Gamespot: What Microsoft Must Do To Win Next Gen

Well, let me examine each of Gamespot ideas.

1. One-Stop Box: Microsoft has talked about this forever. One box to rule the world. They have yet to make it happen however. We need cable, games, social interface, shopping, browser, DVR, videos, blu_ray and a nice organizer that links to my phone. Can Microsoft pull it off next-gen? Only time will tell.

2. Set the Lowest Bar Hight: Well I definitely agree with this. The XBox 360 Arcade really hurt the Xbox 360 early because definitely had to program for it and it didn't have a hard drive. This made things really tough. Even the 4GB XBox 360 is still limited. I think next-gen XBox can still have 2 models, but one should be 320GB and the other 640GB. The only different is I would include a free year of XBL in the 640GB on. Pricing will probably be $350 - $450 to start.

3. Embrace Blu-Ray: That's a given at this point. If Microsoft wants to keep up with Sony, have a Blu-Ray player in the new XBox is a must.

4. Steam for Consoles: I don't think this is needed. With XBL, the XBox already has it's own version of STEAM. The only difference is the pricing. Microsoft needs to lower their prices on a lot of those older titles. I agree with the other stuff mentioned however. It would really help to increase their revenue. STEAM can stay on the PC though.

5. The New Gold Account: They need to lower the price for one. $60 a year is too much for service that just allows you to play online with friends and use Netflix and HuluPlus, which you already pay for anyways. Having to pay a GOLD Membership to run Netflix that's already being paid for is stupid. Especially since it's FREE to use on every other devices (HDTV, Blu-RAY players, 3DS, PSVita, PS3, Wii, IPod, IPad, PC, etc...). Microsoft needs to change it with the next console. They will need to add some new free apps if they want to keep the fee at $60. Otherwise, lower it $15.

6. A New Game Franchise: They've been needing a new franchise for awhile now. Fable is over. Forza is still good and will hit the next gen, but I would love to see an new Fighting and RPG franchise from Microsoft Studios. Also a new shooter besides Halo and Gears. Please pay SEGA to finish Shenmue 3 and get it on the next gen system. Best yet, buy SEGA and get all their titles. M$ also needs a lot more 1st party developers. They are relying to much on 3rd party and Kinect to carry their system. Not smart. They need to lead the charge of hardcore games, not follow behind.

6. Exclusive Bonus Content: Exclusive Bonus content is nice, but M$ really needs exclusive games. Getting content first is still a positive and M$ should still 7ry to go this on BIG NAME titles like Call of Duty. Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Borderlands 2, etc.. , but please acquire more exclusive games.

8. Mobility Matters: i don't think this matters as much as Gamespot is saying. Microsoft already said they weren't releasing a handheld console anytime soon. They are connected through their Windows Phone 7 and XBL. I could care less about game stats on my phone though.

9. HD Kinect Bundled In: I agree that a Kinect HD is needed, but pretty Kinect games need to be compatible with it as well. Yes, there should be a bundled option, but how much is this thing going to cost. The system along will probably be $400 by itself. With Kinect HD it could be $500 or more.

10. Kinect Integration for All Games: This would be nice, but will developers want to take the extra time to incorporate if their game wasn't being made as a Kinect game. Will Microsoft provide these developers with packages that allows them to incorporate Kinect voice and hand_free meny options? I don't know. Developers will tell us eventually.

• Get rid of Kinect and go hardcore.
• Make more decent 1st party games and cut the Kinect crap.
• Get rid of DVD drive and use Blu-ray.
• Get rid of that ridiculously huge power supply brick, and build it inside the console like the PS3.
• Build the Wi-Fi in the console.
• Use decent hardware like the PS3.
• Change the controller.
• Cut that battery bollocks off the controller and build rechargeable ones inside like DS3.
• Make Xbox Live free.
• Change the dashboard back to blades and make it HD.
• Stop the ridiculous timed-exclusives and DLC.

GamerwillzPS

Steam for consoles, not happening.LustForSoul

[QUOTE="wewantdoom4now"]

ps2 outsold ps1 because of the casuals buying it for a dvd player.

dotWithShoes

for me it would have to have the following before I even CONSIDER getting another M$ console

free XBL obvious why I want this. 360 was the only console to get away with payed online this gen I hope it isn't a repeat of this gen.

A LOT more first arty exclusive games and not just stupid bro gamer games like forza and HALO and Gears. I want games like Little big planet and mario kart and Brawl that are just straight up fun, no questions asked.

No hardware problems. Having a console selfdestruct is not fun.

Stop wasting dev talent from devlopers like rare and start pumping out good games again.

Not just relying on 3rd party games that are only slightly better.

Blu Ray player

the rest is common sense on M$'s part but those are must haves.

They need more reliable and powerful hardware, better exclusives, less focus on Kinect, and free online gaming.

Basically they need to make a PS3.

ShadowMoses900

It's about what Microsoft should do to WIN

Keyword being win.

Recreating the last place console which destroyed Sony's marketshare from the PS2 days is not what most would consider a winning strategy.

[QUOTE="dotWithShoes"][QUOTE="wewantdoom4now"]

ps2 outsold ps1 because of the casuals buying it for a dvd player.

wewantdoom4now

[QUOTE="wewantdoom4now"][QUOTE="dotWithShoes"] And replacement consoles for the garbage hardware Sony produced.XanderZane

ps2 and ps3 are less reliable because they have a disk trey or motor's that pull the disk into the console.

ps1 has a lid that opens and closes lol no motor to wear out for putting disk into the console.

lol my dad was drunk as **** and stepped on my ps1 and tripped lol he ended up getting pissed and ripping the lid off my ps1 lol it still works though just drop the lid back into place and it works.

• Get rid of Kinect and go hardcore.
• Make more decent 1st party games and cut the Kinect crap.
• Get rid of DVD drive and use Blu-ray.
• Get rid of that ridiculously huge power supply brick, and build it inside the console like the PS3.
• Build the Wi-Fi in the console.
• Use decent hardware like the PS3.
• Change the controller.
• Cut that battery bollocks off the controller and build rechargeable ones inside like DS3.
• Make Xbox Live free.
• Change the dashboard back to blades and make it HD.
• Stop the ridiculous timed-exclusives and DLC.

GamerwillzPS

They need more reliable and powerful hardware, better exclusives, less focus on Kinect, and free online gaming.

Basically they need to make a PS3.

ShadowMoses900

But Sony didn't win this gen :|.

If Microsoft wanna win the next gen financially, they would gear their console toward casual (what they're doing now) and should try to make a noticable mascot for themselves (not the dude with no personality like MC). More first party games that aim @ all ages would help tremendously.

I can't say it'll be good for hardcore gamers though; but that's how it works. Gimmick wins casual, and casual industry is a larger pie than hardcore.

• Recapture 3rd Party Support
• Progress XBL
• Kinect 2.0
• A few more 1st Party Games
• Competitive pricing

• Recapture 3rd Party Support
• Progress XBL
• Kinect 2.0
• A few more 1st Party Games
• Competitive pricing

Nonstop-Madness

I actually agree about the Kinect part. It's not something I would buy, but it would be great in built. I could see scrolling through menues and playing music through the Kinect thing a real breeze. But I would never pay extra for it

[QUOTE="XanderZane"][QUOTE="wewantdoom4now"] ps1 is the most reliable sony console.wewantdoom4now

[QUOTE="Vraeth"]

[QUOTE="SUD123456"]

Alert. Alert. Self absorbed young person who thinks everything in gaming should cater only to their taste.

SUD123456

Oh wow, you went straight to the "ur a kid" card. Very compelling. Or, you could take the more honest approach and say "Wow, I don't have an argument, so I'm just going to call you a kid."

It has nothing to do with being self-absorbed and it has everything to do with the industry is completely going in a direction which alienates a lot of gamers because the market is simply bigger. But I guess seeing a hobby I like slowly dying due to the mainstreaming just makes me self-absorbed. Enjoy your Kinectimals.

Alert. Alert. Self absorbed young person who thinks everything in gaming should cater only to their taste AND who has no grasp of capitalism.

Hint: Capitalism is not a zero sum game.

See bolded. I obviously understand it. Apparently you just can't read.

I get why they're doing it, but that doesn't mean I have to necessarily like it or give them my business.

Grow the f*** up and learn how to read.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="GamerwillzPS"]

Go on, tell me what you think in words instead of a smiley face.

GamerwillzPS

Man, just look at the gaming industry. Look at the Kinect sales. Look at the Wii sales. This world is screwed. Yes, I'm serious and it's a fact that people are fvcking retarded. They literally ruined PlayStation.

Advertise

[QUOTE="XanderZane"][QUOTE="wewantdoom4now"] ps1 is the most reliable sony console.wewantdoom4now

[QUOTE="limpbizkit818"][QUOTE="Haziqonfire"]Problem is that this is Microsoft we're talking about. The company has been on a decline in all their products. I'm actually really worried about how they'll handle the launch of the new Xbox considering recent so-so products. Also they seem pretty content on making their platform the multimedia box for services rather than games. Microsoft has a blueprint they follow religiously and I feel like they'll continue to do so with the new platform.godzillavskong

Late 07, no go. Basically any new 360 slim models are pretty good. I got the Halo 3 C.E. and those fry just as bad, but instead of RROD, you get E74...which I broke news about here in SW in a giant thread, No one here knew what E74 was, and there was no warranty for it at the time. So, the late 07 models handled RROD better, but got a crippling E74 issue instead just as bad. Long story short, those old model 360's are ticking time bombs. I have friends that run shops, and it's easy repair money. They don't see 360slims that much though. I wouldn't go around forums telling users late 2007 360's are okay, because they aren't....unfortunately. I have since replaced the Halo 3 Model, with another...which also burnt out, and yet another white model internal 4gig which also just started doing GPU glitches. It was a bad design, but life goes on. I myself have had 4 RRODs, and at least one E74. About three of those I did warranties with, but after that I bought newer machines as the warranty machines started breaking on me after 6months to a year.

[QUOTE="Haziqonfire"]Problem is that this is Microsoft we're talking about. The company has been on a decline in all their products. I'm actually really worried about how they'll handle the launch of the new Xbox considering recent so-so products. Also they seem pretty content on making their platform the multimedia box for services rather than games. Microsoft has a blueprint they follow religiously and I feel like they'll continue to do so with the new platform.charizard1605

Microsoft ain't what they used to be.

Microsoft has steered out of the way of some of the fastest growing markets out there - MP3 players, tablets and handsets. Microsoft tablets are already pretty poor and Windows 8 doesn't look promising. The Zune was an utter failure. It's also pretty pathetic when you make more money off of a competitors device than your own because of patent trolling.

And yes, Windows 7 is so-so. The only reason I have my Windows partition is to use Steam once in a while, otherwise I never leave Ubuntu.

The Xbox division is only division that Microsoft kinda understands the market. They've lost touch with people in the rest and require new leadership.

#1 I'm sure is that they cannot have another RROD fiasco. That cost them this gen imo. I was ready to go from GC got 360 but reliability issues scared me to Sony. I knew a lot of people who had RROD and my roommate at the time had a 360 and it made tons of noise like it was in pain or something. Not impressedGunSmith1_basic

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]#1 I'm sure is that they cannot have another RROD fiasco. That cost them this gen imo. I was ready to go from GC got 360 but reliability issues scared me to Sony. I knew a lot of people who had RROD and my roommate at the time had a 360 and it made tons of noise like it was in pain or something. Not impressedwewantdoom4now

[QUOTE="Nonstop-Madness"]

• Recapture 3rd Party Support
• Progress XBL
• Kinect 2.0
• A few more 1st Party Games
• Competitive pricing

DNAbro

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="Haziqonfire"]Problem is that this is Microsoft we're talking about. The company has been on a decline in all their products. I'm actually really worried about how they'll handle the launch of the new Xbox considering recent so-so products. Also they seem pretty content on making their platform the multimedia box for services rather than games. Microsoft has a blueprint they follow religiously and I feel like they'll continue to do so with the new platform.Haziqonfire

Microsoft ain't what they used to be.

Microsoft has steered out of the way of some of the fastest growing markets out there - MP3 players, tablets and handsets. Microsoft tablets are already pretty poor and Windows 8 doesn't look promising. The Zune was an utter failure. It's also pretty pathetic when you make more money off of a competitors device than your own because of patent trolling.

And yes, Windows 7 is so-so. The only reason I have my Windows partition is to use Steam once in a while, otherwise I never leave Ubuntu.

The Xbox division is only division that Microsoft kinda understands the market. They've lost touch with people in the rest and require new leadership.

11.1 or 12.4? Looking into dualbooting with Mint 12 KDE but Ubuntu seems to be the major player in the world of Linux.

It's mainly for CyanogenMod building but I'd like to hear the thoughts of someone who uses Linux as main platform.

I'm not asking for a lengthy guide, since I do know slight basics, just some pros and cons if you can be bothered;)

[QUOTE="godzillavskong"][QUOTE="limpbizkit818"] What other recent so-so products? SolidTy

Late 07, no go. Basically any new 360 slim models are pretty good. I got the Halo 3 C.E. and those fry just as bad, but instead of RROD, you get E74...which I broke news about here in SW in a giant thread, No one here knew what E74 was, and there was no warranty for it at the time. So, the late 07 models handled RROD better, but got a crippling E74 issue instead just as bad. Long story short, those old model 360's are ticking time bombs. I have friends that run shops, and it's easy repair money. They don't see 360slims that much though. I wouldn't go around forums telling users late 2007 360's are okay, because they aren't....unfortunately. I have since replaced the Halo 3 Model, with another...which also burnt out, and yet another white model internal 4gig which also just started doing GPU glitches. It was a bad design, but life goes on. I myself have had 4 RRODs, and at least one E74. About three of those I did warranties with, but after that I bought newer machines as the warranty machines started breaking on me after 6months to a year.

11.1 or 12.4? Looking into dualbooting with Mint 12 KDE but Ubuntu seems to be the major player in the world of Linux.

It's mainly for CyanogenMod building but I'd like to hear the thoughts of someone who uses Linux as main platform.

I'm not asking for a lengthy guide, since I do know slight basics, just some pros and cons if you can be bothered;)

MlauTheDaft

I upgraded to 12.04 - It's a better quality version of 11.10 with extras to the dash and options and Ubuntu Software Centre. There's lots of apps available on that store to help you find and do what you want to do (most of the time). The improvements to the dash are pretty useful if you're going to use Unity, but if you decide to opt for not using it it'll be mostly the same experience.

[QUOTE="MlauTheDaft"]

11.1 or 12.4? Looking into dualbooting with Mint 12 KDE but Ubuntu seems to be the major player in the world of Linux.

It's mainly for CyanogenMod building but I'd like to hear the thoughts of someone who uses Linux as main platform.

I'm not asking for a lengthy guide, since I do know slight basics, just some pros and cons if you can be bothered;)

Haziqonfire

I upgraded to 12.04 - It's a better quality version of 11.10 with extras to the dash and options and Ubuntu Software Centre. There's lots of apps available on that store to help you find and do what you want to do (most of the time). The improvements to the dash are pretty useful if you're going to use Unity, but if you decide to opt for not using it it'll be mostly the same experience.

So it's stable, even though in beta?

Since I like KDE would you say I should stick with Mint 12 (possibly update Kernel etc) or would it be sensible to grab Ubuntu 12.04 with KDE 4.8?

Edit: And sorry about the OT, Linux is quite the jungle and I'm sick having the added barrier of VMware in my way of compiling Android ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZpJAMTRDWg

This music video rules the year is 2003 before microsoft sold out on hardcore gamers.

[QUOTE="GamerwillzPS"]

[QUOTE="charizard1605"] I think you're ridiculous if you were being serious. cainetao11

Man, just look at the gaming industry. Look at the Kinect sales. Look at the Wii sales. This world is screwed. Yes, I'm serious and it's a fact that people are fvcking retarded. They literally ruined PlayStation.

Oh dear. Someone doesn't know how to use 'your' and 'you're'. And yet he called me a retard.

My only question is : Why is GS doing this kind of article? It seems that they are taking sides and that's a bit unprofessional, no?

they need games

cos 360 has no games

What MS must do to win next gen:

1- Create public perception that Xbox 3 the platform for COD through marketing.

2- Push Kinect and Xbox 3 to moms as the cool choice for family gaming through marketing.

3- Generate more profit from XBL through microtransactions and increased fees.

4- Push Halo, Gears, and Forza every other year to sell hardware to core gamers, and stack up XBL memberships.

Get ready to "Jump In", as Lucifer might put it.