It has been a while since I've read rumors about it (including some strong evidence that seemed to point to HDMI part being true). It seems like kind of minor issue (like the PStwo's built-in network adapter or something like that), so I haven't been paying that much attention. Sounds like a good idea to integrate it into the new 360s (especially with HD DVD coming soon), although it probably won't matter too much (if at all) until 2010 or so. One of those nice but not absolutely necessary things (unless you can tell the difference between HDM and the alternatives) Unless you were talking about a new 360 system that has HDMI and more, and not just a new SKU that just has HDMI. This is the rumor I saw on that: That's probably just one of those BS rumors. It would be nice to have it sometime, but I wouldn't expect it during the holidays and not for $500 ($100 less than the PS3). They'd probably cut the price of their other SKUs as well (and maybe some accessories). If you saw the thread I made on the 360 a couple days ago, you might have seen that they have already lost $1.26B on the 360, and this probably won't help in that regard. It might gain them marketshare, but the 360 would probably end up another console that cost MS billions. Besides, assuming the HDD is 2.5" like the regular one, there are no 250 GB HDD available. And a 160 GB HDD costs like $200 by itself (although MS would probably get a slight discount, but you get the idea).
If the rumor holds true about MS knocking $100 off the price of the 360 when PS3 comes out, I'll buy that one then. I'm almost positive I'll buy the Wii for the old school games. I doubt I'll buy the PS3, but I might try to buy someones old PS2 for cheap so that I can play Tourist Trophy.
i think it has a lot to do with being the last console with a mascot. nintendo had mario, sega had sonic, and when psone came out they tried putting crash bandicoot up there. their game characters from day one have always had a personality and the character dev throughout the years has been great. and a lot of them are underdogs... mario- pudgy plumber what gets the hot chick in the end. samus (metroid)- woman that saves the planet from aliens and schit. ness (earthbound)- little kid that saves the planet from aliens. i can't remember if there has ever been a schity mario, zelda, or metroid game. has there? the wii is going to show that people want to play games that still "look like games" and not plastic characters with facial expressions that are supposed to look real, but instead they inadvertently creep you out and scare the phock out of you. wii will overcome.
I think you could probably call Master Chief the Xbox mascot, although he's a little different than the other mascots. As for Sony, they haven't really ever needed a mascot; there thing has always been about being the system with a variety of games you might want, not just one or two (or whatever). Plus, Naughty Dog (creators of Crash and Jak & Daxter) seem to like to change things up every once in a while, which isn’t a bad idea in some instances. I doubt the whole mascot thing matters anymore (if it ever did). AFAIK, they've all been high-quality games, even some of the lower-budget titles. Maybe some disappointments (Mario Sunshine, Windwaker, etc.), but that's just because the fans expect so much from Nintendo. I'm not even sure if Nintendo has made a bad game in a while, let alone a bad game with one of those characters. That reminds me...I don't think I've seen a next-gen game that is cel-shaded yet. Not that many games use it anyway, but it would be interesting to see how one might look on the PS3 or 360.
Then you'd probably be interested in this! Except that its not the 360 or PS3... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jImH7-iU8EU Heroes on the Wii, from the makers of Killer 7... granted I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure if this is actual gameplay footage or not... The high quality version is reaaaaaaally impressive, but I couldn't find it quickly enough...
Yeah, I know about that one (posted about it in the Random Video thread a couple days ago). I'm just wondering what sort of advances there might be in cel-shading tech with the increases in power that the PS3 and 360 provide. It depends on the power of the Wii (hehe), but I'd rather see some cel-shaded stuff on a more powerful system (not that the game would be better, just curious on how it might look).
A Scanner Darkly? Interestingly, the next Zelda was based off a modified engine of the Wind Waker....
If you time it right, you can already buy a $300 premium XBOX 360. Outpost.com has been having some on sale on and off that totals to about $315. They've offered it up twice IIRC, but they've sold through pretty quickly.
Just like any other company....Xbox wouldn't be successful in NA if it wasn't from MS. I bet you if it came from Infineon Labs, no one would even touch it. I think the average consumer is smarter than you think. If they purchased solid products based on brand loyalty, Ford Taurus would still be America's number one selling vehicle. Nintendo would still be the number one gaming console from the snes days to the present.
I think XBOX was successful despite being from Microsoft. There is a lot of MS hate out there. And it was successful...but hardly a big winner. RC posted something on losses here on the board...take a look at what it is costing MS to get a foothold in the door. Only constant pressure - and stupid decisions by the market leader - can make real progress in the market. That's exactly what killed Nintendo. Sony created a brand identity, Nintendo made stupid mistakes and bam - market shift. A company is, essentially, creating that brand loyalty. That's what it is all about. And when you are the leader, it takes those factors to lose that identity. Understand that I'm not talking about fanboys per se here; the 'average consumer' couldn't care less. But they do follow the leaders or the image. As to your other point; of course there are smart consumers out there....but I think you are overestimating that number. Especially in the video games market. To a lot of folks, that brand loyalty is research. They believe they can trust what has worked in the past. Having dealt with a number of those consumers for the better part of a decade...I'd say brand loyalty makes a huge impact.
Minor point, but I think MS made some bad decisions that ended up costing them more money than necessary. I'm not sure if it would have ended up getting them in the black (probably not, unless they also delayed the 360 a year or 2 and kept supporting the Xbox), but some of their hardware decisions made it difficult to reduce costs in the later years. That doesn't really affect your point though. It did cost MS a lot to get a foothold into the industry, and along with some mistakes, they also did great in other areas (success of Halo, support from developers like EA and Ubisoft, XBL, etc.). I agree with you that it takes a combination of success and luck (luck being that the market leader makes at least a few bad moves, probably major ones) in order to become #1 (or get close to it).
If this poll is any indication, there's a strong possibility of that happening. IIRC, Nintendo's plans for shipping mirror that of the PS3 (roughly 2M at launch, 4M at the end of the year, and 6M by March 2007). Those numbers are better than what MS did with the 360 I believe, but the demand for the Wii seems to be far greater (from what I can tell anyway). Plus, unlike the 360, people in Japan will actually want a Wii, so Nintendo will have to work on supply issues in all 3 major regions as opposed to 1 or 2.
im suprised at the lack of pr/hype thats not being generated as the release dates for these 2 consoles near... i mean i remember when the 360 came out last year, people were in a frenzy over the pre-order thing, ect... it's basically august and nothing. maybe things will pick up....just seems a little weird to me.
I sometimes have a bad memory, but they seem about the same to me so far. There was the pre-ordering craze last year, but I think the difference now is that retailers don't want to have the same problems as they did last year with the 360 (promising systems to customers that they did not have). There may have been a little bit more buzz since the 360 was the first of the next-gen consoles or something like that (Madden and NBA Live target renders). Besides the pre-ordering stuff, what else were you referring to? Maybe you can refresh my memory. Maybe once Nintendo finalizes their launch plans (price, launch date, etc.) and Sony shows off all that is left for the PS3 (PS3 online service), some more buzz might start to generate. Plus, any games that will be launching for either system might be shown pretty soon (TGS might be the best place for that).
This probably isn't the best source, but Ready To Rumble 3 might be exclusive to the Wii: http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/ready-to-rumble-3-wii-actu-36929.html (all in French though) Close enough.
For those of us that are thinking that we're going to be playing a ps3 soon...better make some alternate plans... Expect huge shortages of the ps3. Tom Reeves, VP of Semiconductor & Technology services at IBM openly admitted, that "only 1 of ever 5 cell cpu rolling out of the factory are fully functional with regards to all 8 processing elements...." Also blu-ray is having a delay in the ps3 because of "diode" problems... uh...talk about irony.
Do you have links to that stuff? Not that I don't believe the info (doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all), but I'd like to read more about it and see the context (especially if they were talking about Cell processors with 8-SPEs rather than a PPE and 7-SPEs). Regardless, cell probably won't be the thing limiting supply though. I think IBM even said that Sony probably has quite a stockpile of them in some warehouse. As I said before, the parts to make the Blu-ray drive will probably be the limiting factor, and it does sound as though that is the case. I'd be surprised if Sony hit their shipment forecasts (with or without this news). Of course, even if they did, there would probably be bad shortages. Edit: I think there were reports of Sony stockpiling on BR diodes too though (they're one of the few companies that makes them IIRC). FWIW, it is being strongly rumored (practically fact) that MS will start putting out some bundles soon (as early as next week). One bundle had a 360 Premium, 3 months of XBL membership, 1200 Marketplace points, and PGR3 for $399; I saw another bundle with Saints Row included, although I'm not sure if anything else was included. You might want to check this stuff out too.
