Microsoft: Xbox 360 Is The Console of The Long Future

[tamaness]

Natal aside, Microsoft needs to release a version 2.0 of the 360, with smaller, cooler, more cost-effective RAM, VRAM, CPU and GPU. A new layout for airflow would help with longevity of the hardware, too.

They could even keep the same prices that they already like, citing "development costs."

All hyperbole aside, a longer development life-span is almost always a good thing with consoles. It gives developers time to get to know the hardware they're working with, as well as its quirks and limitations. There's a reason that until recently the PS2 was still outselling the PS3 and XBox 360.

Full disclosure: I do not own a PS3 or a 360. I have a Wii and a fat PS2, and I plan to purchase a PS3 in the near future, not because of its gaming capabilities, but because it's one of the better Blu-Ray players on the market right now (still).

 

[iMaxx]

Not wanting to start a flame war and I know the 360 has quite the following, but I am so glad I never got one, considering the problems they'd had with it.

Sure, not everyone has had to replace their systems. I know some who have been lucky, but I know many more that have swapped them out multiple times. (My bro was on his 3rd when he finally gave up with this XBox and got a PS3.)

So, saying it "does not need to be replaced anytime soon" is a bit funny because you'll be replacing it when the next Red Ring rears it's ugly head.

Natal does look very cool. If MS could redesign the damned thing and give it the quality they say that it has *cough*, I'd consider getting one.

 

[Amnestic]

Glad to see I'm not the only one around here with little-to-no faith in Natal. It'll be worse than the Wii =_=

£20 says that they end up releasing a Natal Vision Plus a 8 months after Natal hits the shelves, citing how it'll vastly improve the experience and make it better and improve recognition and whatnot.

 

[pumasuit]

Well if the Natal will let you control a game like you're using one of those computers in Minority Report then yeah you could get a few more years out of it. You could finally make rts's feasible on a console. From what I've seen so far it certainly seems feasible.


I'm just a little curious as to how they're going to market it in the coming months. In my opinion it would be pretty stupid to market the Natal to the whole wii crowd. They just aren't going to buy a 360 and Natal. I mean I've seen those commercials were they're trying to make the 360 console out to be a family system like the wii. Sorry it really just isn't there right now. Grandma may pick up the wiimote and play some wii tennis but she isn't going to fire up the 360 to go kill some Locusts in Gears of War.

If Microsoft treats their new motion control as an actual advancement in gaming and not just some novelty toy to sell to the non gaming public then it would be a good thing.

I agree with CD-R. To say that Natal is fresh is a fallacy. It may be new, but motion sensing game play has been marketed with success in the casual gaming core.

I do think that the 360 could stay relevant for a long time. Considering that the upgrade to graphics is coming through mediums that the 360 already supports, or could support with an upgrade, the console is the refined version of what console gamers have come to love. It is the amalgamation of old and new, and until the next great gaming revolution (for real), the 360 can just keep doing what it has been without fail.

 

[ssgt splatter]

I think Microsoft is doing a great job. The one thing they should think about though is making XBOX Live free like the PS3. PSN is free and because of that, I think that that is the only significant advantage the the PS3 has over the 360...but again, that's just.

Spoiler

trying to avoid a flame war

 

[Treblaine]

"We love our prices right now," he said.

I bet you do, but do your customers like that price?

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

The natal could help if it works as well as the ad video shows us.

Any way the 360 needs more
I could see it happening with a model 2, a complete redesign of the guts for better power consumption and heat dispensation, add in wifi and let users use USB storage and any HDD they want, get rid of the prioritized memory garbage. Double the ram to help newer games run in "mode 2" add a blu ray player that devs can support by making special edition(mode 2 games) for if they want to.

With these things the 360 would do well for another 5-8 years, I just hope the next box has all this and more...like more control options, more storage options and for Christ sake proper BWC.... even paying 100$ for a add on that has to be ok'd by live in order to unlock full BWC is a better ieda than nothign at all or half assness that is the 360s BWC......

 

[JoshGod]

was that supposed to be a joke? 360 has the worst records of RROD, long life lol, as for pinning hope on natal thats like a cancer patent relying on spiritualism, its a rock! ffs

 

[iMaxx]

PSN being free is a plus, but the XBox community has much more in it, I've heard, because the funds are there. This may change now that there are more PS3's in the wild after this holiday, as well as the rumours of PSN being changed to a pay service.

The other obvious advantage to the PS3 is the fact that it's a Bluray player. (Could you imaging MGS4 on the XBox? Brings me back to the PC disk flipping days of the 80's/90's.)

But again, if MS would update that system, I'd give it a look.

 

[Eldarion]

we think we're in a good place now heading into the Natal era."

"Natal era"? Just what the xbox needs, the Wii but for pedophiles.

 

[The_Shinigamer]

Not to start anything but If your 360 has been bought in the last few years and it dies, it's probably you. I've had mine going on four years, I play everyday at least a little, and not one issue. Not only that but I still play my original XBOX which is running fine and still has choice games to play for the collector, much better than the dredge being pushed on that dead horse PS2.

Natal will make a splash buit won't generate waves. Fact is this generation is essentially Wii vs. XBOX 360. Sony is very much a non-factor due to their hardware clusterf*@# of a console and lack of very good exclusive games. Basically you have Xbox ports and God of War and LBP neither of which I and many Xbox owners like. A console generation should last a long as good stuff is coming out. Nintendo will be first with a new console and then Sony not far behind. But there is a very likely chance that Xbox 360 will bleed well into the next generation (whenever that may be) until someone actually poses competition. Blu-Ray may appeal to a bunch of people, but it's coming out late in this digital age and media is preparing to move away from discs due to their fragility and the ease and access with which new modes of data and memory transferral exist. Just look at CDs. They're almost obsolete due to MP3s. I knew people who still bought tapes after 2001 so while they might still sell, their age is over.

Keep that in mind while debating technology's future.

 

[Sephiwind]

What do you think? Is Microsoft betting too much on Natal to keep its console fresh? Is all of this a big lie and they're actually going to be rolling out the Xbox 666 in 2011?

I think Microsoft has sunk so much money into the 360 they can't afford to do anything but keep running with it.

Even if they get it into profit it will be years before it's life represents even an acceptable level of loss, nevermind a net gain for Microsoft. For Xbox division the next five years is all about damage limitation, no-one above them is going to sign off costs to develop an all new console when the current one is such a financial disaster area, they would have stuck with the five year cycle if they could afford it, there's money to be made selling dev kits and periphals all over again.

I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. They have sunk so much money into the 360 that they are probably stuck with in for quite some time. Sure the system has been out for almost 5 years but for the first few it was plagued with the R.R.O.D. problem which more then likely hit their wallets hard. Personaly I would love to see the real figures on how much they lost because of that problem.

Then you have all the lost revenue do to losing the movie format war with Sony. They were probably expecting to win out over Blu-ray and market it for an HD-DVD player. Eventually they will have to co to terms with the fact that companies will want to make bigger and bigger games, that the HD-DVD won't be able to handle.

Third you have all the money spent on timed/perminant exclusive DLC. If you think about it the only reason alot of these companies, that released their games multi-platform like Fallout 3 and GTA4, and only released the DLC on the 360 was because M$ shelled out enough money to cover the money they would lose out on with the PS3 DLC.

Finally we have the economic recession. People can't afford a brand new, just released system. M$ realises that if they want to make any kind of profit with this system they need to just keep the 360 going and hope that no new R.R.O.D. type problem pokes it's ugly head down the road.

As for Natal I highly doubt that this will be the savior of the 360. Like Yahtze said it will sell to the gimmick crowd but with out any physical feed back people will eventually get bored or frustrated by it.

 

[T-Bone24]

I think as long as it has online capabilities, then it'll last. I for one still enjoy my 360 and will continue to enjoy it until the next big thing comes out.

I do not, however, care for Natal.

I agree, they're hedging their bets too much on Natal, what with them even calling it the "Natal era". Please, it's a neat idea, but not something that could carry a console.

 

[Treblaine]

The natal could help if it works as well as the ad video shows us.

Any way the 360 needs more
I could see it happening with a model 2, a complete redesign of the guts for better power consumption and heat dispensation, add in wifi and let users use USB storage and any HDD they want, get rid of the prioritized memory garbage. Double the ram to help newer games run in "mode 2" add a blu ray player that devs can support by making special edition(mode 2 games) for if they want to.

With these things the 360 would do well for another 5-8 years, I just hope the next box has all this and more...like more control options, more storage options and for Christ sake proper BWC.... even paying 100$ for a add on that has to be ok'd by live in order to unlock full BWC is a better ieda than nothign at all or half assness that is the 360s BWC......

Not going to happen (IMO) because Microsoft are already technically in the lead (compared to PS3) with their current nickel and diming policies:

-Why have BWC when you can just re-sell the games via XBLA as Xbox Classics = make money?
-Why allow third party Hard drives when they are makign so much money sellign proprietary ones?
-Why even allow an easy back up facility when the lack of it forces the user to pay for repairs?
-Why fix the reliability issue when there is so much moeny to be made from out of warranty repairs and selling refurbished consoles? Plus a low reliability damages the pre-owned market pushing more to buy new consoles than old ones.
-Why get rid of the annual online fee when so many people are paying it and actively defend it in online debates even?
-Why allow any third party peripherals (PS3 can take any PC gamepad) when you can lock out everything else and force everyone to buy Microsoft branded products?

Microsoft have a foothold and they are NOT going to budge. They may add more but if anything the price of admission will go up.

 

[Crunchy English]

Let me just start with this:

I love my Xbox 360. I own or at one point owned every other system of this generation. I have a mid-range gaming PC (maybe a bit on the low end), traded in my Wii for credit and let my PS3 collect dust. Seriously, it just sits there like a $300 paperweight. But I play my 360 almost every day. I tried Infamous, was bored by Uncharted 2, and since then, nothing.

And my system of choice is such a poorly designed piece of garbage. Every 360 comes broken, right out of the box.

It has great software, I like the Dashboard, I like the Dreamcast-style controllers. But the fact that I'm on my third one is ridiculous. You cheaped out on parts, to the extent where a constant flow of warranty replacements is STILL more cost effective than a redesign and switching to better quality parts. You bastards. You must have cut every corner in the book. I hate you, and this is just a confirmation that you will be continuing to screw me until the competition on the Sony and Nintendo side FORCE you to upgrade. And even then, you'll probably cheap out again, because you didn't learn your lesson. Jerk.

 

[Spirultima]

Wow, to believe that they can really throw this at the people who have poured money into greedy pockets after the "long future" console has broke down on the owner?

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

Not to start anything but If your 360 has been bought in the last few years and it dies, it's probably you. I've had mine going on four years, I play everyday at least a little, and not one issue. Not only that but I still play my original XBOX which is running fine and still has choice games to play for the collector, much better than the dredge being pushed on that dead horse PS2.

Natal will make a splash buit won't generate waves. Fact is this generation is essentially Wii vs. XBOX 360. Sony is very much a non-factor due to their hardware clusterf*@# of a console and lack of very good exclusive games. Basically you have Xbox ports and God of War and LBP neither of which I and many Xbox owners like. A console generation should last a long as good stuff is coming out. Nintendo will be first with a new console and then Sony not far behind. But there is a very likely chance that Xbox 360 will bleed well into the next generation (whenever that may be) until someone actually poses competition. Blu-Ray may appeal to a bunch of people, but it's coming out late in this digital age and media is preparing to move away from discs due to their fragility and the ease and access with which new modes of data and memory transferral exist. Just look at CDs. They're almost obsolete due to MP3s. I knew people who still bought tapes after 2001 so while they might still sell, their age is over.

Keep that in mind while debating technology's future.

Bullshit. What you meant to say is : "My head is too far up Microsoft's ass that I wont even have a look at the PS3 exclusives. So I'll just say there's none because there wasn't in 2006."

Since when did the 360 have a huge amount of exclusives? Because all I see are games on PC that get called "exclusive" and some overmarketed space marine games made for ADD kids. And what does the 360 have this year? More Halo and Crackdown 2? Woohoo, the PS3 has twelve games. Wait, fourteen games since games on PC too are exclusives too right, even though they're on two gaming systems?

Hardware Clusterfuck? Have you seen what's been made when devs can actually be bothered learning the PS3? And you cant call the PS3 hardware a clusterfuck when the 360 dies if you play it too much or after a year.

 

[Deofuta]

Is Microsoft betting too much on Natal to keep its console fresh? Is all of this a big lie and they're actually going to be rolling out the Xbox 666 in 2011

I see what you did there.

I like the idea of holding onto my xbox product for a while. Consoles are not cheap, and I enjoy making the most out of what I have. (Ready for this most used statement of 2009?) Especially in this Economy, I think it was a good move for Microsoft to put this out there.

 

[ryukage_sama]

Consumer demand for a new console anywhere in the near future is often associated with a lack of enthusiasm for the current generation. People, as always, are wanting better games, but I don't know of anyone who feels current gen graphics are lacking. Of course a game like Final Fantasy XIII may eventually become a new benchmark for gaming graphics, but I don't want every new game taking 4-5 years to be released. The experience, I feel, isn't worth that long of a wait and most companies would collapse under the costs of production.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Not to start anything but If your 360 has been bought in the last few years and it dies, it's probably you. I've had mine going on four years, I play everyday at least a little, and not one issue. Not only that but I still play my original XBOX which is running fine and still has choice games to play for the collector, much better than the dredge being pushed on that dead horse PS2.

Natal will make a splash buit won't generate waves. Fact is this generation is essentially Wii vs. XBOX 360. Sony is very much a non-factor due to their hardware clusterf*@# of a console and lack of very good exclusive games. Basically you have Xbox ports and God of War and LBP neither of which I and many Xbox owners like. A console generation should last a long as good stuff is coming out. Nintendo will be first with a new console and then Sony not far behind. But there is a very likely chance that Xbox 360 will bleed well into the next generation (whenever that may be) until someone actually poses competition. Blu-Ray may appeal to a bunch of people, but it's coming out late in this digital age and media is preparing to move away from discs due to their fragility and the ease and access with which new modes of data and memory transferral exist. Just look at CDs. They're almost obsolete due to MP3s. I knew people who still bought tapes after 2001 so while they might still sell, their age is over.

Keep that in mind while debating technology's future.

No..... the 360 still has heat dispensation flaws, changing the CPU/GPU and adding a bit of heat sink only reduced the problem some the core issues still remain. Still instead of 3-4 in 10 its more like 1-2 in 10 still 3 or 8 times more than the PS3(at this point in time, rumors abound of the lens failing so it might well have a DRE thing in the next year or 2) and the WII and other consumer electronics.