Rumor: Microsoft green-lights 360s from other companies

95 Comments by Randy Nelson Jun 26th 2008 3:34PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

EGM's Quartermann has been in the business of rumor mongering for 20-odd years, but his latest tip-off has to be one of the more interesting we've seen yet. According to the Q-Man's most recent EGM column, Microsoft is set to announce that it will be licensing the core Xbox 360 tech to other companies. Meaning that they can then build their own 360 consoles, or other home electronics (TVs, Blu-ray Disc players) with "360 inside."

In setting up their E3 appointment with MS, New Zealand gaming blog Geekpulp reports that the company listed time on the itinerary to discuss two "surprise games" and one "surprise thing." That last one could be anything – 360 avatars, motion-tracking controllers, a scent-emitting peripheral – but the Geekpulp gang reckons it could be the hardware licensing deal.

If true, this wouldn't be the first time console makers have allowed other companies access to their technology. We've seen Aiwa's Mega Drive (Genesis) / Mega CD / boom box combo, a Pioneer Laserdisc player that ran TurboGrafx-16 games, and arcade machines that accepted Neo-Geo cartridges. Oh wait ... that was something totally different.

[Via X3F]

Tags: hardware, microsoft, rumor

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Xoviet chiK: Jun 26th 2008; 3:38PM

"Mom, Dad... The TV RROD'd again!"

ThePerfectCompanion: Jun 26th 2008; 3:42PM

I lol'ed...

Mr.ESC: Jun 26th 2008; 3:46PM

“Oh noes the Xbox 360 nuclear reactor is overheating, run for your lives”.

Kye - M-Kart Wii 0817-4620-2062: Jun 26th 2008; 4:15PM

To first post is good.

To first post with a witty comment that gets voted up is better.

nightmare452: Jun 26th 2008; 4:20PM

That was petty good. LOL

Seriously, i just think this is a good idea. (Imagine if in the future you just buy a dvd/whatever player and it comes with a 360 or say PS2 hardware inside, so that means you could play your old games in it or something.

It has possibilities, I'll give it that.
The nuclear reactor comment was pretty good to.

brokenscope: Jun 26th 2008; 3:41PM

Possibilities
1: Companies making crappy 360's that break.
2: Companies making 360s with huge hard drives and faster disks and better parts
3: 360s inside other consumer electronics
4: ??????
5: Profit?

This could be good bad or terrible.

Mr.ESC: Jun 26th 2008; 3:42PM

Can I has x360 Laptop pls?

An official computer that allows me to play xbox 360 games and PC game = Win.

natels: Jun 26th 2008; 3:43PM

Talk to Ben Heck

Thatoneguy64: Jun 26th 2008; 3:48PM

"An official computer that allows me to play xbox 360 games and PC game = Win.:"

I believe that's just called a computer.

Mr.ESC: Jun 26th 2008; 3:51PM

Thatoneguy64 I love the redundancy of your comment.

What I meant is that I want to play Dead Rising and Crysis in the same computer (read my comment, I already mentioned that), make it to go and it would be great

NukeAssault: Jun 26th 2008; 4:00PM

Id buy that sucker in a heartbeat.

Thatoneguy64: Jun 26th 2008; 9:12PM

ESC:
* The Joke
+ Your head

el serpiente: Jun 26th 2008; 3:42PM

Great, so now my toaster can red-ring too?

Mr.ESC: Jun 26th 2008; 3:49PM

Well in that case it isn’t a big deal, if it overheats they can say is just very efficient.

kobebryunt: Jun 26th 2008; 4:47PM

Clever *sarcasm*

el serpiente: Jun 26th 2008; 5:26PM

You spelled his last name wrong, it's Bryant.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 26th 2008; 3:45PM

Nice photoshop.

PojoMofo: Jun 26th 2008; 4:06PM

agreed

Envoy: Jun 26th 2008; 3:47PM

This is the way the world ends...not with a bang but with an RRoD.

FemaleOrca: Jun 26th 2008; 4:27PM

Southland Tales reference? You, good sir, are a real class act.

Hyams: Jun 26th 2008; 4:50PM

It's actually an Eliot reference, from his poem 'The Hollow Men'. Southland Tales references Eliot. :)

[.sm0ke.]: Jun 26th 2008; 4:53PM

More likely an Eliot reference via Halo 3.

Titanium_Orchid: Jun 26th 2008; 3:48PM

I agree with brokenscope. This could be really good or really bad. *If* this were true I would imagine that we would just see a lot of new cases for the 360. Maybe larger hard drives.

Look for a Gucci 360 in a store near you!

required: Jun 26th 2008; 3:49PM

So sort of like they're abandoning ship, or giving up the helm. Ye'ol PS3 Wii waters arrh too rough?

NATO_Duke: Jun 26th 2008; 3:53PM

You didn't think about what they are saying at all did you? They aren't abandoning anything - they are opening up the platform. Sounds interesting to me. This should make people happier.

required: Jun 26th 2008; 4:18PM

lol NATO_Duke, you're right they're "opening up the platform" open as in giving up the helm.

tc: Jun 26th 2008; 4:27PM

as usual, it's pretty obvious that comprehension skills aren't "required" on the internet

Poisoned Al: Jun 26th 2008; 6:48PM

Hey kids, lets spot the teenage fanboy fuck-wit that has absolutely no idea about business!

It's called licensing you tard, and from Microsoft's point of view, it's pure profit. You know, that thing Sony continually fail to make with the PS3.

el serpiente: Jun 26th 2008; 7:41PM

Hey kids, lets spot the angry miserable fanboy fuck-wit that has absolutely no idea how to control himself!

Settle down P-Al. No need to poop your pants because someone dissed your favorite toy. What, did your mom forget to put a cookie in your lunch bag today?

kevin: Jun 26th 2008; 3:50PM

They should of waited till the next generation to do this

PeteS: Jun 26th 2008; 3:53PM

Hey, it worked for 3DO!

Oh wait, no it didn't...

ymmv: Jun 26th 2008; 3:55PM

This has been tried before, for instance the Panasonic Q multimedia console which was a Gamecube that could play DVDs and CDs, the SHARP 19SC111 TV that also contained a NES, the HiSaturn Navi, etc. All of those attempts failed. I don't see how 3rd party Xbox 360 hardware will do any better.

hde: Jun 26th 2008; 4:01PM

With IPTV on the way it might work into a Set top box strategy. You can have he 360 as a your IPTV/DVR box and buy controllers as needed for games and what not.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 26th 2008; 4:04PM

I remember one of my ex's saying how she loved her Sharper Image Gameboy vibrator and that it worked wonders. Just sayin...

aristokrat: Jun 26th 2008; 4:11PM

Weren't there rumors going around before about Microsoft working with cable companies? I would definitely be cool with my cable box also being a 360, with a huge hard drive and maybe even in-game television!

On the other hand, I don't understand what will keep other companies from trying to ramp up the processing power, muddying the waters for developers.

aristokrat: Jun 26th 2008; 4:12PM

Though to be fair, it would be cool to see a nitrogen-cooled Xbox running at 5 GHz!

Nugent: Jun 26th 2008; 3:59PM

The only thing is, unless this has been cooking for a while already, it will be a long time before anything comes of it. Also, unless MS maintains a lot of control, there is going to be a lot of variation on quality and price.

Didn't 3DO do this? It didn't work for them, but maybe MS can pull it off. If enough manufacturers joined in, that's a lot of extra marketing for the 360.

Poisoned Al: Jun 26th 2008; 6:50PM

Yeah but it didn't work for the 3DO, becuase the 3DO was complete shit.

Someone Sneaky: Jun 26th 2008; 4:00PM

The good news is that this a huge step towards a one console future, but if it's true I would be worried about the future of Xbox.

jay: Jun 26th 2008; 4:01PM

This could really be the "game changer" MS has hinted to. Since the money is in selling software , I could easily see MS having a 360 and its eventual successor built by a number of manufactures. Toshiba, Hitachi, HP and DELL. This would allow the 720 to ship at a much lower price point. Nintendo has proved that cost of hardware is the number one issue when buying a new console. MS could then focus on selling LIVE as a platform. It's the 3DO except with a better business plan :)

theturtle363: Jun 26th 2008; 4:03PM

I don't get it. Are other companies going to manufacture 360s? Or are they gonna but 360 parts into their stuff?

turkeybaster: Jun 26th 2008; 4:05PM

Wonderful. Now I have to worry about my dishwasher, my celphone, my television set, and my coffe maker all red-ringing on me.

cduran01: Jun 26th 2008; 4:06PM

This runs the risk of forking the platform. You start running into problems PC gamers are having, incompatible games varying degrees of hardware failure. It would turn into a tech support nightmare.

Here's an example, MS releases a new firmware update. Your clone Xbox360 bricks. You call your clone box manufacturer they tell you its an MS problem, you call MS they tell you its your clone manufacturers problem.

It's best to leave it as is.

blinkcowz182: Jun 26th 2008; 4:14PM

That sounds like Windows to me...

hotnutz: Jun 26th 2008; 5:39PM

agreed - they are merging the PC and console even more. I would not want to be a developer for this platform as you will need to test your products on many different versions of the same console. Microsoft has made some great decisions (Windows, Office, XBL) and horrible decisions (rushing 360, HD-DVD and passing up the chance to team Valve to create Steam) in their lifetime but I think this would be on the horrible decision side.

If this rumour is true, it would solidify my belief that their focus has changed several times in 3 years. Not reassuring at all and it leaves me with little confidence that they will no do something else that is simply a knee jerk reaction to falling numbers.

RobLink (Alex Kidd incarnate): Jun 26th 2008; 4:07PM

Alos, there mas a Mega Drive/PC combo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_Mega_PC

Though I don't believe this was released outside PAL territories. Who'da thunk it?

Terry: Jun 26th 2008; 4:07PM

What got Microsoft to it's current global mega-corporation status was licensing it's operating system out to people who knew what they heck they were doing with hardware.

This is pretty much the same thing. Just think of it as a different flavor of windows. Kind of like how the Dreamcast ran Windows CE.

It's the ultimate solution to the RRoD problem, give up and let some actual hardware guys have a crack at it!

I'd probably be more likely to buy a Dell or Toshiba Xbox 360 than a Microsoft-engineered one.

Korova *of the highlands*: Jun 27th 2008; 2:02AM

That's how I see it too. Windorize the xbox platform - maybe it can even be a sub-part of windows eventually. That maybe the way of saving pc gaming and blowing xbox up to dominating level.

But its tricky to push acceptance of the platform which would have to have tight hardware specs into the windows world.

jay: Jun 26th 2008; 4:08PM

MS could require that certain specifications to the box be met. Obviously they would have to be fully compatible with the existing library, and have all available ports etc. But then it could be up to the manufacture to add what they want to. Blu-Ray or DVR or docking stations for your iPod. This would force 3rd party manufacturers to compete on specs and price and would ultimately benefit the consumer.