The third time´s the charm?Microsoft to win next generation?

[Lord N]

Squilliam said:

I wonder about how Nintendo and Microsoft are going to compete really. The thing is with the Wii, its really got hardware from circa 2002, by 2011 thats almost two whole generations of visual improvements and if a console comes out in say 2011 like the Wii but far far more powerful the graphical improvements would be enough to impress people.

Microsoft does have the strength of Xbox Live, its a community which should give them quite a significant captive audience who will only upgrade to a next generation Xbox console barring unforseen circumstances like it sucking balls. Theres 10-20M people right there who may eventually get an Xbox Evolution. Thats a pretty good base to build off, especially as neither PSN or Wii online has the same community feeling and probably not the same level of loyalty.

Microsoft does have quite a few options up its sleeve. They have the option of turning the Xbox Evolution into a computer, they have Windows for example. They have some pretty cool interface technologies as well. What they don't have is a reliable 1st party stable to develop cutting edge innovative software for their Nextbox. To mitigate that weakness they have to release early and get developers working on their platform and releasing games before other platforms to give them early momentum. So ideally they will want to release at least one year, preferrably 18m-2years before Nintendo to give themselves and third parties a chance to create some really compelling software.

 

 

Online gameplay has never played a decisive role in any console generation. Less than half of the 360 userbase even has a gold account.

Fact of the matter is that only core and hardcore gamers even really care about it, and even then, not always. Casual gamers(who make up most of the market) really couldn't care less about it.

Trying to turn their next console into a computer won't work either, because most gamers just want a gaming machine. They don't care about all of these extra features. This generation has proven that more than anything.