Do you think that Microsoft can successfully compete with Sony in the Next-Generation console war?
- Thread starter warcrow
- Start date
Of course. I think they already have the same mindshare as Sony here in the states, they just need to work on overseas.
I don't know about THE next generation, but they definitely can compete in A next generation. Microsoft has enough money that they can try again if they fail. They can afford to try again quite a few times I'd bet.
MrChad
Lifer
- Aug 22, 2001
- 13,507
- 3
- 81
I would vote yes, but it has more to do with reputation than money.
When the Xbox entered the market, its biggest hurdle was earning the respect of gamers. With the huge success of Playstation, Sony really had nothing to worry about. Nintendo had developed a reputation as a "kid's system" with the N64, and Microsoft had yet to prove they were anything more than the next 3DO. Sony generated huge hype around PS2, and the rest is history.
Microsoft has gone a long way in the past few years to prove they are a legitmate contender. Xbox has established itself as the technology leader, and Live has defined a quality model for online console gaming. If Microsoft can stay ahead of the technology curve and bring out a high-quality, low-cost console, Sony will have their hands full.
When the Xbox entered the market, its biggest hurdle was earning the respect of gamers. With the huge success of Playstation, Sony really had nothing to worry about. Nintendo had developed a reputation as a "kid's system" with the N64, and Microsoft had yet to prove they were anything more than the next 3DO. Sony generated huge hype around PS2, and the rest is history.
Microsoft has gone a long way in the past few years to prove they are a legitmate contender. Xbox has established itself as the technology leader, and Live has defined a quality model for online console gaming. If Microsoft can stay ahead of the technology curve and bring out a high-quality, low-cost console, Sony will have their hands full.
I choose Sony.
I don't have a Sony2. Owned a Sony 1, and bought a Gamecube just recently.
However if I buy a Sony3, then all the games I missed out on with Playstation2 I can now get for dirt cheap and will run perfectly on Playstation3.
So since the Xbox isn't backward compatable, then you have Playstation3 + new games + a huge gob of excelent games you can get for peanuts vs Xbox + new games.
And since those older games are fun, then it not a case of quality vs quantity. It's a case of Hype vs Hype + lots of cheap games.
And as far as Xbox2 being accepted in foreign markets? Not a chance in the world, not in a hundred years. Japanese gamers are a entirely different culture, and japanese also tend to be very racist. So even if Xbox2 will kick-butt, your competing in a land that you have no idea how to compete in and failed miserably in the past combined with the customers general overall contempt of you.
edit:
(plus unless MS actually starts making money on Xbox stuff, which they haven't so far, I wouldn't think that Xbox2 will last that long, or at least I would be pretty sure that their would be no Xbox3)
I don't have a Sony2. Owned a Sony 1, and bought a Gamecube just recently.
However if I buy a Sony3, then all the games I missed out on with Playstation2 I can now get for dirt cheap and will run perfectly on Playstation3.
So since the Xbox isn't backward compatable, then you have Playstation3 + new games + a huge gob of excelent games you can get for peanuts vs Xbox + new games.
And since those older games are fun, then it not a case of quality vs quantity. It's a case of Hype vs Hype + lots of cheap games.
And as far as Xbox2 being accepted in foreign markets? Not a chance in the world, not in a hundred years. Japanese gamers are a entirely different culture, and japanese also tend to be very racist. So even if Xbox2 will kick-butt, your competing in a land that you have no idea how to compete in and failed miserably in the past combined with the customers general overall contempt of you.
edit:
(plus unless MS actually starts making money on Xbox stuff, which they haven't so far, I wouldn't think that Xbox2 will last that long, or at least I would be pretty sure that their would be no Xbox3)
It's the only console with surround sound in all games and has a much higher support precentage for HDTV and EDTV (Which is 480p). PS2 fudges surround support using DTS, but they're prerecorded effects and aren't rotated in software to fit the situation. Example, in Vice City, you might hear a drive-by going down the left side of the room, but from your character's perspective in-game it should have gone down the right side. Xbox does this properly. GameCube does a decent job using DPL2, which is a form of matrixed audio. It works, but the sound is not as distinctive or as directed as DD5.1.
The PS2 has around a dozen games that fudge support for 480p by doubling the width of the 240 lines the "Emotion Engine" is capable of rasterizing. Read that carefully. The PS2 cannot output true EDTV or HDTV in games. It fudges it by making thicker lines. No games support a higher resolution than 480p, which means no HDTV support.
Gamecube has around a dozen games that truly support 480p (EDTV). Might be higher, I'm not spending time to research this. Point is, more Gamecube games don't EDTV than do, and I know of none that support HDTV.
All but a few Xbox games support 480p (EDTV). Notable exceptions are Kung Fu Chaos and Bond:AUF. There are several that support 720p (I know Sega Sports 2k4 do) and one that support 1080i (Dragons Lair 3d).
That's not suprising. Sony Playstation2 is pretty old now. I doubt that most people care about that right now though. After all you'd have to be pretty silly or sitting on a lot of money in order to go out and buy a HDTV television. Pretty worthless.
Look at DVD's for instance. They are generally encoded at 720X480, which compresses nicely for the 480x480 (or whatever it is) for most TV's. What are you going to do with 720p (1280x720)?
Hell can they even fit a full-length movie at HDTV resolution on a DVD?
Although I wouldn't mind it for a computer monitor. My current television isn't so good right now (no s/video inputs) and I don't use it much anymore. My computer monitor, and my Laptop (thru streaming mpeg2 over the network) is my TV now.
HDTV is still a bit too expensive right now for me, and for most people.... Maybe next year.
Also I doubt that Xbox2 is still going to have those advantages over Playstation3...
Look at DVD's for instance. They are generally encoded at 720X480, which compresses nicely for the 480x480 (or whatever it is) for most TV's. What are you going to do with 720p (1280x720)?
Hell can they even fit a full-length movie at HDTV resolution on a DVD?
Although I wouldn't mind it for a computer monitor. My current television isn't so good right now (no s/video inputs) and I don't use it much anymore. My computer monitor, and my Laptop (thru streaming mpeg2 over the network) is my TV now.
HDTV is still a bit too expensive right now for me, and for most people.... Maybe next year.
Also I doubt that Xbox2 is still going to have those advantages over Playstation3...
I'd say no, but the truth is that Microsoft can keep running head first into a wall until they knock it over. It doesn't matter if this console fails, they will make another and finall succeed. I won't buy an MS console until they can get some decent games under their belt, but I think thats only a matter of time.
It is, among the college students I know, which should be close to if not the most valuable market for Microsoft and Sony. The Xbox has enough of a quality game selection that its better graphics make it more desirable than the PS2. Plus Halo has turned into a must have franchise here. Sony doesn't really have one for this market other than the GTA series which some will wait for on Xbox. With all its connections, I don't see MS letting Sony win in the technical department for the next gen so that would make the consoles tied.
PricklyPete
Lifer
- Sep 17, 2002
- 14,582
- 162
- 106
This is the same perception I have. Most of my friends (were 25ish) think more highly of the Xbox than the PS2. Everyone I know who had a PS2 has now purchased an Xbox. I also coached a soccer team last season and all the guys on the team wanted an Xbox...not a PS2.
Now with Xbox Live getting the EA sports games....you should see an even bigger surge. I know a number of guys from college that specifically bought an Xbox just to play NCAA football on Xbox Live.
I have all 3 systems and prefer the xbox. If a game comes out for multiple systems, I get it for xbox, because generally it runs faster and looks nicer. So I think MS can successfully compete as long as they have the strongest console as far as specs go like they do now. While brand loyalty is certainly a factor for some, for me its not a factor. Whichever lets me experience a game to its fullest gets my $$. If it turns out the xbox and ps2 have almost identical specs, then I think xbox might be in trouble. They need to keep the power edge in order to really stay in the race.
PS2 is a hunk of crap now... Xbox PC technology in an affordable portable package..
love my Xbox after the games started coming out
Riddick and NCAA 2005 kick so much butt...
love my Xbox after the games started coming out
Riddick and NCAA 2005 kick so much butt...
No. Why?
1) Microsoft cannot take the Asian market.
2) Casual gamers love Sony. The fact that the PS2 still sells is proof of this.
3) No killer franchises outside of Halo. Too late to make Halo3 a launch title.
4) If they ship before the PS3, Sony will out-hype them. If they ship after the PS3, well, big mistake.
5) Don't forget the Nintendo factor. They know they blew it this round and are coming back with a vengance. E3 2004 is proof.
1) Microsoft cannot take the Asian market.
2) Casual gamers love Sony. The fact that the PS2 still sells is proof of this.
3) No killer franchises outside of Halo. Too late to make Halo3 a launch title.
4) If they ship before the PS3, Sony will out-hype them. If they ship after the PS3, well, big mistake.
5) Don't forget the Nintendo factor. They know they blew it this round and are coming back with a vengance. E3 2004 is proof.
I was responding to your question, "Why?" which was a response to the Xbox being the most desirable for home theater owners. You've written an excellent response, that has nothing to do with why the Xbox is the most desirable for home theater owners.
A home theater owner, by definition, has at the very least a surround sound system. Most likely, they also already have an HDTV. A home theater is not a 25" RCA TV.
It may seem silly to you, but when you've already got the $2k TV set and $500 worth of sound hardware, you want a game system that can take advantage of it. No one (with any sense) wants to be playing Madden at 480i when they could be playing ESPN Football at 720p.
Na, I understand completely.
You forget that the thread is about "will MS compete on the same level as Sony?". Xbox is a nice addition to a HT setup, but it's not going to be the same situation when it's going to be Xbox2 vs Sony Playstation3. None of what Xbox has as advantage with surround sound and resolution is going to be present when the next gen of stuff comes out.
All that home theater stuff is fine and dandy. Personally I would like to get a projector rather then a big screen TV right now.
And 2k on audio equipment and 500 on TV > 2k on TV and 500 on audio. Any day.
You forget that the thread is about "will MS compete on the same level as Sony?". Xbox is a nice addition to a HT setup, but it's not going to be the same situation when it's going to be Xbox2 vs Sony Playstation3. None of what Xbox has as advantage with surround sound and resolution is going to be present when the next gen of stuff comes out.
All that home theater stuff is fine and dandy. Personally I would like to get a projector rather then a big screen TV right now.
And 2k on audio equipment and 500 on TV > 2k on TV and 500 on audio. Any day.
bingo!
even the current xbox looks awesome on my Sony Grand Wega LCD using the high def pack. The PS2 loks like complete crap in comparison. I can only assume that MS will make that particular feature set even better on the xbox2. weren't there also rumors about having some sort of MCE on the next generation xbox? of course those of us with modded xboxs alreay have that
Originally posted by: Need4Speedweren't there also rumors about having some sort of MCE on the next generation xbox? of course those of us with modded xboxs alreay have that
MCE client support is coming to this generation Xbox. The Xbox with the addition of the MCE extender kit which consists of a software update and DVD remote, will be able to remotely view all stored content on a MCE computer.
I don't think you understand. It's client support, not the full-blown MCE package. Even so, it's not like x86 emulation would be difficult for Microsoft since they own Virtual PC.
Originally posted by: TerryMathews
Originally posted by: Need4Speedweren't there also rumors about having some sort of MCE on the next generation xbox? of course those of us with modded xboxs alreay have that
MCE client support is coming to this generation Xbox. The Xbox with the addition of the MCE extender kit which consists of a software update and DVD remote, will be able to remotely view all stored content on a MCE computer.
I don't think you understand. It's client support, not the full-blown MCE package. Even so, it's not like x86 emulation would be difficult for Microsoft since they own Virtual PC.
Hmm. Sounds about the same thing as people do with Xbox and Mythtv.
People setup a Linux box in another room with a powerfull proccessor or 2, stick in a couple mpeg2 tv capture cards (winpvr250 or winpvr350, or any generic tv capture card actually), and then have that run the MythTV backend and database. Then they run the MythTV front end on the Xbox...
Hmmm... I think I need to get a Xbox now, their pretty cheap, now, eh?
What is the sound output on them? A SPDIF output? (hell I may get one tonigh, then I can use the Xbox controller on my Linux gaming box. It'll go well with a couple new games I've been screwing around with.)
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