To Xbox, or not to Xbox?

Almost three years have passed since Microsoft entered the gaming console market with the Xbox and local gamers are still not able to officially get their hands on the most powerful of the three next-generation consoles.

I say officially because the grey market for the Xbox has been doing a brisk trade. Judging by the loyal South African community of Xbox gamers, Microsoft has definitely missed a beat by not making it available here.

It boils down to simple economics. Importing the console works out to at least R2 000, while the console retails for $150 in the US and less than lb100 in the UK. Granted, this was not the pricing structure when it was released, but the numerous price cuts among all the manufacturers (Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube) have seen these devices become increasingly affordable.

Microsoft SA has been notoriously quiet about the Xbox, but this week it said there is not a workable business model for the console in SA.

Iwan Pienaar, editorial production manager, ITWeb

With the Xbox 2 rumoured to be set for release in mid-2005, the likelihood of us ever getting the original Xbox seems slim at best. The sceptics among us might argue that SA could be used as a dumping ground for unwanted Xbox consoles once the big brother is launched.

Theories abound about why the console has not been launched locally. Microsoft SA has been notoriously quiet about the Xbox, but this week it said there is not a workable business model for the console in SA.

The company argues that the console is so cheap because the profit comes from players buying a certain number of games a year. With titles selling in the region of $40 to $60 (for limited editions) each, Microsoft SA believes the local gaming market cannot sustain this.

This is interesting as a search comparing the latest PlayStation 2 titles with the latest Xbox ones shows that the games are remarkably similar in price. Yet Sony (through Ster-Kinekor) made the PlayStation 2 available shortly after its international launch in 2000 and has seen the console (and its titles) grow from strength to strength.

Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft SA does not have much say in bringing the Xbox here. On numerous occasions, sources inside the company said the big wigs in Seattle evaluate the local market on a quarterly basis and do not believe it is big enough to sustain three consoles.

Unfortunately, they might have a point.

The dismal showing of the GameCube here and the continued strength of the PlayStation 2 are doing little to prove them wrong. But then, at least Ster-Kinekor knows the value of marketing a brand. The same cannot be said for Nintendo distributor Futronic. Lack of review copies and failure to embark on any sort of marketing campaign contribute to lacklustre sales.

These poor sales figures only contribute to the perception that SA is a PlayStation 2-only market.

Another possible reason why we won`t be getting the Xbox anytime soon, is the company`s punting of the Xbox Live system, a solution to make online multiplayer gaming as pervasive as possible.

Thanks to our friends at Telkom, the country can still not compete against overseas markets in terms of high-speed Internet bandwidth, or by implication, online gaming.

Can we really blame Microsoft then for not wanting to spend millions on launching the console here? Probably not, but at least let the local gaming community know of the reasons up front instead of trying to ignore the problem.