Запуск Xbox 360: Маркетинговые кампании и анонс

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The Xbox 360 launch marked the release of the first high profile seventh generation video game console. It was Microsoft's second foray in console development succeeding their 2001 launch of the original Xbox.

The promotional campaign for the Xbox 360 began on March 30, 2005, with the opening of an alternate reality game called OurColony. Throughout March and April OurColony. net offered challenges to its community, rewarding solutions with cropped pictures of the console and game screenshots. On May 12, 2005, the ARG section of OurColony closed, visitors were instead greeted with a promotional video hosted by J. Allard. OurColony participants were allowed special access to insider info and previews before release to the general public. OrigenXbox360. com was the next viral marketing campaign from Microsoft. Unveiled on September 27, 2005, the website, hosted by talking rabbits Boss and Didier, offers visitors an opportunity to enter in various contests. The initial contest was a raffle that required participants to answer three trivia questions regarding the Xbox 360 for a chance to attend a promotional pre launch event. New contests include a Halo 2 tournament and a competition to design a "Gamertile" (an avatar icon). The design for the website employs flash animation of a Bonsai tree and bland elevator music to create a serene environment that is punctuated by visually intense psychedelic episodes involving the host rabbits. October 2005 saw the launch of "Hex168" ( 168 is 360 in hexadecimal), another viral marketing campaign commissioned by Microsoft and executed by the Marden Kane advertising agency. On October 13, 2005, members of the TeamXbox forums were directed to the Hex168. com website through mysterious messages posted by someone called "Lutz". This website hosted a number of images that appeared to perpetuate obscure conspiracy theories, but sometimes contained oblique references to Xbox 360. The campaign was later revealed to be a U. S. contest that offered participants a chance to win one of three hundred sixty Xbox 360 console bundles six days before the official launch. Winners from Hex168 were invited to attend the Xbox 360 launch party in Palmdale, CA, and given VIP access to games, food, and special areas (all free of charge).

The official unveiling of the Xbox 360 occurred on May 12, 2005, on MTV in a program called MTV Presents Xbox: The Next Generation Revealed. The special was hosted by the actor Elijah Wood and featured a musical performance by the band The Killers. The Xbox 360 was also featured on the cover of TIME Magazine's May 23, 2005 issue with an article written by Lev Grossman. The cover shows Microsoft CEO Bill Gates holding up one of the units. In the article he says "It's perfect The day Sony launches (PlayStation 3), and they walk right into Halo 3." Read more at wikiquote. Microsoft executive Robbie Bach later clarified this statement, saying "Philosophically the point Bill was trying to make is that we're not just going to ship and not have great stuff coming up." Gates himself later clarified that "Halo 3 will ship when Bungie is ready." Microsoft chose a November 2005 release date not because they wanted to be first to market but because they thought Sony would ship their PlayStation 3 at that point. The system, along with some playable games, was shown off at E3 2005. The demos were running on "Xbox 360 Alpha Development Kits" which were Apple PowerMac G5s, chosen due to the PowerPC processor architecture that the machine shares with the Xbox 360. Microsoft claims that most of the games were running at 25–30% of full capacity because they were not running on actual systems.

Microsoft first publicized the initial prices and configurations for the Xbox 360 on August 18, 2005 at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. DateLocationXbox 360 System PriceXbox 360 Core System PriceNovember 22, 2005CanadaUnited StatesCD$499.99 US$399.99CD$399.99 US$299.99December 2, 2005EurozoneNorwaySwedenUnited KingdomSwitzerland€399.99 NOK3,395, SEK3,995:
£279.99CHf370.99€299.99 NOK2,595, SEK2,995:
£209.99CHf350.99December 10, 2005JapanJP¥39,795JP¥29,000February 2, 2006ColombiaMexicoCOP$1,200,000MXN$4999COP$900,000 MXN$3999February 24, 2006South Korea₩419,000₩339,000March 16, 2006Hong KongSingaporeTaiwanChinaHK$? ?SG$660.00 NT$13888HK$2,340.00SG$535.00 NT$10888March 23, 2006AustraliaNew ZealandA$649.95 NZ$799.99A$499.95 NZ$499.95July 7, 2006ChileCLP.329.990CLP.259.990September 25, 2006IndiaRs.23,990Rs.19,990September 29, 2006South AfricaR3699R2699November 3, 2006Czech RepublicPolandCZK11900.00 1699.00złCZK8999.00 1299.00złDecember 1, 2006BrazilR$1,799 (~US$899) not releasedFebruary 10, 2007RussiaRUB15,699 (US$640)RUB10,999 (US$450)April 27, 2007United Arab EmiratesAED1,799 (US$490) not releasedFebruary 26, 2008PeruS/.2249.00 (US$762) not released

Microsoft has not released the Xbox 360 in mainland China. It is estimated that perhaps over 2 million Xbox are in use in China with some of them being hacked. Some of them are still selling in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and others.

The Xbox 360 was released in Australia and New Zealand on March 23, 2006, three weeks after the initially projected release date. According to GfK, a German institute specializing in market research, the Xbox 360 launch was the most successful in Australia's history at that time, selling over 30,000 consoles in the first four days. This title now goes to the Wii, which sold about 2,000 more units. Microsoft elected not to package an Xbox Live headset with the premium system configuration; a Media Remote is included instead. In addition to the two system bundles, Microsoft released a "VIP Pack" priced at A$149.95, that contains Perfect Dark Zero, a Faceplate, Wireless Controller, promotional DVD, and membership to the Xbox 360 VIP website. Purchased separately, the price of the items would add up to A$209.85. The Xbox 360 became the fastest selling console in Australia, with 30,421 units sold in its first four days. The previous record was held by Sony, where the PSP was king with 27,055 units sold in the first four days. But the record was soon broken by Nintendo which sold 32,901 Wiis in the first four days since its launch on December 7. Before the release of the Xbox 360 in New Zealand, the Xbox 360 bus toured New Zealand making 13 stops in cities around the country.

Microsoft Philippines announced on May 8, 2006, that it will officially launch the Xbox 360 in the country. Although no details about pricing, launch games and Xbox Live were mentioned, Microsoft Philippines general manager Antonio "TJ" Javier stressed that his company intends to market Xbox 360 products and services to Filipinos. "This is the best selling hardware from the world's biggest software company. How can anyone not want to bring this in? ", Javier stated dispelling speculation that Microsoft Philippines intentionally did not want to conduct a domestic Xbox 360 launch. The company sells the Asian edition Xbox 360 in the country. Still many people could only wonder how Microsoft Philippines will market the console and games considering the fact that most game retailers and specialty stores around the country are already selling products with competitive prices. An estimated 2,000,000 units of Xbox 360 were already sold in the Philippines since December 2005. The figure includes consoles imported from the United States, Japan and Singapore. Lazada is currently the authorized distributor of the Xbox 360 in the Philippines, although other popular shops, like Toy Kingdom, as well as smaller store chains, are also selling units. The lone package available during launch includes the Xbox 360 Premium system with an additional wireless controller, Halo 2, and Dead or Alive 4 for 28,500 pesos ($568). This also includes a one year replacement warranty. Now packages are also available with the Xbox 360 S, one with the console only, and the other bundled with Kinect and two popular Kinect games, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures.