IGN: Xbox 720 Will Be Six Times as Powerful as Current Gen

[S.T.A.G.E.]

amaral_slb said:

KillerMan said:

Oh yes I forgot Kinect. Maybe that is actully reason that MS would go with little less powerful console to keep the costs down. As for your point of casuals I actually disagree. Casual market is exactly that market that is never given. It's the most uncertain market segment that goes always after the next big thing like this gen first motion controls and then to lesser degree Kinect. If WiiU and its table controller are the next big thing I actually think MS would be in the worst position of the three (if these specs are true). WiiU being the casual console with Nintendo's strong first party and PS4 being the more powerful hardcore console with better multiplats and Sony's great and wide first party output.

I am not going to speculate who would be in a worst position based on rumors, but I think you are forgetting one huge fact.

Casual gamers >>>>>>>>>>> Hardcore gamers (for me casual is based on how much you play and not what games you play)

I think you are underestimating the impact of Kinect. There is no way that if I want to buy a dancing game that I would prefer any other devise (dancing games as an example). MS will ride this Kinect fever, and IMO Nintendo might be the one to pay the price because out of those 90M Wiis they sold, 50M are core Mario, Zelda gamers, the other 40M are casuals that loved those fun family oriented experiences, and now they have a competitor (I just pulled those numbers out of nowhere but you understand my point).

As for the Hardcore, there are a lot of people that would buy a console just for Gears and Halo, specially if it is cheaper.

IMO

The hardcore gave the 360 legs to stand on earlier in the gen and are the backbone of any platform. They play all the games spanning from the most popular to casual or even niche. The casuals are unpredictable and are usually following tech fads, buying casual titles and playing games their family and friends will enjoy without too having to delve into the deeper and more complex games. These will also miss out on a ton of games because they dont invest their time like core gamers do, so the ones that are popular are the major ones they'll see. Finally, there are moderate gamers who buy a couple games a year but when they play still immerse themselves in the titles and for certain yearly installments of games like COD, NFL, NBA, Fifa, GTA, etc. Moderates tend to get the majority of their enjoyment out of playing competitively in multiplayer, but their choices in games are vastly slimmer and less diverse than the core.