Daft Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 I'm only slightly surprised it won't be (the explanation is completely reasonable, to be fair) but I also think BC is a pointless waste of resources.
Captain Falcon Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 So every gaming site going for the last 6 months have been telling us it will be an AMD x86-64 chip with no backward compatibilty due to architectural differences and it's only rumours but Bloomberg rope in an annonymous source, could even be the same guy supplying everyone else, and it's now totally newsworthy/revelatory? I don't get it At least we aren't talking about Creative Directors giving a big "f*** you" to their customers anymore though.
Dcubed Posted April 10, 2013 Posted April 10, 2013 Nice to see the gaming media (and Capcom/Ubisoft) leaping to MS' defence... http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-09-xbox-always-on-maybe-its-not-so-terrible Chris Morris explains that having a big company like Microsoft step up could make always-online more palatable for next-gen Will the next Xbox continue the reign of success Microsoft has seen this generation or will it stumble Sony-style, losing momentum at a critical junction for console systems? The answer could lie in a single feature. Kotaku recently reignited the rumor about the next Xbox requiring a constant connection to the Internet - and Microsoft Studios' creative director did nothing to put out that growing brushfire with his Twitter fiasco last week. Will the next generation Xbox require an 'always-on' connection? There's nothing to base that on right now except for rumors and the echo chamber of the Internet. But, for the sake of argument alone, let's say that is an upcoming feature. Is it as bad as it seems? Certainly, the recent history of mandatory Internet connections hasn't been a good one. Anyone who purchased Diablo III, SimCity, Defiance or, for that matter, any recent World of Warcraft expansion has lived the same story: Eager to play, they inserted their game disc - only to be unable to log onto the servers. It's a nightmare scenario for pretty much everyone involved - player, developer and PR/community person who has to do clean up work afterward. What's staggering about this all-too-familiar scenario is its regularity. The video game industry has had the chance to prepare for these sorts of launches time and time again, yet constantly drops the ball. "As an industry, we needed [simCity] to get it right," says Christian Svensson, Senior Vice President at Capcom Entertainment. "We needed Blizzard to get it right. And there are reasons that needed to happen for the sanctity of our revenue streams. ... Network based service models are crucial to our business moving forward. If we cannot provide the level of service appropriate and we continuously disappoint, we create continued ill will from customers. Even when there's a huge value to consumers ... every single time, it's going , it's going to be viewed with skepticism and waiting for people to get burnt." While that logjam created by a big launch is one of the most-cited problems with the always-on model, it's not an insurmountable one. "It's a money question," says Chris Early, VP of digital publishing at Ubisoft. "If you backed it up with Amazon servers, you could launch any game that we make today - completely digitally. There's enough server space and bandwidth to do that." Of course, those servers cost money - and publishers aren't in a financial position to overestimate and miss, especially with investors watching them so closely these days. (Investors, it's worth noting, didn't seem to care about SimCity's problems. EA stock didn't suffer during the launch woes.) Microsoft is in a slightly different position. It has the ability to make that gamble - and having launched a few big games of its own without incident, it has some expectations of what to look out for. Halo 4 and any recent Call of Duty debuted without any major hiccups in the multiplayer component - and expanding capacity to handle the single player element wouldn't be too challenging for the company. Consider also that, even if the new Xbox does require a constant Internet connection, Microsoft will have plenty of time to study trends before it reaches a significant roadblock. The system will be supply constrained at launch, meaning roadblocks won't be a problem. Additionally, there's unlikely to be a game that has the same level of anticipation as a SimCity or Diablo, since it's economically infeasible for publishers. (That's why the holiday after a system's launch is typically much more exciting for players - the installed base has reached a point that publishers can fully devote resources to it.) That gives Microsoft a chance to learn, like Valve did with Steam, and be ready. "We face [as an industry], I think, the same problems as when people started to think about 'I have a home phone and I have this new cellular phone.' And who sat at home and used their cellular phone? Nobody did - because it was unreliable," says Early. "When you were home you picked up the phone. ... Now, some amount of time later, when the appropriate amount of investment has been made in the infrastructure, a lot of people don't have hard lines any more." The more troubling problem - and the one that seemingly doesn't have an answer right now - is what happens when someone's Internet goes out for more than a few minutes? Or, conversely, what about the people who live in rural areas, where Internet speeds are well below the national average? While that audience makes up a minority of the potential buyers, their defenders are vocal - and could prove sufficiently loud to affect sales, though likely not on the scale they'd like to imagine. Why's that? Well, despite the tempest in a teapot that was the SimCity or Diablo III launches, look at the sales numbers of both games. EA topped its expectations and Blizzard moved more than 12 million copies. Even with all the outrage that accompanied both of those games, they were massive successes. And any potential cries of forum dwellers are unlikely to match the level of volume Microsoft's marketing machine will make during the ramp up to the new system. Of course, even if Microsoft launches with this feature, it can always switch course fairly easily. Should it sniff a consumer pushback that's growing beyond its ability to contain and control, it can easily fall back to the position Sony has established - pushing the choice (and, thus, the blame) back onto the publishers, while quietly offering them all the support they need. To some, that might seem a victory, but when it comes to big titles, they're likely to see that always-on connection just the same. That's not a roundabout way of saying "deal with it". (We've all seen the effects of that ludicrously condescending hashtag.) However, always-on DRM is unlikely to go away anytime soon. It's invasive and annoying for some consumers, but many, many more don't really care too much about it. Additionally, it helps publishers protect their IP - and regulate things like cheating much more easily. It's a problem that's slowly getting better, as publishers try to work it out themselves. Maybe - just maybe - having a central player like Microsoft stepping in could speed up that learning process and make it palatable. Fucking gross
Cube Posted April 10, 2013 Author Posted April 10, 2013 Diablo III, SimCity, Defiance or, for that matter, any recent World of Warcraft Aren't Diablo, Defiance and World of Warcraft expansions multiplayer-only games? And isn't EA trying to pass off SimCity as a multiplayer-only game? This just makes things sound worse - like singleplayer is no longer important in any way.
Cube Posted April 10, 2013 Author Posted April 10, 2013 Diablo can be played on your own Ah, didn't know that. Is it an actual singleplayer or would it be like playing a co-op game with nobody else there?
Happenstance Posted April 10, 2013 Posted April 10, 2013 Mostly a co-op game with nobody else there I guess. Its drop in multiplayer for 4 people. Similar to SimCity I guess where it should be able to be played on your own offline but designed to be played with others except Diablo III had actual stuff stored server side whereas we know from people hacking that SimCity didn't despite their claims.
Ashley Posted April 10, 2013 Posted April 10, 2013 I don't want to be that guy but how reliable is that site? Their grammar suggests not very.
Shorty Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 (edited) That mini 360 thing seems a bit unbelievable but I actually kinda like the idea. Backwards compatibility isn't a big deal for me, so it essentially becomes an optional extra which has a positive effect on the base cost of the 720. Edited April 11, 2013 by Shorty
Agent Gibbs Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 so like the HDDVD drive attachment only to play 360 games..... i kind of like the idea of a mini xbox, conjours up ideas of Dr Evil and Mini Me
Cube Posted April 11, 2013 Author Posted April 11, 2013 -Some gibberish about MS destroying Apple and Google for TV. Are those things popular in America or something? I don't think anyone uses them over here.
Shorty Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 Not surprising, what did he think would happen? There's no way you can go to such a public forum and speak out for your company in that tone.
Cube Posted April 11, 2013 Author Posted April 11, 2013 Not surprising, what did he think would happen? There's no way you can go to such a public forum and speak out for your company in that tone. He's apparently done this a couple of times before at other companies. And got sacked for it. He doesn't really seem to care.
Hero-of-Time Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 More rumours. Microsoft is working on a number of launch titles for its new Xbox console. One of the first games to launch on the next Xbox will be Ryse, according to multiple sources familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans. Microsoft originally unveiled Ryse at E3 2011, promising an exclusive Xbox 360 release with Kinect functionality. A release has never materialized for Xbox 360 and the company has remained fairly silent about the title's progress, noting that it was still in development in mid-2012 and again earlier this year. The Verge understands that Crytek, along with Microsoft Studios, has been rewriting the game to take advantage of its next-generation console, due later this year. We're told Ryse is designed to be Microsoft's new Gears of War / Halo mega launch title. It's set in the roman empire period and uses deep Kinect integration to allow players to slash and kick at enemies. We understand that Ryse will take advantage of the new body tracking improvements in the next Kinect sensor. Ryse is part of four major launch titles for the next-generation Xbox. Sources tell us that a new Forza title with "super life-like" graphics will also be made available at launch, alongside a zombie game and a family game set on an island with Pixar movie-style graphics. We're told that the family game will utilize Kinect to scan a body and generate a virtual character in the game. We understand that these four titles are a small selection of the launch titles for the next-generation Xbox. Third-party support is said to be strong in the first-person-shooter genre. Microsoft is also working on some improvements to Xbox Live, including a switch to currency over the Microsoft Points system. Microsoft is expected to hold a special Xbox event in May, ahead of a full unveiling at E3 in June. Not one of these rumoured titles has me excited for the console. If the family game is some shoddy title they have had Rare working on then I won't be a happy chappy.
Agent Gibbs Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 Ryse sounds terrible, wave your arms to slash people, woop de fooking do! thats what star wars did with kinect and look how that did...
Retro_Link Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 A Kinect game set during Roman times as the next Gears/Halo?... please! :p
Grazza Posted April 11, 2013 Posted April 11, 2013 I actually like the idea of a game set in Roman times, especially if it was based on Up Pompeii. You'd play as Lurcio and get caught up in all his tasks.
LegoMan1031 Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Although it is far 2 early for me to be making decisions but even as a mainly 360 gamer, hearing the rumours so far makes me think that the PS4 is looking a lot more appealing! Only time will tell.
flameboy Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 Lots of podcasts now discussing the possibility that the always on could be via cable box tech and the console replacing it. I'm not sure where that sits with me sits with me in the shift of focus.
Jimbob Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 Kinect-only launch title, no thanks. Kinect is a gimmick and one that i don't really want to be apart of to be honest. These rumours are fueling a reason for me to get a PS4 even more at present.
Daft Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 I predict the PS4 and 720 will launch at exactly the same price.
Agent Gibbs Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 I Predict the 720 will launch with a packaged ball in a cup game for when the console gets its version of RROD, you know something to do while you can't use it :p
Captain Falcon Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 What's interesting lately is how you have analysts saying the 720 will be the most mainstream friendly priced console in generations. Assuming they go for the subscription model which really does seem to fit inline with all the rumours regarding MS's direction for their machine. No doubt there will still be the option to buy it out right. I think that $500 price point is too high for what's being offered here. By PC standard it's lower middling spec and the if the man on the street can buy hardware of similar performance at retail for the same cost, you have to bet that MS can put it in a box and generate a profit. Kinect is $99 with a game thown in. I suspect that's a pretty tasty makup in terms of build costs and the none motor variety that is Kinect 2.0 should be easier and cheaper to build. The processor is going to be similar to the one used in every entry level notebook/laptop and tablet from AMD for the next 2 years so they will be knocking them out in huge quantities at low prices and DDR3 is super cheap now everyone is using it - whereas GDDR3 in the 360 will rise in price as supply and demand drop off thanks to smaller batches being produced. And the GPU even customized won't be that expensive either. I can see $400 all in on this one (box and Kinect) and MS are possibly taking a small hit depending on negotiations - $450 at an absolute push if they wanted to be profitable from day one guaranteed. I think Sony will go $400 at a slight loss but hardware will be profitable within 12 months. They could bundle in their own camera for $450 and that would be more beneficial for them as their cameras aren't expensive to make really.
Cube Posted April 16, 2013 Author Posted April 16, 2013 I Predict the 720 will launch with a packaged ball in a cup game for when the console gets its version of RROD, you know something to do while you can't use it :p Or when Xbox Live or your internet is down.
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