  • Xerx3s #62 5 years ago

    He reckoned 200 million people per month play games on Windows.

    So solitaire is still as popular at work as ever then? :)

    Doesn't sony have something to say at CES?

  • SeesThroughAll #63 5 years ago

    wonka wrote: In the back of my mind i'm secretly hoping Sony are developing an operating system.

    That put shivers up my spine... can you imagine a more concentrated source of pure evil?

    Yes, I can.

  • Jabbaa #64 5 years ago

    "BT will have that covered in some kind of subscription I would imagine, there's no way they would apply a bandwidth cap to that kind of service as noone would bother to sign up.

    Of course, it probably all relies on you taking BT as your ISP so it's win/win for them."

    [link url=http://www.btvision.bt.co m
    ]http://www.btvision.bt.co m
    [/link]
    I work at BT, they are really hyping this up there at the moment. You get a Vbox which is a freeview tuner and an 80Gb PVR. The apart from freeview, which you wouldn't get over the 360 (no ariel input) all programmes are pay-per-view or season ticket system there isnt an overall subscription fee. At the moment you need BTBroadabnd and a BTHomeHub for your Vbox to connect to. If you were to use an Xbox instead of a Vbox I dont see how they could require you to only run LIVE through BTBroadband and equipment without Microsoft basically completely changing how you are allowed onto LIVE, and stopping a lot of potential customers who are on cable/other ISPs. Therefore I'd assume it would work like the videomarketplace in the US and you would just choose between Microsoft vids or the BT service vids. Hopefully between the 2 of them they should be able to splash some cash and get some decent HD programming thats worth watching, its not like we're talking about 2 cash strapped start-ups here.

  • redd #65 5 years ago

    So, just out of curiosity, how are Internet connections over there in the UK?

    Im from Portugal and have a 24mb down/640k up (downstream actually maxes out at 19mb) adsl line for 32 euros a month, telephone subscritption included. There's still only one IPTV operator in activity tho.

  • Xerx3s #66 5 years ago

    Yes, I can.

    No, the us gov doesn't make os stuff for public use.

    20mbit is pretty much standard these days for 20 or 30 euro.

    As for the HD speeds, people seem to forget that ms recently developed a HD encryption codec based on vc1 that is extremely efficient. I guess that it somehow comes into play with this as well.

  • urban #67 5 years ago

    vista isn't exciting, its daunting, it's nasty.

  • Machetazo #68 5 years ago

    "Then Gates brought out Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment devices division and perennial favourite of 360-lovers."

    You, what... since when? That's Peter Moore, you wally.
    Robbie Bach's Microsoft's answer to Reggie. Except he's no good. I can't stand Micro-Reggie's voice. (Salesman no...Away with you!) Send in your less creepy, mildly less obsessed cousin, and enough of your silliness. :p
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/07 @ 17:18

  • lennon #69 5 years ago

    Installed Vista today. Very impressed so far.

    /Waits for Patch Wednesday to see what happens.

  • cyber_nicco #70 5 years ago

    @MadMirko

    vgcharts is total crap. I mean, they are the MOST unreliable source for real data.

    Come on, man...

  • cyber_nicco #71 5 years ago

    Wow, some of you are out of your mind.

    The 360 sold extremely well this holiday - outselling the other two platforms. This is generally not disputed. Sure, there were supply issues of course, but that is not the point. Some of you would have us believe 360's are languishing on store shelves as stupid retailers overfill their inventory (perhaps in some plot with Microsoft?). Pfft.

    Amazon crowned the 360 as their hottest holiday product this year. Nuff said...

  • Tomster #72 5 years ago

    @ Wonka

    Oh, you mean that DRM rootkit? Or their proprietary Connect software?

    Sony is not a software company, and they're awful at integration, even between their own products... remember how they created a CD protection system a few years back that blocked VAIO PCs from playing Sony Music CDs? Or how they sued their own online radio service (Launch Media)?

    IMHO they'd have no interest in creating an OS that works with anything other than Sony products, so they'd just create another walled garden that nobody wants.

  • YourMessageHere #73 5 years ago

    Live on PC...we already have the internet, you know. It's bigger and better, and a lot of it isn't the exclusive domain of microsoft. Live is, after all, basically an attempt to emulate a streamlined/crippled version of the internet on a console, isn't it?

    Looks like microsoft really want the 360 to do what a bunch of stuff most people already have already does. So the guy can talk to his friend over the headset while watching IPTV, can he? That's AMAZING. Almost as good as using the phone and the telly at the same time - and anyone who's had a phone call while watching the telly knows how craply the two go together. I'd rather talk OR watch the telly, thanks, i like concentrating. He can recieve a gaming invitation while watching telly too! Like being phoned up and asked "want to play a game?" then (and going "no, I'm watching telly";). Technically it's probably impressive; practical it's not.

    Matfink posted this

    [link url=http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.t xt
    ]http://ww w.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pu...[/link]

    in the "Year of the PC" comments thread (hopefully he'll not mind my recycling it). Important considerations for anyone interested in Vista.

  • Pablo2k5 #74 5 years ago

    Vista sounds like a half decend OS as a replacement for XP I suppose but all this Xbox 360 IPTV and Vista Live Services sounds very... *meh*
    Just *meh*...
    ...and here's me thinking an Xbox is for games! Silly me.

  • Xerx3s #75 5 years ago

    Live is, after all, basically an attempt to emulate a streamlined/crippled version of the internet on a console, isn't it?

    If you want a serious answer to that, I suggest that you actually trial it.

  • Lyingarden #76 5 years ago

    I like Bills Jesus pose on that picture. I'm just waiting for Jarvis Cocker to show him his arse.

  • smelly #77 5 years ago

    So right.. The 360 is just an excuse to standardise the pc gaming platform so that eventually people will have to license to make games for pc, and pay msoft a royalty..

    Thus killing off the shareware scene in one foul swoop too.

    .. At least that's my prediction...

  • smelly #78 5 years ago

    HANG ON!!!

    ONLY 10 million shipped??? The wii has ALREADY SOLD almost half that!!!

    (apparently)

    [link url=http://www.vgcharts.o rg/?Wii=4m
    ]http://www.vgcharts.o rg/?Wii=4m
    [/link]

  • Inflatable #79 5 years ago

    @smelly, I think that vgcharts.org site is way off on it's numbers, because I doubt a company like MS that's on the stockexchange would blundly lie about salesfigures, so when they say 10.4 sold I tend to belive them..

  • smelly #80 5 years ago

    Yeah.. that's going on announced figures.. Msoft are obviously more up-to-date. And obviously the ps3/wii figures may be more than shown also.

    But even taking that into account.. 10 million 360's to 4 million wii's... The 360 has been out for OVER a year, the wii has been out for 2 months. That SURELY cant be a good sign for msoft? Or maybe a good sign for nintendo?

    (wouldnt bank on it tho, cube sold loads to start with too)

  • Vin #81 5 years ago

    Some sad, scared little manchildren in this thread.

  • captain-future #82 5 years ago

    10.4m sold/shipped/out-of-sight (don't get me started) is amazing, I was sure they couldn't hit that mark - probably Gears of War helped a lot.

    5m xbl users is much more interesting though, that's 5m silver accounts and the bigger question is how much opted for gold accounts? (my guess 2m).