Microsoft Denies Rumors About Ceasing Current-Gen Xbox Production

Rumors about the production discontinuation of the current-gen Xbox have been washed aside by Microsoft. The stories, which appeared on several internet websites, alluded to the fact that Microsoft had stopped production of the original Xbox. The reports generated instant concerns from Xbox owners and the developers for Xbox games. According to GameIndusty, a Microsoft spokesperson tried to quell the rumors by stating: “We remain very supportive of the Xbox platform and there have been no announcements about plans to cease or alter production. While we do not have other titles to announce at this time, we are committed to providing existing Xbox customers with exciting gaming experiences in 2006. There are 200 Xbox titles expected to ship this year. It is the responsibility of the first party to create genre-defining games for its platform and we are taking that stance with both Xbox and Xbox 360. We feel we have an amazing ecosystem with third parties providing content to Xbox at this time. We have done a great job on the Xbox side with such franchises as Halo, Project Gotham Racing, Fable, and Forza, not to mention our pioneering work we™ve done for Xbox Live. Of course, those of you who have been following GamerNode news coverage realize that we expressed doubts regarding the denials of Microsoft of not having a HD-DVD compatible 360 this year. What happened after the denials? They released news of an external HD-DVD player for the 360. The phrase used by the Microsoft spokesperson,