Microsoft wasn’t kidding when they said they planned on launching Natal like an entirely new console. It appears that the company intends to finish off the Xbox name after the Xbox 360. This is obviously a surprise considering the time and money that goes into building an identifiable brand name in the video game industry.
This news, which we’re classifying as a rumor until more details arise, comes from a FOX Interactive Media employee who said that the FIM subsidiary IGN was in the process of phasing out the TeamXbox name and site in preparations to consolidate the Xbox-only site’s content into IGN due to Microsoft's decision. You may remember that IGN shocked a lot of people when they fired TeamXbox.com’s co-founder and editor-in-chief along with several other employees back in March. Since that time, the site has seen a noticeable decline in content, traffic, and updates.
Around the same time as the firing at TeamXbox, FOX Interactive Media rebranded the site with the “Powered by IGN” slogan. Everyone knew the affiliation between the two, but slapping the IGN logo on there was odd.
In addition to the rumor coming out of FOX Interactive Media, Microsoft has been sending out new box art and PDF pamphlets which show new logos for the upcoming products and games. In addition, some of the box art clearly is missing any mention of the Xbox name, which we thought nothing of until the tip from the FIM employee.
We’ll keep an eye on this rumor as it develops since it impacts longtime users of TXB and fans of the Xbox brand. The most important thing is that a name change won't impact the hardware or quality of games. That's been proven by past successes like Nintendo and Sega.
Comments
but it also made a badd name for having very little(to none) 1st party games and its "infamous" failure rate
how i see it:
moving away from the xbox brand name is from a buisnes perspective a very wise decision, and would most likely tip into microsofts future console/s favor
If you read any part of that you would have seen that FOX owns IGN and TeamXbox. They're shutting down TeamXbox because no "Xbox" name means no need for a specific or proprietary site.
Uhh fool!!! Unseen online play?? HA!! Have u never heard of SOCOM? There was online play on the PS2, if u cld be bothered to set it up! Know yr facts fool!!
Kudos for calling someone a fool and posting incorrect info in the same response. The original Xbox was the best console. The 360 has tarnished the brand.
Actually you should get all the facts straight because socom launched in august of 2002 and xbox live launched in november of 2002 so.....who looks like a fool now?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadikahu there's Socoms source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox and there's Xboxs source
You can't tell me wiki is not reliable because it is.
Sorry home slice, socom was released in 2002. Its greatest hit released a year later....2003. What was that about facts???
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