I had a pretty interesting gaming-based conversation with my boyfriend the other day.
We were wandering home from town, and we ended up talking about the 3 major consoles. We ended up turning on Microsoft, because we both own a 360 (I have a 360 and Wii, he has 360 and PS3). The conversation pretty much discussed the following.
In this day and age, Microsoft really is, in our minds at least, starting to fall behind the other 2, to the point where we're both pretty much convinced that next 'generation', when the companies unveil their next consoles, unless Microsoft pulls some major shit, they are pretty much fucked right out of the console gaming scene.
Our points were these. First off, we have Kinect. This one is largely based on some report or something my bf read somewhere (which may or may not be true) that says that Microsoft is gonna pretty much use Kinect as their next big update, so that instead of bringing out a massively revamped console, they just bring out the 'new' 360, which they have done, which fixes shit that shouldn't have been an issue anyway, and they put most of their time and effort into Kinect games.
Now this is all well and good, and if you like Kinect then all the more power to ya. Your weird, insane and I wouldn't want to enter a discussion on the technicalities of gaming with you, but to each his own I guess. I can't be fucked with Kinect (which is weird since I own a Wii and love the thing) and my boyfriend can't either (even though he has Playstation Move) but my personal taste isn't what this about. This is about how Kinect, treated as an update in gaming for the 360, stacks up to whatever Sony and Nintendo are gonna pull out of their sleeves for their next console generations.
We speculated that there really isn't much room for massive new innovations in gaming at this stage since pretty much everything's been done, so we assume in our discussion that the PS4 and Wii2, as we called them, would be merely upgrades of the PS3 and Wii respectively. Just adding stuff that needs to be added. For Wii, it'll most likely (at least in our minds) be more beefed up graphics tech, maybe throw a DVD playing system in there too. More Wii channels, and shit like that. The PS3 however, we're not sure about what they can update besides graphics slightly.
But with these 2 most likely getting updates, the Kinect really, as the update it's apparently meant to be, really doesn't stand up very well. Part of that is just the games library at the moment. Exercise games and shit like that is all well and good, but when it gets right down to it, really hardcore Microsoft gaming fans are what they need to focus on to keep their power base in this field of entertainment. People who were won over from Sony with the likes of Halo and Gears of War will NOT be swayed into staying by the likes of creepy shit like Kinectimals.
The second nail in Microsoft's proverbial coffin is X-Box Live. Which, unless they fix some stuff, will continue being the worst of the bunch. Think about it: PC gaming - online in games is free. Wii online - free. PS3 online - free. 360 online - monthly fee. So already they're behind.
Then, still sticking with the online for now, there's the MS Points system. I'll hand this point over to my boyfriend, who is better versed at describing this point. This was all him talking about this, cause his main comparison was the PS3.
So pretty much what it was is this. The PSN, like XBL, has stuff you can buy off of it. Duh. But on PSN, it actually works in real money. Say, for example, something costs £10 on PSN. You have £9.50, but want the £10 item. You just pay the extra 50p to get it added to your balance. With Microsoft however...if you're a small amount of points short, the least you can buy is, unless my memory is failing, is 500. That costs you £4.28. So you are essentially forced to pay £4.28 even if you have NO intention of ever using whatever's left over. "Well it goes towards future purchases" you say? Well what if you don't want any future purchases? what if your purchase, for which you needed to buy more points than you needed, was the only thing you were ever going to buy? Then you get fucked out of a certain amount of cash!
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Essentially our point with this is that Microsoft, if they don't sort out their online system, and they don't get a proper console upgrade, are pretty much out of the running, so it'll only be Sony and Nintendo in this thing next year.
Cause Kinect aint exactly doing too well right now. Well, it's doing okay, but if they're treating it as a proper 'next big step' upgrade to their system they're bound to be dissapointed.
Time for a tiny bit of personal input here at the end of our pathetic rant on MS. I'd actually be more than happy for it to become just a 2-horse race again in terms of consoles. Nintendo and Sony going head-to-head was how it was. Microsoft just sort of barged in in an effort to get more money. Sony's only in it for revenge and money, yes, but we can let them slide cause they're old hands at it nowadays. My point is that Microsoft being gone from console gaming wouldn't bother me that much. I'd just rope myself a PS3 and all the games I have, bar a few exclusives that'll probably come to PS3 anyway if Microsoft vanishes, and I'll be set.
Right. Erm...need some kind of discussion value here. So...do you agree with this lot? I know there are a few Microsoft haters on here (there must be) so please give your opinions, arguments or even just insults about me and all of this bitching I've done.
And one question: would it really bother you that much if Microsoft DID pull out of the console race?
We were wandering home from town, and we ended up talking about the 3 major consoles. We ended up turning on Microsoft, because we both own a 360 (I have a 360 and Wii, he has 360 and PS3). The conversation pretty much discussed the following.
In this day and age, Microsoft really is, in our minds at least, starting to fall behind the other 2, to the point where we're both pretty much convinced that next 'generation', when the companies unveil their next consoles, unless Microsoft pulls some major shit, they are pretty much fucked right out of the console gaming scene.
Our points were these. First off, we have Kinect. This one is largely based on some report or something my bf read somewhere (which may or may not be true) that says that Microsoft is gonna pretty much use Kinect as their next big update, so that instead of bringing out a massively revamped console, they just bring out the 'new' 360, which they have done, which fixes shit that shouldn't have been an issue anyway, and they put most of their time and effort into Kinect games.
Now this is all well and good, and if you like Kinect then all the more power to ya. Your weird, insane and I wouldn't want to enter a discussion on the technicalities of gaming with you, but to each his own I guess. I can't be fucked with Kinect (which is weird since I own a Wii and love the thing) and my boyfriend can't either (even though he has Playstation Move) but my personal taste isn't what this about. This is about how Kinect, treated as an update in gaming for the 360, stacks up to whatever Sony and Nintendo are gonna pull out of their sleeves for their next console generations.
We speculated that there really isn't much room for massive new innovations in gaming at this stage since pretty much everything's been done, so we assume in our discussion that the PS4 and Wii2, as we called them, would be merely upgrades of the PS3 and Wii respectively. Just adding stuff that needs to be added. For Wii, it'll most likely (at least in our minds) be more beefed up graphics tech, maybe throw a DVD playing system in there too. More Wii channels, and shit like that. The PS3 however, we're not sure about what they can update besides graphics slightly.
But with these 2 most likely getting updates, the Kinect really, as the update it's apparently meant to be, really doesn't stand up very well. Part of that is just the games library at the moment. Exercise games and shit like that is all well and good, but when it gets right down to it, really hardcore Microsoft gaming fans are what they need to focus on to keep their power base in this field of entertainment. People who were won over from Sony with the likes of Halo and Gears of War will NOT be swayed into staying by the likes of creepy shit like Kinectimals.
The second nail in Microsoft's proverbial coffin is X-Box Live. Which, unless they fix some stuff, will continue being the worst of the bunch. Think about it: PC gaming - online in games is free. Wii online - free. PS3 online - free. 360 online - monthly fee. So already they're behind.
Then, still sticking with the online for now, there's the MS Points system. I'll hand this point over to my boyfriend, who is better versed at describing this point. This was all him talking about this, cause his main comparison was the PS3.
So pretty much what it was is this. The PSN, like XBL, has stuff you can buy off of it. Duh. But on PSN, it actually works in real money. Say, for example, something costs £10 on PSN. You have £9.50, but want the £10 item. You just pay the extra 50p to get it added to your balance. With Microsoft however...if you're a small amount of points short, the least you can buy is, unless my memory is failing, is 500. That costs you £4.28. So you are essentially forced to pay £4.28 even if you have NO intention of ever using whatever's left over. "Well it goes towards future purchases" you say? Well what if you don't want any future purchases? what if your purchase, for which you needed to buy more points than you needed, was the only thing you were ever going to buy? Then you get fucked out of a certain amount of cash!
-----
Essentially our point with this is that Microsoft, if they don't sort out their online system, and they don't get a proper console upgrade, are pretty much out of the running, so it'll only be Sony and Nintendo in this thing next year.
Cause Kinect aint exactly doing too well right now. Well, it's doing okay, but if they're treating it as a proper 'next big step' upgrade to their system they're bound to be dissapointed.
Time for a tiny bit of personal input here at the end of our pathetic rant on MS. I'd actually be more than happy for it to become just a 2-horse race again in terms of consoles. Nintendo and Sony going head-to-head was how it was. Microsoft just sort of barged in in an effort to get more money. Sony's only in it for revenge and money, yes, but we can let them slide cause they're old hands at it nowadays. My point is that Microsoft being gone from console gaming wouldn't bother me that much. I'd just rope myself a PS3 and all the games I have, bar a few exclusives that'll probably come to PS3 anyway if Microsoft vanishes, and I'll be set.
Right. Erm...need some kind of discussion value here. So...do you agree with this lot? I know there are a few Microsoft haters on here (there must be) so please give your opinions, arguments or even just insults about me and all of this bitching I've done.
And one question: would it really bother you that much if Microsoft DID pull out of the console race?
