http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/ Engadget Comments for The Engadget & Joystiq Interview: Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Way to go Engadget!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Ok, it's all well and good to have an HD-DVD or BD drive on the Xbox 360, but you know what? If it's going to have it, *it has to have it day one*. This is not something you can add. This is not something you can say "if you bought a system in 2005, and now you buy a 360 game in 2007, you had better make sure your game is not on an HD-DVD game disc or it won't work". That is PC-centric crap, and that is exactly why people play games on consoles in the first place, to get away from forced upgrades and incompatibilities.

Statements like that make me not want to buy an Xbox 360 until it's basically obsolete. It makes me want to wait until I know they're done upgrading.

One thing that I thought was interesting:

"Sony’s going to outperform us in Japan."

Well, at least they're not delusional. Kinda strikes me as odd that they'd actually say this, though, after the last story we read here (about them designing the system specifically to appeal to the Japanese). They're not setting their sights very high there this time, it sounds like.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Fishes,
narco.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
"Marketing and advertising, customers; uh, sure."

"Engineering and innovation, yeah I guess."

"Competition, right, there's some."

"But UNITS! It's ALL ABOUT THE UNITS!!!"


Hope they turn into the next UniSys, DEC, or name-that-dead-giant-tech company.


...

...


]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
The Xbox 360 uses IBM PowerPC chips (and in fact, Microsoft used PowerMac G5's as a test environment, right?)... Yet the Xbox 360 has also been said to be able to run Windows Media Center software...

Windows... on PowerPC hardware... why has no one tackled this subject yet? This alone could prove to be more of an advancement for Microsoft than the Xbox 360 itself... no?]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Windows NT4 ran on PowerPC Hardware (not Macs) back in the late nineties.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
As for the HD-DVD or lack there of, that battle hasn't gone in the favor of any one corporation. If something should happen within the next few weeks, MS could dramatically shift to the new standard format. Personally, if SOny was REALLY smart, they would dick the other companies around concerning the next-gen media until it's too late for MS to change their specs.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
I wonder what the added cost would be to add in the HD DVD this late in the picture (considering they are going to need time to actually manufacture these monsters).]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
it would seem to me that microsoft was smart.. they showed part of there hand while ps3 showed everything theyve got and said "oh well be out next year spring" while microsoft now has what 4-5 months left before they have to actually ship any units out to customers... alot of hardware can change in 4-5 months now they know what they are up against want proof look at the change from whistler (betaxp) early releases to a month later when it went final release big difference... microsoft is good at popping big things at the last moment.... and i believe thats what he meant. Just like they are demoing using powerpc's at 20% performance of the actual xbox360... dvd might just be the bare essential to get e3 working.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Upgrades? WTF..I hope they're only saying that because they know that PS3 will outdo them in the meat department. cough *FUD* cough...]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
WooHoo!!!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Microsoft can only hope they will be able to pull a lot of new people into the boat, because, in an act of utter moronity, they decided not to make the 360 backwards compatible.

The PS3 has next generation written all over it, but you will still be able to play your PS1 and PS2 games with it.

The Xbox 360 is this-generation-and-a-half, if even that, but most of your games will be worthless if you don't keep your old, ugly black box around.

PS3 will be much faster in every respect, regardless of the bullshit Ballmer is spewing forth. Saying that the Xbox has 3 cores compared to PlayStation's 1 core is completely off the mark. I'm sure he knows it's just spin. Of course, nobody knows wether programmers will be able to take advantage of Sony's Cell-architecture, but judging from the demos at E3, they are more than halfway there.

And what's the shit about not commiting to a content delivery format that perhaps won't be accepted? We are talking about the next PlayStation, for God's sake. Does anybody actually believe people will not be falling over themselves to get one? And does somebody think that perhaps just by choosing the format for the Playstation, they might tip the scale in the direction of Blu-Ray?]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
When was the last time a product (with as large a potential audience as the Xbox 360 has) ran Windows on PPC hardware?]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Why in the world would they brag about how much money they are going to make?!?

*Put's money back in pocket until PS3 comes out*]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bre/inplaygam.html

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bre/inplaygam.html

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
1. as far as capabilities the ps3 and the 360 are very similar in what they will deliever in terms of specs and games. with ps2 and xbox i think ps2 had (especially initally) had a much greater selection of games, while xbox had a much better system as far as raw specs. with this system i believe both will offer pretty much the same games with developers creating versions for both, and the specs on the system are very similar.

2. with the games and the specs similar, i lean towards ms simply because they will be out first and should gain the lead as far as sales.

3. i like the integration with media center and how it will be a piece of the home entertainment center. i think ms has a cohesive design here whereas sony doesn't

4. online play. i agree with balmer here, sony didn't talk about this at all from everything i read. this is a huge part of the gaming world and for them not to address this is a big mistake.

just my 2 cents on why i probably will get xbox 360 when it comes out and why i think it will win the sales war.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/"if SOny was REALLY smart, they would dick the other companies around concerning the next-gen media until it's too late for MS to change their specs" - Rharvier

I dont buy into the statement that the two systems will be on par performance wise; maybe graphicly, but I can see the PS3 pulling out more ai/characters/enviroment draw, and so on.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
I would call it the game store crowed. I am willing come november, xbox360 will be ready to release, sony will strut something thats better, and you wont be able to walk into any game store without atleast one person saying "dude, did you see the ps3, I am waiting for that"

Lets also not forget the PlayStation name, even though in this generation, the XBOX is much more powerfull, the PS2 has heald better sales (not as much so recently) but has done well. I think there is a certain consumer confidence with the sony brand that people are attracted to, and will ultamately keep sony on top.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Since they are going with DVD - all games will be released on DVD until 360 is retired. And DVD should have enough space for game content.

IF they include a HD/BD drive later on, it will be only to play movies. Thus, no worry about games publishers needing to support it.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Also I have a DVD player if I want to watch a movie it goes there not in my XBox and not in my PS2. When HD DVD comes available I'm going to buy a player not some game console.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
errrr, no comment]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
Also I have a DVD player if I want to watch a movie it goes there not in my XBox and not in my PS2. When HD DVD comes available I'm going to buy a player not some game console.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
I'm sure he's terrific at running meetings about 'silicon.']]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
As far as upgrading, take a look at some of the design elements, the 360 has a removeable front face plate (for customizations), but that could also give access to quickly swapping out an optical drive, and it could be in essence like a swappable laptop drive, no screws, no nothing, plain and simple.

Finally, you need to understand that in business you don't want to show your full hand until it's all released and you also don't want to make promises that you can't keep either (take note of his response to backwards compatibility). Along the same lines, he wouldnt' want to commit to HDDVD or BD and then when it ships not have it, thus leaving people really sore.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
What the xbox 360 needs, is an *halo* on its release, to get people to jump on the 360 waggon before the ps3.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
This is a huge advantage. As a gamer, I am planning on purchasing both (as each has it's own benefits, and drawbacks), but if the Xbox 360 is satisfying my gaming needs (heh), then I will just stick with it when Sony releases the PS3.

Microsoft gets a very nice advantage with being a first mover, especially since it does seem to matter in this industry (if done right...).]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
LOL to that. MS sux dude.. Thier only innovation in the last 2 decades was putting the windows operating system on an x86 box. And even thier ui concepts werent original-- they stole the windows idea from apple. The only reason they are successfull is because they beat everyone else to the mass market in the OS world. They are a software company trying to get into the hardware game.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
So Ballmer wants to make more FMV games? God help us if we see Night Trap 2.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/
You are a complete idiot. MS did not steal from Apple, they both stole from Xerox, MS just did a better job of it.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/18/the-engadget-amp-joystiq-interview-steve-ballmer-ceo-of/Dec 19th 2005 12:15AM