Why PS4 won't be cutting edge, and neither will Xbox3 - or Why Nintendo might win next gen

[JEMC]

ironmanDX said:

Everyone here is forgetting the casual 720 or the xbox TV or whatever it is called. I think they'll release a casual 720 with kinect 2.0, a core by itself and a core with kinect 2.0 for people with to much money! :D It should cater for everyone's needs and price ranges some what well.

If rumors are to be believed an they're going to offer a subscription based sale offering I doubt cost won't matter as much for M$ either. They can afford to sell at a loss.

 

Rich bastards.

The problem with that approach (launching 3 versions) is that it not only can confuse your customer but also makes it harder for developers to use those extra features, because they don't know how many people have them. That's why neither Kinect nor Move have had much support from 3rd parties and the reason why Nintendo made the Wiimote and now the Gamepad the de-facto controllers.

And about that Xbox lite (casual), the rumor said is that it would be a "low cost alternative to its Xbox console". To me that implies it having less power than the true nextbox. Think more of a Xbox360 + Kinect focused on playing media while being able to play most of the Live games, but not the retail ones.

The thing about subscription is that they have only tried it in the US (which is their biggest and primary market). They don't know if that model will work in Europe (Japan doesn't care).