BusinessWeek on Next Xbox and PlayStation 3 (DM will like)

I sure hope PS3 comes with a VGA-compatible video output, that way I could hook it up to my PC monitor and speaker system (optical output is a given). That'd be schweeeet... Hopefully realtime DTS hardware encoding too, schweeter still. :p

Hopefully the eye for eyetoy is standard with the console, but NOT mounted directly into the console itself or the controller(s).

As for launch titles for nextbox, unless developers are well along in developing original titles already, it will be the standard "excellent glitter and glitz, lacklustre gameplay" we're used to from other console launches (with a few notable exceptions here and there), along with a bunch of PC ports that might even play better on contemporary PCs, and sports games that have an already established engine and do not rely on a complex plot, nor uber visuals either and can be easily and quickly ported from the previous console generation if need be. And, the glitter and glitz in any launch title will be superceded by far when 'proper' first-gen games come out, not to mention 2nd-gen. :)

To be fair, I say the same will be true for PS3 and whatever Nintendo is working on. Ninty will have a Mario game that will sock everybody out of their socks with its polished design, appearance and playability and puts everyone and everything else in the launch lineup to shame, and all other games on Nintys next console will be relegated to stand in Mario's shadow for a long time to come. "Oh, it's good, but it's just not as good as Mario 4096..." :) That's the way it usually is, and nobody should expect anything else, especially from a company that openly admits it is rushing its product to the market.
 
Guden Oden said:
To be fair, I say the same will be true for PS3 and whatever Nintendo is working on. Ninty will have a Mario game that will sock everybody out of their socks with its polished design, appearance and playability and puts everyone and everything else in the launch lineup to shame, and all other games on Nintys next console will be relegated to stand in Mario's shadow for a long time to come. "Oh, it's good, but it's just not as good as Mario 4096..." :) That's the way it usually is, and nobody should expect anything else, especially from a company that openly admits it is rushing its product to the market.

:) Largely agree except for one historical note, Nintendo GC didn't have a launch Mario titles (except as a guest in Luigi Mansion).
 
I was going to post but I didn't in fear of pro-Sony mods here.

I got banned for posting a Japanese market analyst's take on Sony and "PSX", imagine what would have happened if I posted this one....

Criticizing Sony = unacceptable.
Worshiping Sony = Highly encouraged...

Yeah and this thread proves that little argument. :rolleyes:

There's been some very good criticisms here, and I think its smart on Microsofts behalf to try and grab marketshare as quick as possible before PS3 is released. I wonder what direction supporters of the Xbox (those that only want the most "powerful") will do when/if PS3 launches later and is more powerful than Xenon?
 
Phil said:
I agree London-Boy, though I refuse to think that Microsoft in comparable with how Sega went its way with Dreamcast in that year before PS2 launched (Btw, not suggesting you are, just thinking out loud). Microsoft, despite their losses with Xbox, have been able to build up a fanbase centered around their console and will surely get things rollin' even further until they launch Xenon.

Of course, the 15M Xbox userbase is much wider than the 15M Saturn userbase .....
 
Surely there are more than 15M xboxes sold?

...But you ARE right on the "wider" comment; put 15M saturns side-to-side and do the same with 15M xboxes; I'm sure MS's console will reach an extra 3 times around the earth compared to Saturn. ;)
 
If one supposes that a earlier launch for XboxNext means that some big franchises will automatically come to Xbox, this one is forgeting some "Market datas".
A game that's meant to be a blockbuster, say Final Fantasy, GTA, MGS, won't be on shelves before there's at least a few millions consoles already sold (with an exception for the Sports games).
So a 1 years advantage over Sony, won't help that much MS except on the brand establishment area,IHMO.

MS will have to rely on MGS (Microsoft Games Studio) to bring "potential" blockbusters. But when we look at the sales of the last MGS games (PGR2, Crimson Skies, voodoo vince, Gbtg...) MGS didn't have any real blockbusters, except....

The only card that MS has is the HALO card, if they can push a Halo 3 at the launch, they'll sell wagons of Xboxnext to the "fans" , and therefore have their place on the market consolidated, and so augmenting their chances to have a blockbuster (from a 3rd party) on their console.
 
Re: ...

Deadmeat4 said:
I was going to post but I didn't in fear of pro-Sony mods here.

I got banned for posting a Japanese market analyst's take on Sony and "PSX", imagine what would have happened if I posted this one....

Criticizing Sony = unacceptable.
Worshiping Sony = Highly encouraged...


Yeah, this place is like heaving with mods who do nothing else than ban people only on the grounds of "criticizing Sony".... :rolleyes: :LOL: Give them a little more credit, DM...
 
I don't like a shorter cycle. I don't want to buy another console next year again :? They should concentrate on better games, not on nicer graphics!!
 
Isn't launching Xbox2 in 2005 will basically put nail in the coffin for Xbox in 2005? That might alienate some of the late Xbox adopters...because 2005 launch only gives Xbox 4 year lifespan..or 3.5 if you think about pre-launch hype that Xbox2 will probably generate. Microsoft will have to be really careful..
 
Vysez said:
If one supposes that a earlier launch for XboxNext means that some big franchises will automatically come to Xbox, this one is forgeting some "Market datas".
A game that's meant to be a blockbuster, say Final Fantasy, GTA, MGS, won't be on shelves before there's at least a few millions consoles already sold (with an exception for the Sports games).
So a 1 years advantage over Sony, won't help that much MS except on the brand establishment area,IHMO.

MS will have to rely on MGS (Microsoft Games Studio) to bring "potential" blockbusters. But when we look at the sales of the last MGS games (PGR2, Crimson Skies, voodoo vince, Gbtg...) MGS didn't have any real blockbusters, except....

The only card that MS has is the HALO card, if they can push a Halo 3 at the launch, they'll sell wagons of Xboxnext to the "fans" , and therefore have their place on the market consolidated, and so augmenting their chances to have a blockbuster (from a 3rd party) on their console.


Many speculate that we will see Xbox2 at the holidays of 2005. EA is one company that usually releases the most titles around oct-dec to coincide with just the holidays. A big push for Xbox2 could be, if things continue to go as they are now (or hopefully better), EA-sports titles. This is mainly in the US-markets. If Xbox2 is the only hardware of the next gen hardware out there with a sweet looking, latest update of Madden, then that would boost some sales for the holidays. This, combined with a marketing blitz from MS that Xbox2 is here, will sway away a couple of "Sony loyalist" to Xbox2...
 
MS needs to also launch Xbox 2 in Japan just before, or during the Japanese PS3 launch. cannot allow Sony to go unchallenged in Japan.

now some will argue that going against PS3 Japanese launch would be suicide, but basicly, MS has nothing to lose in Japan, and everything to gain, unlike Sony.
 
It all depends how they handle the transition, but I think that Halo 2 will be enough to keep the angry fans at bay.

Personally I think it's a good move. Half-Life 2, Perfect Dark Zero, Banjo Kazooie, EA Sports, Splinter Cell 3, and something from FASA should be enough of a launch lineup for Xbox 2 in 2005.

Also, the point about the GTA V not being out until console has serious traction is probably true, which is why it will mostly likely debut on Xbox 2 in 2006, as the PS3 certainly won't have the userbase by then. Another advantage of an early launch.
 
Megadrive1988 said:
now some will argue that going against PS3 Japanese launch would be suicide, but basicly, MS has nothing to lose in Japan, and everything to gain, unlike Sony.

Except maybe money... ;)

with 350/500 Xbox consoles sold each week in japan (for 30 000/50 000 PS2), MS can only do better that's an easy bet.

Do better or retire from japan.
At least with MS name on the xbox.

Yes, Ender, a Madden could do well on Xboxnext, but it needs
1)To be heavily advertised on XboxNext.
2)Be extremely better looking than the PS2/Xbox versions.
3)PS3 Hype have not already hit the streets.

That's up to MS to "force" EA to push their games on XboxNext platform and not on the Playstation (has they did sucessfully this gen).
EA relations with MS are not as good as theirs relation with Sony.
 
XBOX2 will never be successful in Japan, even if it the graphics are 5x better than PS3.
 
Johnny Awesome said:
Also, the point about the GTA V not being out until console has serious traction is probably true, which is why it will mostly likely debut on Xbox 2 in 2006, as the PS3 certainly won't have the userbase by then. Another advantage of an early launch.

It depend on how good the sales of XboxNext are.
If by the end of 2006 the sales of PS3 outperform those of the XboxNext, the story will change.
And you're also forgetting about the exclusivity deal between Take2 and Sony (cut on royalties, recovery of unsold copies...), it has been reconducted (i don't know for how long).
 
Halo is as irrelevant as Sonic Adventure was on the DC. It does not mean it would not sell well (SA sold over 2M, not very far from Halo status). It is just that this game is not expected to sell beyond the previous xbox fanbase, and the general consensu among publishers will be to wait if MS can go beyond that core base before really investing into XBox2 dev.

Add that, when you launch too early, you only get enhanced ports of the previous gen games (something the 3DO or the DC suffered a lot).

GTA Next will debut on ps3, do not kid yourself. the xbox next will have to be over 10M to have more userbase than the ps3 in March 2007. Do not forget that the ps2 reached 10M worldwide in March 2k1, 6 months after its US launch.
 
3DO was launched in fall 1993, two years before PS1 launched in the U.S. and three years before Nintendo 64. I recall reading that the 3DO concept/specs were formulated around 1989-1990 by Dave Needle and RJ Mical after the Atari Lynx was released. Xbox 2 won't have the problems 3DO did, as Xbox 2 isnt launching nearly as early in the cycle as 3DO.

side note: man, I wish that Bulldog aka 3DO Mark II aka M2 had launched in 1996. so much nicer hardware than PS1 or N64...aghh.


If the former 3DO Systems (CagEnt) engineers at Microsoft contribute to Xbox 2, and if the ATI Orlando design team also helps (probably will), we can, in a sense, concider Xbox 2 to be part 3DO M4 or M5, part LM Model 5 or Model 6 and part Radeon 5-6 8)
 
LogisticX

I wonder what direction supporters of the Xbox (those that only want the most "powerful") will do when/if PS3 launches later and is more powerful than Xenon?

That's a very good point and is something I've been thinking about. I think for a large amount of XBox owners one of the biggest apeals of XBox is that its the most powerful console. What will those users do when they find that XBox 2 is the least powerful next generation? I mean initially it will be the best around. But a little while after that PS3 and N5 will both be released and both be more powerful. I think MS themselves are usually about being the biggest and most powerful. So they're going to have to change the way they market XBox 2 when compared to XBox 1.

Guden Oden

Surely there are more than 15M xboxes sold?

More like 12-13 million ATM actually.

Megadrive1988

MS needs to also launch Xbox 2 in Japan just before, or during the Japanese PS3 launch. cannot allow Sony to go unchallenged in Japan.

PS3 won't go unchallenged in Japan anyway since N5 will challenge it. In fact I'd say that N5 will be PS3's only real challenge in Japan.
 
Teasy said:
That's a very good point and is something I've been thinking about. I think for a large amount of XBox owners one of the biggest apeals of XBox is that its the most powerful console. What will those users do when they find that XBox 2 is the least powerful next generation? I mean initially it will be the best around. But a little while after that PS3 and N5 will both be released and both be more powerful. I think MS themselves are usually about being the biggest and most powerful. So they're going to have to change the way they market XBox 2 when compared to XBox 1.

Nothing is known about the PS3 specs.. People were burned last time by Sony's "missle launching" "toy story graphics" hype machine... Back then the Dreamcast was the only thing on the market.. Xbox has already started its own hype with XNA.. has great 3rd party support.. and with games like Riddick, Doom 3, and Halo 2 having some of the best graphics ever seen on a console.. Its gonna be fairly easy for to replicate that on the launch of Xbox 2.. especially with DirectX 10 and better use of "Normal mapping"...

It's gonna take a little more than CGIs from Sony to fool the public this time.. PLUS, they dont have that DVD gimmick to fall back on.. and Blu-ray would only be important for people with HDtvs.. the general public wouldn't care much for it.. Alot of people are just getting a DVD player .. :D
 
Back
Top