Allard Discusses Xbox 360 Launch Hardware, Software

Author: by David Jenkins, Simon Carless

Consumer game website Eurogamer has conducted an interview with Xbox corporate vice president J Allard at the recent X05 event in Amsterdam in which he has spoken in detail about the Xbox 360’s global launch, as well as fears over stock shortages due to the near-simultaneous worldwide launch of the next-gen console, which is due to debut on November 22 in North America, December 2 in Europe and December 10 in Japan. "Do I think it'll go flawlessly? I don't, but I think it's the right thing to do", Allard commented. He refused to be drawn on official figures for the various territories, saying only that: "No matter how big the number becomes, it still won’t satisfy demand". He also added: "We decided we're going to take a little bit of heat on allocations, frankly, in all the territories rather than take a lot of heat in one or two territories". When questioned on the still-unconfirmed launch line-up for the machine Allard would say only that no games had yet completed the certification process for release. "What I can say is the first party team is wound up and they're going to try to get as many of the titles that they're hoping for on day one... if they're three weeks after the launch, or they're on launch day I don't think it makes a significant difference." Some recent indications from have indicated that as many as 17 titles could debut at the Xbox 360's launch in North America, including multiple titles from Take Two (NBA 2K6, NHL 2K6, Top Spin 2, Amped 3, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), Electronic Arts (Need for Speed Most Wanted, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, NBA Live 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, and Madden NFL 06), and Activision (Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, and Gun), as well as major Microsoft games (Kameo: Elements of Power, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Perfect Dark Zero). But with so many titles undergoing certification for a new console, it's understandable, though unfortunate that Allard and Microsoft cannot be more specific about launch titles.