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Xbox 2 - Everything we know (Gamespy) part 2
- Thread starter GigaDrive
- Start date
Buffy4ever
Banned
If MS launchs early it will be a big mistake. flashbask of the DC just keep coming back. Sega ditch the saturn and launched the DC early. when Sony came out there was a big leap in graphic power. The early launch didn't help Sega I don't think it will help MS.
Jedi...it just REALLY pissed me off when you (and others) said Nintendo would have a weak/conservative system...pfft...you don't know that so don't say it like it's a fact. It's so easy for everyone to believe that Nintendo will be so pathetic/weak (when, in fact, it'll likely launch Revolution AFTER Xenon), but yet when there's ALOT of talk of Xenon being launched sooner & with less features it's so easily dismissed by X-bots who are in denial that the system will somehow be behind the competition.
From what we know NOW I believe my assessment of Xenon is pretty realistic. Of all the mainstream/successful consoles in game history there has NEVER been a system that has released before another and somehow been "better" technically. You can't defy time, logic & history. And thanks for somehow retorting my comments on the power issue and pretty much ignoring all the other issues I see with Xenon.
They (and the rest of this industry) *have* downplayed Japanese games...you're blind if you can't see that. They can't even BUY support from them anymore, except for Team Ninja *cough*sellouts*cough*.
BTW...I think it would be impossible for Xenon to be powerful enough (let alone having the custom algorithms nVidea coded, and patented, into X-BOX's graphics chip) to emulate the original X-BOX, but if MS can somehow pull it off, more power to them...they're gonna need to do it!
NO HD...a step back
NO BC...something the competition will have, alienates potential fans
NO major Japanese support...something the competition will also have
NO power edge...alienating the fans (the bulk of who originally bought the X-BOX for the security blanket of power) who'll expect MS to have the most powerful system
SHORTER X-BOX lifespan...further alienating fans
Sorry, but if what we know is true (and NOT just the leaked speaks...I'm talkin' strategy, approach, momentum, etc.) then this will be a hard ride for MS. Just ask Nintendo, the lack of features, the conservative approach and alienating their fans effectively trashed their image to the point where they've had nothing but an uphill battle before this generation even started. I'd say the Xenon is one part DC, one part GAMECUBE plus a slightly better image, more money & XBL...it'll be enough for some people, but to the mainstream they'll just wait for PS3.
From what we know NOW I believe my assessment of Xenon is pretty realistic. Of all the mainstream/successful consoles in game history there has NEVER been a system that has released before another and somehow been "better" technically. You can't defy time, logic & history. And thanks for somehow retorting my comments on the power issue and pretty much ignoring all the other issues I see with Xenon.
They (and the rest of this industry) *have* downplayed Japanese games...you're blind if you can't see that. They can't even BUY support from them anymore, except for Team Ninja *cough*sellouts*cough*.
BTW...I think it would be impossible for Xenon to be powerful enough (let alone having the custom algorithms nVidea coded, and patented, into X-BOX's graphics chip) to emulate the original X-BOX, but if MS can somehow pull it off, more power to them...they're gonna need to do it!
NO HD...a step back
NO BC...something the competition will have, alienates potential fans
NO major Japanese support...something the competition will also have
NO power edge...alienating the fans (the bulk of who originally bought the X-BOX for the security blanket of power) who'll expect MS to have the most powerful system
SHORTER X-BOX lifespan...further alienating fans
Sorry, but if what we know is true (and NOT just the leaked speaks...I'm talkin' strategy, approach, momentum, etc.) then this will be a hard ride for MS. Just ask Nintendo, the lack of features, the conservative approach and alienating their fans effectively trashed their image to the point where they've had nothing but an uphill battle before this generation even started. I'd say the Xenon is one part DC, one part GAMECUBE plus a slightly better image, more money & XBL...it'll be enough for some people, but to the mainstream they'll just wait for PS3.
DrGAKMAN said:
Didn't mean to piss you off, but Nintendo has a distinct history of choosing conservative to save a buck. They have their own ideas about the direction of the gaming industry, and that direction is different from Sony and Microsoft. No, it isn't fact and hopefully things will change with Revolution.
I gave you plenty of legitimate reasons why your assessment is not realistic and retorted each of your comments. Also, basing this launch on a relatively short history of launches doesn't prove much. I never said Xenon would be more powerful, but any technical shortcomings it does have won't be as graphically obvious to gamers as it was in the past.
What you call downplaying, I call assessing. Look at the top ten publishers of 2003... see any 3rd part Japanese developers?
1. EA
2. Nintendo
3. Atari
4. THQ
5. Activision
6. Sony
7. VU
8. Take 2
9. MS
10. UBI
You can think what you want... MS said it is possible.
Flash media is faster and not susceptable to piracy. I'd say that is a step forward.
Which you are just assuming won't happen, but I showed you that MS is already working on it.
And so will MS. AFAIK, Sega, Capcom, Konami, Namco, Tecmo still develop games for Xbox. Square is interested in Xenon.
How does a shorter lifespan alenate fans?
There isn't a magical formula to follow for success, and I'm sure MS is well aware of what Sony is doing right and what Nintendo is doing wrong.
CrimsonSkies
Member
I learned absolutely nothing from either article. Whee. Thanks GameSpy.
DrGAKMAN you played the hypocrite quite well in that little rant. First you get on someone for making assumptions on Nintendo and then just list the Xbox 2 rumors as facts right below it. Interesting.
DrGAKMAN you played the hypocrite quite well in that little rant. First you get on someone for making assumptions on Nintendo and then just list the Xbox 2 rumors as facts right below it. Interesting.
CrimsonSkies said:
They are more than rumors or else we wouldn't keep hearing them...where as what Jedi said about Nintendo is just his own opinion/speculation. I was merely proving how idiotic it was to say something outta nowhere like that in my own personal look at Xenon.
What's REAL hypocritical is how alot of X-Bot's will say: "those specs are not real/final" or are just rumors and then in the same breath they say: "they're good specs that will be on par with whatever the competition does" even though none of us really know what PS3 or Revolution will be like specs-wise. However, LOGIC tells us that if they're coming out AFTER (and they are, no if's there) then they will feature newer more advanced technology than Xenon.
But this is all beside the point...the power will really NOT matter in the end...but to the spec-boasting X-BOX fans who really loved their "more power" edge this generation I wonder how the bulk of them will feel when not only MS is cutting the HD & BC, but also the power edge they all so love to boast about...all while cutting their current X-BOX short. I'm sorry, maybe some of you are so deep in Step 3 (denial) that you WON'T accept the fact that most people will find Xenon to be less featured, less powerful and premature...sorry, but they will.
I find alot of X-BOX owners bought one not only 'cos of the power edge, but also 'cos they believe that MS is eventually going to use their money/power/influence to take over. This security blanket will be yanked from them when the above comes to fruation! And it will if what what we know now is true:
-early launch (not just a rumor)
-cheaper cost efficient hardware (think about the money they're still bleeding on X-BOX, and then think of the investors)
-no non-gaming features (straight from the horses mouth: Peter Moore)
-no backwords compatibility (technically it's not looking possible without adding the specific nVidea patented coding, plus they've been downplaying this for a while now, if they add it expect them to have to either: A) do it as an add-on, B) make the Xenon so damn powerful it can emulate it, although I don't know how when they'd still need the nVidea patented instructions or C) add $100 (Intel CPU, nVidea GPU & HD) to the cost of the system just for the feature to work)
-cutting short the original X-BOX (projects are being moved to Xenon, premature 2005 launch, no BC to help transition, will likely try to get rid of the sold at a loss X-BOX as soon as they can)
And I still stand by my no HD or Japanese support comments. They have a deal with M-Systems for flash media, but do you think they'll include a bulk memory card when money could be made selling it seperatly? And then look at the way Nintendo is doing it...they're doing it incrimentally which ends up being more profitable. So, I don't see this as a "replacement" for the HD, I think it's just a better way to make money while taking away a feature they gave away for free with their first system. Even if they do give one of these bulk memory cards I still don't see them being as benificial to consumers as the original X-BOX's HD was. CAPCOM & Sega/Sammy have both recently said NO to even *paid for* support of the X-BOX, so why should this change with the next system? Yeah, maybe if Xenon can sell to Japan *cough*notlikely*cough* or maybe if it can be such a western platform "powerhouse" that Japanese developers will make games for it to reach them...pfft...yeah right, when all the American system attracts are western games/genres/gamers I don't see that happening either let alone it becoming that powerhouse while Sony is still the market leader. They have Tecmo *cough*ItagakiSellOut*cough* but that hasn't helped them much so far. Oh yeah and that Square/Enix crap about them being interested is pure false hope. Sony owns stock in them and Square is probably just pretending to be interested in XBL so that they can get Sony to do a network like it too...not that they would EVER leave Sony for MS.
MightyHedgehog
Member
My whacked-out theory on Revolution:
It's going to come with an integrated display -- perhaps a nice TFT LCD display or even some sort of head-mounted visor -- and, coupled with a somewhat costly new design-controller, will bring the cost of a system that is both competitive with Xenon and PS3, power-wise, to an amount that will be too much to sell at a decent price. Therefore, the system will indeed be 'weaker' than both Xenon and PS3 to balance the cost of the main tech in the box with the new 'revolutionary' features. I think Revolution will be a dedicated-gaming laptop of sorts. With this, Nintendo is making a tacit acknowledgement of either its inability to compete with Sony and MS in the traditional home console space, or that they refuse to do so...and instead will try to create an entirely new market for themselves, thus allowing them to own a gaming space, like they currently do with the GB line. If you can't or won't play in the big leagues, you start your own damned league.
This system could well be a really cool all-in-one console that you can take anywhere more easily than a traditional console which requires an outside display to work. LAN gaming would be incredibly easy for players to take advantage of.
In part, I base this off of Iwata's statements about the Revolution.
It's going to come with an integrated display -- perhaps a nice TFT LCD display or even some sort of head-mounted visor -- and, coupled with a somewhat costly new design-controller, will bring the cost of a system that is both competitive with Xenon and PS3, power-wise, to an amount that will be too much to sell at a decent price. Therefore, the system will indeed be 'weaker' than both Xenon and PS3 to balance the cost of the main tech in the box with the new 'revolutionary' features. I think Revolution will be a dedicated-gaming laptop of sorts. With this, Nintendo is making a tacit acknowledgement of either its inability to compete with Sony and MS in the traditional home console space, or that they refuse to do so...and instead will try to create an entirely new market for themselves, thus allowing them to own a gaming space, like they currently do with the GB line. If you can't or won't play in the big leagues, you start your own damned league.
This system could well be a really cool all-in-one console that you can take anywhere more easily than a traditional console which requires an outside display to work. LAN gaming would be incredibly easy for players to take advantage of.
In part, I base this off of Iwata's statements about the Revolution.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Ack...just re-read the Revolution FAQ...nevermind...my already dead theory. Alcohol has me... In any case, the 'revolutionary' features will balance out the overall power of the system, thusly making it not as concentrated on CPU and GPU horsepower as the more 'evolutionary' designs of the new Sony and MS machines. If it were as extremely powerful as the other systems will likely be, I believe that Iwata would have said so...instead of focusing on the 'revolutionary' aspects of the upcoming system. Thus the balance of cost that will ensure a more moderate jump in power... Ack.
SolidSnakex
Member
"And so will MS. AFAIK, Sega, Capcom, Konami, Namco, Tecmo still develop games for Xbox. Square is interested in Xenon."
Well I think he meant them putting their big name games on the Xbox/Xbox 2 as an exclusive. And outside of Tecmo, none of those companies have done that. They've ported their big games to the Xbox a year or so after their PS2 release but that's about it. Without exclusive support from Japanese developers having them simply support the system doesn't mean much.
Well I think he meant them putting their big name games on the Xbox/Xbox 2 as an exclusive. And outside of Tecmo, none of those companies have done that. They've ported their big games to the Xbox a year or so after their PS2 release but that's about it. Without exclusive support from Japanese developers having them simply support the system doesn't mean much.
I like to post a few pretty much irrefutable facts abou the XB2:
Backward compatibility: Several hurdles:
No x86 chip - major roadblock
No Harddrive - even larger roadblock, and one that guarantees no BC for games that use the HD like Blinx, Halo, etc.
No Nvidia IP - forget about first two, this alone kills any attempt at BC.
There you have, no BC whatsoever no matter what barring major redesign.
Some may also think that there would be some sort of flash replacement for a HD. This highly unlikely. FlashRAM, at 1GB, costs about $200-300. In a year, we may see it go to around $100. That's just too expensive for a console. I don't expect anything more than about 256MB of flashRAM, at which cost you could easily get a several GB harddrive, so you're not saving anything. If there's no HD, then realistically you can't expect anything more than about 64MB or basically a builtin memory card.
Performance-wise, if you serious think that IBM, who isn't have trouble get to 2.5Ghz, can deliever 3.5 tri-cores for a <$300 product then you're smoking something strong. That figure is almost certainly wrong and I expect that to change.
Also, the GPU in the Xbox is not that powerful. With 8 pipelines, but very efficiently designed and with SM3.0+, it should come around to be onpar with a GF6800U in my judging. Maybe a GF6900U when it comes out.
Backward compatibility: Several hurdles:
No x86 chip - major roadblock
No Harddrive - even larger roadblock, and one that guarantees no BC for games that use the HD like Blinx, Halo, etc.
No Nvidia IP - forget about first two, this alone kills any attempt at BC.
There you have, no BC whatsoever no matter what barring major redesign.
Some may also think that there would be some sort of flash replacement for a HD. This highly unlikely. FlashRAM, at 1GB, costs about $200-300. In a year, we may see it go to around $100. That's just too expensive for a console. I don't expect anything more than about 256MB of flashRAM, at which cost you could easily get a several GB harddrive, so you're not saving anything. If there's no HD, then realistically you can't expect anything more than about 64MB or basically a builtin memory card.
Performance-wise, if you serious think that IBM, who isn't have trouble get to 2.5Ghz, can deliever 3.5 tri-cores for a <$300 product then you're smoking something strong. That figure is almost certainly wrong and I expect that to change.
Also, the GPU in the Xbox is not that powerful. With 8 pipelines, but very efficiently designed and with SM3.0+, it should come around to be onpar with a GF6800U in my judging. Maybe a GF6900U when it comes out.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Heh, nice facts...
Anyway, if those 'leaked' specs are to be believed, the proposed system's capability would bitch-slap any current or near-future gaming rig for the next two to three years...at least.
Anyway, if those 'leaked' specs are to be believed, the proposed system's capability would bitch-slap any current or near-future gaming rig for the next two to three years...at least.
I too think the flash disk idea is ridiculous.
If they want to give devs plenty of space to work with, they have their main ram, and then a pool of cheap uber slow ram that can be used as a scratch area/disc buffer/junk pile, like the cheapest, slowest mem that can be found, and use a fat chunk of it.
Kind of like what cube does with it's A-RAM (that was the name right? that glob of slow ram used for sound and misc?), but bigger, and just as slow. Ooooh, teh cheap.
If they want to give devs plenty of space to work with, they have their main ram, and then a pool of cheap uber slow ram that can be used as a scratch area/disc buffer/junk pile, like the cheapest, slowest mem that can be found, and use a fat chunk of it.
Kind of like what cube does with it's A-RAM (that was the name right? that glob of slow ram used for sound and misc?), but bigger, and just as slow. Ooooh, teh cheap.
element
Member
have you ever considered that their are features that you really dont know about yet? Or features that really haven't been intergrated in a game machine? I mean give them some credit to bring something new to the table that you don't know about.
why do people want non-gaming features in a gaming system? If anything I would assume Xenon will follow what MS has setup with the Media Center Extender for Xbox which allows you to stream recorded shows to the Xbox and watch it on the TV the Xbox is hooked up too. I can understand DVD, because it is there. But other then that? Do you really need a DVR, DVD-R, Game Machine, MP3, MP4, Internet, Chat, and Microwave all in one box?
It is possible to emulate the Nvidia specific calls without breaking any intellectual property rights. Just takes some very creative coding.
MS had to market the power of the machine because that was the only thing going for it, since there wasn't a history. Do you really think people would pass up Halo 3 because Xenon isn't the most powerful system when PS3 comes out? Or pass up PDZ? There wasn't a pedigree for Xbox, and now there is. People know the games and are excited about the future of the franchises have been built on the Xbox. I don't see power being that much of an issue as you think.
Who says that there won't be a HDD? And who says that PS3 and Revolution WILL have it? I personally doubt that any of the systems will come PACKAGED standard with a HDD. Sony appears to be going with a two system design, low and high, with the high coming with a pre-packaged HDD and the low coming without it but gives the user the ability to upgrade at a later date. Also developers hardly took advantage of the HDD in the Xbox, most used it as a large scratch disc for shorter load times, which is hardly revolutionary. Not to mention how MS AND Sony are getting burnt right now with HDD hacks that allow users to copy full games.
Not that big of a roadblock. I'd say a challenge, but this can be done pretty easily with some smart people.
That is pretty outragous if you ask me. Ask JediMike said. Lets get playable framerates on 720p and 1080i before we even talk about 1080p.
How will PS3 have the momentum if MS has the market to themselves for 6 to 8 months? If anything Xenon will be similar to the Genesis, which carved a market and was able to keep that market for a number of years, for the simple fact that there wasn't any competition. If the games are there, gamers will buy it.
Everyone keeps mentioning the Genesis, but that was released two years before the SNES at a time when there weren't 1000 websites hyping system specs. So they had all kinds of time to build up a head start; no one's going to wait two full years for the next Nintendo system, assuming they even know it's going to come out.
Now you've got MS launching 6 months or 1 year or whatever ahead of Sony and Nintendo (this is assuming that Sony don't push back to 2007), and every gaming publication, web-based or otherwise, talking about all of those systems. It's much easier to say "I'll wait and see what the competition looks like" when you're talking about such a short period. I'm not saying the Xbox2 won't sell like crazy at launch, of course it will. I just don't know how much of a "lead" it'll have built up by the time the competition comes out.
Now you've got MS launching 6 months or 1 year or whatever ahead of Sony and Nintendo (this is assuming that Sony don't push back to 2007), and every gaming publication, web-based or otherwise, talking about all of those systems. It's much easier to say "I'll wait and see what the competition looks like" when you're talking about such a short period. I'm not saying the Xbox2 won't sell like crazy at launch, of course it will. I just don't know how much of a "lead" it'll have built up by the time the competition comes out.
MightyHedgehog
Member
MrSingh said:
Oh you're right...
*preorders an XBOX 3 and waits*
SolidSnakex
Member
"How will PS3 have the momentum if MS has the market to themselves for 6 to 8 months?"
Because it's coming off the PS2 which will likely end up being the most succesful console ever.
"If anything Xenon will be similar to the Genesis, which carved a market and was able to keep that market for a number of years, for the simple fact that there wasn't any competition. If the games are there, gamers will buy it."
The problem with this comparison is that the reason Sega was able to carve a market with the Genesis was because it didn't exist. Sega kind of made gaming cool with the Genesis with how they attacked Nintendo with ads, put an emphasis on sports gaming and had a mascot like Sonic. That market already exists now and Sony pretty much dominates it. What market exactly is there for MS to carve?
Because it's coming off the PS2 which will likely end up being the most succesful console ever.
"If anything Xenon will be similar to the Genesis, which carved a market and was able to keep that market for a number of years, for the simple fact that there wasn't any competition. If the games are there, gamers will buy it."
The problem with this comparison is that the reason Sega was able to carve a market with the Genesis was because it didn't exist. Sega kind of made gaming cool with the Genesis with how they attacked Nintendo with ads, put an emphasis on sports gaming and had a mascot like Sonic. That market already exists now and Sony pretty much dominates it. What market exactly is there for MS to carve?
MightyHedgehog
Member
SolidSnakex said:
Well, no one's doubting that PS3 will have tremendous momentum going into next-gen, but if Xenon and Revolution release earlier and do well for themselves, that momentum can be significantly robbed.
The next-gen marketshare is still there to be had, significant marketshare creation or not. It's certainly Sony's to lose.
Don't get me wrong...I think that if Microsoft can put in the CPU & GPU that's in those leaked specs then it will be a powerful system capable of looking almost as good as Revolution & PS3. But, I really think everything else the system has is lacking or a step back from what the X-BOX is. It's like they concentrated on having a super powerful (yet finacially doable) chipset but just don't care about extra features or much of anything else. This is all about profits and getting a headstart on the next generation. All fine and dandy, but they're taking away the HD, sacrificing BC, cutting short the current X-BOX and ultimatly losing their power edge to do it.
That is all that I am saying...I'm not saying it's going to completly fail...I'm not saying that these leaked specs suck...I just think their strategy, as a whole, is flawed. Many X-BOX fans will jump on board, rich kids who have to have every system and people itching for something next generation will all jump on board...but I think that just as many X-BOX fans will be turned off by the early launch, not to mention the potential fans who would've bought it if it had some of the same features as the X-BOX and BC who will now just wait to see what the competition has to offer and finally when the specs come in for Revolution & PS3 and Microsoft loses their whole power edge they had this generation then people will take a step back in their evaluation of their investment and see Xenon as less powerful, less featured & premature.
MS should wait, they should launch around the same time as the competition (be on par with their specs as well as not cut short this generation) and not go for this premature headstart strategy, they should try everything they can to match the competition feature-for-feature and instead of spending their money on super-duper chips now they should instead bend over backwords for developers and see what they really want (more memory, cheaper tools, acheivable performance, no bottlenecks, higher efficiencey, etc.), they should also tailor make the system for companies like Sega/Sammy, SNK/Playmore, RARE, EA, Bungie so that they can get as much exclussive content as possible...work out deals...spend money on aquiring developers.
But no...all they think they need is XNA, a more profitable system architecture and a headstart. Cut features here, lose power edge there, kill off X-BOX asap. Assinine.
That is all that I am saying...I'm not saying it's going to completly fail...I'm not saying that these leaked specs suck...I just think their strategy, as a whole, is flawed. Many X-BOX fans will jump on board, rich kids who have to have every system and people itching for something next generation will all jump on board...but I think that just as many X-BOX fans will be turned off by the early launch, not to mention the potential fans who would've bought it if it had some of the same features as the X-BOX and BC who will now just wait to see what the competition has to offer and finally when the specs come in for Revolution & PS3 and Microsoft loses their whole power edge they had this generation then people will take a step back in their evaluation of their investment and see Xenon as less powerful, less featured & premature.
MS should wait, they should launch around the same time as the competition (be on par with their specs as well as not cut short this generation) and not go for this premature headstart strategy, they should try everything they can to match the competition feature-for-feature and instead of spending their money on super-duper chips now they should instead bend over backwords for developers and see what they really want (more memory, cheaper tools, acheivable performance, no bottlenecks, higher efficiencey, etc.), they should also tailor make the system for companies like Sega/Sammy, SNK/Playmore, RARE, EA, Bungie so that they can get as much exclussive content as possible...work out deals...spend money on aquiring developers.
But no...all they think they need is XNA, a more profitable system architecture and a headstart. Cut features here, lose power edge there, kill off X-BOX asap. Assinine.
puck1337 said:
Why buy the XB2 version of the game???? I think it's a bit more of a hindrance in terms of sales since XNA doesn't really give XB2 the advantages of exclusivity, not to mention that you can't design games to take advantage of your hardware and instead have dumbing it down to play on two platform.
Christberg
Member
MightyHedgehog said:
Although I wouldn't be even vaguely surprised to see a sort of "gaming laptop" from Nintendo in the near future, I'd expect them to make it out of the Gamecube, not the Revolution. Think PSOne but better and price/battery life competitive with PSP. Include a really nice 10" 480p TFT, maybe build in LAN/GB Player support and turn the DS into Nintendo's new "Gameboy Color" of sorts. Give it a sleek looking case and we could be talking about a real potential winner.
Granted, the associated odds of such a device are pretty low, I'd say maybe 10-1.
If I were to speculate about Revolution, I'd say it'll be about as powerful as other next generation systems (I too think the difference in power will be pretty negligible next time around) but it'll have builtin proprietary wireless for more than 4 player support. I also think they'll find a way to make connectivity less of a barrier for players, maybe with the controllers being essentially low spec PDAs with built on flash memory that cost roughly $50ish apiece, possibly with some sort of GB compatibility, and that the DS will connect to it wirelessly as well. I also think that it will make use of a DVI port for both it's announced monitor support and for it's HDTV output. We should also see backward compatibility. It should be a really nice machine.
Speculating about Xenon/Xbox 2, I'll say it'll have builtin wifi, possibly even an integrated hub with 802.11g support. I'm thinking it'll have mass storage of some sort, although maybe not a traditional hard drive. You'll be able to share media files with your PC using this connection wirelessly, with a much nicer version of the Xbox media center builtin from the start. It'll probably still have 4 controller ports and optional DVD playback as well. I don't think it'll be backward compatible with it's announced partners however.
With the PS3, I expect Sony will have a 2 tier setup, one unit being an essentially "games only" unit that's essentially like PS2 is features wise, DVD, 2 controller ports, backward compatible etc. and another PSX like BRD capable wifi hub with mass storage, USB 2.0, and a memory stick port, too. Both will sport PSP connectivity as well.
All 3 strategies seem pretty different to me resulting in pretty different hardware, and I won't venture to say which one I prefer...
And yeah, it's all speculation right now.
Your arguments guys are all good but everybody tend to forget a fucking big one: Userbase.
Microsoft will have an headstart for sure and some popularity but there's 70 000 000 people or more that will ask themselve this: "shit, maybe i should way a year more for my PS3?" Guess what, Sony will bomb the media with the PS3 and it's upcoming games to distract people from the Xenon launch and with their fat userbase, it's gonna have an effect.
Remember that after the NES, the confidence of the customer was with the Nintendo name and then came the SNES and Nintendo, even with an early competitor (Genesis) manage to win the 16bit generation and maintain it's supremacy. Many people stay with the name.
Sony is having 2 generations of supremacy behind them..... people are underestimating their userbase power.
If Microsoft is up next gen with again a good machine and services (such as the excellent Xbox live), it's gonna be stronger for sure and not leader. This would need Sony to give us an incredibly shitty console with no support for that to happen ----- ( read "it won't happen")
Microsoft will have an headstart for sure and some popularity but there's 70 000 000 people or more that will ask themselve this: "shit, maybe i should way a year more for my PS3?" Guess what, Sony will bomb the media with the PS3 and it's upcoming games to distract people from the Xenon launch and with their fat userbase, it's gonna have an effect.
Remember that after the NES, the confidence of the customer was with the Nintendo name and then came the SNES and Nintendo, even with an early competitor (Genesis) manage to win the 16bit generation and maintain it's supremacy. Many people stay with the name.
Sony is having 2 generations of supremacy behind them..... people are underestimating their userbase power.
If Microsoft is up next gen with again a good machine and services (such as the excellent Xbox live), it's gonna be stronger for sure and not leader. This would need Sony to give us an incredibly shitty console with no support for that to happen ----- ( read "it won't happen")
Wyzdom said:
But launching closer to or alongside the PS3 will force a this-or-that decision on consumers (except for the few who will buy both at full price no matter what), which I don't think MS would want. They have a better shot at launching earlier and mabye finding more people willing to buy both.
Redbeard said:
This i totally agree with you though. But Microsoft isn't in deep shit man (or are they?). If it's their reason for an early launch, they sound like someone who "hands by the troath suffocating". Reality is not like "ok we have to launch now or we die on a head-to-head" imo...
CrimsonSkies
Member
This board is funny. It's ok to act like the Xbox sequel specs are locked. But heaven forbid anyone theorize on the competition.
GA Board Talking Points:
1.) Xbox 2 is dead.
2.) Sony Cell powered PS3 is going to be more powerful than a $30,000 super computer.
3.) Nintendo Revolution will bitch slap the Xbox sequel.
4.) You'd have to be an Xbot to believe any of the 3 above aren't true.
5.) No matter when the Xbox sequel launches it has no chance against the PS3.
You guys crack me up. Thanks.
GA Board Talking Points:
1.) Xbox 2 is dead.
2.) Sony Cell powered PS3 is going to be more powerful than a $30,000 super computer.
3.) Nintendo Revolution will bitch slap the Xbox sequel.
4.) You'd have to be an Xbot to believe any of the 3 above aren't true.
5.) No matter when the Xbox sequel launches it has no chance against the PS3.
You guys crack me up. Thanks.
i think all three systems will be comparable in power actually, considering two are using similar CPUs and GPUs, and all three are using similar CPUs. the main difference next gen will be developer creativity.
i think hardware power is getting just about saturated anyway...there is only so many polygons you will be able to model, so many effects you can put onscreen and so forth. i think all 3 machines will be similar in those regards...you see, just because you can apply 150,000 polygons per humanoid body, does not man the next GTA game will have human models with 150,000 polygons running around. it will all depend on which developers are more creative, which have the money and time to spend making their games look that much more detailed than the competition, or which developers have the creative style to use less budget but yet make artsy and attractive games.
and i think in this regard sony will be the clear winner, they will no doubt get the most diverse talents working on their system, coming out with some of the best looking games. MS and Nintendo will again have a hard battle to fight, but coming off of this gen, i think both companies learned a lot, so their counter strategies will be interesting to watch, to say the least. and again, we never know what may be going behind the scenes.
but i dont think power will be as much of an issue overall.
i think hardware power is getting just about saturated anyway...there is only so many polygons you will be able to model, so many effects you can put onscreen and so forth. i think all 3 machines will be similar in those regards...you see, just because you can apply 150,000 polygons per humanoid body, does not man the next GTA game will have human models with 150,000 polygons running around. it will all depend on which developers are more creative, which have the money and time to spend making their games look that much more detailed than the competition, or which developers have the creative style to use less budget but yet make artsy and attractive games.
and i think in this regard sony will be the clear winner, they will no doubt get the most diverse talents working on their system, coming out with some of the best looking games. MS and Nintendo will again have a hard battle to fight, but coming off of this gen, i think both companies learned a lot, so their counter strategies will be interesting to watch, to say the least. and again, we never know what may be going behind the scenes.
but i dont think power will be as much of an issue overall.