MS in no rush to release next Xbox

[Queasy]

Link - Robbie Bach did an interview with the San Jose Mercury News where he basically stated that this generation of consoles will last a little longer than previous generations "because it's getting harder to persuade consumers to upgrade."

"Just coming up with something that's faster and prettier isn't going to be sufficient," said Bach, 47. "The life cycle for this generation of consoles ? and I'm not just talking about Xbox, I'd include Wii and PS3 as well ? is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations."

So, the 360 came out in 2005. I think in all the previous discussions we've had on this board about when the next-generation of consoles would be coming, we were mostly talking 2011 or 2012 already. I'd be really surprised if it slipped all the way to 2013.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

I still think it'll be Christmas 2010 but maybe not if the economy stays bad and that is probable. I don't think MS is going to let Sony into a position to release before them.

 

[erwos]

Releasing a new console in the middle of a recession... well, it went alright last generation, but Microsoft is probably right to try to push the next console launch to 2012 or so, when the economy will probably be rebounding.

That said, I would imagine that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are all feverishly preparing new consoles as we speak. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this generation...

 

[Schadenfroh]

I would like to see Microsoft return to x86 next generation, but I doubt it will happen due to cost / performance ratio.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this generation

Indeed, enjoy your Wii clones in the next generation.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this generation

Indeed, enjoy your Wii clones in the next generation.

Don't say that. That's what scares me.

 

[Spooner]

uch -- if everyone comes out with Wii clones next generation that would be the end of the industry for me

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this generation

Indeed, enjoy your Wii clones in the next generation.

Don't say that. That's what scares me.

There was actually a demo of a new tech called TrueMotion from a company called Sixense that was very impressive. CNET link with video.

YouTube of their presentation.

Highlights

How they would integrate that into a Halo or Call of Duty game I don't know. But it looks much improved over the WiiMote.

edit: Besides TrueMotion, the other big future gaming app from CES appeared to be 3D gaming. Sony is talking about adding it to the PS3 and Nvidia is selling special glasses (GeForce 3D Vision) for the PC.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
Indeed, enjoy your Wii clones in the next generation.

I think we'll see more attention paid to casual users, yes. But I do think Microsoft has proven quite well that the hardcore/traditional gamers _are_ a profitable market to sell to, and that it's not impossible to go after both markets.

If it were me, I'd go for a dual SKU strategy: one SKU that went after the casual gamer market (less online peripherals bundled, no HDD but maybe a few gig of flash) and another that went after the traditional gamer segment (more online peripherals bundled, HD cables, HDD and flash, etc.). I would even have two interfaces - one for the IR pointer Wiimote-clone, and another for gamepad control.

I also think that Sony has proven that using standardized peripherals with a console is a viable strategy, and that Microsoft has proven that an excellent online service, even one that's not free, can really drive growth.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this generation

Indeed, enjoy your Wii clones in the next generation.

Don't say that. That's what scares me.

I'm not worried about it. Look at the Wii's third party game sales. Developers will continue to develop the games that sell.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Maybe they'll incorporate head tracking or something. Or maybe MS and/or Sony will try to appeal to both "core" gamers and casualtards by having optional remote-style controllers to be used with family-oriented XBLA/PSN games, while keeping their traditional controllers and games around for others.

Think about it - downloadable games are cheaper to market, may sell better because they are subject to impulse buyers, and they're so easy to use, with no disc swapping.

That would really be the whole package. Instead of having multiple bundles that simply add extra hard drive space, they could bundle either the remote controls or the standard controls so you're only paying for what you want. Nintendo had the right idea with the Wii but I get the feeling that a lot of people buy them and then they sit and gather dust. Of course, the Wii's success also means that any attempt by MS or Sony to get in on the action will be seen as a cheap copycat move.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: Queasy
edit: Besides TrueMotion, the other big future gaming app from CES appeared to be 3D gaming. Sony is talking about adding it to the PS3 and Nvidia is selling special glasses (GeForce 3D Vision) for the PC.

Oh god I hope not. 3D glasses are what happens when marketing departments drive technology.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
Oh god I hope not. 3D glasses are what happens when marketing departments drive technology.

Considering the massive performance hit that 3D takes on the GPU, I am foreseeing that those users will buy a more powerful nVidia card (or SLI their existing one). Clever move by nVidia to increase GPU sales for the people who buy into 3D glasses, if only the 120hz LCD market was larger.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: BoberFett
Oh god I hope not. 3D glasses are what happens when marketing departments drive technology.

Considering the massive performance hit that 3D takes on the GPU, I am foreseeing that those users will buy a more powerful nVidia card (or SLI their existing one). Clever move by nVidia to increase GPU sales for the people who buy into 3D glasses, if only the 120hz LCD market was larger.

That's the current knock. You have to have an Nvidia card that can handle 3D, the glasses, and a monitor that is 3D capable. That adds up to $$$$

Reviews of the tech in actual use were pretty favorable overall at CES though.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Queasy
That's the current knock. You have to have an Nvidia card that can handle 3D, the glasses, and a monitor that is 3D capable. That adds up to $$$$

Reviews of the tech in actual use were pretty favorable overall at CES though.

I'm just waiting for the Demolition Man style "interactive sex" software .

 

[reallyscrued]

Only if Virtual Sandra Bullock is one of the bundled games. Hehe.

And seriously, does the industry work as a pendulum? We're back to the 3D thing? I feel like a landslide of side scrolling Mode6 RPGs are about to take the world by storm.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: BoberFett
Oh god I hope not. 3D glasses are what happens when marketing departments drive technology.

Considering the massive performance hit that 3D takes on the GPU, I am foreseeing that those users will buy a more powerful nVidia card (or SLI their existing one). Clever move by nVidia to increase GPU sales for the people who buy into 3D glasses, if only the 120hz LCD market was larger.

That's the current knock. You have to have an Nvidia card that can handle 3D, the glasses, and a monitor that is 3D capable. That adds up to $$$$

Reviews of the tech in actual use were pretty favorable overall at CES though.

Back in the day they used to have the same tech using CRTs. The tech really died off because LCDs were coming in back then and they just couldnt pull this off.

You needed to run it at a pretty high refresh rate (100+) for it not to make your eyes bleed. But let me tell you...it was awesome back then, and it only can have gotten better since then. It completely changed the experience to a whole new level of badass, especially for FPS games.

If they built it into the consoles and games were actually programmed for it instead of hacked to use it, I'd buy whatever I needed to and wear whatever stupid glasses I had to in order to experience that again, especially on a 50" TV.

If the PS3 supported it, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Its actually making me consider going back to a little PC gaming as well....3D Left 4 Dead...I can think of few things as awesome.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
I still think it'll be Christmas 2010 but maybe not if the economy stays bad and that is probable. I don't think MS is going to let Sony into a position to release before them.

I doubt it.

Sony is still struggling to make the PS3 cost-effective and they haven't even killed off the PS2 yet. I doubt they'll even showcase a prototype for a few years, which means I'm sure MS won't even start spilling beans about the next console for quite some time.


The current-gen console race is just now starting to get good so there is no reason to think that any developer would release even a name of a next console as it will make people hold out for something newer (which is a tactic that Apple has managed to screw themselves on quite a bit, I think.)

 

[Fox5]

If they can wait until 32nm is widespread (around 2011) they can release a console that will probably stay relatively current for at least half a decade. Process advancements aren't going to come quickly after 32nm. Heck, even now the lack of process advancements has kept ps3 and xbox 360 relatively current. They're at least not outclassed by the integrated graphics solutions yet (though nvidia and amd's are getting close, I'd expect 1 or 2 more gens of integrated graphics should eclipse the performance of the 360/ps3, and with every computer sold going multicore, the cpu side is covered.

Nintendo has the most room for advancement though. By barely upgrading the Wii over the Cube, they can do a major graphics refresh.

 

[herkulease]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
I still think it'll be Christmas 2010 but maybe not if the economy stays bad and that is probable. I don't think MS is going to let Sony into a position to release before them.

I doubt it.

Sony is still struggling to make the PS3 cost-effective and they haven't even killed off the PS2 yet. I doubt they'll even showcase a prototype for a few years, which means I'm sure MS won't even start spilling beans about the next console for quite some time.


The current-gen console race is just now starting to get good so there is no reason to think that any developer would release even a name of a next console as it will make people hold out for something newer (which is a tactic that Apple has managed to screw themselves on quite a bit, I think.)

I dunno about that. Apple fanboys run out and buy up new Ipods and notebooks when a new one is announced, even though the improvements are marginal or purely cosmetic.

As for this topic. I wouldn't mind waiting. I would like to see Microsoft put out a handheld then that can play live arcade games in the mean time as they try to recoup as much losses as they can with the 360. Might be a good way to test if they can go all digital distribution for a system.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: herkulease

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
I still think it'll be Christmas 2010 but maybe not if the economy stays bad and that is probable. I don't think MS is going to let Sony into a position to release before them.

I doubt it.

Sony is still struggling to make the PS3 cost-effective and they haven't even killed off the PS2 yet. I doubt they'll even showcase a prototype for a few years, which means I'm sure MS won't even start spilling beans about the next console for quite some time.


The current-gen console race is just now starting to get good so there is no reason to think that any developer would release even a name of a next console as it will make people hold out for something newer (which is a tactic that Apple has managed to screw themselves on quite a bit, I think.)

I dunno about that. Apple fanboys run out and buy up new Ipods and notebooks when a new one is announced, even though the improvements are marginal or purely cosmetic.

As for this topic. I wouldn't mind waiting. I would like to see Microsoft put out a handheld then that can play live arcade games in the mean time as they try to recoup as much losses as they can with the 360. Might be a good way to test if they can go all digital distribution for a system.

Yes, but the fanboys are the minority. Take a stroll over to the Apple forum and just see how many threads there are about "Should I wait until the next release?" or something to that effect.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: herkulease

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
I still think it'll be Christmas 2010 but maybe not if the economy stays bad and that is probable. I don't think MS is going to let Sony into a position to release before them.

I doubt it.

Sony is still struggling to make the PS3 cost-effective and they haven't even killed off the PS2 yet. I doubt they'll even showcase a prototype for a few years, which means I'm sure MS won't even start spilling beans about the next console for quite some time.


The current-gen console race is just now starting to get good so there is no reason to think that any developer would release even a name of a next console as it will make people hold out for something newer (which is a tactic that Apple has managed to screw themselves on quite a bit, I think.)

I dunno about that. Apple fanboys run out and buy up new Ipods and notebooks when a new one is announced, even though the improvements are marginal or purely cosmetic.

As for this topic. I wouldn't mind waiting. I would like to see Microsoft put out a handheld then that can play live arcade games in the mean time as they try to recoup as much losses as they can with the 360. Might be a good way to test if they can go all digital distribution for a system.

Yes, but the fanboys are the minority. Take a stroll over to the Apple forum and just see how many threads there are about "Should I wait until the next release?" or something to that effect.

Seems like you could only use that tactic for so long before even the stupidest of customers noticed the trend and adapted.

 

[PingSpike]

"Just coming up with something that's faster and prettier isn't going to be sufficient," said Bach, 47. "The life cycle for this generation of consoles ? and I'm not just talking about Xbox, I'd include Wii and PS3 as well ? is probably going to be a little longer than previous generations."

Silly me, I thought 6 months before a console died from heartburn was actually a shorter life cycle then previous generations. I guess I haven't been paying attention!

 

[BD2003]

I really hope they go with a better pricing strategy next time around. They should have one cheap sku and one premium sku, that are differentiated by more than just HD size and color. They could easily do this while maintaining the compatibility and standard platform that makes consoles work so well.

One thing I really dont like about the 360 in particular right now is how crude the system is. The fan is loud, the drive even louder, the HD small and slow. Extra hard drive space isnt elite enough to me.

Basically, I'd really like it if there was a true premium 360 out there, with nice quiet fans, a quieter dvd, a faster HDD, perhaps a nice all metal case that blends well with everything else in my setup. I'm willing to pay for it. If theyre gonna do 3d in the next system, it would probably make the most sense to leave that to the high end sku and just run it via SLI, that way they dont have to price the mainstream system so outrageously high like sony did.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Injury
Yes, but the fanboys are the minority. Take a stroll over to the Apple forum and just see how many threads there are about "Should I wait until the next release?" or something to that effect.

Kind of like DaveSimmons and his Xbox 360 Falcon/Jasper/whenever-he's-done-with-his-stack-of-PC-games

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Injury
Yes, but the fanboys are the minority. Take a stroll over to the Apple forum and just see how many threads there are about "Should I wait until the next release?" or something to that effect.

Kind of like DaveSimmons and his Xbox 360 Falcon/Jasper/whenever-he's-done-with-his-stack-of-PC-games

Haha, so true. Except I think it was PS2 games last time I saw it.

Look, I think we can all agree that Microsoft should make sure the console isn't so prone to failure, but I'm definitely willing to believe they've learned that lesson, too. In fact, IMHO, all of the console makers could take some lessons from each other - everyone had their strengths and weaknesses this generation.