Getting real about the Xbox 360

Great interview with Microsoft VP about the new Xbox. Some highlights:

Q: One of my favorite things about the system is that you can plug in your iPod or a portable music player into it, and stream music. Are there any worries that certain companies will update their software to somehow make their systems not work with the Xbox 360?

Allard: You can't worry about stuff like that. I'm pro consumer on this one to the end. Anybody in my company who thought this was a bad idea to plug in Sony or Apple devices into this thing, I ended that conversation pretty quickly. This is the right thing to do for consumers. Once they invest $500 in their digital media library, you can't ask them to go buy a 360 music player and a 360 digital camera, and a 360...NO! They got their stuff. They're going to want to plug it in. We're going to be open here, guys. And if anything, I wish we could be more cooperative with the other companies that are doing those things. And if Sony or Apple were to call me up and say, "Hey, we want to some special things with the 360," I'm on it. I think it would not be in anybody's interest to say, we're not going to work with 360. It's good for them, it's good for us, and it's good for consumers.

Q: Do you think PS3 is still coming out in spring 06?

Allard: I keep reading spring 06. You keep writing it. He keeps saying it, you keep writing it, and I keep reading it. I don't know what to believe. The only console I have seen doesn't have holes in it. You can't have a 200-watt-plus system and not have air flow through it. You know? Nobody has tried the boomerang yet. I hope they do something better than that.

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