Xbox 360 prototype worker switches to Sony PS3
Filed under: Gaming, Sony Playstation 3, Xbox 360 | By: Daniel
Posted on: July 22, 2008 | 54 Comments
We all know that the Xbox 360 hardware has had more problems than the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 combined, RROD has become a joke and also public debate of why it happened.
The Xbox 360 does a lot right on the software front, but many news sites have long guessed that Microsoft rushed the 360 to beat the Sony PS3 to the market.
Today we have had some information sent in from someone who goes by the name of “Chris” and claims to of worked on the original Xbox 360 prototypes back in 2004.
They say that Microsoft’s biggest mistake was launching the 360 a year earlier than the PS3 and it’s this reason why there have been so many hardware issues.
The thing that jumps out at me, as I’ve noticed since launch, is that the PS3 costs much more than $400, $500, even $600 to produce, yet Sony still sells the console for less, and it’s all for the consumer.
I actually worked with Microsoft on the original Xbox 360 prototypes back in 2004, and, despite the accumulated cost of the hardware, Microsoft increased the price of retail sale above the production cost.
By the 360’s launch, I was a bit ashamed to see that the Xbox 360 was so expensive even though it was cheap to produce, and that’s when several other Microsoft devs in my group and I were surprised to see that the PS3 launched at only $600.
As a developer, I was really curious about each console’s hardware, and if we had put the Playstation 3’s hardware in our original Xbox 360 prototype, it would have cost well over $700.
The Playstation 3 consists of well over $750, but I’m amazed that Sony can sell the console for $400. In my opinion, that was a very smart move on Sony’s behalf.
Due to work terms, I’ve been prohibited from saying this until early 2008, but Microsoft severely rushed development of the 360, and we had a very short time window to work with in order to launch the 360 a year earlier. That was our, and Microsoft’s, biggest mistake.
As a result, the Xbox 360 has major hardware issues. I switched over to the PS3 when my Xbox 360, the console that I helped develop, RROD’d for the 4th time.
If what Chris says were true then it would explain all the Xbox 360 problems since launch, feel free to leave a comment below or read more Xbox 360 news.
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How about doing some journalism and finding a real story instead of quoting some idiot claiming to be a M$ employee, if you can’t tell that he’s a fake then perhaps you would be interested in buying a nice litte beachfront property from me in Switzerland?
What is funny is that your comments sound like some ps3 fanboy. You are posting anonymous, what is the difference if you posted this years ago or today?
What is really funny to me is that Sony losses total $3.3 billion since the launch of the PS3. The head of the PS3 division got fired quietly last year.
The microsoft division that includes Xbo360 is showing a $426 million gain. This is important considering they lost an estimated $1billion on the red ring of death.
Sony may never see a profit for the PS3. They would have to sell 55 million units of software at $60.00 to just break even! Assuming they get 100% of the profit for the sell of the game. (they dont)
Finally Microsoft teamed up with Netflix. Media over the net is the wave of the future. DVD’s, CD’s are on the way out. This was a great move by Microsoft.
10,000 videos on demand at one click of the button? All for $15.99 a month??
The ps3 has no shot to compete.
Daniel. I know it sucks getting comments of people having apop about your work. However, there’s nothing new in this stoy - and nothing that couldn’t be found in Dean Takahashi’s blog posts. In fact, there’s no inside information at all.
I can tell you now, that Microsoft only makes money on the Elite model of Xbox 360, and I don’t work at Microsoft.
What you have here, is a guy that never worked for Microsoft - or if he did, he’s not really talking in detail at all.
A) Sony’s cost for an 80GB PS3 is approximately $600 currently, and to launch at well under your cost price isn’t a smart move - it’s something you need to do to stay in the game. If this guy is really from Sony, previously of Microsoft, then maybe he should spit some numbers and facts out. I know a few - perhaps I’ll go and write somewhere that I worked for Microsoft, but actually let out some really info.
Anyway Dan. story not good.
I’ve had three 360s RROD on me, too.
My mom recently decided to buy Rockband. She doesn’t have a console. We ruled out Wii and PS2 because no downloadable tracks, leaving 360 and PS3. I recommended she pay more, and get it on the PS3.
I don’t own a PS3, and never even owned a PS2. I bought 100+ Xbox games, and a 360 at launch. I think the 360 has the best controller ever made, Arcade is fantastic, and the 360 has the best game library. But I could never in good conscience recommend the 360 to anyone. The hardware is complete shit; noisy as hell and ridiculously failure prone. If I could have all my 360 games on the PS3, I’d ditch this platform in a heartbeat and never look back.
I wonder what the PS4 and XBOX 720 are going to cost?
$700? $1000?
funny thing is, computers are steadily falling in price and consoles are getting more expensive…what a flip-flop!
good thing is, the PS4 won’t have a new dvd system next time, so maybe it won’t bve so damn expensive at launch!
Hopefully Microsoft has fixed the problem with the elite systems and the new smaller chip models coming soon…
“I can tell you now, that Microsoft only makes money on the Elite model of Xbox 360, and I don’t work at Microsoft.”
Thanks for pointing out how ineligible you are to comment.on this.
I’d rather listen to a former employee then someone pontificating without any references or proof to back up his statements.
I don’t need Chris to tell me that, I’ve suspected it for a long time. Personally I think that is almost certainly the case.
You just need to look at the PS3 sales since launch vs the 360’s sales for the same period - the PS3 has sold approx 3.5M more globally than the 360, despite a lot of things working in favour of the 360 and against the PS3.
Had they have launched together the 360 would now be dead last in the console ware, and MS would be seriously considering pulling out of the console market altogether.
However MS knowlingly released a flawed producted too early at the expense of functionality, longevity, and reliability (and at the expense original Xbox owners since they killed that straight away - there’s a lot of PS2 owners thankful Sony didn’t take the same greedy approach).
You can see why they did it though, there entire strategy and marketing/PR spin is based over this perceived lead in the console market, and they do a wonderful job the masking all the negatives like the RROD and price of accessories/addons that are in the PS3 as standard.
I feel sorry for 360 owners that have fell for it…
Actually, the 80GB PS3 is now $400….
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/16/sony-announces-ps3-price-drop
HAHA, another defeat for xbox. Xbox will end up like dreamcast and PS3 will rule.
“I feel sorry for 360 owners that have fell for it…”
Well, that’s a little strong. We were playing next gen games a year before you. There’s still nothing on PS3 that I give a rat’s ass about. The most compelling app for PS3 that I’ve seen is LittleBigPlanet.