Crystal storage!

Many people buy PS3 for the Blu-ray player. Why would next gen Xbox has HD-DVD drive? No, they won't try to shoot themselves in the foot.

The poll in ur sig, and several others on that list kinda tosses egg on the face of those who think this site leans to either Wii or Xbox...

Or perhaps it shows that there are a good amount of logical people on the site as well.  There are not many Microsoft fans on the site in comparison to Nintendo or Sony, yet look how they did better than Nintendo and alsmost as well as Sony.  I think that shows some thinking rather than fanboyism.  Maybe Sony just was that impressive to people.

um no

its definitely fanboyism

Thinking that Uncharted 2 outsells Halo ODST...lol...yeah...that's REALLY rational and logical...in bizzaro land.

What physical medium in say a couple of years time? Hmm, how about digital distribution and catridges!

Physically an optical drive adds about $100 to the baseline cost of a console when you factor in the required HDD, Ram, packaging and optical drive itself. So much extra stuff has to be added to a console to make up for the deficiencies of the optical drive format. My guess for the next generation they will keep the console simple.

Xbox next Arcade = 10GB of fast flash storage + cartridge media.
Xbox next Premium = 10GB of fast storage + cartridge media + HDD
Xbox next Elite = same as above with optical drive for BC.

The transition to 450mm wafers is upon us! Flash is just getting cheaper.

I really want to say crystal data-spheres, but that's probably not until the decade when I die (2070-80 if I'm lucky). In reality, the next generation of consoles will probably still use spinning disks, most probably blu-ray. That's both boring, and nothing new. What really interests me is the next-next generation of consoles. By that time, I imagine we'll already have switched to solid-state memory. It only makes sense; we already have a 256 GB USB memory stick available, and by the time the next cycle of consoles comes around (after the next), flash drive technology will have developed far enough that these large capacity sticks will be available for around the same price as a standard DVD is today. Any of us who carry around a USB stick know that it is possible to store games on there (I can happily say that I can play Fallouts 1&2 and Homeworld from nearly any computer in the world. Starcraft would also be on that list if I could find a no-disc crack), so I don't think it is too far-fetched to imagine buying game sticks around ten-twenty years from now.

Or, I could be completely off my rocker, and digital distribution could completely take over, resulting in a generation waxing nostalgic about the hardships endured in the era of physical-medium data distribution.

"You actually had to take the game out of the box and put it in the console if you wanted to play; and each disc only held one game! So if you wanted to play another game, you had to open the console, take the disc out, and then put another one back in!"

"Wow Grandpa, Times sure were tough in your day!"

"They sure were Billy."

"My Name's Johnny."

"Of course it is Billy... Hey, what are those two robots doing out there?"

The next-next generation of consoles will probably also get power wirelessly. I wonder how that system will interact with my titanium re-enforced spine; or with other metal implants that other people might have.

Squilliam said: What physical medium in say a couple of years time? Hmm, how about digital distribution and catridges! Physically an optical drive adds about $100 to the baseline cost of a console when you factor in the required HDD, Ram, packaging and optical drive itself. So much extra stuff has to be added to a console to make up for the deficiencies of the optical drive format. My guess for the next generation they will keep the console simple. Xbox next Arcade = 10GB of fast flash storage + cartridge media. Xbox next Premium = 10GB of fast storage + cartridge media + HDD Xbox next Elite = same as above with optical drive for BC. The transition to 450mm wafers is upon us! Flash is just getting cheaper.

That would be tight, or if disks are still used then Microsoft should use bluray since there is suppose to be a good portion

of people that buy the PS3 for the bluray player. Though it might be a little late by then.

AdventWolf said: Squilliam said: What physical medium in say a couple of years time? Hmm, how about digital distribution and catridges! Physically an optical drive adds about $100 to the baseline cost of a console when you factor in the required HDD, Ram, packaging and optical drive itself. So much extra stuff has to be added to a console to make up for the deficiencies of the optical drive format. My guess for the next generation they will keep the console simple. Xbox next Arcade = 10GB of fast flash storage + cartridge media. Xbox next Premium = 10GB of fast storage + cartridge media + HDD Xbox next Elite = same as above with optical drive for BC. The transition to 450mm wafers is upon us! Flash is just getting cheaper. That would be tight, or if disks are still used then Microsoft should use bluray since there is suppose to be a good portion of people that buy the PS3 for the bluray player. Though it might be a little late by then.

Considering that Blu-ray players are available for around $100 now, it's a little late for that now.