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[Agent Icebeezy]

I've always looked at it like this. In any industry, Microsoft hops into it headfirst, lose enough money to be competitive. The next generation or version or whatever, they blow their competition out of the water. I'm not expected Sony to get destroyed, but regardless of what we discuss here, I would be shocked if Microsoft's console isn't #1 worldwide. With that said, they have impressed me.

 

[sonycowboy]

I've always looked at it like this. In any industry, Microsoft hops into it headfirst, lose enough money to be competitive. The next generation or version or whatever, they blow their competition out of the water. I'm not expected Sony to get destroyed, but regardless of what we discuss here, I would be shocked if Microsoft's console isn't #1 worldwide. With that said, they have impressed me.

You're wrong. It usually takes microsoft to version 3.5 before they get it right

Seriously.

I also think that Sony is incredibly concerned about Microsoft, more than Microsoft is concerned about Sony. Microsoft knows that they are in this for the long haul and that they will eventually win. They simply have too many resources and too much money not to. It's simply a matter of time.

That puts a hell of a lot of pressure on Sony. You know that you can beat them once, twice, three times and they're not going to go away. So, Sony has absolutely no recourse but to put everything but the kitchen sink into the PS3 because they can't EVER afford to lose, whereas, honestly, Microsoft can simply stay on the path, grab some more market share, curtail their losses and just let the attrition of the war work in their favor.

Why lose a ton of money when you can simply do enough to make your enemy weaker and thus eventually they will have killed themselves by trying to keep up with you?

 

[The End]

I think the inevitability of MS winning is far from guaranteed.

 

[wobedraggled]

Gee, GIANT corp. pushes out a console and bleeds money hand over fist to get it's name out there. Anyone else would have folded.

No, not terrbily impressed at all.

 

[Speevy]

I think the inevitability of MS winning is far from guaranteed.

Either MS eventually wins or we'll very likely be owning Sony consoles until the end of time. I mean, companies don't get bigger. There's no entity that's going to come along and beat Sony if MS can't do it.

 

[SA-X]

+ I'm impressed with them not being cheap bastards like Sony and putting 4 controller ports in their system.
+ I'm impressed with them being able to admit that their first controller design was crap and then gave us the awesome s-controller.
+ I'm impressed with not having to buy memory cards anymore.
+ I'm impressed with the Rare acqusition and them trying to get as many high profile exclusives as possible.

- The games, sadly, other the other hand, have been mostly hit or miss. They've got a lot of exclusives, but PS2 is still the king of quality and quantity.

 

[krypt0nian]

+ I'm impressed with the Rare acqusition and them trying to get as many high profile exclusives as possible.

Half of this one is incorrect. See if you can guess.

 

[SA-X]

I was impressed with the effort god damn it, not how it has turned out so far.

 

[sonycowboy]

I think the inevitability of MS winning is far from guaranteed.

Unless Microsoft, the corporation, is stripped down into seperate companies, they simply don't lose. Not that they've won everything they've been in, but they NEVER give up and in every market, they are predicted by most to eventually prevail.

1) OS - Mac, IBM DOS, etc
2) Office - Wordperfect
3) Networking - Novell
4) Browser - Netscape
5) Handheld - Palm
6) Video - Real, Quicktime,etc
7) Server - UNIX, AIX, HPUX, Solaris, etc
8) Internet Access - America Online, Yahoo, etc
9) Development tools - Borland, Symantec, Java,
10) Database - Oracle, Informix, AS/400

The list could go on and on... Obviously, there would probably be some disagreements, but I think you get the point.

 

[krypt0nian]

Unless Microsoft, the corporation, is stripped down into seperate companies, they simply don't lose. Not that they've won everything they've been in, but they NEVER give up and in every market, they are predicted by most to eventually prevail.

1) OS - Mac, IBM DOS, etc
2) Office - Wordperfect
3) Networking - Novell
4) Browser - Netscape
5) Handheld - Palm
6) Video - Real, Quicktime,etc
7) Server - UNIX, AIX, HPUX, Solaris, etc
8) Internet Access - America Online, Yahoo, etc
9) Development tools - Borland, Symantec, Java,
10) Database - Oracle, Informix, AS/400

The list could go on and on... Obviously, there would probably be some disagreements, but I think you get the point.

WebTV was a wash though. There's hope I suppose.

 

[sonycowboy]

WebTV was a wash though. There's hope I suppose.

Not really. It's what got Microsoft into this industry. Microsoft was deathly afraid of losing control of the living room and people accessing the internet without a PC & Windows. They bought WebTV for like 300M and just sat on it. Killed it completely. Competition gone, PC's go on to sell billions over the next 10 years. Then Sony gets cute with the PS2 and they have to go back in again.

 

[Speevy]

sonycowboy: Do you believe that Microsoft winning would hurt the industry or something?

 

[radioheadrule83]

I am impressed by:

+/- some of the exclusives, not many though
+ the hard-drive is the best thing ever included in a console
+ Xbox Live is an amazing service

on the other hand:

- it's fuck ugly
- all of the games I really love are on Sony and Nintendo consoles


Microsoft have guarunteed my Xbox 2 purchase though, that's for sure. You know they mean business, you know they wanna improve, you know they have designs on Sony's empire..... I'm all for them doing whatever it takes. More competition is good.

But as sonycowboy has indicated, it is slightly worrying that they seem unstoppable in every market they decide to enter. I don't think it's at all fair they can just throw money from other operations at these things.

 

[KyotoMecca]

When it comes to the content on the Xbox, I'm impressed. When it comes to their success, not quite. They've lost too much money.

I am sorry but when are people going to cotton on to the fact that Xbox is a MASSIVE business plan which was never meant to break even this early? It doesn't matter one bit that they have made no money from it yet. The bigger picture is a huge picture.

 

[bitwise]

I am sorry but when are people going to cotton on to the fact that Xbox is a MASSIVE business plan which was never meant to break even this early?

some people never will, because then that takes away one of their "digs" at "M$".

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

sonycowboy: Do you believe that Microsoft winning would hurt the industry or something?

I didn't get that from him, even with his handle. The jist of that matter is, from what I'm understanding from him and to which I agree is this point. Once Microsoft is there, to control an industry, if the sheer name and threat of Microsoft doesn't win out, they go to plan b, make 'em bleed. I believe that will be the case here, eventually

 

[Dr_Cogent]

I'm not impressed at all because I knew they'd be a serious contender solely based off their bottomless checkbook.

It takes more than a checkbook to get things right.

They obviously had people who knew what they were doing. They could have munged it up. Just look at their OS's. They only recently have started to NOT SUCK.

Their still security nightmares as well.

 

[Sysgen]

I'm not impressed because I knew this would happen, and had been saying MS would be successful since before they launched. The only thing I don't like about the Xbox is how so much of it's library is just weaker versions of PC software, and how Xbox Live gets so much praise despite it being less than impressive in many respects, imo. Other than that, I think it's a great system, with some of the best racing and action games anywhere, and I buy just about all of my multiplatform console games on it. I just wish the focus would stop being so much on it being a miniature (or, well, not so miniature) PC.

Oh, and Halo 2 sucked rather sizeable cock.

When will people realize that the Xbox made it's mark off of PC ports. Nintendo didn't have em and the PS2 couldn't do them. A large portion of their userbase came over becuase they were tired of fucking around configuring their pC for every game they wanted to play. Inclusion of the GF3 helped. It drew me over. I was an avid PC gamer. Just go look at my auctions on ebay. Wake the fuck up. Xbox Live gets so much praise. Yea, you bet ya. 1.5 million users paying for online. Mark me fucking impressed. They got EA in their camp so what happened to the dreamcast won't happen here. Mark me fucking impressed. They sold 6 million copies of a console title. Mark me fucking impressed. The focus will always be on the PC. It's there bread and butter. That's why they need to infiltarte SONYs territory before SONY infiltrates theirs. Anyone who can't be impressed by their accomplishments this gen is a fucking dork. Enough fuckings for you all?

 

[The End]

7) Server - UNIX, AIX, HPUX, Solaris, etc
8) Internet Access - America Online, Yahoo, etc

These two in particular are flat out wrong. MS's growth has been flat in the server market, while Linux has been steadily growing over the last few years, shrinking MS's overall share.

MSN has been a huge money sink for MS, and isn't even close to being a market leader.

In most of the other cases, MS has been able to leverage their windows monopoly into helping them into new markets: ie, by including IE with windows, they muscle out netscape, by integrating office into windows more seamlessly than Wordperfect, they gain an advantage in productivity suites, etc.

MS has no advantage of that type in the console sector. They've done a decent job in the console sector so far, but their success is far from assured.

 

[Che]

Not impressed at all till yesterday. I don't want to sound like IGN here but if I had MS's money I would do a lot more than create a console that plays PC games (and I don't mean just PC ports I mean games created by PC devs that if it wasn't for xbox they were destined to end up on PC) and a couple of good jap games. The Mistwalker thing though was pretty impressing. Let's hope MS brings more console games on the next gen xbox this time.

 

[KyotoMecca]

Just because you have vast cash does not mean you can make games that float around in the air and perform magic and give you blow jobs. How much fucking better do you want Xbox to be? Be realistic.

 

[DCharlie]

"But as sonycowboy has indicated, it is slightly worrying that they seem unstoppable in every market they decide to enter. I don't think it's at all fair they can just throw money from other operations at these things."

eh ? why is not fair ??? That makes no sense. Sony made loads of cash out of other products, cash from which went into making the PS1, is that also unfair?

 

[sonycowboy]

sonycowboy: Do you believe that Microsoft winning would hurt the industry or something?

I think anybody winning will hurt the industry.

When Atari ruled, the market crashed
When Nintendo ruled they treated developers like crap and didn't innovate
While Sony has ruled, they've been behind in online & innovation.

There is a difference though. Eventually Sony will lose and that pushes them and everybody else. They aren't big enough or powerful enough to sew the industry up.

When Microsoft has ruled, by the size, weight, power, and some other less than scrupulous things, they have never relinqueshed control of any market. Tell me that Microsoft's OS, Office, or browser have gotten much better in the past ten years. They don't have to because they've got at least a 95% market share (yes, even with Firefox)

I don't hate Microsoft. I think they've got the absolute smartest and most cutthroat business minds in the world. I consider them like Neo. An eventuality of our market system.

And there is one thing they do better than anyone. They deliver development tools that blow away the competition. Of course, by doing so they help to maintain their control over all of those markets that we talked about. It's an incredibly seductive proposal they give to developers, one that is almost impossible to resist. And so far, none have.

 

[The End]

As it is, i see the next gen being closer to a Genesis/Snes race than anything else, with MS being Genesis and Sony being the SNES. The real Nintendo will be off doing it's own thing with tilt controllers or something.

 

[siamesedreamer]

I'm impressed simply becaue of Xbox Live. It could be the single greatest gaming thing ever invented.

Now, they just need to get up to the 3-4 million subscriber level where every game has a pretty good community.

 

[sonycowboy]

These two in particular are flat out wrong. MS's growth has been flat in the server market, while Linux has been steadily growing over the last few years, shrinking MS's overall share.

MSN has been a huge money sink for MS, and isn't even close to being a market leader.

1) With MSN, I'm talking about Microsoft's suite of internet portals (MSN, Hotmail, MSN Messenger, Expedia, Carpoint, etc), not dial-up or broadband internet access. Their collection of internet portals grab more "eyeballs" than any other companies websites. Whether they make money isn't the point. By having a large enough market share, they make their competitors less valuable as far as advertising & consumer branding.

2) As far as the server network goes, you've got to be kidding. Their server market has been growing incredibly. You've got to consider the whole realm of servers. As far as corporate infrastructure goes, 99% of internal networks are managed by Microsoft servers and software. Their server and tools division is expected to pass their Office business in terms of revenue and profitability within a few years.

Again, the point isn't really whether or not they have over 50% of the market. The point is they've been in these markets for years and they will never go away. Even when they've had horrible starts (IE & MSN certainly qualify)

 

[Che]

Just because you have vast cash does not mean you can make games that float around in the air and perform magic and give you blow jobs. How much fucking better do you want Xbox to be? Be realistic.

They've given large amounts of money to PC devs instead of spending that money to attract real consoles devs. That's my problem. The only thing that they did right was Sega (it wasn't their fault that Sega was falling apart and that Xbox owners were refusing to buy their games). And spending billions to be faaaar second is not an achievent in my book. If its two other competitors had spent all that money, xbox would have been seriously doomed. And please don't start me with the "new market" crap. We're talking about billions spent here. The only thing they achieved was take a large amount of PC gamers and a good amount of Sega ones. And last but not least, the nintendo gamers who converted were a generous gift from Nintendo itself (especially in the PAL territories where the fucking NOE is screwing us 24/4, 365 days a year).

 

[DCharlie]

just be glad they didn't (or haven't) spent those billions (and then some) forcibly taking the market.

That would have REALLY sucked balls.

I personally still can't believe MS have displaced Nintendo as the number 2 player in this game (effectively doing it off the back of 2 regions given the absolute no show in Japan).

Also , i can't believe that people aren't impressed because MS are a distant second given the PS2's lead and momentum.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

People focusing on the money spent is missing the point. Most of it, I'm sure, was allocated before said actions. Microsoft isn't stupid. You should be impressed with them. The simple fact that they carry an attitude that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and they refuse to lose

 

[The End]

1) With MSN, I'm talking about Microsoft's suite of internet portals (MSN, Hotmail, MSN Messenger, Expedia, Carpoint, etc), not dial-up or broadband internet access. Their collection of internet portals grab more "eyeballs" than any other companies websites. Whether they make money isn't the point. By having a large enough market share, they make their competitors less valuable as far as advertising & consumer branding.

other than Google, sure, but I'm pretty sure Yahoo is still a close third.

2) As far as the server network goes, you've got to be kidding. Their server market has been growing incredibly. You've got to consider the whole realm of servers. As far as corporate infrastructure goes, 99% of internal networks are managed by Microsoft servers and software. Their server and tools division is expected to pass their Office business in terms of revenue and profitability within a few years.

Again, the point isn't really whether or not they have over 50% of the market. The point is they've been in these markets for years and they will never go away. Even when they've had horrible starts (IE & MSN certainly qualify)

I'd say they run the majority of small corporate networks, but from my IT experience, a good number of larger networks (2,000+ users) still use some *nix-based solution on the back end, whether it's Novell or BSD/Kerberos or whatever.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

just be glad they didn't (or haven't) spent those billions (and then some) forcibly taking the market.

I think 2006 will see the awakening of the Evil Empire moniker Microsoft has earned

 

[Mike Works]

People focusing on the money spent is missing the point. Most of it, I'm sure, was allocated before said actions.

That doesn't really change the fact that they spent that much money and didn't make it back, does it? Best case outlook, which is the one you hold, is that they allocated the money and thus the immense losses didn't hurt their company nor shareholders hopefully. They spent and lost billions of dollars in one generation, and that should definitely come into consideration when the question 'Are you impressed with MS' is asked. Microsoft did a great job, but Microsoft also had a big advantage- bottomless pockets.

Whether or not you consider a trillion gazillion dollar monopolistic company coming into an industry as a complete rookie and ousting the biggest veteran from second place impressive is what should be considered.

 

[sonycowboy]

When will people realize that the Xbox made it's mark off of PC ports. Nintendo didn't have em and the PS2 couldn't do them. A large portion of their userbase came over becuase they were tired of fucking around configuring their pC for every game they wanted to play. Inclusion of the GF3 helped. It drew me over. I was an avid PC gamer. Just go look at my auctions on ebay. Wake the fuck up. Xbox Live gets so much praise. Yea, you bet ya. 1.5 million users paying for online. Mark me fucking impressed. They got EA in their camp so what happened to the dreamcast won't happen here. Mark me fucking impressed. They sold 6 million copies of a console title. Mark me fucking impressed. The focus will always be on the PC. It's there bread and butter. That's why they need to infiltarte SONYs territory before SONY infiltrates theirs. Anyone who can't be impressed by their accomplishments this gen is a fucking dork. Enough fuckings for you all?

I'm not impressed. Enough, that is.

NOTE: All of the following is personal opinion and is not meant to be taken as gospel. It's really just more of my "devil's advocate" to give us a counter argument to Microsoft's unassailable success.

Bungie, Rare, Oddworld, Mistwalker - bought with their money
PC Developers - We knew they'd get them all along.
Xbox Live - Color me fucking impressed. Hats off to them. Innovation and execution
Developer support - Again, we knew this coming in
EA Live support - Only took 3 years - way too long
Japanese support/success - Nonexistant
European success - Not too much, getting better though
American success - Did well, but still a distant, distant second to Sony, just as expected
Regular console library - Again, first party and PC stuff, otherwise not so great

 

[DCharlie]

"Bungie, Rare, Oddworld, Mistwalker - bought with their money"

you know, this is more common than you think.

How many of the big developers do you think are going back and forth between Sony, MS, Nintendo saying "well, they offered us _this_" ?

Inevitably some one has to give up some cash. This isn't the case for everyone, but do you think a hot third party product like GTA is going to be heading to a console without some hard bargaining between companies? Sony and MS both need 3rd parties - they don't have enough first party IP to carry the machine, it's one of the areas Nintendo have both of them trumped and a weakness that i'm sure both Sony and MS long to address.

as an aside, i know we've had various spats before, but i'm impressed with your posting of late. You've become one of if not the most level headed posters on the board. Awesome stuff.
If i wasn't so much of a troll, i'd maybe follow suit

 

[pjberri]

I'm not impressed at all. They drop support on games and have the gall to essentially charge for nothing with XBox Live.

 

[DCharlie]

"They drop support on games and have the gall to essentially charge for nothing with XBox Live."

just to put a japanese slant on this, it costs the same to play Sony's mingol for 1 year as it does to have Xbox live for 1 year.

I dunno , Xbox live is worth it IMO.

 

[sonycowboy]

you know, this is more common than you think.

How many of the big developers do you think are going back and forth between Sony, MS, Nintendo saying "well, they offered us _this_" ?

Inevitably some one has to give up some cash. This isn't the case for everyone, but do you think a hot third party product like GTA is going to be heading to a console without some hard bargaining between companies? Sony and MS both need 3rd parties - they don't have enough first party IP to carry the machine, it's one of the areas Nintendo have both of them trumped and a weakness that i'm sure both Sony and MS long to address.

Agreed. It's going to be ALOT more common next generation. Before, you had a difference of philosophies on systems. Nintendo, with first party Nintendo magic, vs the Sega sports machine, and Sony and the "older audience, etc.

But, Microsoft and Sony are drinking from the same well. So developers are licking thier chops. They are going to get so much exclusive cash, it's going to be insane. 1 for Microsoft, 1 for Sony, 2 for Microsoft, 2 more for Sony.

 

[The End]

I'd be far more impressed with live if they'd actually serve the games, so we wouldn't be so restricted by (1) shitty DSL connections and (2) the limited amount of RAM in the Xbox.

Also, I shudder to think how much money Rockstar is going to get for the GTA4 exclusive.

 

[callous]

I own or have owned pretty much every popular console under the sun as well as several unpopular ones, but Microsoft has yet to impress me enough to invest in theirs, so no.

 

[pjberri]

just to put a japanese slant on this, it costs the same to play Sony's mingol for 1 year as it does to have Xbox live for 1 year.

I dunno , Xbox live is worth it IMO.

Then that's not worth it either. With both systems you're not paying for anything. I could understand if the cost of XBox Live was to play FPS games exclusively on dedicated servers and to employ people to moderate the network, but it's not. People get banned from H2 for no reason and I can't count the amount of times I've heard someone complaining about how MS continued to charge their CC even after they cancelled their Live account.
You get more from a game like Warcraft 3: TFT where you pay nothing to play online (although you could say the price of the expansion is that in disguise, even so, they support vanilla WC3 in a similar fashion), there are regular map, balance patch and unit downloads even a year after the game's release. XBox Live is a joke compared to this.

 

[DCharlie]

"I own or have owned pretty much every popular console under the sun as well as several unpopular ones, but Microsoft has yet to impress me enough to invest in theirs, so no."

if you own a 3do and not a Xbox, then you deserve to be spit roasted by two big butch sailors

"You get more from a game like Warcraft 3: TFT where you pay nothing to play online (although you could say the price of the expansion is that in disguise, even so, they support vanilla WC3 in a similar fashion), there are regular map, balance patch and unit downloads even a year after the game's release. XBox Live is a joke compared to this."

That's great but where is the standardization across all games? WC3 is great, but it's not a standard enforced on every game is it? Xbox live is more than just what it actually does - it provides an element of community by the simple virtue that everyone is forced into the same system. Added to that you have voice chat in all games, friend tracking service, server support from MS, an improving and evolving service etc... sure you can get similar deals on the PC for free running several bits of software to get a similar effect but with less "reach" , but we are talking about 600 yen a month fee here for that convenience (that's about the price of a small beer), plus the one unified log on and that every live user with Xbox contactable. I know people like to dismiss this as nothing, but i just don't see it that way.

 

[krypt0nian]

if you own a 3do and not a Xbox, then you deserve to be spit roasted by two big butch sailors

Is that a punishment?

 

[android]

if you own a 3do and not a Xbox, then you deserve to be spit roasted by two big butch sailors

Or a Jaguar. So people's blind ignorance is just appalling. It just a piece of electronics, it won't kill you. All three systems this gen have a wealth of enjoyable games.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

I am now

http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=23892

 

[kaching]

just be glad they didn't (or haven't) spent those billions (and then some) forcibly taking the market.

They could have at least spent a few more of those billions to have captured a bit more marketshare. Then I might have been impressed.

Maybe the thing that impresses me here is the validation that money doesn't buy everything...or, at least, it costs a sufficiently huge amount to buy some things that gives even MS sticker shock still.

I personally still can't believe MS have displaced Nintendo as the number 2 player in this game (effectively doing it off the back of 2 regions given the absolute no show in Japan).

Yeah, that was just...amazing...we'd never seen anything like it before, on such a massive scale...

Also , i can't believe that people aren't impressed because MS are a distant second given the PS2's lead and momentum.

You sound like a parent who gets doe-eyed at every little thing their kid does. "Johnny, you struck out again today, but you finally swung the bat at a pitch! Good for you!!"

 

[callous]

if you own a 3do and not a Xbox, then you deserve to be spit roasted by two big butch sailors

I chose to pass on that particular electronic entertainment platform. Come to think of it, I chose to pass on just about every American made console. Home computers not included!

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I think anyone who says they were not impressive is either just heavily biased against MS or a buffoon. I am very impressed with what MS has done, although they could have done so much more. They really come through on a lot of things, but they half-ass a lot of stuff as well. For example: They have a lot of excellent, excellent 1st party devs, but when one of the larger and more talented ones only has "Brute Force" to put down for efforts of this generation, something's wrong. Also, Kameo and the Kart Racer from RARE were prematurely cancelled, leaving Rare's catalogue with GbtG (which sold kinda well, considering) and Conker (Which will undoubtedly 0wn my soul). Microsoft has been aggressive, but it seems that when they have something, instead of pushing to get it to the next level, they just let it flow. If Xbox Arcade actually halfway worked, it would have been a reason in itself for owning an Xbox.

Microsoft got a large, exclusive game from Capcom, but instead of overseeing it and making sure it becomes a success, they kinda let it go and let Capcom do their own thing. In return we get the (Under hyped and under marketed) Steel Batallion series and a (....bad) iteration of Dino Crisis series. They've gotten much better lately, but it's the first 1 or 2 years which leaves a bad taste in many peoples' mouths.

Their next-generation system is turning out to be something spectacular, though Lets hope that their focus is redoubled and they do not half-ass anything like they have been doing.

 

[callous]

Lets hope that their focus is redoubled and they do not half-ass anything like they have been doing.

Why? If the next iteration was crap and MS gave up (it won't be and they won't, but for argument's sake), you'd just have one less console to buy and find room for under your TV. The games would just be on another platform. Sounds good to me.

 

[Amir0x]

The Xbox is part adrenaline-pumping, PC power-driven monster and part funky, ambitious spirit. It doesn't overpresent the package because what's there is there in spades, and in-game.

Wow. I mean, I'm not saying I agree or disagree with your statement here, but just so you know I can never take you seriously again. Objectivity is all flyin' away! I'll just have to love you from afar!

Yeah, because N-fans play and love NINTENDO consoles for 3rd party games.

Yes, note the "Nintendo and Namco for life" part which emphasizes that it is what Nintendo fans focus on. What I was alluding to was that no third party support (comparatively) is not helping Nintendo fans or regular mainstream consumers, because you can only live so long creating your own solid titles and hoping people continue to buy them. Now whether or not you consider N64 a disaster like I do is not important, because they still created some of the best games ever on that platform. But it's very clear what the dangers are of little third party support.

At the end of the day if you're a "Nintendo fan" (like me) you want to see Nintendo succeed on a higher level than just the corporate side. On an even more important note, if you're a fan of games in general like I am you really want to continue wishing for more support so that your options are not limited by Nintendo games, which pigeonholds you into an extremely narrow set of games guided by one sole source.

But, anyway, that statement of mine you commented on was a joke, and you should lighten up :lol

I'm not putting down the PS3/Revolution, but so far I'm not sold. I really need to see what each offers before I put down the money on these two.

Technically, you haven't "seen" what Xbox Next offers either. You're asserting what you'll think you will see and saying that's what you will anticipate. To your credit you say XNA is your reason, which is fine... but on that note, focusing on only one or two things, then there's easily just as much to look forward to on PS3 or Revolution. PS3 for a nearly endless wellspring of incredible third party support and Revolution for Nintendo's always quirky, interesting sense of game design. But we haven't "seen" anything, so most of it is speculation.

Either MS eventually wins or we'll very likely be owning Sony consoles until the end of time. I mean, companies don't get bigger. There's no entity that's going to come along and beat Sony if MS can't do it.

You say this as if the world will end if Sony does win "until the end of time." I don't understand why you have this "Bill Gates, you are our last hope" mentality, but it doesn't really make sense. We play games. PS2 has good games. Gamecube has good games. Xbox has good games. And at the end of the day whoever does end up winning "until the end of time" will also be the system that gets all the best games. So it doesn't matter who does it, really. But brand loyalty is important to some people I guess. Or maybe I'm overreacting.

 

[DCharlie]

"They could have at least spent a few more of those billions to have captured a bit more marketshare. Then I might have been impressed."

I personally would have hated MS if they'd threw those x billion at aquiring companies. That would have sucked and people would have been up in arms about them "buying" the industry.

"Maybe the thing that impresses me here is the validation that money doesn't buy everything...or, at least, it costs a sufficiently huge amount to buy some things that gives even MS sticker shock still. "

Every single company has a price. Especially those listed on the stock exchange with not enough stock under control of the company.

"Yeah, that was just...amazing...we'd never seen anything like it before, on such a massive scale..."

come now, even i thought they'd trail in last. Me and a friend joked about how they should just call it 4DO and have done with it. I certainly didn't think, on the day i picked up my GC, that MS would be in the possition that they are now.

"You sound like a parent who gets doe-eyed at every little thing their kid does. "Johnny, you struck out again today, but you finally swung the bat at a pitch! Good for you!!""

Quaint analogies are always the best way to look at reality when you are scared of the forthcoming challenges... i'm just glad Sony are taking MS more seriously than most of the fanboys around here.