Microsoft's rush to next-gen could see the Xbox take a tumble

[Leon Retro]

No, it failed to challenge the PS2 because it was a non-Sony console.

Face it, PlayStation is an institution synonymous with gaming (to Joe Average, anyway).

.

Your right. The Playstation brand is now synonymous with gaming. Where once people in the media used the Nintendo brand to label gaming its now Playstation.

I was watching something last week and some guy said:

"That game made by Playstation, Street Fighter, its good "

Very sad but its the way its always been. I guess the Atari brand was once used by the media in such a way.

[IcePak]

Microsoft's plan sounds a lot like Sega's when they rush released the Saturn. Killing off the XBox will leave Sony and Nintendo to dominate the current "system war", and because of the expectedly high price of the console, and the fact it offers very little new advances, it won't sell very well.

[evilmatt]

I'm not sure this will necessarily be that bad a move, as Xbox has now got (admittedly to a lesser extent) some of the brand-awareness thing going that Sony have with PS. "Xbox 2" will be entirely recognisable as a follow-up to the relatively successful (in America) Xbox. The main thing that I think will hurt them by releasing so soon is that there won't be time to have Halo 3 ready for its launch - which should have been their most powerful marketing tool, being their most recognisable franchise.

[[email protected]]

Fanboys and they consoles! Please remember that what makes a console good is not its hardware, its the quality of the games produced for it and their accessability to the marketplace. Sony are the clear leaders here [although I'd argue that the DC had lots of great games and alot of them easy to get into]. The Xbox in the last year has turned its fortunes around. The number of quality titles on the XBox is simply staggering, my Xbox games now number almost the same number of PS-2 games but the Xbox is on alot more recently than any other console [opposite was true two years ago]. The issue with most Xbox games is that they are not that easy for the casual gamer to get into. Although PGR2 seems to have shown that its possible to have a title that is both deep for the "hardcore" gamer but also shallow enough that you can pick up and play with a few mates. The number of people in my office that have bought Xbox's just to play PGR2 on Xbox Live is crazy and whats more crazy is that Microsoft don't seem to be capitalising on this.

Neil.

[JibberX]

Its obviously incredibly subjective. But the games (marketing) make the console, considering the Xbox hardware is a bit of a joke, but then the same goes for the shoddy PS2...still bought by millions.

[Brats]

From a technical perspective, the XBox is a bit of a joke. Loads of off the shelf componenets rammed into a big box.

But from a gamers perspective, I think its fab. DD5.1 on all games, prog scan on virtually every game, long controller cables, decent pad (second time around), no need for memory cards, custom soundtracks, blahdy blahdy blah....

[Valken]

Know anywhere I can read up on the FM Towns Marty then MD? I thought it was a PC rather than a console but looking at the specs and case it sort of seems to be both.

My understanding is that the Marty is a more console-centric version of the FM Towns computers.

I don't know a whole lot about it other than they used early x86 CPUs. I've never played one.

There's some info on the Marty and other old systems at the following address: http://assembler.roarvgm.com/

[Resonance]

Microsoft should focus on the Xbox for now. If they redesigned it (made it smaller and sexier than the PS2) So many people would be all over it. I really do think is has a big image problem. I am part way between getting an xbox or a GC and I must say the fact that it is just so damn big and ugly does make me reconsider.

[Jakeway]

I thought I posted in here.... was i bowdlerized?

Anywayz I thought this was an intresting read GameFAQS Link

[Tig]

If Microsoft don't make Xbox 2 backwards-compatible, then an early launch seems a daft move. Those who upgrade to Xbox 2 won't be able to play their 'old' Live games against the majority who still own Xboxes

I can imagine people being reluctant to replace their console with one which renders their old online games obsolete; and the prospect of having two Boxes under the TV will seem unattractive to most. Splitting the userbase is not clever, especially when a large userbase is important to have any decent online gameage.

I don't know how these things work, so I might be talking bollocks, but that's how it looks to me.

[demon9k]

I think MS have been very clever. They have leaked this fake news through some source and want to gauge how the games industry reacts to the news. As everyone seems to be pissed off I think MS will now include it in Xbox 2. Well thats what I would be doing if I were making a new console anyway.

[Mr Spew]

It's going to be next to impossible though. Because:

1. People will want to transfer saves from the Xbox to Xbox 2, how would that work, supply ethernet cable with the Xbox 2 and software?

2. The graphics chip. It's totally different. Emulating the original Xbox would be nigh on impossible.

3. They want people buying Xbox 2 games, not the original ones.

[Mr Spew]

Oh, and how is it fake news? They announced specifically at a conference that they want to distance themselves from the original as much as possible.

[demon9k]

I am not saying it is fake, just that it could have been.

I don't see how it would be so impossible because you can have different graphics cards on PCs and they work perfectly well.

As for the game saves you could transfer them with the memory card or put them on Xbox Live save space or something like that. 10 minute holding space for transfering saves over. Easy.

I don't really care either way but all I am saying is that MS could have leaked news out on purpose to gauge the reaction. I don't think that seems to unlikely.

[Darwock]

demon9k's got a bit of a point, Microsoft (or somebody) is always making announcements about the Xbox that later turn out to be false... I've always suspected it was a bit of careful marketing/publicity.