But wouldn’t these families also be looking for something that they can take to the cabin for the yearly family vacation to make sure the kids have something to do? Kinda funny that the console that seems to be best suited for party-type games also seems to be the one that will be hardest to actually take to a party.
And given the cost of games, people wanting a console for everyone are probably also the ones wanting to be able to buy cheaper used games.
In the age of the iPad and iPhone? Nope.
In fact I’ve never seen or heard of any of my console gaming friends moving their consoles anywhere. At least not since the 90’s/early 2000’s. It’s either couch co-op, online with everyone at their own house, or Pc gaming with laptops/lan boxes. Everything else is covered by tablets and phones.
I’m mildly nonplussed by this whole console thing right now, honestly. I think I lean towards the new Xbox, mostly out of habit, but I’m not a Kinect backer, although I suppose it could have a few interesting uses. I am considering the PlayStation for once, though. I certainly won’t make a decision for quite a time. The only game(s) I have any interest in seem to be coming out in 2014.
…Well, Destiny comes out this year, so that’s a lie. I’m interested in that.
The end of the Destiny trailer said 2014, bro.
X-bro or Xboner?
Ah, that’s also a 2014 game. Well, I suppose I can wait anyways.
Quote from Microsoft’s Don Mattrick re: people bitching about the required internet checkin:
[QUOTE=Tone deaf Microsoft executive]
We Have A Product For People Who Can’t Access The Internet, It’s Called Xbox 360
[/quote]
Wow…just wow.
It’s like their executive suite is a bunch of moles working for Sony. Or maybe they think that since Steve Jobs could get away with “it’s not a flawed design, you’re holding it wrong”, they can do it too?
I’m beginning to think that Microsoft is running some sort of accounting scam where they need the new console to fail dramatically.
The Xbox One can be turned off. Microsoft has done an absolutely terrible job of letting people know this (a single interview with Kotaku and a single line in a three-page Xbox One FAQ), but it is possible to turn it off.
Multiple developers have said that Nintendo gives you control of the price of your game at all times. And while the sales don’t approach Steam/Humble Bundle levels of insanity, there have been some good sales on the PSN and XBLA.
Hell, there’s one going on on PSN right now: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/06/11/playstation-store-update-295/
The Xbox could actually be a great machine to take to a party or on a vacation, because you DON’T need to bring games. They’re just there. The tradeoff is bringing one extra peripheral (the Kinect unit) and needing to have some sort of internet connection at the destination vs bringing individual game discs.
And, as somebody who HAS had his entire video game collection stolen before, the Xbox system does have the advantage that, in that event, I wouldn’t need to repurchase games.
Forbes has really gone to shit. The “quotation” doesn’t even appear in the video.
It doesn’t appear in the video they posted, but it is a real quote. And the interviewer really should have gone after him — his actual response (“Right.”) is kind of pathetic.
My 2 cents:
No disk means no broken discs, which means I don’t have to re-pay for a game that got broke or scratched. Big old plus and I’m already making money.
Used market dries up/becomes less palatable. Boo-hoo. I’m not a big used market customer anyway.
Does the TV thing as well as/better than XBox 360? Cool.
Can it tap into my home network’s movie library? Even better!
Best of all: if the game is downloaded from Microsoft, presumably it will be more difficult to hack cheats into online games like Modern Warfare, or at least more difficult to run a modified code without it getting detected. I’m ALL for eliminating cheaters. MW3 is almost playable now they’ve moved on to Blackops.
I think MS is banking on a) brand loyalty to a certain degree and b) taking over the next generation of casual gamers much like Nintendo with the Wii.
They’ll lose a bunch of gamers but gain a lot more casual gamers in their early-30’s-late 40’s who are looking for a console that the entire family can utilize. I’m only 26 but I’m sure if I was 36 and have a budding family, I’d take the machine that has Kinect-Yoga, body-recognition Star Wars Lego whatever, lets me play Halo, and serves as a netflix box/Blu-ray.
MS isn’t stupid. They’ve probably done the market analysis and decided to go in a different direction and it seems to alienate the hardcore gamers a bit. (NOTE, written with all due respect and not to say that hardcore gamers can’t also be good fathers/mothers or even Wii users).
It seems an awful lot like what Sony tried with the PS3 launch, and that was a relative failure (taking 7 years just to catch up).
Whatever else is true, it’ll cost $100 more. Sure, it’ll come with Kinect, but those self-same ‘casual’ gamers are also the ones looking a lot harder at the price tag and checking their wallets.
That, and Sony had the leading Netflix console of the last generation plus if they offer their camera for less than $100, it’s still the better value proposition unless Joe Casual Gamer is looking harder at the games lineup and exclusives than the casual stereotype warrants.
Well, brand loyalty and gamertag history investment.
Although I am pissed XBoxLive decided “MyNakedVillainy” was somehow inappropriate after two years and made me change it. Then I log in to MW2 and the first gametag I see is “IPlowDogs”.
Maybe they live in an area with an usually high buildup of dogs on the streets and operate a dog plow business?
Seems like Microsoft’s PR department needs some work.
In the last few posts, we’ve got an argument that the target audience are harder core gamers (with investment in their tags) and another arguing it’s the casual gamer market.
Everybody seems agreed on brand loyalty, though.
-nm
They gotta work on that. I mean, I’m never in offline mode, and in fact the only time I would want to be in offline mode is precisely when I can’t go into offline mode - my internet is down.