No new Xbox Console in Microsoft’s future
For those of you that have been sitting at home, pining away for a shiny new Xbox-branded console to replace your ailing 360, you might want to consider taking up a new hobby. Robbie Bach, president of MS’ entertainment division, revealed that the company has decided to focus its efforts on continuing development of the existing generation console for the foreseeable future. According to the company, research has proven that fewer gamers are in the market to upgrade their existing system these days, likely due at least in part to the ailing economy. As such, the company is planning on concentrating its efforts of exploiting the Xbox 360 to its full potential, with plans for new features and further game development. This isn’t terribly surprising, but it’s still a bit disappointing given the relative ago of the Xbox 360, which went into production in 2005…almost 4 years ago. Now that Microsoft has shown its cards, what new features would you most like to see the company work on integrating into the 360?
Everyone bashes on the PS3 and it’s price. But when you think about it, the 360 doesn’t have integrated wifi or free online play. I love Blu Ray but I realize that a lot of people don’t care about it. So when you take Blu Ray away you have still have to pay $100 for the wifi adapter (bringing the price of the core model to $299) then you have to pay for xbox live (another $50 bucks). So when it comes down to it for another $50 you get a PS3 with Blu Ray.
So when you ask what xbox should do with the 360, add integrated wifi!!!
Add a cheap external blue-ray player already… or are they still too embarrassed over the HD-DVD flop?
You don’t have to pay to play online with Xbox 360. Silver memberships are free. The gold membership costs money but comes with extra features that are considered “bonus” online functionality.
The 360 has alot more games (esp exclusives) and doesn’t force you to pay for those things.
I don’t like WiFi for gaming or streaming video since there is lag (esp in an area with lots of neighbors that have wifi). Doesn’t force you to spend more for Blu-Ray. Integrates really well with Microsoft Home Server & Media Center to stream movies/etc. Plus, it’s really hard to compare PS3 online to Xbox Live.
PS3 does have more powerful processor and a few exclusives that look good (Killzone 2 & Little Big Planet) but it’s hard to justify that price for not many exclusives and not enough of a difference when you see games on both side by side.
Now, it would be nice for Xbox to have the option to add Blu-Ray and it would be nice if PS3 had more exclusives, and a lower price.
Blu-Ray is getting to be less of an advantage as companies start doing HD movie downloads. I realize that the quality isn’t at Blu-Ray standards yet, but as bandwidth and hard drive storage increase, I think you’ll see Blu-Ray start dieing unless they drop the price of the movies.
I just bought a PS3. I use it for blu-ray movies and the internal HDD as my media center to pump my mp3 library through my sound system. Games are a nice add-on. =)
(If I wanted just games, I’d have gone with a Wii)
I’d like to see a smaller, quieter version of the 360. Similar to the “new” PS2. Something that can actually be part of my bedroom entertainment center (ie: quiet!). I’ve given up the media extender on the 360 for a quiet asus eee box running mythtv. Maybe even a bracket to mount it behind the tv, like you can the eee box! Scrap the wired connectors and go all wireless. And yes, integrate 102.11g/n.
I mean 802.11g/n, not 102
.
I think we all agree that games are nice, as a previous poster said – but I’d like to see a focus on media capabilities. My dad bought a ps3 for blu-ray, my co-worker bought a 360 for a media extender – neither of them owns a single game.
My perfect XB360:
1) Same width and depth as most A/V equipment. The damn thing sticks out like a sore thumb.
2) Quieter… accomplishing my #1 point should allow better cooling methods (i.e. more big yet slower fans).
3) Integrated Blu-Ray drive.
4) Wifi and Bluetooth.
Sounds like a PS3 with a selection of games doesn’t it?! LOL.
- First and foremost: Integrate wi-fi. I understand that not everyone uses it but, for fuck’s sake, if you’re going to beat this horse into glue, that’s the least you could do.
- Quiet that jet engine masquerading as a cooling fan. I’m sure you’re going to find a way to integrate cooler components and circuitry. Turn down the fan accordingly. Allowing people to install the games to the hard drive is a nice alternative, but your hard drives are proprietary, expensive as dick (in a $/gb sense), and can’t be swapped. Shut that shit up.
Evan: You’re assuming that someone has to purchase the Wi-Fi adapter when they buy their 360. If it’s 4 feet away from my router, what do I need wireless for? That argument is disingenuous and based on the assumption that superior hardware specs makes for a superior gaming console. The games and the gameplay make the superior gaming console.
james: MS was never serious about HD-DVD. They just wanted to fuck with Sony. Remove the fanboy tint from your glasses for a minute, and you’ll realize that. If they were serious, they would have thrown a couple billion dollars at integrating HD-DVD into their console.
Sonic: Going with a Wii really depends on what type of games you like and how much you like those motion controls. I own a Wii, I own a 360, my best friend owns a PS3 (so I play it a fair bit) and I’ve got a gaming PC to boot. Only one of those collects dust (hint: it’s the Wii).
Mike: Repeat after me: They’re not going to integrate Blu-Ray. They’re not going to integrate Blu-Ray. They’re not going to integrate Blu-Ray. It’s just not going to happen. I’m with you on 1, 2, and 4 though; since they’re going to ride this puppy out, they’ll have time to figure it out. Hopefully.
to all the people who complain that you have to pay for xbox live, are you really that cheap that you cant pay like $50 for a whole years worth? i’ve played on both i’d choose xbox live over playing ps3 online anyday.
The 360 is perfectly fine as it is. Only the games have to get better.
The 360 has the advantage now but IMO the 360 has shorter legs then the PS3.
Sony stated from the get go that the PS3 was a long term investment. If you compare games between the 360 and PS3 right now both systems look exactly the same, well really the 360 has an advantage because its easier to make games for.
BUT
if if the 360 wants to turn this into a marathon they’re going to fall behind, we are seeing the PS3 wheels starting to turn. LBP started it and the only place the PS3 is going is up.
Even IF the PS3 has 10% more performance power, thats 10% more the 360 does not have. If the 360 drags this generation out developers are going to start finding ways to use 100% of the cells power and its going to be over.
sure Orga might not agree but its add a internal blu-ray player and some old skool turn based RPG’s and im all over the 360….a little bit of love when im trying to stream my dvds from my NAS to my TV all from a MAC wouldnt hurt either lol but now im just being crazy
a built in web brower would be great.
This is why Microsoft has tons of cash.. The economy sucks, is not going to get better.. so just make PURE PROFIT for the next few years.
So go out and buy some MS stock!!
If you want a cheap blue-ray player, then get one. There are cheaper and better ones than game consoles can provide. If you want a system that plays games, get a 360. If nothing else it has the best exclusives and most people agree that games that came out on both play better and load faster on the 360 rather than the ps3. Free Wi-Fi would be nice, but its a luxury, not a necessity. Most people buy game consoles for the GAMES, shocking i know. There simply aren’t enough good ones to justify spending the extra money for the same graphics, and slower load times than the 360, hence why 360 games almost always take number one spot in numbers of most games sold
I just picked up a nice elite bundle for 224 dollars. Glad to see it won’t be outdated soon.
As for the debate, just get both. Look for good deals and pounce. That’s what I did, and I don’t regret it.
I used to have a 360 and sold it after the three red rings came up. Now I have a PS3 and love it. I’m not big on the 360 exclusive games and I like the PS3 a little better with the same game. Plus it has Blu-Ray which is a most if u have HD TV because regular DVD’s are crappy and downloaded HD is #1 expensive and #2 not as good.
I have both the ps3 and the black 360 and i loved them both. if you can play any game on the ps3 you can also play it on the 360. The controllers are pretty much the same and the graphics are the same. When i purchased the 360 i had to pay for the wifi adapter,extended battery, charger and a member ship card so i can play online. with the ps3 i didnt have to buy the adapter or card so i could play online. Ps3 has fallen off because they dont have any exclusive games except for metal gear solid and resistance. and the games they put out the makers dont try to use the ps3 to its full potential. finally more people have the 360 then the ps3 and they are still buying the 360
Of course MS won’t announce any new Xbox’s… reasons ?
1) Interest in the current model will reduce if people find out that a replacement is on it’s way
2) Sony have announced a crazy 10 year plan for the very slow to start PS3, so MS can really wait for another 3+ years before they release a new system.
Personally, I like PS3. It has everything xBox has to offer – gaming in HiDef – and it can be a great media center. Blue-Ray, streaming MP3s and videos from home library server – that is something xBox cannot do. $100 is a small price for a huge added value, thus I go with PS3.
The should do a Xbox360 Slim (like Sony do after a while with their consoles), up the hard drive to 300gigs or so and introduce video recording, a digital freeview tuner and sell that for less than 200 (basically make it replace the Elite)…
I have all 3 major systems (PS3, 360, Wii) and i find they all have a very specific place in my life.
The Wii is awesome when i’m having a party.
The 360 gets abused when i have my a small group of friends over.
The PS3 … good for BluRay … Thats about it.
I bet we see hardware revisions inside the current xbox 360 shell. New CPU’s with more cores, better/faster/QUIETER components. No need to for total redesign. Just like how PC’s get new components every 6 months, I think the Xbox will get new revisions every year or so.
I believe that they are correct in terms of current market analysis. There aren’t that many people who are going to invest in a very expensive, new system for at least another 2 years. It would be foolish to announce a successor as any business knows, you don’t push a new model when the old ones are still on the lot. Expect details about a successor to start trickling in late 2010. They will try to make the 360 into a portal for multiplayer online games (biggest money maker so far) and push tournaments etc.
They might do one more hardware refresh and maybe another price drop. I think what will increase the shelf life.
The PS3 will be a viable competitor after the 360 has aged. If they maintain the notion to be profitable and refuse significant price cuts, Sony will keep losing market share. Keep in mind that every 200.00 dollar xbox arcade (sold during a recession period) and a wii can take away one extra customer.
I would like to see wifi integrated (maybe n) and maybe an xbox os update to accomodate more items such as 3rd part peripherals.