| Loud_Hot_White_Box said: Yeah, as I've said before, consoles do not have equivalent life cycles, and are not part of equivalent business plans from their respective companies, even if we talk of certain groups of consoles being in the same "generation" as one another. PS3 launched 1 year after 360 and will be selling for 6 years or more after 360 is gone (including after the release of PS4). The next Xbox will definitely be more powerful than PS3 obviously, and the PS4 will definitely be more powerful than that. We're headed for staggered HD releases next "gen." |
I think we could see staggered releases next gen. But I don't know that it would be a good thing. Keeping the consoles together is good because, a. you know what your getting. If you spend 250-500 you know you are getting a console that will get great games for 5 years. Also, b. having competitors builds up the market. What I mean by this is, let's say for example that Sony and Nintendo really meant it when they said they would leave their consoles for 10 years. Microsoft comes out with the nextbox after 5. Their commercials will always compare the nextbox to the PS3, Wii, and even the 360. As such, it is basically a current gen console that released five years late. It's in peoples nature to compare.
I also think that if Nintendo and Sony wait two years after the launch of the next xbox, going first will be a bad thing. In two years there is significant hardware advances. There will be no doubt that the nextbox will be the least powerful. Additionally, the nextbox will not get any exclusives. The PS3 can do HD. So, if you are going to develop for the nextbox at a user base of <5Million, you certainly will port that game to the PS3 will a userbase of 40Million. So I think the two positives of being first out are taken away. Those are 1. confusion that you console is the most powerful. I mean the whole 360/PS3 arguments go on all the time. Same as the PS2 being more powerful than the gamecube arguments. And 2. A better selection of games that the new comers.
I also think if this is Microsofts master plan, they should just fold up the games division. This will garuantee that the 360 isn't profitable over the generation. That is two generations of losses.
