saludos amigos leendo mis "posts" en ingles!

congrats to you xbox mates and i also noticed you guys are doing the same thing with the zune as had been done with the xbox. i'm not sure about short term, but in the long term the zune will be the new ipod. or at least my new ipod.

http://zune.ytmnd.com/

Funny you should mention xbox :) What's funny is that I didn't buy an xbox because of Halo or any other game, it was because I heard rumors that you were going to be able to use it as an extender and that sold me. Now with Zune I'm again excited about a product because of what it could be, even if it's not exactly there yet. I'm most excited to see how it fits into the connected space, how well will it work with my 360, with my existing wireless network at home, with my Media Center, etc. Even if it can't do some things out of the gate I love the direction where this is headed.

I never got into the first xbox. I had a PS2 so no need to get another console just for the DOA and Halo games (I got Halo for PC later on). But i'm thinking about geting the 360 because the ps3 is over priced and isint on the market yet. I thought the orignal xbox was a bit of a gamble but it worked out. MS made a pretty cool machine with some sweet features on it.

Halo Wars, my god...it looks amazing. Cesar, question for you. Do you miss jetting around the world to all the Game shows and Xbox events now that you're working on the Zune? Also, let me know if you are available for an interview in the future for my blog. -Charlie

yeah xbox was great. first non-nintendo console I bought. ( I must be a rebel, because for some reason I have never had a ps2 OR ipod, shocking, I know ) I really hope the Zune turns out as big a success as the xbox. ( and 360, omg I love my 360 ) p.s. yeah Halo Wars looks awesome.

I really hope the Zune does change the game, sooner rather than later. And, I hope the Zune and XBOX do more than just parallel. I stand by my belief that only the intersection of these two products can really change the game...for me at least. Social music experiences aren't new. Social videogaming is IN now because of the XBOX. But, nothing has ever brought the most popular mediums together (music, videogames, and movies) with a social element. Sharing music tracks with your friends while playing UNO, "DJ-ing" while playing Spades. Setting up 4-way camera chats with music in the background, all while being able to change the music real-time. I don't think electronics could bring about anything cooler than that. Surprisingly, Microsoft is the company that is in the best position to do it. I would've never predicted this 10 years ago. But, I guess now it's just up to them to deliver what the consumers want... in a timely fashion. I know, I know, easier said that done. This is why I'm looking forward to around 2008 when these great, cool ideas should finally come to light.

I know a lot of people who bought Xboxes just to mod them, put a big drive in them, and use them to rip rented games and movies. Basically the ultimate media PC, supposedly sold at a loss leader by MS to sell games... what an amazing success. Anyhow all those people aren't buying 360s now because, for one, the first xbox still works, and for two, there is a lot more cheap general purpose hardware now that doesn't have to be hacked to be useful. I predict that hackers will largely ignore the Zune also, while consumers will try it and dislike the preposterous restrictions it imposes. Now that there are a variety of competing pocket sized devices that run general purpose operating systems, I just can't fathom why any reasonably informed technology consumer would consider the locked-down offerings like Zune.

@Finite: I don't know about you, but I think a large portion of xbox owners bought it for the halo franchise and xbox live, not to hack it. and have you seen the numbers on 360 sales? They are selling pretty fast. I doubt however, that Zune will have the same success, right away. Hopefully, but I doubt it. ( need to start running advertisments, word of mouth, etc. to non-web people.

I think the other parallel to Xbox is that, like Zune, Xbox faced a large population of users that had already invested in libraries of content (read: games) for their proprietary players (read: Sony / Nintendo). Xbox crushed with their Halo phenomenon - and, as you said, set itself up for the future with the connectivity features. Very smart. Let's see it again with Zune! FYI the article below pings on some more of the Zune-Xbox comparisons: http://www.zunerama.com/articles_002.php#060907_ZuneCool_story - Harvey http://www.zunerama.com

Yes, the parallels are eerily familiar.  Microsoft can lose $4b+ on Zune just like they have on Xbox.

1) X06: All MS really showed was CG. And people complained about Sony at E3 '05? 2) The Xbox was a financial failure. The entire entertainment division is over *four billion dollars* in the hole due to the Xbox and the hemorrhaging continues with the 360. 3) Sure Halo crushed, but sadly, Microsoft does have one-quarter the exclusive franchises for the Xbox that Sony and Nintendo have for their respective systems. 4) People tout the Gamecube as a failure, yet it sold only 3 million less units than the Xbox (24M Xbox, 21M Gamecube) where the PS2 sold twice as many units as both the Xbox and GC combined (100+). 5) It should also go on the record that to this day the *PS2* continues to outsell the Xbox and Xbox 360 *combined* week-per-week. 6) Zune is not a loss leader and cannot be sold at a loss. Plus Microsoft is not getting manufacturing deals anywhere near the discount Apple is getting for the iPod.

The Zune will NOT be a success. Microsoft, and their employees need to bring them self back down to Earth. The wi-fi connectivity lets users share songs for three days. Three days! Yeah, you didn't mention that up there, did you?

Everyone is so positive :) Someone has to play devils advocate. It may as well be me. comparisons: MS entered the gaming market and in a short period of time the cost to the consumer tripled (incomes have not increased across the board to compensate). Games went from an average cost of 20 dollars a title to a current 70 dollars a title. Development houses that used to create additional free content for their titles in order to drive the community and say thank you to the consumers now charge extra on top of the inflated initial costs. Consumers now own and collect fewer game titles. This created a new market and services like 'gamefly' arose. The shelf life a game title declined from years to months. All was great for the corporate bottom lines and horribly bad for the consumers wallet and the quality of the products they purchased. Zune (My predictions for the next 10 years) The cost of CD's will triple to at least 40 bucks per CD. This will cause consumers to purchase fewer CD's. Subscription services will BOOM and become the 'norm'. CD's will become a novelty. The RIAA will have complete control of the subscription files by making the consumers use devices that can be monitored and controlled. Things that were once included in your music purchases will cost extra. You will be charged to get lyrics, art and photos associated to your subscription files. It will be called "bonus material" Hackers and MS will battle back and forth. MS will release a new codec and hackers will find a way to remove the restrictions. This will increase the cost of your digital music. The labels will spend massive amounts of money on advertising for artists they want to push but no one cares enough about to want to PAY for. They will blame weak sales on sharing and hackers instead of examining the poor product they tried to sell. This will cause the product price to go waaay up so they can turn a profit. For the handful of artists that stand out, the cost to listen to their music will be unfathomable. All great for the corporate bottom lines all horribly bad for the consumers and the products they buy. Eventually the walls will fall. How's that for a bleak look at the future? :) HA-HA! While I'm laying it on pretty thick here, You have to admit that the thought of it all makes you want to go out and buy -cough- rent THX1138 Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rip my new 25 dollar CD, hack the DRM so I can stream it to my 360 and play my newest 70 dollar video game that I will likely return next week for 8 bucks. Plus I have to pre-order a Zune. So much to do, so little time. --Disclaimer-- The author of this post is not responsible for strokes, hemorrhages or burst blood vessels to fanboys without a sense of humor.

rofl Rhett that was the funniest post I have seen in a while. however, I do have one thing to point out. Games have never averaged for $20. even on the Super Nintendo, games cost 50-70 dollars. ( example: Street Fighter ) still hilarious =P

interesting points being made. I feel as if I need to add my own opinion though... xbox live pushed a new boundary and was a good thing. competitors will follow consequently creating the issue, as with many microsoft products, of the user friendliness. If they don't work to make it easier to use without the riff-raff, the competition will take over. For instance, it took me over an hour to get xbox live working on my 360 (still isn't really working too!). It took me less than a minute to start wi-fi on my ds lite. not to mention its free! ok big deal, this is supposed to be about the zune. Apple won the mp3 market b/c of ease of use with itunes (not the shiny white case). Apple will continue to add functionality to their systems but will still keep things simple. If this thing dies as often as XP or requires virus software (since its connected to the internet?) this thing will go down in a hurry so microsoft needs to be very creative on how simple the product is. one more question, if its true they are selling these things at a loss why aren't they cheaper than the ipod?