Killy_Blame said: They could always try one of their original ideas: Load the 360 with Windows and turn it into a fully fledged PC. It has all manner or strategic advantages and disadvantages, but it certainly would boost hardware sales.

i thought the idea was to improve it?

Oh MS hasn't had a chance to win this generation since early 2007. There's nothing left they can do in this war to change their outcome. I'm not being bias, just telling you as it is. They had their chance with their 1 yr lead and it failed.

Zucas said: Oh MS hasn't had a chance to win this generation since early 2007. There's nothing left they can do in this war to change their outcome. I'm not being bias, just telling you as it is. They had their chance with their 1 yr lead and it failed.

i think they probably can pull out a few more tricks. I don't think the HD DVD drive would help them, it would be a exclusive product for xbox-ophiles who are looking for the home entertainment hub, but wouldn't attract the basic gamers (this is something that MS have argued for a while - that gamers are gamers and cinephiles are cinephiles, they're not interchangeable... i don't agree though). The've already had their really big hitters out, but what they could do is drop the price, mke Live free/slash cost and bring out games that would complement the already strong titles they've released. I don't think the war is over yet, not by a long shot, but i do think Sony now have te upper hand with the quality of games and peripherals that they are promising.

Scruff7 said: scorptile said: hd dvd is a better player just cause it actually plays regular dvd's and hd dvd's blueray dvd players can only play blue ray dvd's but for xbox to do this now will be suicide   what are you on about? they both play DVDs! and they both upscale DVDs too! is this really the state of ignorance?

Good grief...ignorance is abundant.

Anyway, how about Microsoft fixes the RROD before it releases a new version of the console?

Smidlee said: As far as Blu-Ray vs HD DVD format my money is on Blu-Ray just because it's a cooler name.

lol I like your logic!

My money is on Blu Ray not only cause of the cool name but because of the companies backing them such as MGM, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Disney, and Warner Bros.

Zucas said: Oh MS hasn't had a chance to win this generation since early 2007. There's nothing left they can do in this war to change their outcome. I'm not being bias, just telling you as it is. They had their chance with their 1 yr lead and it failed.

sarcasm?  360 hasn't given up an inch of their lead that they had when they launched to the ps3.  the 360 has slightly outsold the ps3 since the ps3 launched. 

I can't believe how much people overreact about 1 week!   Doesn't take a genius to see that a week when NA sales divebomb and others/Japan sales stay high that will favor the PS3. 

Wait to see where sales stabalize at.  Even if PS3 outsells 360 at that point, Microsoft can drop the price drop card, and Sony cannot possibly do that right now.

 

 

Well, I'll go a little off-topic, as the OP is definitely not sth that interests me.
What I've seen with the XB360 though, has far worse implications for the console industry.
At least until the end of 2007.
All of that follows is IMHO of course.
I've seen what I'd call a disastrous turn of event in this industry, which further persuade myself that a crash was coming, faster than we thought, and may still happen. And I put most grief on the XB360 strategy, though I'm not surprised it's a MS plot.
I see this gen, that the very basics of consoles' reason to be on the market are destroyed.
Consoles are simple, inexpensive and reliable means (remember all of this is IMHO) to play games.
XB360 just destroyed all of that.. The Playstation line started destroying the reliable line, but XB360 is finishing the work. And everybody in the industry is at a loss.
I mean, everything complicated about the PC has been brought to the console world.
Now there's no more heavy QA like we saw before, now there are patches. What's worse, is that a lot of people are pushing that as a good thing.
Before this gen, you could still buy a console on day launch, and be confident you got the best configuration for all the duration of the gen. Thus inexpensive, which goes hand in hand with reliable.
Now, this is destroyed completely by the XB360, so much that it's not even funny.
I'm talking about the abysmal reliability of course, but also about all these SKU. Looking at the XB360, something is very clear : if you bought it on launch day, you got shafted all kind of ways. You got the worse SKU and most break. Loud, scratching disk, RROD, no HDMI, no HD-DVD.
Now there are at least 6 different SKU, so the simple aspect of consoles world is destroyed too. And Sony is guilty of this too. All these SKU mean huge buyers confusion, and buyers confusion means less sale.
You can't just go say you'll buy a XB360 or a PS3. When faced by all these SKU, with some in shortages to boot, confusion will ensue. Especially since the ones in shortage must be the best ones ?
The reliability and number of SKU means the inexpensive part of consoles is destroyed too.
Hardcore gamers don't seem to understand that casual buyers, the biggest part of console buyers market, are not going to go back and buy a new SKU every time a new one is out. It's not a problem for them, but that's just dragging the console into a very niche market.

As for software, devs seems to be at a complete loss on what to do.
I see a lot of people say that XB360 moves a lot of software, so all the games will come to it.
The truth is that only some kind of games makes big sales, and most of the others just bomb hard, especially harder since they cost more to make than last gen.
So if all devs were to turn to this console, that's a great pan of the console games genre that will just disappear, with a crash following, as the market will just be too crowded in a few genres.
I'll stop there for now, just saying I feel a big shift taking place, and not for the best. A shift that will leave lots of casualties behind it, at least that's how I feel it.
As for what I see instead of feeling, for now, is a very healthy market, at least in money, but this is mainly pushed by the Wii and DS, which isn't reassuring.

Now, to go back on topic, after the holiday craze, the OP makes no sense to me. At least wait for the month to end before making conclusions.

ookaze said: Well, I'll go a little off-topic, as the OP is definitely not sth that interests me. What I've seen with the XB360 though, has far worse implications for the console industry. At least until the end of 2007. All of that follows is IMHO of course. I've seen what I'd call a disastrous turn of event in this industry, which further persuade myself that a crash was coming, faster than we thought, and may still happen. And I put most grief on the XB360 strategy, though I'm not surprised it's a MS plot. I see this gen, that the very basics of consoles' reason to be on the market are destroyed. Consoles are simple, inexpensive and reliable means (remember all of this is IMHO) to play games. XB360 just destroyed all of that.. The Playstation line started destroying the reliable line, but XB360 is finishing the work. And everybody in the industry is at a loss. I mean, everything complicated about the PC has been brought to the console world. Now there's no more heavy QA like we saw before, now there are patches. What's worse, is that a lot of people are pushing that as a good thing. Before this gen, you could still buy a console on day launch, and be confident you got the best configuration for all the duration of the gen. Thus inexpensive, which goes hand in hand with reliable. Now, this is destroyed completely by the XB360, so much that it's not even funny. I'm talking about the abysmal reliability of course, but also about all these SKU. Looking at the XB360, something is very clear : if you bought it on launch day, you got shafted all kind of ways. You got the worse SKU and most break. Loud, scratching disk, RROD, no HDMI, no HD-DVD. Now there are at least 6 different SKU, so the simple aspect of consoles world is destroyed too. And Sony is guilty of this too. All these SKU mean huge buyers confusion, and buyers confusion means less sale. You can't just go say you'll buy a XB360 or a PS3. When faced by all these SKU, with some in shortages to boot, confusion will ensue. Especially since the ones in shortage must be the best ones ? The reliability and number of SKU means the inexpensive part of consoles is destroyed too. Hardcore gamers don't seem to understand that casual buyers, the biggest part of console buyers market, are not going to go back and buy a new SKU every time a new one is out. It's not a problem for them, but that's just dragging the console into a very niche market. As for software, devs seems to be at a complete loss on what to do. I see a lot of people say that XB360 moves a lot of software, so all the games will come to it. The truth is that only some kind of games makes big sales, and most of the others just bomb hard, especially harder since they cost more to make than last gen. So if all devs were to turn to this console, that's a great pan of the console games genre that will just disappear, with a crash following, as the market will just be too crowded in a few genres. I'll stop there for now, just saying I feel a big shift taking place, and not for the best. A shift that will leave lots of casualties behind it, at least that's how I feel it. As for what I see instead of feeling, for now, is a very healthy market, at least in money, but this is mainly pushed by the Wii and DS, which isn't reassuring. Now, to go back on topic, after the holiday craze, the OP makes no sense to me. At least wait for the month to end before making conclusions.

 I agree100%. 

 And what's funny about the ps3 is that the first one released, the 60gb, is still the best one today. 

Microsoft's biggest problem will soon be Sony's biggest problem ... there really isn't that many people who are willing to spend more than $300 on a gaming system.

In the last generation over 75% of all videogame systems were bought for under $200, the market has (possibly) shifted to be willing to accept a higher price point but it is unlikely that more than 20% of gamers would be willing to spend more than $300 on a gaming system. Microsoft is in a fairly good position though because they can (probably) afford to provide the price reduction that they should have earlier this year, and offer a $250 to $300 XBox 360 priemium.

makingmusic476 said: ookaze said: Well, I'll go a little off-topic, as the OP is definitely not sth that interests me. What I've seen with the XB360 though, has far worse implications for the console industry. At least until the end of 2007. All of that follows is IMHO of course. I've seen what I'd call a disastrous turn of event in this industry, which further persuade myself that a crash was coming, faster than we thought, and may still happen. And I put most grief on the XB360 strategy, though I'm not surprised it's a MS plot. I see this gen, that the very basics of consoles' reason to be on the market are destroyed. Consoles are simple, inexpensive and reliable means (remember all of this is IMHO) to play games. XB360 just destroyed all of that.. The Playstation line started destroying the reliable line, but XB360 is finishing the work. And everybody in the industry is at a loss. I mean, everything complicated about the PC has been brought to the console world. Now there's no more heavy QA like we saw before, now there are patches. What's worse, is that a lot of people are pushing that as a good thing. Before this gen, you could still buy a console on day launch, and be confident you got the best configuration for all the duration of the gen. Thus inexpensive, which goes hand in hand with reliable. Now, this is destroyed completely by the XB360, so much that it's not even funny. I'm talking about the abysmal reliability of course, but also about all these SKU. Looking at the XB360, something is very clear : if you bought it on launch day, you got shafted all kind of ways. You got the worse SKU and most break. Loud, scratching disk, RROD, no HDMI, no HD-DVD. Now there are at least 6 different SKU, so the simple aspect of consoles world is destroyed too. And Sony is guilty of this too. All these SKU mean huge buyers confusion, and buyers confusion means less sale. You can't just go say you'll buy a XB360 or a PS3. When faced by all these SKU, with some in shortages to boot, confusion will ensue. Especially since the ones in shortage must be the best ones ? The reliability and number of SKU means the inexpensive part of consoles is destroyed too. Hardcore gamers don't seem to understand that casual buyers, the biggest part of console buyers market, are not going to go back and buy a new SKU every time a new one is out. It's not a problem for them, but that's just dragging the console into a very niche market. As for software, devs seems to be at a complete loss on what to do. I see a lot of people say that XB360 moves a lot of software, so all the games will come to it. The truth is that only some kind of games makes big sales, and most of the others just bomb hard, especially harder since they cost more to make than last gen. So if all devs were to turn to this console, that's a great pan of the console games genre that will just disappear, with a crash following, as the market will just be too crowded in a few genres. I'll stop there for now, just saying I feel a big shift taking place, and not for the best. A shift that will leave lots of casualties behind it, at least that's how I feel it. As for what I see instead of feeling, for now, is a very healthy market, at least in money, but this is mainly pushed by the Wii and DS, which isn't reassuring. Now, to go back on topic, after the holiday craze, the OP makes no sense to me. At least wait for the month to end before making conclusions. I agree100%. And what's funny about the ps3 is that the first one released, the 60gb, is still the best one today.

 I strongly disagree. Ms and sony are doing what they can to lower the price to the average consumer. As for the devs, the wii is selling like hot cakes to say the least, if a developer releases a simi good game it will sell well simply because the install base is there. Not to mention the psn games and xbla games for smaller indie developers. Granted i hate the wiis selection of games and just about everyhting else about it but it is neccesary this gen, imo, so that devs can recuop money if they need to because it is selling so well.