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It seems like Microsoft had an ace up their sleeves all the time while at E3, TGS and LGC this year, but they chose to show their hand only at a Gaming Night organized in Delhi this past weekend. Two Indian gaming blogs have been reporting that Microsoft India “revealed” the rumored Xbox 360 Slim (among other things) at the above mentioned gaming night, while all E3 got was a confirmation on Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360.
While we were present at the event and reported about the new bundle, we strangely never ran across any official (or unofficial) revelation of the slim avatar being in development or even a hint of hitting the shelves any time soon. We got in touch with Microsoft India, who made it clear that no such announcements were made. Below is an excerpt from the press release addressing the Xbox 360 Slim rumour:
What started of as a leaked scan of a K-mart ad followed by another similar report, the rumor of the Xbox 360 Pro model seeing a price drop to 299.99$ seems to be gaining more ground by the minute.
Our contact in Redington has passed on this little piece of information that mentioned, among other things, that the Xbox 360 Pro model will be seeing a price cut in India that will take it price down to INR 12,000 which seems to gel well with the 299.99$ price-point mentioned in the other reports. The move apparently is to provide a stiff competition to Sony’s PS2 market that is still showing strong growth in India. With the price cut, Microsoft hopes to entice potential buyers away from PS2 towards Xbox 360.
The source in Redington also mentioned the fact that Microsoft will be coming up with a 20Gb and a 60Gb version of the console, besides a host of new accessories. Could they be the new Wii-like controller and LIPS that we have been hearing so much about? Our best bet will be E3 2008 announcement by Microsoft that will either confirm the price-cut and the accessories or kill the rumor for good.
Redington-India has been the sole distributor of Xbox 360 in India from Day 1, besides being responsible for the distribution of Microsoft first-party and EA titles.
Editor’s Note: Microsoft India has rubbished all reports of a potential price cut being on the cards.
About a week ago, Xbox 360 Fanboy reported info regarding the next Forza Motorsport - thanks to a leaked survey from Intellisponse - and that the acclaimed racing series could possibly be shipped on 2 Dual-Layered DVDs - thanks to the bevy of new stuff likely being added (400 cars! 100 tracks! Driving Assist!). Well, one of our sources – thanks to a bit of snooping around Dhruva Interactive – claims that this may not necessarily happen in the long run.
For all those who were worried about the Xbox 360 camp closing shop and moving on to greener pastures, stop panicking and running around circles like you just saw a totally harmless garden snake. After news broke that Microsoft was winding down operations across a number of cities, thanks to abysmal sales, rampant piracy, horrid customer service and solar flares, we figured that the best thing to do would be to contact Microsoft themselves to get the real story. I mean, they’re not going to lie to us, right?
When we contacted the Microsoft execs about the news and yakked on for the better part of an hour, they categorically denied that the division is in any trouble and that the console itself is performing on par with expectations. In fact, Ashimm Das Mathur, who was reported to be “abandoning ship” after the previous country manager, Mohit Anand, left the company recently, has himself set the issue straight at the GamingIndians forums, saying:
All I can say is that this is all rubbish.
Microsoft is completely committed to the market and Xbox 360 is doing exceptionally well in the country.
We’re not sure where these rumors started, but with Alan Bowman being in the country right now for his usual management review, someone may have put two and two together and ended up with five million. We’ve also been told that the PR team is putting together an official statement from the Microsoft India Entertainment & Devices Division and senior MS honchos including Robbie Bach and Alan Bowman, so please wait for it before you start firing your rumor engines.
In the meantime, all the Fox Mulders are more than welcome to start huddling together in dark corners and speak in hushed tones about the Great Microsoft Conspiracy. The rest of us will just continue waiting for Ninja Gaiden II.
With demos for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 comin’ out the wazoo, Wii owners were the only ones that were left out of the loop. But it looks like all that may change pretty soon. Well, at least for subscribers to Nintendo Power. In their latest sweepstakes, a questionnaire asked readers how interested they were in demos for the Wii, their preferred method of getting the demos and how much more moolah would they be willing to part with for said demos.
Now it’s most probable that only subscribers to Nintendo Power will receive the demos, a la OXM on Xbox LIVE, but still, we’re sure this would be a great way to enhance WiiConnect24! And, it looks like a lot of people are even willing to shell out $40 bucks for a special SD card loaded with demos. Now it’s anyone’s guess as to whether a demo download service will even see the light of day on WiiConnect24 and if, or when, said Nintendo Power demos would be available on it, but hey, who wouldn’t sell their families into slavery for demos of Mario Galaxy now, right?
Nintendo Power sweepstakes talks about Wii demos [Go Nintendo]