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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to Rick … You probably aren’t old enough to buy your own things, right? That would explain your mentality. Stream at a cost; Dollar -and- Quality.
to Nynja
Oh but you see you have to take the other installments into account. I mean who would want to buy Hour of Victory 2 or Lair 2? Or at least question it? They failed at what they wanted to accomplish, so why waste time and money on a second time around? You have to look at the series and see if there is any merit to it. I’ll give it a rental but nothing more. For me KZ1 was a bad experiance. But it may be a while since I don’t have a PS3, i play on my friends. I also understand your concern about XBL. Perfectly resonable, however, no revenue = less DLC. The revenue from XBL subscribers keeps the servers running, gets more DLC, and such. This might explain why the PSN is stunted in growth and the fact they were consentrated on Blu Ray. I don’t know. And you could be right about MS screwing us, but thats life. I could be just talking out of my @$$ but hey thats me.
I has too much respeck for the PS brand. It is unfortunet my PSP is collecting dust. Nothing I want is on it. Suggestions before I take it to Gamestop so some child can enjoy it? I just remembered i still got a PS1. Gots to get rids of that.
Major Nelson and E said i couldn’t has recon. Damn.
“This might explain why the PSN is stunted in growth…”
Are you serious? You haven’t visited the PSN lately. As said before, I own both and compare frequently. Sure they have more old games. Explain to me why I want those? You won’t find new titles like Pixel Junk Eden, Everyday Shooter, Warhawk online, Super Stardust HD, Blast Factor, or even SOCOM on the 360. I have never downloaded any game on 360 because none of them interest me. For a paid service, I really don’t see much more except more advertisements. Do you really believe MS doesn’t receive royalties for them? The advertisements make up far more than what you pay. I think MS needs the live subscription for money to recoup the 1.1 billion dollar write off for the faulty product that would have received a recall in any other industry. A 30% failure rate is unacceptable for any consumer product. It has highest failure rate for a successful product that never had a recall.
That’s fine, you keep wasting your money away while I get to play all the same games you can on my 360’s free Silver XBL membership and online on my PS3 for free (as for Gears or Halo, they are no match for CoD4 or SOCOM which starts TODAY!! - so no loss there)
Nice chatting with you, have fun on your side.
To Nynja
Well yeah stunted, imagine if they were making a profit out of the PS division. Like I said before, I play at my friend’s house so I don’t really see what they offer. I mostly go by ear. I have only heard of Warhawk Online and SOCOM. The others are ok and I wouldn’t buy them even if they were on the 360. I don’t think people mind the hardware failures because they still by 360’s. Remember that it used to be 75%, it’s getting better.
Thank you! It’s been a pleasure chatting with you too. Have fun with both too!