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Forums - Gaming - Can Sony or Nintendo counter a cable box?

 

Can Sony & Nintendo compete?

It won't happen 10 5.88%
 
They will do well against it 45 26.47%
 
Sony, but not Nintendo 42 24.71%
 
Nintendo, but not Sony 16 9.41%
 
No they can't 37 21.76%
 
It'll still depend on software 15 8.82%
 
Sony will have one too 5 2.94%
 
Total:170
Demensha on 27 April 2013
platformmaster918 said:

With rumors of MS possibly partnering with a cable company for the Nextbox, will its competitors be able to compete?  Does Sony have the infastructure to carry out contracted boxes?   Will the multi-purposeness be too much for the other boxes to handle?  It's a prediction of how a hypothetical could turn out but nothing better to talk about so here I am.


Depends on how they partner up. Comcast DVR go for 600$ or that's what they charge if you break one. If Comcast and Microsoft spin a deal, where the nextbox can be used as a Comcast dvr I can see the box costing nothing upfront but adding 20$ a month to your cable bill. Comcast will have then obsorbed majority of the cost up front to make it othe back end. If something such as tht happens then no they won't be able to compete. However if it's just simple dvr then meh what's the big deal? Either company could make an adaptor adding a external HDD allowing for dvr playback. 



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Colocho on 27 April 2013

They dont have to. Most people buy consoles to play games not watch tv... I personally love FIOS (best picture quality, internet speeds and payin a great price @ the moment)



NobleTeam360 on 27 April 2013

Cable box?



RicardJulianti on 27 April 2013
platformmaster918 said:

funny I thought this was MS's big trump card that they were going to pull.  I don't have a cable box as I have a website I go to for all my needs but I thought I was in the minority.  What I don't get about a media hub box is that most bluray players and even TVs themselves have apps in them from the get go.  Not to mention that the current gen systems can already do the most popular apps like Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, MLB, NHL, NFL, ESPN, etc. so why would you need to upgrade?  Also also just because Sony didn't put an emphasis on it doesn't mean they won't have multimedia.  That stuff can be added without changing the hardware so MS would have to work out exclusivity contracts for it to have any effect since I'm sure Sony would just add the features as soon as they knew MS had them.

Right? Pachter sees Skype as a "Killer-app" that will help the next Xbox "win" the next generation because it allows people to use Skype with their TV's. Sorry Pachter, Smart TV's have been around for years that have Skype built in. Hell, according to a leaked internal document from Vidyo (the people handling the Wii U Chat), the Wii U wlil get cross-platform video conferencing and more... http://nintendoeverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/wii_u_vidyo.jpg

The PS4 and the Wii U will have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, internet browsers to access things (Crackle, MLB, ESPN3, NHL etc for the Wii U since PS4 might have that on there already). Sony knew that MS would be selling the Xbox as a media-hub so that's why they harped on being for gamers so much at the reveal. They will absolutely have all sorts of media things. The share button alone is purely media-based, even though it is used in gaming.



Cobretti2 on 27 April 2013

I really don't know the answer form a general people perspective,

However from a personal view, I don't believe in game consoles becoming media boxes lol. I can already skype, play dvds, bluray ets with my bluray player and smart tv. I dont need MORE devices that do this shit. Sadly game devices had to adopt to cater to these people who want the same service on another device in home.



 

 

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thismeintiel on 27 April 2013

To me, this just seems like a "me too" feature to be sticking in the NeXbox. Those don't usually work out too well. I mean there's no reason to hook your cable box up to the NeXbox when all you have to do is hit source/input on the remote and you're watching cable/satellite TV. And apps aren't going to be a big draw, either, as all the consoles (and most Blu-ray players and TVs) will have most these apps. Definitely the more popular ones. I think MS equally focusing on gaming (probably half core and half Kinect/casual games), TV, and entertainment apps is going to be a big turn off to core gamers next gen. And if Wii U sales are any indication, it seems that casuals aren't going to be coming in droves next gen, either.



 

platformmaster918 on 27 April 2013
Cobretti2 said:

I really don't know the answer form a general people perspective,

However from a personal view, I don't believe in game consoles becoming media boxes lol. I can already skype, play dvds, bluray ets with my bluray player and smart tv. I dont need MORE devices that do this shit. Sadly game devices had to adopt to cater to these people who want the same service on another device in home.

yeah that's kinda why I made this is because I don't count myself as the typical "mass consumer" so just wondering what sort of effect people think it would have on a major scale.




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thranx on 27 April 2013
thismeintiel said:

To me, this just seems like a "me too" feature to be sticking in the NeXbox. Those don't usually work out too well. I mean there's no reason to hook your cable box up to the NeXbox when all you have to do is hit source/input on the remote and you're watching cable/satellite TV. And apps aren't going to be a big draw, either, as all the consoles (and most Blu-ray players and TVs) will have most these apps. Definitely the more popular ones. I think MS equally focusing on gaming (probably half core and half Kinect/casual games), TV, and entertainment apps is going to be a big turn off to core gamers next gen. And if Wii U sales are any indication, it seems that casuals aren't going to be coming in droves next gen, either.


There is plenty of reason. i cant find a single cable box or streaming device that lets me control things with my voice like kinect. its made my xbox my premier device for watching media. if they expand on the cable service and add voice controls to that (i have the fios app and can watch some channels already, but last time i used it it wasn't voice controlled) it will be a gurantee buy for me. the cable side of it is more competing with google tv and apple tv than with sony or nintendo in my opinion.



Dgc1808 on 27 April 2013

I don't think they'll need to.



4 ≈ One

thranx on 27 April 2013
RicardJulianti said:
dahuman said:
Just_Rocco said:
dahuman said:
I haven't had a cable box in like 10+ years so I really don't know nor would I want to use consoles as a cable box.....

That doesnt answer the question.


The thing is, it's a shrinking market so there is nothing to counter.

This.

More and more people are ditching their cable boxes and cable altogether with things like Hulu, Amazon Video and Netflix being cheaper combined than a monthly cable bill. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Microsoft already have some sort of deal with Comcast already? I could easily see them continuing that partnership......but Comcast seems to garner a lot of hate from their customers for one reason or another.

Partnering with one cable company would be a mistake for Microsoft, especially if they want to make that a big feature. Europe (jus the UK?) probably wouldn't get it because of weird television laws I believe (same reason they don't get TVii on the Wii U). 

Nintendo's solution is just to allow you to control the tv with the gamepad. You can even do that in Europe, so it's not like a major function of the system is rendered useless. I'm not sure if they will allow you to control the cable box in the future, but if they do (regardless of provider) that would be an even more excellent counter than direct control of the TV.

From what I understand, you would still have to have a cable box to utilize the "HDMI IN" port on the console and use the 720 as a pass-through......that just seems excessive to me. Why not just keep the setup as it is, directly plugged into the TV? Sure you wouldn't have to change inputs, but it's not like you would be gaming and watching TV at the same time anyway on the 720. $300 plus a subscription and the need for a cable box (and maybe internet connection, but to require it for that would be dumb. To require it at all would be dumb) tends to make the mass consumer go......eh. The Wii U is $300 without a subscription and it hasn't set the world on fire. I don't think MS will have anything as groundbreaking as WiiSports for the Kinect, even with the upgrades. They seem to be banking hard on the media hub aspect.


thats one way. but i dont see them doing it that way. I currently have verizon fios and they have a partnership with xbox and you can access some cable channels already, and they are live channels just like on TV not on demand. I dont currently have to hook up a cable box to do this. just the xbox 360 download the app and put in your subscription info. So although the rumurs have said you would need both i think its more likely they replace your cable box with the next box.