I hope MS continues supporting the X360 for more than 5 years. Abandoning support for the XBox after 5 years was terrible. Original XBox was an excellent console and it deserved better. 25 million XBox owners being snubbed by MS hurt.

This year's E3 is most critical for the X360 than the other two consoles.

 lol   Why would you want the X360 to live long?

Oh I see, since you are confident about PS3 winning the war it would be nice to have a struggling X360 all the way along it's lifetime.

Fei-Hung said: @cracksmoke= dude Hd-Dvd is dead. there wont be anymore titles coming out. Hd-Dvd is history :s 1) We all forget that Mr Gates has left the MS household for charity work. I think he had a big input on the 360 not getting a BR drive. Now that he has left the 360 may get a BR drive. Personally speaking the 360 will have to do something about the disk format they are using for their games. If they don't, all future games will seriously be limited in content next to the ps3 games (especially is Sony decide to pull their finger out of their backsides and create some bad a$$ in-house titles). Whilst game designers will be able to use the 40gig BR space to design large scale games without the worry of space limitations, the 360 will struggle. 2) if 360 slows down in sales, i wouldn't be surprised if MS launch a new console. They lack anything which is next generation (other then its graphics card). They have no motions sensors, no next gen disk drive and the only way the 360 can keep up is to release new SKU's or ask its user base to continuously upgrade which is lame. A MS spokes person has already hinted if they don't go for BR its because they plan to make all content available digitally :S does this mean they expect all its users to download all their games and movies in the future :s Is this a way for MS to shift Hard drives :s sounds like they haven't fully thought out anything yet! another thing to consider is whilst Sony make consoles with a 10yr life span, MS has proven with the xbox, they make their console with a 5yr life span! 3) The only thing that will keep the 360 afloat (if no changes are to be implemented) is if they chose to buy out more exclusives and launch more of their own franchise games (Halo's, Fable's and Gears of War). But even then, how long before a Gears of War clone is made with better graphics, larger maps and better gameplay? I have played Gears of War (f'ing awesome game) but unlike GTA which is highly complicated due to its scale and number of missions, Gears of War is pretty simple. It won't be long before an established game designer takes this formula and improves on it. 4) MS will have to put on a great show this year. Whatever they do, they will have to fight off games such as; God of War 3, GT5, MotorStorm2, Killzone2, Resistance2, Tekken, Little Big Planet, PS Home and any other surprises Sony may decide to throw at them. Above it all, the rest of the year will be about MS proving to its user that it has more to offer then its rivals. Being limited in what they can bring (unless the 360 owners splash out more money on extra peripherals and add ons) there isn't much they can bring to the table :s Yup, these next 6 months will be crucial but at the moment it seems to be a case or premature ejac! an early victory in battle but an eventual loss in war

1) absolutely desagree with that statement.... the XB could be on old school CD that it wouldn't be a problem (yeah i'm exagerating but)... BR format is like a new bone you throw to a dog... it's his new favorite but after 2 days you don't see the difference with the old one... I'll say it again 40gb or 9 on an optical disc is a joke for a storage solution.... the difference so ridiculous that it's a non issue.... the only thing good about it is... you'll see games with tones of cutscenes... a sound track in 7.1 in 40 languages.... and in loss less format.... it almost won't change a thing in term of game.... the future is episodic content and new technics of compression... for several reason, for devs it allows to cut the cost over a year... and release content on a regular basis generating some revenue at different moment of the year.... it allows gamers to have something new more often to play with..... you rarely will see any games using that.... the time and cost to develop using a full BR would be so important that you will see it happen on extreme rare occasions.... I'd rather have a 10 hour game on which I get new major content every 3 or 6 month... than wait 3 years to get an entire new and gigantic game.... I still don't believe in the BR format... 

2) I agree and I don't... they will go to digital content.... but it won't be an issue really... I mean you'll probably have to buy  a new HDD... but it will be like buying an external one for your PC.... the price will probably be way down by the time it's needed... but that's a more touchy question though....

3) I agree even though I don't think they should get exclu on old IP but instead push new ones.... because the VG game industry needs new blood.... (FF XIII are you serious ??? when they are going to stop FF 3980 ??? ) I think on that point MS is going in the right direction and I'm not really worried about that.... I'd rather see brand new exclu stuff... than old ones like that...

4) yeah they have too, it doesn't mean you'll have crazy stuff about next year... they'll probably focus on what is coming out soon.... talking about games a year in advance and not seeing it before 2 is a Sony style marketing.... I still don't think Sony had a best E3 2007 than MS... Sony's one was a big joke... yeah me too I can talk about project that'll come out in 20 years and throw a CGI video to my fans... way to go charlie.... come on that stuff work with brain dead customers and kids.... they have to do something big... throwing fake bones to their fan is not the solution... people are getting more and more tired of all the BS they have been tell and start to realize they rather have something certain coming soon than a vague idea of game that should kick ass and at the end that doesn't provide... cf a lot of game from PS 3... announced way too early over hyped and with a result far from what they showed years before in CGI....

now I'm almost positive that even if MS happen to end up 3rd in number of unit sold... they'll still be the software king or at least 2nd .... and I'm pretty damn sure they'll end up turning more profit than PS in any case... so what is the purpose of being 2nd if it's not helping you ??? especially since there won't be a huge difference... at least not enough to pretend for huge market share advantage for next gen.... i'd be MS I'd settle for 3rd place with higher profit....

1) absolutely desagree with that statement.... the XB could be on old school CD that it wouldn't be a problem (yeah i'm exagerating but)... BR format is like a new bone you throw to a dog... it's his new favorite but after 2 days you don't see the difference with the old one... I'll say it again 40gb or 9 on an optical disc is a joke for a storage solution.... the difference so ridiculous that it's a non issue.... the only thing good about it is... you'll see games with tones of cutscenes... a sound track in 7.1 in 40 languages.... and in loss less format.... it almost won't change a thing in term of game.... the future is episodic content and new technics of compression... for several reason, for devs it allows to cut the cost over a year... and release content on a regular basis generating some revenue at different moment of the year.... it allows gamers to have something new more often to play with..... you rarely will see any games using that.... the time and cost to develop using a full BR would be so important that you will see it happen on extreme rare occasions.... I'd rather have a 10 hour game on which I get new major content every 3 or 6 month... than wait 3 years to get an entire new and gigantic game.... I still don't believe in the BR format... 

dude you are forgetting one major point in your argument above. You have forgotten the reason why these new formats were introduced. A very long time ago there was no need for a dvd. We had vhs and we had laser discs. Especially for the video games industry it was again no big deal. In the end it proved costly for the dreamcast when the inevitable happened and DVD took over. The time has come again to prepare us for the future and in this future they are saying we will be slowly cutting dvd out and replacing it with a superior format ( just how previously vhs and cd has been made history).

These techies aint dumb, they know the new generation of hardware in these machines is capable of a hell of lot more then the predecessors and to make full use of it more storage will be required. If the xbox or a ps2 could make full use of a dvd with its inferior graphics and sound, to make full use of current gen machines they will require more space. More space will give the techies more freedom of movement. Fortunately for the 360 and as long as the 360 has a lead over the ps3, i dont think games designers will start pushing these systems to their full capabilities. However, once sony take their thumbs out of their backsides and produce some hardcore games that step it up a gear, 360 owners will only be able to sit back and watch and wonder why their console cant build on something similar (if only it wasnt for the lack of space) .

As for the cutscenes you mentioned, I kind of agree with you there. The 7 processors the ps3 has are barely being utilized at the moment. One thing they kept showing prior to the ps3's release is the rendering capabilities the ps3 has due to its powerhouse processor. I wouldn't be surprised if they start making better use of the cell chip with powerful in game rendering. that will take up plenty of storage and even more so add a big boost to what the ps3 is capable of graphically.

As for games taking longer to make, well history shows, what took a game developer to create in a year 10 years ago can now be made in probably a day or so. As you said yourself ( the future is episodic content and new technics of compression), if they can manage to compress 40gig worth of info down to 9 gig, i am sure they can produce new technology that can bring down 3yrs of creating a game to 1yr. However, i still agree with the fact that many developers will be opting to only make one odd game every so often that will make full use of the space provided. From what i have seen with the ps2 and xbox, a lot of developers make small games but in the back room they work on a larger project that is funded through continues success of smaller projects. These projects are usually what makes a small developer a big time developer. Where they unveil a grand project to blow the competitors away and show off what they are capable of doing. So yes, you are right, and depending on which system is doing well at the time, this system will prosper from this developers brain child. If it is the 360, then the content will be pushed as far as the 360 can take it. if it is the ps3, then the content will be pushed as far as the ps3 can take it.  

To make sure i am not going off topic here, the point i'm making is, if MS wants continued success, it has to offer the customer more value for their money then it's rivals. At the moment, other then a few games, it offers nothing! Now with the release of PS 2.40, they have even less to go on (considering the xbox live experience was probably the the 360's best selling point). IGN, the people who slated the PS online experience are praising the ps3 for what it now being able to offer its users. It seems as if the 360 is slowly but surely falling apart and it looks as if MS are not doing anything about it apart from praying the ps3 sales do not succeed the 360 sales. 

That was a long fucking post.

yeah, i didnt realise until after i posted it :s clearly i have nothing better to do :S

Let me make it simple, they lost. Except North america, it screams "Bill Gates"

Considering that the large update that is rumored to come out I think the 2.4 update won't make a huge difference. Tho as user of PSN and XBL im eager for both updates.  The people that wrote the article on PSN have been known to lean heavily on the PS3 side. SOmeone in that thread linked a blog from one of the users that clearly showed he despises the 360. And lets be honest IGN wants to get into bed with every big franchise and update which is why I don't trust them on many of their articles regardless of the topic.

It's kind of silly to think that MS is falling apart. Hell I bought my PS3 for 600$ near the release because I wanted to support Sony and see them succeed. At that time many people including Sony fans had written the system off. But what a difference a year can make. Im not saying that MS is going to start blowing the PS3 and Wii (lawl) out of the water but to insinuate that they are falling apart is ridiculous. Time will tell and soon we will see what MS has to offer. E3 will be critical to MS and even tho they have turned a profit the last few quarters (and despite a less than powerful lineup the first half of this year) people envision them being backed in to a corner. And for that reason I think a lot of people will be surprised when, instead of laying down, they come out swinging.

M$ console business is falling apart? They sell boatloads of software and rake in tons of money from XBoxLive. They are in a more comfortable position now than they have ever been. It is all about games, games, games, and for my tastes, the 360 is perfect.

sorry, my mistake for not being clear on what i meant by MS falling apart (please note, its just an opinion). I don't mean the 360 will go broke or anything in those lines, what I meant is:

1) although having a good head start, now they may have to start compensating for not including next gen features that the Wii and ps3 offer.
2) Start to think of ways in which they can stay ahead or keep in line with its competitor if games do become larger.
3) What they can offer online gamers now that the new firmware has landed and proven to be successful enough to rival xbl on a more serious level.
4) With the PS3 library growing and better titles now appearing on the PS3 (one of the main reason why the PS3 had a shit start), what MS can do to keep people interested enough to stop switching consoles.

As a businessman, i can't just sit there ignoring these facts. The PS3 is constantly improving on what it offers to buyers and its users. Every month they give more reasons why one should by a PS3 over a 360. If someone was to rival me by constantly introducing new features and new products, I would have to offer my clients something similar before my clients feel underprivileged and move away from me. That's commonsense and it happens with every product; whether it is mp3 players, pc's (look at how Apple has started to steel away MS clients over the last few years for MS not being as innovative), mobile phones or any other gadgets.

Admittedly for now, the 360 is doing better and offers a better gaming library, but this is just for now. If PS3 have gained this many extra sales and been able to out sell the 360 for the majority of this year (with one simple price cut and just 1 of many long awaited titles being released), what will happen at the next ps3 price drop or the next time they release a triple AAA title?

As for JaggedSac saying "M$ console business is falling apart? They sell boatloads of software and rake in tons of money from XBoxLive". what you have totally failed to recognise is what happens when someone who owns a 360 trades it in for a ps3. The general public cant afford to have both. They trade one in for the other. So not only has MS lost out on the yearly subscription, but they have also lost out on software sales. So although you can say 26mil 360's have been sold, and software sales are awesome (for now). a lot of these large hardware number won't mean much when the ps3 steps up another gear (if MS fails to do anything about the long-term predicament they are in). i remember when the xbox and the ps2 were battling it out. most the stores in my city were refusing to buy xbox's because so many people had come in to return them and they were not shifting. Meanwhile, everyone was queuing up to buy the slimline ps2's or trade in their xbox's.

I am not looking at the situation MS are in from a fanboy's point of view. I'm just looking at it thinking if this was my company and i owned the 360, what could i do to keep ahead of my rivals and will trying to buy out exclusives be a feasible risk in hoping I keep my clientele base. In my opinion- NO!

For 1st, my rival has bigger and better triple AAA exclusives which are in-house that have an enormous following (GT, Tekken, God of War, MGS, FF, Crash Bandicoot, Ridge RAcer, Time Crisis, Warhawk, Killzone, Resistance, SOCOM, Wipeout, Way of the Samurai, Jax and Daxter, Motorstorm and many more) and they won't need to bride anyone to make them exclusive. If i keep buying 3 party exclusives and it doesn't work in my favor, i will have gambled a huge portion of my companies capital for no good.

Secondly, if i do nothing, then my clientele will be unhappy for not offering them what my rival is offering them at a better price with less hassle (blue-ray, motion controls, eye toy, free online gaming, div x player). If i won't accept this as a customer, why should my customers accept it!

Last but not least, if I keep asking my clients to keep purchasing parts to upgrade their console, will they eventually get fed up for having to continuously fork out extra money to have their console kept up to datee.g.

PS3) for £315 you get, blue ray player, 40 gig hard drive, div ex player, the console, blue tooth, easily upgradable hard drive from any pc store, blue tooth and wire less.

360) for £220 you get basic 360, no hard drive, no wire less (basic features). if i wanted to match the above i will need to buy: wireless accessory which is around £15, cooling kit (unless youre fond of the ring off death) which is about £15, 20gig hard drive which is about £70 and 1 year subscription for xbox live which is about £40. Grand total to have a up to spec 360 will cost you £370 with an additional cost of £40 every year for another year of xbox live. and even with these upgrades, my 360 wont offer as much as my rivals ps3 as well as end up being far more costly then the ps3.

With this many concerns I would start thinking twice about my short lived glory unless I dont care and i am happy enjoying today's profits and don't give a shit about tomorrow. And if there are no solutions in the pipeline, then yes, I would accept that things will start to fall apart if i dont do something very good very soon, i will be losing a lot of my customers to my rival.