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[jimbo]

Before someone else is eventually going to bring this up I am going to do it myself and mention that the PS3 is going to launch next year and it's going to do VERY BAD things to the Xbox 360.

Ok now that we got that out of the way, how do you guys see the 360's position, launching this fall compared to that of the original Xbox. List the plus and minuses, how it's going to affect it, and even sales predictions. Yes, if you want to play I am an oracle, knock yourself out.

Here's some of the things I could come up with:


Xbox
Pluses:
-most powerfull system on the market,
-made by Microsoft.
-Halo ended up being a killer app
-decent selection of games at launch
-4 controller ports
-hard drive(allowing for custom sound tracks, saves, etc) no memory card required
-strong hype, marketing

Minuses:
-people hated Microsoft
-no brand name
-no killer app until launch(Halo still sucked until about two weeks before it came out and people started getting their hands on it and reviews started coming out)
-two much crap in the launch line-up. If anyone didn't know about Halo, DOA3 or PGR and picked up the wrong game, they were about to be dissapointed
-no DVD out of the box(progressive DVD cut)
-no Xbox Live until a year later
-launched head to head with Nintendo's GC (edited)- 1 year late after PS2 already established itself
-launched against Grand Theft Auto
-big, bulky, ugly design
-terrible original controller(literally too big for some people's hands)
-bad japanese support
-no Square, no Enix
-came off bad E3
-specs toned down before launch

Xbox 360
Pluses:
-established brand, successor to the #2 console in the market, Halobox 2
-made by Microsoft
-good selection of titles covering almost all genres
-launching with a next-gen Madden
-Xbox Live out of the box(ton of new features)
-very positive impressions from journalists for PDO, could be killer app if it launches
-better developer support, especially from Japan-no major players missing
-SquareEnix support
-DVD out of the box
-awesome controller, better design(IMO), wireless out of the box
-first one out, jumping the competition
-hard drive
-limited backwards compatibility
-strong hype....marketing remains to be seen


Minuses:
-people still hate Microsoft
-launch title selection currently lacking killer app title
-bad initial impressions from gamers on PDO and it doesn't look like it will make launch
-no support out of the box for 4 wired controllers.
-currently perceived as less powerfull than PS3
-possibly ony 6 months of market time to itself before PS3 launches(the PS2 had a full year)
-PS3 perceived as the new graphics powerhouse and has HD DVD and WI-FI out of the box
-limited backwards compatibility(perceived as gimmicky)
-coming off bad E3

 

[JJConrad]

A few mistakes:

Xbox

Minuses:
--launched head to head with Nintendo's GC and Mario Sunshine - Mario Sunshine was release in August of 2002, 10 months after launch.


Xbox 360
Pluses:
-established brand, successor to the #2 console in the market, Halobox 2 -Its the weakest #2 ever.

-good selection of titles covering almost all genres - how is the selection good, but the Xbox's was just decent? They're largely the same, but with no killer app.

-launching with a next-gen Madden - Its mid-season release and the Xbox also launched with a next-gen Madden.

-better developer support, especially from Japan-no major players missing - still to be seen, the Xbox had promising Japanese support too, but little came of it.

-SquareEnix support - still to be seen, a port of two - three year old game won't go very far.


Other than that... Carry on.

 

[StoOgE]

yeah, Xbox launhed with next gen sports titles, but it wasnt the only game in town for next gen sports titles like it will be this year.

Also, I dont think MS is coming off a bad E3 this year. E3 itself went really well for MS. THey are coming off a bad press conference and a terrible MTV thingy.

 

[jimbo]

"how is the selection good, but the Xbox's was just decent? They're largely the same, but with no killer app."

Because this time there's no Fuzion Frenzy game being hyped by Microsoft? Also the like I said, the Xbox didn't have a killer app on its hands at this time either. So slow down a bit. We've yet to see this one.

"-launching with a next-gen Madden - Its mid-season release and the Xbox also launched with a next-gen Madden."

Yes but this is the FIRST next-gen Madden to come out. PS2 already had it. And Dreamcast had a next-gen NFL game WAY before. For Xbox it was been there done that. Not this time around. Do I really have to spell out everything? Sheesh.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

how is the selection good, but the Xbox's was just decent? They're largely the same, but with no killer app.

So you're saying Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, and NFSU Most Wanted are just decent titles ahah. There's a night and day difference in the quality of the Xbox 360 launch software to the Xbox. Sure you can get a lot of stuff on your PC. But outside of the hardcore, how many people play both? And of course I'm ignoring the real gems like PGR3 and Madden for example. Not that Madden isn't on everything and anything. This is the first next gen madden.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Halo wasn't exactly a poor title up until 2 weeks from launch. It was a highly anticipated game on PC and Mac long before Microsoft bought Bungie and made it an Xbox launch title.

Halo may have been a bit of an unknown up until than on the console side, but the hype had been there way before that. Bungie introduced Halo at a MacWorld Expo, and it instantly jumped onto a lot of "most anticipated" lists. Plus, Bungie was a pretty hot developer building on the Marathon franchise, and Myth series.

 

[sol5377]

The Xbox 360 launch lineup will be the best the gaming world has ever seen. There will be more 8.0+ or higher rated titles released at one time than ever before. Many of the games will also be mass market hits or games with big built-in fanbases.

 

[raYne]

The Xbox 360 launch lineup will be the best the gaming world has ever seen. There will be more 8.0+ or higher rated titles released at one time than ever before. Many of the games will also be mass market hits or games with big built-in fanbases.

Not to single you out, but it's more a question about this whole topic.

Has there even been confirmed release dates, much less launch title dates... or are people simply assuming what'll be released when?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Do we really need another one of these threads?

 

[Heezzi]

Sonic 360.



Also you are comparing all those Xbox 360 games to CGI videos that the PS3 won't even put out graphics wise.


Fool me once. Shame on you.

Fool me twice. Shame on me.

Fool me thrice. I IZ TEH STUPID.

 

[Sathsquatch]

The first few months of the Xbox 360 look very promising to me, much more so than the original Xbox. The 360 looks to have at least one promising game in each of the major genres that are popular on today's consoles.

Each of the following games has been described as a "launch window" game for the 360 (most developers seem to think of the "window" as by the end of 2005, or in some cases, early 2006).

Action Adventure- Kameo, Dead Rising, Saint's Row
RPG- Oblivion
Fighting- DOA4
Racing- Full Auto, PGR3, Need for Speed and possibly Burnout
Shooter- PD0, COD2, The Outfit, PGR3
Sports- EA's sports titles, Top Spin 2

The lineup has new IP's from established developers (like Relic, Capcom's Inafume, and Volition) and many follow ups to many established franchises. It looks way stronger than the initial Xbox lineup.

The Xbox may have had less market share than previous second place consoles, but it still has a very positive image. Xbox owners seem happy with the console and seem to be buying a lot of software for it, and the Halo fanbase is particularly rabid as seen by the high first-day sales of Halo 2. Whereas Nintendo definitely lost customers because of the N64, the Xbox is likely to keep most of its customers while possibly gaining more due to the popular buzz surrounding the brand. While I doubt that the N64 was ever selling competetively against the PS1 late in its life, the Xbox actually improved against the PS2 over the course of the last year or so (in North America, at least).

I think the 360 going to do fine. It will probably outperform the original xbox, and may even do well against the PS3.

 

[jimbo]

"Do we really need another one of these threads?'

Hey it's the weekend, things are slow, so yes we do. Besides usually they are PS3 vs Xbox. GC vs Xbox, etc. This is Xbox vs Xbox 360. A little twist to things I say. Hopefully it will be more civilized.

"

Sonic 360.



Also you are comparing all those Xbox 360 games to CGI videos that the PS3 won't even put out graphics wise.


Fool me once. Shame on you.

Fool me twice. Shame on me.

Fool me thrice. I IZ TEH STUPID."

What?

 

[seismologist]

The biggest thing Xbox had going for it was the power. After Sony just got done hyping up how powerful PS2 was going to be, MS came out and said that the Xbox would be (10x?) more powerful. That made people take notice.

Even today people are still talking about how the Xbox version of certain games is superior.

 

[jimbo]

"The biggest thing Xbox had going for it was the power. After Sony just got done hyping up how powerful PS2 was going to be, MS came out and said that the Xbox would be (10x?) more powerful. That made people take notice."

From a hardware point of view yes, that's true. But without Halo, it would have not made it. It was ultimately a mix between power and a good stream of games. That's what really left the GC behind. Less games coming out for it. You HAVE to have those 7 and 8 good rental games always coming to keep people busy and focused on your system in between those big title releases. Gotta fill those EB displays up with games as fast as possible to make it look like you have a big selection of games. I think that was another important factor.

 

[Gahiggidy]

Minuses

- Nintendo Company, Ltd. plans to reveal thier Revolution "later this year".

 

[Ryudo]

The biggest thing Xbox had going for it was the power. After Sony just got done hyping up how powerful PS2 was going to be, MS came out and said that the Xbox would be (10x?) more powerful. That made people take notice.

Even today people are still talking about how the Xbox version of certain games is superior.

Heres to PS3 games being 3x better looking.

 

[Jared Goodwin]

Halo wasn't exactly a poor title up until 2 weeks from launch. It was a highly anticipated game on PC and Mac long before Microsoft bought Bungie and made it an Xbox launch title.

Halo may have been a bit of an unknown up until than on the console side, but the hype had been there way before that. Bungie introduced Halo at a MacWorld Expo, and it instantly jumped onto a lot of "most anticipated" lists. Plus, Bungie was a pretty hot developer building on the Marathon franchise, and Myth series.

Well, a lot of that goodwill was burned up when Microsoft bought Bungie and later when Halo became an Xbox exclusive. Moreover, Halo was looking pretty mediocre at E3 that year, so people's expectations were pretty low.