S.T.A.G.E. said:
Reasonable said:
On Blu-Ray I'm curious why people think it won't have it. I can't see any other alternative apart from going fully digital. My reasoning is:
1 - MS are committed to entertainment hub. This means, IMHO, that the next Xbox would still need to play physical entertainment media - which today means DVD and BR. Nintendo with Wii (and by the looks of it Wii U) used a proprietary format but this means the device cannot play DVDs, etc and is a closed environment - not good for a media hub at all. I doubt MS would want to cut themselves off from being able to play physical format films and BR is now a big enough segment they would be foolish to ignore it any longer IMHO.
2 - With increased power will, for AAA games, come higher resolution textures, game assets and content. In short - big AAA games on the next generation of Xbox will almost certainly be bigger than they are now. This means more storage space. If MS stick with DVD again they will be looking at a far higher percentage (probably) of multiple disk games. They need more space but, to point 1) above, I don't think they will take the Nintendo route of going proprietary on the disk format and losing ability to use DVD, BR, etc. playback - the obvious logical choice is BR disk format.
3 - MS need to grow outside US, UK, etc. That means markets that are less able to support a fully digital model, particularly for big games that could easily require a 25GB download. Therefore, unless MS want to commit fully to only highly developed internet infrastructure countries, MS will need physical media for at least one more gen. As per 1) and 2) above I believe this media would need to be larger than DVD but not proprietary to allow for full media hub message. To look at it another way - if the next Xbox was fully digital, then MS would be practically handing the rest of the world to Sony/Nintendo. Likely they would see reduction of marketshare from 360 in many territories. Fully digital to me seems like a very risky route for MS for a 2013/2014 timeframe.
4 - BR is going to be around for a while yet and right now the PS3 is arguably a better media center because it can offer exactly the same services as 360 - online/offline media playback, storage, etc. but it also supports the BR format which is becoming increasingly popular for purchase of latest films while 360 requires you to have a separate BR player which negates the idea of the 360 being your sole media hub. This gen it made sense for MS to not support BR and allow Sony to look expensive - next gen I believe MS will want parity on entertainment hub features (if not superiority) and not supporting the current high end format for physical media would negate that IMO.
To me it just seems the logical and competitive choice for MS to have BR. They have no interest in proprietary formats at all so far as I can see (unlike Nintendo) and they have every interest in growing globally, offering next gen gaming experiences and providing a one stop media/entertainment hub for the home. BR is the obvious choice and would not - despite what some think - line Sony's pockets or help Sony in gaming. MS using BR would be no different from Sony putting Windows on their PCs.
As for the used game stuff and smaller controller, that smells like bullshit. MS would surely know they could throw away their current leadership position in one fell swoop if they cut off used game sales/usage and they also know their controller size is preferred by much of their customer base.
I could see them maybe producing and using a slightly smaller controller in some territories where the 360 controller is seen as large, or having the option to buy a smaller controller, but not committing wholesale to a smaller controller. |
Microsoft stated Blu Ray is a product that will be by passed and is not needed. Microsoft always ends up following Sony's lead...it's how they will survive. Sony follows Nintendo and Microsoft follows Sony. This time I dont think it will happen, Microsoft will try and find something else on account of their stubbornness.
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I did think of that - and they might do that. But it just seems like a huge risk to me.
If the go digital only I see two big risks:
a) they are wrong and are left in a very weak position having to produce some sort of external bolt on physical media post launch - this would happen if it became obvious too much of the market still wants to buy physical media
b) they risk limiting themselves to only countries with sufficient bandwidth to download big games (imagine downloading FFXIII for example if you don't have much bandwidth - this would essentially cut off a big chunk of the worldwide market and essentially hand it to Sony/Nintendo
With their entertainment hub message I can't see them going proprietary as stated - that would incure a lot of development expensne and if they wanted their format to also play DVDs they would still have to licence it anyway.
Stuffing BR (which is now relatively cheap vs when PS3 launched) into the next Xbox just seems the easy, low risk option to me. It doesn't stop them pushing digital more, it ticks a currently empty box in in their entertainment hub credentials and it actually removes a Sony differentiator - why buy a Playstation or standalone Sony (or other brand) BR player when your entertainment hub Xbox can play it all?
I think MS would prefer to go digital, but I think the economic crysis has pushed that back from being realizable, particularly in a lot of the more emerging markets.
