Analyst Predicts Difficult Years Ahead for Xbox 360

[Xersues]

Wasn't this sorta universally(aka on the internet) already known.

Motion Control is like to gamers what twilight is to Proper Vampire lover. (Oh no, the inevitable twighlight hate speech.

I lawled pretty hard at "Proper Vampire Lover". But you're absolutely correct. The traditional elitist establishment has standards as which they abide by and respect. Something that looks like a parody of what they respect will immediately be balked at and looked down upon.

Image a Unicorn Lovers group. Been around for 10 years, and boy do they love unicorns. Suddenly My Little Pony comes out with a unicorn that appeals to everyone but them because it doesn't meet their standards. Yeah they'll rage to no end.

I don't understand the hate people have for letting people game. Games come in many sizes, and appeal to many tastes. Those that play Bejweled, FarmVille, Tic-Tac-Toe, or whatever, are gamers. They play games as a hobby.

If you play "casual" games all the time. Doesn't that make you a hardcore player? Sure it does. I know lots of people that play "hardcore" games for many hours and freaking suck at them. But they play.

Kevin Butler's speech during E3 was perfect. Don't hate on grandma, or little kids trying to play games. Play with your hands, controller, wands, mouse, keyboard, we are all gamers.

Discrimination and elitism must be functions of normal animal (human) behavior, its so rampant its not even funny.

 

[GonzoGamer]

It?s hard to make predictions without a final price. At $150, they?re going to have a hard time moving the peripheral much less selling the whole system along with it.
If they?re already slipping, it?s probably because they came out a year before the others. That machine (despite some major problems that affected profitability of the games division) was riding high for quite a while and has a really big install base.

 

[Ubermetalhed]

I think the title of the thread should really be 'Captain obvious points out the obvious'...

 

[Tarakos]

God damn it. I want Kinect to succeed only because I don't want to have to buy another new console so soon. I mean, I couldn't care less about Kinect, but this is bad news. This crashes and burns, and then Microsoft takes that as the cue to launch a brand new system at a hefty price.

 

[Phatnpround]

Tbh, the kinect is trying something different and with Rare on their side I can see them making some pretty appealing games for the casual market. The ps3 doesn't have much of a share of the casual market at all and it isn't doing anything different to the Wii. Personally I think kinect will do better than Move but as a lot of people have said, i don't think either will do very well.

 

[bojac6]

They have already reported, most likely a year ago, that they have pushed the graphics as far as they can really go on the 360. Graphically 360 has maybe a year at most. (let's face it the 360's video card is what 5 years old?)

But who cares about graphics? Ok, so I know most people do, but is it really that big of a deal? Obviously not to casual gamers because of how much the Wii has sold. And it really shouldn't matter to hardcore gamers either. Give me a proper sequel to Deus Ex, with the gameplay still intact but the same level of graphics over anything with high graphics and simplistic gameplay. The best games are usually not graphically superior. Saint's Row 2 was miles behind GTA4 in graphics, but guess which one was more fun.

My point is the 360 can still do great and grow because of elements of game design. Every time I hear a criticism of a modern game for graphics, I cringe. The whole "Heavy Rain is not HD" thing was stupid. I truly hope that the 360 is at it's hardware limits now. Because that means designers for 360 games are forced to make the games better in other places. Forced to use interesting mechanics and decent writing. Simply looking good should be done with. The best creativity comes from limited resources, not unlimited. Frankly, I think if this console generation is kept around a lot longer, it will start a new, better age in gaming. Unlike every time we get a new generation, which just starts a new better age in graphics.

 

[tighem]

Why both move and kinect will fail: the gamers who are interested in motion controls ALREADY have a Wii. The gamers that aren't interested have the ps3/360. Unless MS has the equivalent of Halo for kinect it will never get off the ground. They also don't have a balance board which is a major selling point for Wii.

Except the problem with the Wii is it doesn't really work that well and still requires you to hold (usually) two controllers. I'm calling it now, Dance Central will be a Kinect's Halo, if it works as advertised.

 

[FungiGamer]

Wasn't this sorta universally(aka on the internet) already known.

Motion Control is like to gamers what twilight is to Proper Vampire lover. (Oh no, the inevitable twighlight hate speech.

Your post is full of win

 

[FungiGamer]

But who cares about graphics? Ok, so I know most people do, but is it really that big of a deal? Obviously not to casual gamers because of how much the Wii has sold. And it really shouldn't matter to hardcore gamers either. Give me a proper sequel to Deus Ex, with the gameplay still intact but the same level of graphics over anything with high graphics and simplistic gameplay. The best games are usually not graphically superior. Saint's Row 2 was miles behind GTA4 in graphics, but guess which one was more fun.

Thank god, another gamer who doesn't care about graphics!

 

[Sean Strife]

I've said it before, so here goes.

What makes the Wii sell is just that. The "the". People see it in commercials, and they don't see graphics or even games, the see people having fun. It's transended the status of a gaming console in the eye of the public and become it's own thing.

Notice how they rarely advertise anything other than Wii Sports? Because they don't want people to think about buying video games, theres a stigma with those. People buy a "fun machine". And the games they do advertise with commercials are Wii Fit and Mario Kart, a fitness thing that seems like it's adding functionality rather than being a game, and fucking Mario. Everybody loves Mario.

This guy, I meant in my post

(just thought I should be fair and quote him.

Really, have Nintendo EVER really been cool? really? Mario? Zelda? Starfox? Yet they're a powerhouse corporation in the world of gaming. To me that says 'cool is irrelevant, dont market stuff as cool, market it as fun.'

Which is why the wiimote works as a Wii item, and why it's maybe going to struggle when it's as part of a pair of consoles that rate HD and anti aliasing over character,fun, and storytelling. (not saying PS3 and 360 can't do the above, saying it's more what the Wii is known for is all, before the flames start)

I probably should deal with the 360 thing too, are Sony not doing pretty much the same as MS here? Throwing millions into remarketing the eyetoy as the saviour of gaming? Seems a little anti MS, unless they're genuinely betting 51% of the company on Kinect being a success, in which case I think Bill's kinda lost it. Personally I don't see Kinect or Move being a success but I do see the PS3 and 360 continuing to be a strong platform for gaming for a good few years yet.

The difference between the two is that at least Sony's making an attempt to market motion controls to the hardcore gaming market. Microsoft's trying to cash in on Nintendo's market and honestly, the analyst could very well be right.

 

[Sronpop]

I don't see anything difficult about the years to come for 360 tbh. Sure Kinect sales will be lower than MS anticipates, but it will still sell, and so will the 360's themselves, and so will the software. As long as this generation continues to perform very well, the 360 will do just fine. They will keep selling consoles and they will keep selling games. That to me does not spell a difficult couple of years. Hell I don't even see the overall sales of ps3's matching the 360's install base until about 2014, at which point we will be on the verge of a new generation anyway.

Kinect can fail miserably, it wont really make much of a difference, the 360 is still a hot piece of kit, and still has a LOT of gas left in the tank, everyone knows it. They have a hell of a lot more potential to do better than they have to do bad and fuck everything up. Difficult years? Nope, try solid years.