Lots of Show for XBox 360 but, So Far, Not Many Games

In the five months since Microsoft unveiled a prototype of its new video game machine, the Xbox 360, the company has tried to generate excitement by staging demonstrations of the console's ability to play music and display digital photographs and by trumpeting its online community features. Yet as Microsoft has tried to build buzz for the 360, the most important ingredient has largely been missing: games. There have been flashy screenshots and impressive trailers. But since the game industry's big trade show in Los Angeles in May, Microsoft has shown little of actual, playable games. So far, Microsoft has done little to convince hardcore gamers that the 360 will be a must-buy this holiday season.

"Microsoft definitely has a challenge ahead of them," said Sid Shuman, a producer for Games.net, a game community Web site. "Microsoft responds fairly well to challenges, but they need to convince people that this system can deliver game play that simply isn't possible on the current generation. That goes beyond graphics to elements like realistic physics, so if I want to roll a grenade under a car, for example, I can do that."

Source: NY Times

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