PiperJaffray sees fast break for Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 doctor is IN and he likes what he sees.

Respected game industry analyst Anthony Gikas of PiperJaffray last week issued a memo to investors. The report concentrated solely on the new hardware, and about all that was missing was the sound of a big bass drum or bugle inspiring the Microsoft minions who are placing their efforts behind the first-to-market next-gen game console, the Xbox 360.

Gikas said the 360 is "very much on track to ship in November in the US and Europe," and will "likely ship a couple of weeks later in Japan." In spite of there being no stated full-year ship numbers from the maker itself (Microsoft), Gikas estimates a million shipping in the US by year-end, 400,000 units in Europe, and 200,000 units in Japan.

On the topic of an available software library at launch and during the full calendar year, Gikas said, "Microsoft management expects roughly 15 software titles (12 third-party and 3 internal games) will be available at the US/European launch ... and 25-40 games ... by 2005 YE."

Gikas estimates that "close to 10 games will be available for the Japan launch," with the full year ending with about 15 games available for the Japanese market.

"To date," Gikas wrote, "there are more than 160 360 software products currently in development worldwide for the new platform."

Regarding pricing, Gikas joined the guessing game, stating "Our assumption is that Microsoft will make one [model] available at $299, and another [model] near $399." He elaborated on the differences, saying the higher-priced model would likely include "additional hardware components" such as a hard-drive option, an extra controller, and a "memory option."

The analyst sees software being priced at $59.99 retail.