Microsoft has reacted aggressively to quell rumours that the lack of its second generation Xbox beta testing units will hamper the release of the console.
As the company is patting itself on the back following a successful Tokyo Game Show, this kind of negative press is the last thing the Xbox needs.
“We are still right on track to deliver hardware and software for
a launch in Fall of 2001,” said John O’Rourke, head of Xbox games. “We've hit all major milestones to date and have more than 200 of the world's best game developers signed up for Xbox including Sega, Electronic Arts, Konami, Eidos, Infogrames, Capcom, THQ and Activision. There are currently hundreds of games in development, and many will be very playable at E3 in May.
Our developer support and release process is also right on track. Since last September, we've been telling developers that we'd deliver the beta Xbox Development Kits (XDK) units before E3 and we're still on schedule. In fact, the last 12 of our hardware and software development kit releases were available on schedule. These regular development kit updates and release help ease the migration to the morepowerful Xbox hardware and software tools.”
The initial report, made by the Financial Times, has hit share prices hard, with Microsoft losing 2.7% and the biggest Xbox backer, Electronic Arts, losing over 9%.
The Xbox is scheduled to be the biggest ever product launch by Microsoft in its 26 year history with the company allocating nearly half a billion dollars to market the machine.
As the company is patting itself on the back following a successful Tokyo Game Show, this kind of negative press is the last thing the Xbox needs.
“We are still right on track to deliver hardware and software for
a launch in Fall of 2001,” said John O’Rourke, head of Xbox games. “We've hit all major milestones to date and have more than 200 of the world's best game developers signed up for Xbox including Sega, Electronic Arts, Konami, Eidos, Infogrames, Capcom, THQ and Activision. There are currently hundreds of games in development, and many will be very playable at E3 in May.
Our developer support and release process is also right on track. Since last September, we've been telling developers that we'd deliver the beta Xbox Development Kits (XDK) units before E3 and we're still on schedule. In fact, the last 12 of our hardware and software development kit releases were available on schedule. These regular development kit updates and release help ease the migration to the morepowerful Xbox hardware and software tools.”
The initial report, made by the Financial Times, has hit share prices hard, with Microsoft losing 2.7% and the biggest Xbox backer, Electronic Arts, losing over 9%.
The Xbox is scheduled to be the biggest ever product launch by Microsoft in its 26 year history with the company allocating nearly half a billion dollars to market the machine.
Companies:
Microsoft
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