I genuinely think Microsoft are out of the running

[WaffleGod]

I don't get the entire "Xbox has a better game library than PS3". It's simply not true?

I would also like to point out that PS3 is more popular in (mainland) Europe and SEA than the 360. In fact, I know about 3 guys who own a 360 and like 24 who own a PS3...

However, as far as this thread goes, it's quite obvious Xbox is one of the few things Microsoft actually did "right" in the past years. I'm pretty sure they'll be ready for the next generation alongside Sony and Nintendo. You seem to forget that the problem with Microsoft isn't the lack of good third party support, but rather that they always seem to fuck up their own products in one way or another.

 

[bojac6]

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.

Just picking one point out of many to argue. X-box Live is the pride and joy of Microsoft. It is widely regarded as the best online gaming service and I'm pretty sure just yesterday, the Escapist ran yet another article about why XBL is considered so great.

I have thought about it, and I rate my online gaming experiences on more than just how much I pay for it. Charging a few bucks a month for an online service is not being "behind." It's simply paying more for a superior product. I can pay a buck for a McDonald's cheeseburger or $25 for a steak dinner at a restaurant. Which is better?

 

[skennedy929]

I love how 50 dollars a year is some insurmountable price mountain.

That equals 4.60 a month, OH NOES!

Seriously though, anyone who says XBL is inferior to the Wiis garbage online system (friend codes, no voice chat, etc) is smoking crack. PSN network is fairly slick, but even they have a pay option now.

 

[Ertol]

I remember reading somewhere that Microsoft and Sony don't plan on releasing a new console anytime soon because at this point the upgrade value wouldn't equal the amount of money they would have to spend to produce it. I might be completely off base thought.

 

[alinos]

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.

First up the 360 and the PS3 are both putting off bringing out another console, because A) it's expensive to do so and B) they need to get to a point where the next one is worth buying, the issue with console's is as soon as there released there out of date tech wise. then you take into account the thing's like the GFC and what not where people haven't still quite recovered, they may be willing to buy a game but their unlikely to buy the next big console since they'll most likely launch around the $1000 dollar mark again

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.

Again showing that there's not much point in releasing those console's the graphics update could be alot better as graphics are going to more physics based realism ontop of the pretty picture's and the extra grunt there gonna get by being able to incorporate the past 4 years worth of advancements(maybe GT5 won't load so slow)

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.

you can argue that all you want but the Move done the same thing, kinect and move should have been held off for another 6 month's to get some killer apps. but instead they wanted to be out for xmas.

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!

the point's system is BS and annoying but as a way of selling stuff to people without them realising how much there really paying.

on itunes you can buy this song for 99cents on zune marketplace it's 50 points people see the 50 points as less money even if it may have cost more to buy them

oh and in realism world, the PS3 does have a charged version and it's most likely because at launch online wasn't something you could charge for. Now they would if they could but it would lead to consumer backlash.

And one question: would it really bother you that much if Microsoft DID pull out of the console race?

Well on the thing you said before wasn't gonna copy it. It already is a 2 horse race it's MS V Sony and Nintendo is off in there own race.

MS pulling out would just lead back to sony dominance and while it would bring the comunity's together instead pf fragmenting the playerbase over multiple console's it wouldn't be healthy for the sector. Which is why i believe console's should just be replaced with computers(which they essentially are anyways nowadays) because then you take ownership off of the company's. they all make games for the one platform and then theres no oh it looks better on the 360 or the ps3, or the Ps3 got a gimped port, the 360 is darker. etc etc

 

[random_bars]

One vital point you're missing out here - and to be quite honest, considering I don't own a PS3, I'm not entirely sure why it is so - is that the 360 has a far larger online playerbase than PS3. And while this may not affect popular games like Halo or CoD or whatever, if you want to play a somewhat unpopular game online, you're going to have a far better chance of finding games on the 360.

Brutal Legend, for example - which is easily the most fun online I've ever played - has a playerbase which is relatively low, due mainly to the gameplay being too complex for many people. Nine times out of ten, though, I'll find a game within a minute or two, but apparently on PS3 it takes about half an hour to find an opponent... And I expect the issue is the same with many games similar to this.

 

[Double A]

Microsoft has virtually unlimited funding. I wouldn't count them out of the race because some guy on the Internet thought they would be. Microsoft is a financial giant, and they like to make rivals go squish.

 

[MrJoyless]

I'd say console gaming is dying out as a whole.

You see what the current consoles can do now. Watch movies, surf the internet, check youtube... eventually people are going to realise, "Hey! This isn't a console anymore! This is a PC!"

Then I shall appear before the new PC users and lead them to the Promised Land of PC gaming as their savior! And there shall be free cookies every Sunday!

Okay, maybe not the last bit there, but can someone give me free cookies every Sunday anyway?

no...

they will go hey, this console is a PC!! but 3 times cheaper!!

then....

they look at their phone and see movies, TV, games, and internet and realize, "Hey this is a PC but much more portable and much more convenient AND its 5 times cheaper!!"

seriously i see PCs going the way of dial up and wired internet....

 

[PxDn Ninja]

As someone working in the industry, I can assure you that Microsoft are in for the next generation of consoles. Games are easy to make for the system, support is actually pretty solid from MS, and the games sell very well on the system.

 

[GoTeamVenture]

I wouldn't go to the same extremes as ReservoirAngel, but I do think Xbox has made some serious missteps. Specifically, Kinect doesn't seem like it's going to pay out in the long run. In terms of functionality, I just don't see it as a serious (read "hardcore gamer") add on. Move got it right because it's going to be able to support shooters like Killzone 3, and, at least in my experience, it's way more accurate/capable than Wii. So... dead? No. But like I said, they've made some serious missteps.

 

[LightOfDarkness]

I'd say console gaming is dying out as a whole.

You see what the current consoles can do now. Watch movies, surf the internet, check youtube... eventually people are going to realise, "Hey! This isn't a console anymore! This is a PC!"

Then I shall appear before the new PC users and lead them to the Promised Land of PC gaming as their savior! And there shall be free cookies every Sunday!

Okay, maybe not the last bit there, but can someone give me free cookies every Sunday anyway?

If you don't mind all the lint and mailbag flavor during shipping, yes!

 

[sabercrusader]

I'd say console gaming is dying out as a whole.

You see what the current consoles can do now. Watch movies, surf the internet, check youtube... eventually people are going to realise, "Hey! This isn't a console anymore! This is a PC!"

Then I shall appear before the new PC users and lead them to the Promised Land of PC gaming as their savior! And there shall be free cookies every Sunday!

Okay, maybe not the last bit there, but can someone give me free cookies every Sunday anyway?

...or maybe PC's are dying. Maybe people will start using consoles to go on the internet, check email, etc... from their couch. With HDTV's and wireless accessories there is nothing preventing a console from becoming a full fledged PC. In fact, right now you can plug your PC into an HDTV via VGA or HDMI. There is no doubt that in the future console will become more like PC's.

Both the PS3 and the Wii have a web browser already. Microsoft would rather charge you $60 a year to access specific web based apps than let you use a web browser for free that could access all those sites and more.

It's not free, you have to have internet to get onto the PS3's and Wii's internet, it's just essentially another computer for you.....only worse in my opinion becuase the PC will always be the best web browser for me.

OT:I REALLY doubt that the Xbox is going to be out of the running next generation and I would think that Microsoft has the sense to not rely on Kinect for they're next console.

 

[thahat]

You think that Sony and Nintendo are going to release a 'next generation' console any time soon? looooooooool.

Actually, nintendo is due fairly soon (two years) .

please, please tell me they are FINALLY. going to actualy add a graphical processor in it that is not made out of bloody putty. the ffing GAMECUBE could do more then the wii ! XD ( the gamecube could, hardware wise, actualy even do 3d gameing, never got used though XD )

 

[Omega Pirate]

I would not say that Microsoft makes stupid decisions. What they do is rip people off, which is by no means stupid on their part. The combination of MS points and monthly subscription makes then a lot of money.