Digital Home Thoughts: Microsoft to Launch an Xbox Media Center PC?

"Following the lead of other commodity manufacturers, Microsoft is looking to soak up as much shelf space as possible by offering as many as three versions of the Xbox 2, which will now be called Xbox Next. The three versions will include a base model without a hard drive and a model with a hard drive, followed a year later by a hybrid Xbox / PC with media center functionality. Appropriately, the hardware trio looks like a strategy to accomplish three goals. First, the model without a hard drive will allow a lower price point, and therefore make Xbox available to more people."

Second, having two models at launch and three models a year later is classic commodity marketing. It's a small but significant psychological advantage, and the same should hold for consumers faced with a choice between PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox Next, Xbox Next HD, and Xbox Next PC. Finally, launching the Media Center/PC version a year later will put a more full-featured product up against Sony's PlayStation 3. I wish there were more details on the exact specs of the devices, although all of the above is still not completely certain yet so time will tell.