Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Xbox entertainment and devices division, indicated that earlier comments made by Bill Gates that Halo 3 would be available to counter the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 next-generation gaming console were "philosophical" and not to be taken as a literal pledge, according to an interview at InfoWorld.com.

In response to a question regarding comments made in Time Magazine by Bill Gates earlier this year that Halo 3 would be released in time to blunt the launch of the PS3, Bach indicated that his boss was using the next Halo game as a metaphor for the upcoming Xbox 360 titles. According to Bach, "Philosophically, the point Bill was trying to make is that we're not just going to ship and not have great stuff coming up. We don't know when Sony will ship PS3. They've said spring ... What we do know is that the way our portfolio lines up we're going to have great exclusive content. Halo is something we'll ship when it's ready."

In the same interview, Bach revealed that the decision to make the Xbox 360's hard disk drive optional was due to concerns about price sensitivity in the European market. According to Bach, "It's particularly important in Europe where parts of Europe are very price sensitive and the channels where games consoles are sold are predominantly mass merchants which again are very price sensitive... One size doesn't fit all.""

¶ D.Vader // 10/04/2005 04:20:00 PM // PermaLink

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