Microsoft Recruiting Designers for Next Xbox

[Danceofmasks]

I havn't been too disapointed with the hardware of the 360... It had to be replaced twice but it broke within the THREE YEAR warranty so I had no problems replacing it. The lack of good backwards compatability was a nuisance though.

I'm guessing when they eventually release another Xbox it'll have Kinnect built into it. I can't imagine them going through all that work just to reinvent in. Oh! I wonder if they'll take their Shadowrun experiment to the next level and have Console-PC interplay the norm instead of the exception. (For anyone that didn't know, Shadowrun is an FPS that allows 360 users to play online with PC users.)

(And one of my favourite games EVAR!)

Shadowrun wasn't all that great, due to the biggest apparent "hurdle" for consoles: the controller.
They had to deliberately fuck up your aim on the PC version, as well as having an aimbot on the console version, in order to "balance" the game.

All I have to say is, fix the fucking controller, then there might be a future for that sort of thing.

Said it before, sayin' it again. Dual analog sticks are rubbish, but they don't have to be.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Sony is the only contender that really doesn't need to seriously look into releasing new hardware in the next two years or so. The Cell processor still has a ton of upside, as long as people are willing to learn, and push the intentionally difficult architecture. This console still hasn't reached it's potential, and with Blu-Ray technology, it can pack a ton of data onto it's discs, which helps future proof it a bit. Look what the PS3 has already done, and you can see that right now, it's in position where it can last for a while, unless one of it's major competitors does something so outlandishly awesome that Sony is forced to react defensively by dropping the PS3's price and immediately working on PS4, but that would require a very dire situation.

The Xbox 360 is almost tapped out in hardware terms, if not already, considering it's about 7 year old hardware. Lets face it, the Blu-Ray is kicking the old DVD9's ass twelve ways to Sunday, it's time for a new media format for Microsoft's consoles. Either take blu-ray, or really develop for the next step, but no matter how you slice it, DVD9 standard has got to go, it's past due. Maybe this time, though, they won't be in such a hurry to release a console earlier than the competition that they'll have time to really test out the new prototypes to prevent anything like RROD again. Also, going full on 1080i will be desired.

If Nintendo has taught us anything, it's that being unique and family friendly can sell a ton of consoles. It's not so bad to play by different rules than all the other kids. But if Nintendo has learned anything, it's that gamecube hardware won't keep people interested forever. They may or may not keep the motion controls, but they know deep down they've got to upgrade their graphical prowess, else their uniqueness will be a moot point. Lets be honest now. Isn't it sad that they'll be releasing a portable 3DS that has greater processing potential than their flagship console? I thought so. Miyamoto may swear to dance to a different drum, but not even he can't deny that there are people who want cleaner, smoother, and higher overall graphical quality. I personally want a Legend of Zelda in HD.

Because PC's are so plug and play, they'll always have cutting edge potential, so no worries there. I had to include it simply to round the 4 out.

 

[Calcium]

snip

Shadowrun wasn't all that great, due to the biggest apparent "hurdle" for consoles: the controller.
They had to deliberately fuck up your aim on the PC version, as well as having an aimbot on the console version, in order to "balance" the game.

All I have to say is, fix the fucking controller, then there might be a future for that sort of thing.

Said it before, sayin' it again. Dual analog sticks are rubbish, but they don't have to be.

I never had any problems with the controller. The only thing a keyboard would have improved was using more than 3 perks at once, but with practice you could quick-cast spells and techs from the radial menu without needing them equipped. I may have accidentily been throwing grenades instead of trees the other day, but I hadn't played it for the better part of a year; I'm allowed that little mistake. xD

I've never experienced an aimbot unless using the perk which gives you the aimbot, I actually believed the pc users had an aimbot by default to make up for their controls.

While the 360 has had success, Games For Windows Live hasn't. Part of the reason is seen as developers not porting console titles to the PC. If the next console was to make it easier for games to be ported and even interlink, I can imagine that being a direction they'd want to take. All just a bit of speculation though.

 

[goldenheart323]

I bet they automatically give the new 360 a 3yr warranty. Otherwise, a looooot of gamers are going to say "I'll wait to see how many people complain about it dying first."

Regarding BC, MS gimped the 360's BC because they wanted to save money. As I understand it, if they made it fully BC, they'd have to use some of ATI's hardware, & they wanted to avoid paying them any royalties. Using software emulation gave them a way to do some BC royalty free.

I probably got my 360 a whole 2yrs earlier because it had BC. I bought my 360 initially to play some of my xbox1 games with enhanced graphics, & figured there would eventually be enough 360 games I want to warrant the purchase. That meant I had my 360 earlier & was downloading trials of 360 games earlier. W/o BC, I wouldn't have bought my 360 until I'd known there were already enough new 360 games to warrant it, which meant I'd have to rely on low rez internet videos & game reviews to make my decisions instead of playing game demos in HD.

As long it has backwards compability, I'll be a happy man, so whats its gunna be called? Xbox 540, Xbox 720, Xbox 2? I called dibs on the first one lol.

540, I don't think enough people will understand what that number means.
720 is synonymous with HD, but MS might think people would think their brand new system does 720 instead of full 1080p. It does sound the most natural though.
Xbox 2 to compete with the PS4? To parents & grandparents everywhere, that just tells them the PS4 is twice as good as the xbox2. Besides, the xbox 360 would be xbox 2. Xbox 3 would be the next one, but MS still wouldn't want their 3 to compete with Sony's 4.

 

[epikAXE]

Well mabe 2 and a half years is a bit optomistic. I think microsoft will stand by thier 5 year lifespan estimate for the 360 and just not release the next console untill people are foaming at the mouth for it.

Either that or the console is such a behemoth that it will take 5 years to build :O (im waiting for built in kinect functionality, but maybe im being too optomistic now )