Reminds me of the 3DO and the Sega Saturn clones that were released in their 
day.

Mojo

<xenon> wrote in message news:9e2dnaZpzZp82lvfRVn-rw@comcast.com...
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> http://news.com.com/Gates+considers+Xbox+clones/2100-1043_3-5770507.html
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> MS to possibly license Xbox 360 clones...
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From CNET news.
>
>
>
> Gates considering Xbox clones?
> Published: June 30, 2005, 2:30 PM PDT
> By Michael Singer
> Staff Writer, CNET News.com
>
> TrackBack Print E-mail TalkBack
> Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is dropping hints that he may be ready to
> license the brains of the Xbox gaming device to other companies. It's a
> risky move to better compete with Sony's PlayStation, according to one
> analyst.
>
> In an interview with Nikkei Newspaper in Tokyo, Gates was asked whether
> Microsoft would consider opening the manufacture of Xbox units to third
> parties. Gates responded that "there is nothing concrete" but said the
> company is always talking with partners about how to expand the Xbox
> culture.
>
> Gates declined to give details, such as which companies Microsoft might be
> thinking about working with or if a license would be extended to the
> underlying software of other electronics equipment, such as handheld
> devices, PCs or home digital media centers.
>
> Microsoft's Xbox currently plays second fiddle to Sony's PlayStation when 
> it
> comes to sales, with Nintendo's GameCube ranking third. The PlayStation
> makes up more than 60 percent of the market, with the Xbox accounting for 
> 29
> percent of sales and the GameCube rounding out the top-tier players with 
> 11
> percent, according to the latest statistics from NTP Group.
>
> All three console makers are preparing their next-generation gaming box.
> Microsoft's Xbox 360 is expected to hit store shelves later this year, 
> with
> Sony's PlayStation 3 available soon after and Nintendo's Revolution 
> console
> expected in 2006.
>
> Despite the suggestion that Microsoft's device could be cloned, Xbox
> representative Molly O'Donnell reaffirmed the company's stance that the 
> Xbox
> is exclusively a Microsoft product.
>
> "There's certainly a potential for other hardware companies to manufacture
> Xbox some day in the future, but that is not something we're focused on
> right now," she said.
>
> Licensing the Xbox's underlying software to other manufacturers is, of
> course, not outside the realm of Microsoft's capabilities. The company 
> found
> sterling success in licensing its Windows operating system to PC makers.
>
> But breaking the traditional proprietary mold of the game console world is
> something no one else has tried and something JupiterResearch analyst
> Michael Gartenberg says would be a bold move on Microsoft's part.
>
> "Clearly, everyone at Microsoft is thinking out of the box to increase
> sales. I mean look at the nontraditional way of introducing the Xbox on
> MTV," Gartenberg said. "It sounds like they are just testing the waters 
> with
> a hybrid of the (white box) PC model and the (proprietary hardware) video
> game model."
>
> Gartenberg said Microsoft's strategy may be centered on gaming software. 
> The
> majority of money made in the video game industry comes from the games
> themselves, not from the hardware. Recently, both Microsoft and Sony
> reported that the newer models of their devices will be priced far less 
> than
> the cost needed to make them.
>
> Microsoft's reasoning, Gartenberg said, may be that the more Xbox-like
> consoles there were on the market, the easier it would be to sell
> Xbox-branded games. That would mean Microsoft would have a larger market 
> for
> the titles it published. And it could also put the squeeze on the
> PlayStation by inspiring game developers to focus on titles for the Xbox 
> and
> its generic brethren.
>
> "No one video game software developer just writes for Xbox," Gartenberg
> said. "But what it would do is tell publishers, 'hey look how many more
> consoles we are on.'
>
> "Still," Gartenberg said, "Microsoft would have to make sure that all the
> people who license their Xbox are up to their standards, and at the end of
> the day they would still be competing with Xbox sales."
>
>