[RUMOR] Paul Thurrott: Xbox 720 is expensive: $500 or $300 for sub model, 5/21 Unveil

I'm thinking at least some part of these rumours are leaked by MS themselves. They're testing the water basically. How people react. It's better to get this negative publicity before they reveal then after the reveal.

I'm wondering as well whether they have different machines, one that supports always online, and one that doesn't. If the negative reception looks like it will affect them, then they just switch to the spec that doesn't support this feature.
 
Out of all the stupid shit they are doing, given the stupid move of no BC, i will say its smart to set the 360 at a 99$ price and hopefully keep supporting the production of the console and dont drop it instantly like they did the first Xbox. They really need to do that as well as keep the 360 network open. I can see this happening actually in the long run.

They don't have a choice.

If they instantly close the 360 network. That'd cause a massive storm of bad publicity worse than anything we've seen.

That means when they release the next system, all your purchases are useless. You can never play them again. Even if you bought them Yesterday...

They can't do that, 360 live will remain on for quite a while.
 
kinect 2.0.

hahaha, it's true though Napalm Frank. We can all rest easy knowing Kinect 2.0 will be better than EyeToy garbage.

Now the fact that 'better' in this case just means slightly better than getting your nuts dipped in acid and slightly worse than getting punched in the face with a knuckle ring was not in the equation lol
 
Realistically, there is no way even a quarter of this stuff is true. No one their right mind would sign off on releasing a weaker $500 console saddled with PR shit storms like required internet and mandatory Skynet.
Sega released the Saturn in North America the day they announced they had moved the launch day up to the unpleasant surprise of developers.

Anything is possible.
 
If MS can convince people that it works and provide enough content to show the benefits, plus providing assurance that things will be issue free, then I will still be open minded.

After all, it all boils down to games so if they are trying to do something radically new for the industry, then I am very interested to see how they pull it off.
 
Can they PLEASE reveal the machine already so I can see if it has even a single advantage over PS4 ;(

The late reveal of Nextbox annoys me way more than it should.

User created Windows 8 Metro farting apps that always run in the bacground, controlled by Kinect 2 of course.
 
Somehow, where the Nextbox is concerned, the news just keeps getting worse and worse. Even if a lot of this information turns out not to be true, how long will we have to wait until it's confirmed by Microsoft themselves. In the meantime, there's a fair bit of damage being done with all this supremely negative talk about a console that hasn't even been officially announced yet.

Seriously, these rumours are making the 720 or whatever it's called sound even more unappealing than the Wii U.
 
It's gonna be really interesting to see how this will unfold. Even if every negative rumor turned out to be true, we still don't know anything about how it's going to be positioned. We haven't even heard their sale pitch yet!

I mean with the demographics they're going after, they could potentially spin these negatives into strong hooks (think "always connected, always in the action!" ). And whilst every technologically conscious/savvy person avoid this product, or at least be wary of i (and for good reason), MS is going in with the market and mind share superiority in the US. So there's potential for some masterful PR in the upcoming months that'll rope in the average Joe. Especially when they're capable of outspending their competition in marketing.

... On the other hand, MS has been struggling with moving Win 8, Win 8 phones, and Surface. So maybe I shouldn't think too highly of their ability to leverage market and mind shares. Also, if the Next Box's association with "8" is too strong, I wouldn't rule out having it impede the adoption rate, due to consumer skepticism among other things.
 
If Xbox 720 is going to be $500, I think that's where PS4 will come in too

it's unfortunate, though, I think that would mean a relatively slow build up to next-gen success, which with the Wii U tanking as poorly as it is... probably is not what videogame companies are hoping for. Just chuck the EyeToy and Kinect, new systems, the shit tech isn't worth the added price
Yeah I'm expecting PS3 and 360 to get the big annual third party franchises into 2015 at this point. The transition has already been delayed long enough, if the initial prices are around $499 each it will take a while for either of them to catch on.

I'm wondering if Microsoft should have pressed their advantage and gotten a system out sooner (say, last fall). Everything is slowing down and expensive systems aren't going to reverse the trend.
 
*groan*

I will say tho that 99$ 360 will sell like hotcakes. Unless they decide something insanely stupid for that too.

wii-mini1.jpg
 
Somehow, where the Nextbox is concerned, the news just keeps getting worse and worse. Even if a lot of this information turns out not to be true, how long will we have to wait until it's confirmed by Microsoft themselves. In the meantime, there's a fair bit of damage being done with all this supremely negative talk about a console that hasn't even been officially announced yet.

Seriously, these rumours are making the 720 or whatever it's called sound even more unappealing than the Wii U.

I have never seen a system pre-reveal have ALMOST literally not a single good bit of news about it.

The best thing I've seen anyone say is that Microsoft is going to be really aggressive with their early push toward hardcore gamers, and that's fine... too bad all that push will be on a system that by all rumoured accounts is like the virtual equivalent of the dude who nailed Jesus hands to the cross lol
 
Wait a minute though, so what I am seeing is that basically if you develop ANY game for Windows, it will work on the Xbox 720 too?

Is this the reason Sony went all out to make the PS4 easy to develop for, as they knew they'd have a hard time matching the new Xbox, which will play the top to bottom of PC titles?

That's a massive selling point actually. The PS4 could be basically competing with the Xbox's library of games, plus the whole library of PC titles.

Or am I getting this completely arse over tit? Can someone explain. Don't know how Sony could compete with that, if Xbox 3 has a standard Windows 8 inside it.
 
It's gonna be really interesting to see how this will unfold. Even if every negative rumor turned out to be true, we still don't know anything about how it's going to be positioned, we haven't even heard their sale pitch yet!

I mean with the demographics they're going after, they could potentially spin these negatives into strong hooks (think "always connected, always in the action!" ). Whilst every technologically conscious/savvy person avoid this product, or at least be wary of it, going in with the market and mind share superiority in the US, we could see some really eye-opening PR in the upcoming months that'll rope in the average Joe. Especially when they're capable of outspending their competition in marketing.

... On the other hand, MS has been struggling with moving Win 8, Win 8 phones, and Surface. So maybe I shouldn't think too highly of their ability to leverage market and mind shares. Also, if the Next Box's association with "8" is too strong, I wouldn't rule out having it impede the adoption rate.

Oh, you touched on something that's very important. Microsoft's presence in North America is very strong. They wouldn't need much in the way of an advertising campaign to retain their place as the defacto gaming console in the region. But as you said, if they associate the console with Windows 8 that could hamper things some.

Hopefully they avoid that after seeing how Windows 8 and Surface turned out.
 
If Xbox 720 is going to be $500, I think that's where PS4 will come in too

it's unfortunate, though, I think that would mean a relatively slow build up to next-gen success, which with the Wii U tanking as poorly as it is... probably is not what videogame companies are hoping for. Just chuck the EyeToy and Kinect, new systems, the shit tech isn't worth the added price

It will be a fucking disaster for both. Economy is in terrible conditions, I don't know how they hope to sell something at this price.
 
Wait a minute though, so what I am seeing is that basically if you develop ANY game for Windows, it will work on the Xbox 720 too?

Is this the reason Sony went all out to make the PS4 easy to develop for, as they knew they'd have a hard time matching the new Xbox, which will play the top to bottom of PC titles?

That's a massive selling point actually. The PS4 could be basically competing with the Xbox's library of games, plus the whole library of PC titles.

Or am I getting this completely arse over tit? Can someone explain. Don't know how Sony could compete with that, if Xbox 3 has a standard Windows 8 inside it.

Direct X11 is also compatible with PS4.
 
Guys, remember that the current subsidized XBox deal has people paying $15 a month. That's $180 a year. Getting the in subsidized version is cheaper in the long run.
 
hahaha, it's true though Napalm Frank. We can all rest easy knowing Kinect 2.0 will be better than EyeToy garbage.

Now the fact that 'better' in this case just means slightly better than getting your nuts dipped in acid and slightly worse than getting punched in the face with a knuckle ring was not in the equation lol

I fully suspect Kinect 2 to be more impressive piece of tech than the PSEye 2 but let's just say that neither is exactly what I am looking foreward to. I have basically given up with the motion controls and even then I am way more interested how Wiimote or Move is implemented next gen than these fuckin cameras.
 
Yeah I'm expecting PS3 and 360 to get the big annual third party franchises into 2015 at this point. The transition has already been delayed long enough, if the initial prices are around $499 each it will take a while for either of them to catch on.

I'm wondering if Microsoft should have pressed their advantage and gotten a system out sooner (say, last fall). Everything is slowing down and expensive systems aren't going to reverse the trend.

The new Xbox is not going to cost $500. At least not as a baseline.

I've been saying for a year now that Microsoft should have launched in the fall of 2012. Going head to head with Sony is going to do them no favors.
 
So if Microsoft really are going for a costly "all in one" box to try to conquer the living room, I would like to take this opportunity to state that the unveiling of a new high-end "Apple TV" which is iOS compatible, sports the typically lax DRM of recent Apple & has monstrous third party support for the "gamer" part of the equation would result in the greatest GIF Storm of all-time. Its existence would be validated by the hilarity.

They have a gap in the schedule this year too, what with iPad seemingly having become a Q4 device!
 
Wait a minute though, so what I am seeing is that basically if you develop ANY game for Windows, it will work on the Xbox 720 too?
Not Windows, but the Win 8 Store. Which is the closed environment that is so far a host for a handful of smartphone/tablet-like games, and is struggling to gain traction among developers and consumers alike.
 
It's interesting to me to listen to what Thurrott had to say and then read the thread.

Found myself agreeing with him more than the thread.
 
Wait a minute though, so what I am seeing is that basically if you develop ANY game for Windows, it will work on the Xbox 720 too?

Is this the reason Sony went all out to make the PS4 easy to develop for, as they knew they'd have a hard time matching the new Xbox, which will play the top to bottom of PC titles?

That's a massive selling point actually. The PS4 could be basically competing with the Xbox's library of games, plus the whole library of PC titles.

Or am I getting this completely arse over tit? Can someone explain. Don't know how Sony could compete with that, if Xbox 3 has a standard Windows 8 inside it.

When you're playing the new Xbox, and you decide you want to play a game at highest quality pc specs, you pay an extra $5 monthly cost, and you get a reserved amount of power from the cloud which boosts your game to that level. Online required because of cloud power. I'm just joking, but, hey. It's hard to say what any of this means until we see Microsoft's reveal of their next system, but I'm paying attention because I intend on purchasing both this and the PS4, and eventually a Wii-U, too.

It's interesting to me to listen to what Thurrott had to say and then read the thread.

Found myself agreeing with him more than the thread.

Then you're being rational and cautiously optimistic instead of assuming that Microsoft is doing everything in their power to make sure the next xbox is a failure.
 
Kinetic 2 will have a sound bar in it as well as lasers

If ms truly go for a system designed around raping you for ad cash and its still expensive yet not as powerful under the hood wtf are they thinking

It just doesn't add up. Something is not right. It doesn't make sense
 
It's interesting to me to listen to what Thurrott had to say and then read the thread.

Found myself agreeing with him more than the thread.

Yeah.

All of his speculation aside, he is right on the money with his disbelief at how much everyone is freaking out over this thing before they even say a word about it; I really don't get it either.
 
You guys are dreaming if you think the price on these things were ever going to be less than 400-450. PS3/360 are still selling significant units at 250.
 
There was, ddr3 is a disadvantage, as is using esram if the main pool is so bandwidth starved.

It was a little rude perhaps, apologies.

To be fair, GDDR5 is not a straight upgrade, as DDR3 has lower latency. Most developers would probably prefer the unified setup and it does has advantages, but it's not simply a matter of one being better than the other.
 
I fully suspect Kinect 2 to be more impressive piece of tech than the PSEye 2 but let's just say that neither is exactly what I am looking foreward to. I have basically given up with the motion controls and even then I am way more interested how Wiimote or Move is implemented next gen than these fuckin cameras.

Let's just say I am fully with you, because if Kinect showed anything it is a fucking terrible technology for videogames
 
No but what I mean is, what if any PC title that has Windows 8 compatible on it, you can just pop it in and install on your Xbox 3.

Honestly it'll be just as easy to port it on either system. Infact it'll be easier to port it on the PS4 due to the ram choice.

Hope that helps.

For 720 they have to program around weird memory constraints... For the PS4 it's easy sailing.
 
Price is really not that bad. Remember Microsoft is trying to cater to the ipad audience. Almost every casual I know now has an ipad or some other sort of tablet. If kinect 2.0 does some cool futuristic things then this will sell fast
 
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