Rumor: 360 a footnote in Microsoft's CES keynote

by Randy Nelson on Jan 5th 2009 3:15PM

It's sounding like the only "megatons" at Microsoft's CES 2009 keynote will be the volume of hors d'oeuvres served beforehand. According to TechCruch, the company will focus primarily on Windows 7, mobile devices and home networking, while Xbox 360 will barely get a mention. Lest we forget that MS used CES 2001 as its venue for the global unveiling of the original Xbox.

The site says that some media outlets have already been told -- under embargo -- that the only mention of 360 during MS head Steve Ballmer's presentation will be that Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST are (brace yourself) scheduled for release in 2009. Though we already knew that, we suspect there will be those in attendance overhead saying "Halo wha?" and "2009 ... hey, that's now!"

[Via X3F]

Source

Tags: CES, ces-2009, keynote, microsoft, rumor, steve-ballmer, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (41)

Any impressions about Windows 7?

I really like Vista. I know it requires a lot of resources and memory, but I have a enough RAM and a decent video card, so, running Vista is not a problem, and I like the eye candy in Vista a lot more than XP.

But I will be more than happy in Windows 7 can retain the same eye candy but using the same resources as XP.

As anyone here tried Windows 7 Beta?

I've been interested in it, but haven't personally tried the beta yet. Most of the reviews I've read of it have stated that it's better than Vista, but that some of the new stuff, like the re-tooled taskbar, can take some getting used to (or can even be counter-intuitive in some cases).

The intrawebs don't seem to be as negative towards it as Vista so far though, and most of the people I've read have seemed much more excited about it than before, so hopefully we'll see some real improvement with it.

All they really need to do is fix the problems people had with Vista, make sure they don't release 10 different versions of it, and lower the price a tad, and people will be all over it. Not that MS ever takes MY advice, but well... there it is.

Oh, and you should remember that Win 7 is basically Vista with a facelift and some small improvements - so hopefully no major driver problems this time around, and hopefully a slight loosening in system req's, though I wouldn't bank on that.

Yeah I like the way vista looks too, only thing is there are a few bugs in it, but I manage with them. I sure hope windows 7 turns out better though.

I downloaded the beta last week. I really liked it. runs faster than vista. Really looking forward to actually upgrading from XP.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3236
Pretty unscientific, but at least shows that W7 is looking faster. Supposedly.
As far as resources go, I'm not too bothered with the amount Vista is using, though less is welcome.

I'm gonna miss the sidebar if I upgrade, I really like it.

I've been interested in Windows 7 too, mostly because I'm most likely going to build a new gaming rig this year, so I'll be upgrading from XP.

Honestly, I'm not looking forward to it. I wish I could just stay with XP.

Windows 7 will be my first plunge into a 64bit operating system. Vista 64bit seems to have great support and I haven't had any problems at all with the 32bit Vista, so I'll definitely upgrade. I'll probably want to upgrade into a Nehalem system once the hardware is more mainstream and cheaper anyway.

I ran the beta for a few days (build 7000). It's much faster than Vista and more usable on lesser hardware, but the new "everything is an icon" taskbar is ridiculous.

Also I tried 2 different antivirus packages that Windows 7 itself suggested. One from Kaspersky, one from AVG. Both failed to install properly and both bluescreened my box when I tried to uninstall them.

Definitely looking forward to Windows 7 news. Hopefully we'll get a more concrete release date.

btw Popfrogs and anyone else who's tried 7, is there a way to switch back to the old taskbar? The current way, text + icons, is the best way.

@josh: Supposedly there's an option for it. After the constant bluescreening post-av-uninstall I gave up on it and put XP back on my box so I didn't see it for myself.

Paul Thurrott talks about this stuff on his Win7 pages. http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/

They don't really mention the 360 that much during CES. so not really surprised if this is true. expect something in GDC. the only thing they would announce is something for the mainstream such as XBVM or a bluray addon. The only big thing out of 360 last year was Lost.

For 1GB of ram, I doubt W7 is a good choice...gonna have to upgrade soon.

I ran W7 on a laptop with 1GB of RAM and it ran really well.

It's actually not bad, not nearly as fat as Vista on 1 gig of ram. It won't be replacing XP or Ubuntu on netbooks anytime soon though.

im interested in windows 7 and i hope the speed that its getting now with people testing it is the same when it releases but then again this is microsoft where talking about...they create buggy software and buggy hardware and yes i own a 360

http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tombstoneze8.jpg

What?

Zune-phone, maybe?

I hope there is no Zune related news....because I just bought a Zune and would be REALLY PISSED if a new one was announced....cause than i'd have to write more peoples research papers for $....

@ Ice - had a similar feeling after I got a nuvi and then saw a totally schweet nuvi phone was in the works, that'd clip into the bracket on your dash. *drools

Please, somebody tell me what ODST is.
I don't know because I've never really bothered with Halo, but now I feel left out.
I dislike abbreviations that seem to pop up when NOBODY has ever explained them.

And there's your reason why ODST over Recon is a bad choice from a commercial standpoint.

I'd be surprised if they only talked about Halo but you never know.
Miscrosoft does have a lot of work to do to ensure Windows 7 gets on people's good side considering what a disaster Vista turned into.
People bash Vista to death and I know most of them haven't even used it.
I'm not defending or praising it, but Apple sure has taken the opportunity to sell a lot more Macs and I'm sure Microsoft wants to fight back.

The thing is, it's going to be very hard for Mac OS to gain ground against Windows when an operating system is such a utilitarian thing to the layman. Apple has made some gains recently, but it's a pittance in the broad scale. Apple would need to really do some sort of revolutionary, Web 3.0 thing to create a unified platform between iPhone, iPod, and Mac OS to really create a compelling alternative

Microsoft screwing up isn't enough to make Apple into a real threat on the OS front (unless they really, really screwed up)

Like all your other comments against me, you miss the point.
Apple's OS can't take over Windows with any 1 or even 2 bad Windows version releases and I never suggested otherwise!
The point is, Windows Vista has a bad name now and Microsoft has to make sure that doesn't carry over to the next release or else Apple will continue to make gains even if they are small.

Apparently there'll be PS3 related news there too, if anyone but me cares any more. ^_^

Dude, we're in the wrong place if we expect to read favorable or neutral PS3 news.

I heard they're going to be announcing a car-bra type cover for the PS3; y'know, for when it offroads.

MS has alot of stuff to announce at CES. not surprised the 360 wont get much shine. they are trying to get a couple new OS's out the door with Windows 7 and the next Windows Mobile OS. 360 will get plenty of attention at the next gaming centric event. i doubt Sony or Nintendo will do much gaming stuff either to keep it in scope.

I never understood the vast hatred towards Vista. I've been using it since it was released and I'm primarily a PC gamer so most of my gaming time is spent using Vista. Aside from the immature drivers from nVidia early on, I never really had any problems with it.

Seems to me that it was blown way out of proportion by the media and the IT crowd.

The media can be very powerful. It scares me sometimes

The I.T. crowd is more worried about making it work with existing corporate hardware (switches, printers, software programs from the XP era, IP Telephony) than just making it work well with a video card here and there. Otherwise we'd have to buy all-new hardware that's labeled "[New OS] Compatible", and the cost would go through the roof every few years.

The Xbox division has failed.

-The first Xbox fell the PS2
-The Xbox360 fell to the Wii

The Xbox360 had everything stacked in it's favor. It had no competitors for a full year and was priced at just $299 (only $50 more than the Wii).

After being outsold by massive margins by the Wii, and to a smaller extent the PS3, Microsoft completely redesigned the user interface, copied features on the Wii, and dramatically slashed the price to $50 less than the Wii. Yet the Wii continues to outsell the 360 by massive margins.

Mission failed. Good bye Xbox.

you're wrong in so many ways that I don't know where to start

You know how dumb and lame that "mission accomplished" thing dubya did on that aircraft carrier? That's what your post is like... only you said they failed.

What FNG said.

God I hope Microsoft doesn't fail with the X360. They're the only reason Sony keeps improving the PS3's online stuff, firmware and store.

Bottom line, competition is good, even if the multiplat ports suck.

If the 360 has "failed" then the PS3 has been KIA.

The dude in the right corner of the picture is doing some crazy voodoo with his hands.

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Rumor: 360 a footnote in Microsoft's CES keynote

Reader Comments (41)

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:22PM FernandoRocker said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:27PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:29PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:32PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:33PM infernus said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:41PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:41PM Zertoss said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:51PM AwesomeTown said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 5:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 10:49PM JoshMilewski said

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 12:48AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:33PM johnpaul12 said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:37PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 5:06PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 8:41PM Peter Moore said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:49PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:58PM The Kong said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 11:27PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 3:55PM Alex R said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 4:16PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 4:11PM Dragun said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 4:22PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 7th 2009 9:44AM Dragun said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 4:21PM Hyams said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 5:09PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 11:31PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 5:09PM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 5:59PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 6:01PM Premature ejaculation man said

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 7:52AM xGeneral DEATHxDEETH82 said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 9:16PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 9:53PM Shmil said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 10:00PM FNG said

Posted: Jan 5th 2009 11:35PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 12:50AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 6:43AM Snowblind said

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 9:32AM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days