The xbox tank is coming!!
It\'s over. Two years of cat-fighting, in-fighting, out-fighting, rhetoric, disbelief, acquiescence and vitriol comes to a climax today as Xbox finally wades into Europe. Ending what is likely to be the headiest period of anticipation for the games industry for many moons to come, "the most powerful games console on Earth" arrives in its final launch territory to what will almost certainly be a rapturous welcome.
The hype surrounding the machine is unparalleled, and while Microsoft is refusing to release pre-order or launch figures for the UK, or anywhere else in Europe for that matter, there\'s certainly no denying that Xbox has grabbed the media\'s attention. TV and radio crews were clammering for interviews today with practically anybody to do with Xbox, ahead of launch parties in England, Scotland and Ireland tonight to celebrate the release of the machine.
"It\'s a very exciting time," says UK Xbox marketing chief Richard Teversham. "After two years working on the project, tomorrow we\'re going to actually have something in the shops that is solid and real and consumers are going to get their hands on it. That\'s exciting."
Even with the launch out of the way, Teversham is under no illusions that this is only the beginning. "It\'s going to be a very tough battle, but at the moment people are feeling good about what we\'ve achieved so far. We\'ve got to keep on going and never let up in a way," he says.
And while the suits work behind the scenes, the men on the street are making it all happen at ground level. Yep, that picture is of an Xbox tank, supposedly delivering the first shipment of Xbox hardware to stores in central London. The driver, who refused to be named for "security reasons", has been driving an armoured personnel carrier around London all day. "People have been astonished that a tank can actually go down through here on the bus lanes," he says. "It\'s been pretty good, it\'s turned a lot of heads. It\'s giving Xbox a lot of publicity, which is all good."
With the hype in place, the message now is "come and have a go," says Teversham. You\'ll have plenty of games before 2003 if you do. "We\'re going to have 60 games launched on Xbox by the end of June and we\'re going to have hundreds for Christmas," he adds.
Teversham describes Xbox as the most exciting thing he\'s ever done. "I do think this is a beginning of a new era of gaming," he says, "and through all the doubts I think Xbox has proved itself. If we were sitting here with a box that didn\'t stand up on its own, then I\'d be more nervous than I am, but we\'re taking nothing for granted. We still want to do a great job for everybody."
Rock on. Xbox is finally in the UK. As of tomorrow you\'ll be able to play Halo, Gotham, Dead or Alive 3 and the rest of what amounts to the strongest launch line-up of this generation. We\'ll have a full report tomorrow from the Xbox London launch event at the Oxford Street Virgin Megastore tonight. Hopefully see you there!
Link:
http://www.xboxgamers.com/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1016050902,92501,
