The thing is, it's not a video game system. It's clearly an entertainment system. It's an all-in-one box. It's going to be marketted like that and its feature-set and provided content define it that way.

Though I agree that people wouldn't want to pay twice to use netflix (I know I don't), they may want to pay to get advanced interactive features for their TV subscription, provider content, online features and many other all-in-one content that are part of the xbox live subscription. If you isolate one application, of course it doesn't make sense to pay for. But if you put it all together, if you have live then might as well enjoy all the features.

Lastly, turning your tv into a sort of ipad experience is in and of itself a selling point, out of the box, for non-gamers.

The only market that may be less interested in this are the gamers, but they are a more niche market either way.

Nintendo has always made their consoles specifically for gaming. All the other TV stuff would never work on the WiiU and I don't even think that's the direction Nintendo wants to take. If Nintendo was serious about making their console a device that can do a vareity of tasks other than gaming then we would have seen them marketing the WiiU like that. 

I think so, Rol. Traditionally TVs are about shutting your brain off, but more and more we're entering a multi-connected era where you can do everything at any moment at the click of a button while combining different source of content (dual-monitors, multiple devices, multiple apps, multiple services). People want to be in control of their content more and more and the iPad is an example of that need being addressed. At the touch of a finger you can open, close, move flip, stretch, drag without effort and without delay and I believe that's really desired in our uber-technological society. The apple TV tried doing that but it is not nearly the same experience as what we saw in Microsoft's presentation. You can almost control your windows like a windows system by using gestures, that's big. With almost minimal cost they are going to pull this off I believe it will be very attractive.

In contrast, back in 2008 they showcased a device called the Microsoft Surface (before the 2012 "Surface"). It was planned to cost some 2000$ or something like that I'm not sure anymore. The thing is that they can now achieve that to a degree with Kinect, which is really impressive.

pretty much half way through this gen both nintendo and M$ were after the casual gamer but next gen nintendo and sony are after the core

no one competes with ninty. they scew themselves. the last paragraph is the one i agree with most.

great analysis and i enjoyed the read.

I really don't think this post deserved a ban. The person never said he or she believes the Wii U is crap, but that everyone (not literally) thinks it is. Which I agree with; putting down the Wii U and Nintendo is the vogue thing to do right now.

Same message, one of those statements is bannable. While the 2nd statement probably could initiate a meaningful debate the first one is just pure flamebait.

You brought my attention to his post, and after rereading I agree that it was misread (and it was easy to misread). It read as "the U is crap".

PM sent to Barozi to reverse the action, as I was the one to report it, thanks for this.

Next gen will be a free for all I think its anyone's game.

I think it is pretty clear that Microsoft's main competition is Google and Apple.  Some of the feautres of the XBone and Wii U are similar, but this is not because Microsoft is "targetting" them.  This is simply because we expect multifunctionality from a device these days.  It's more of the Wii U and XBone travelling, to some extent, in the same direction.  I think Sony will also have a lot of these features.  Remember, Nintendo debuted the Wii U at E3 2011, and they showed off TVii at September 2012.  Sony may very well have a similar feature.

If Microsoft was really targeting Nintendo, they would need to show off the experiences that made the Wii successful.  You can't take on Nintendo without having something to combat Mario, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, Smash, Pokemon, etc.  If they were targeting Nintendo, they wouldn't focus the small games portion of their presentation on EA Sports stuff and COD.  That's not how you speak to the Wii audience. 

Who is Microsoft targeting?  Well, I don't know how to say this nicely... but tools.  The kind of people who play COD each year not because they actually like games but because all of their friends play it.  The kind of people who line up for the iPhone 5 because they think it will make them cool, and the kind of people who buy a Samsung Galaxy 4 while making fun of the iPhone 5 people and not realizing that they're doing the exact same thing.  The kind of person who plays fantasy football and doesn't know the difference between a safety and a cornerback.  The kind of person who buys an iPad mini after they just bought an iPad 4 because last year Apple said people wanted a big screen, and this year Apple says small screens are better.  The kind of person who buys beats headphones to listen to their pop music despite the fact that beats pretty much only provide only bass. The kind of person who goes to a Giants superbowl parade and says that their favorite player is Sanchez.  The kind of person who never had an interest in any sort of zombie movie but watches the walking dead.  The kind of person who never read a comic book but lines up at midnight for Dark Knight rises.  The kind of person who cares what is trending on twitter.  The kind of person who buys a tablet when they have no logical need for one.  The kind of person who buys things not for utility but for status.  The kind of person who put Gangnam style on their iPod like it was anything more than a novelty.  The kind of person will be convinced by Microsoft that they need to multitask on their TV because that will make them tech savvy and hip. Tools.  They're targeting tools.

/Hipster rant