Microsoft says current gen will be 'little longer' than previous

"suffer" dude seriously, if a console hardware failure covered by warranty is giving you that much "suffering", i think you have more serious problems than RROD

I think I laid out my feeling on the subject in a coherent way. I have actual reasons as to why I moved on from the 360. If you feel differently then that's Ok as well. Now everyone is some irrational hater who draws a line in the sand. I don't hate the 360 because it's MS or because they made it. I dislike it because of the experiences I had with it which were not good at all. If you want to paint me with a broad brush of ignorance then go ahead and do so. Sometimes the truth hurts and it's easier to rationalize things if we assume everyone is the same.

I can tell you only read a few sentences and then replied. I said they used us who were early adopters as Quality Assurance testers. Are you actually going to try and argue that point? There is no need to get your feelings hurt because I liek different pieces of silicon and plastic.

I was just about to bring up the PS2's surprising longevity as well.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one last update to the PS2 line before Sony puts it out to pasture. Probably something in a smaller footprint than the current slim model, combined with solid-state storage and some level of connectivity to the PlayStation Network for downloading entire games online. For around $10-$15 per title, I think a lot of users would overlook the lack of a physical disc in favor of a more Wii "virtual console"-like experience.

Such a unit could probably be sold successfully without an optical drive if the cost was kept low enough.

Not to mention it would be a great case study in whether or not online-only distribution is truly viable for long term use.

how about we get both.

Walt,

How about releasing games that have discernible plots and characters? How about releasing games that actually fulfill their promises of changing gameplay as we know it?

You're also forgetting that more powerful hardware allows for things that greatly impact gameplay outside of visuals. There's a reason why you're overcome with a sense of complete dread in Dead Rising when your last weapon breaks as the crowd of zombies mobbing you grows from a dozen to a hundred while there's no such sense of panic in the Wii port because the system can't handle anywhere near the same number of NPCs. There's a reason why the Xbox 360 version of Supreme Commander struggles as it manages a few thousand units on screen while a Core 2 Quad equipped system with a comparable videocard has no such difficulty at the same resolution or image quality settings.

seriously, i admit that the wii was fun, but i seriously dont want microsoft and sony to go the way of releasing an UNDER-PAR hardware for its time console... i love my 360.

I dont know what happend to everyone, but playing a lot of wii games other than wii sports DOES bother me via graphics, it does bother me that twilight princess didnt look as good as GOW. a lot of people say its just "stylized" but seriously, admit it... the graphics do end up bothering people. would you rather be playing PS1 games right now over playing the same game with better grahipcs on ps3.? hell forget that... which console would you rather play dead rising on?

dont say the wii is "more" fun than ANYTHING on the 360/ps3... because we all know that all three consoles are capable of fun... i have never felt that im not getting enoguh out of my 360, and i do feel that way everytime we get tired of brawl and wii tenis at my friend's house.

i dont hate the wii. i know its fun, but with the amount of crapware on it, combined with the eye-bothering graphics, and the lack of games for my type of gamer... its just not my thing, and i wouldnt like a generation where that is all i have to chose from.

Sony tried a half hearted attempt at motion controls with six-axis that can be expanded upon with a new independent periphrial. I don't see Sony pushing another set of new architecture and format. I think the cell and Blu-Ray will be staples of at least the next Playstation iteration.

Nintendo was in a unique position after last generation because of the failure of the Gamecube in terms of consumer adoption. They couldn't afford to take any chances in terms of consumer adoption & hardware this time around. I don't think that even Nintendo expected the success they had with the Wii coming off the Gamecube.

By the time Sony launches the PS4 Blu-Ray will be more saturated and the cell architecture will have made leaps in it's processing power. Sony is really in a good position as far as that goes because they will be able to have essentially the same machine they do now except with some increased internal specs and it will generate greater horsepower than using an exotic architecture.

The wild card of next generation is Microsoft. I'm really not sure what route they will choose to go. They could try to do what the PS3 attempted this generation and cram every single device into it's gaming machine and then some - tv tuner, Fios connectivity, web-browser, wi-fi etc etc ... I could also see them making marginal improvements and not really pushing the hardware like what Nintendo did but applying some new input perphrials in additon to the the current controller.

You need hardware features + O/S software features + online infrastructure + games + something new + an affordable price point to have mass consumer adoption. It's not as easy as making a new input device like a Wii mote.

i remember watching the E3 keynote from nintendo and how they said "4 years ago, if i stood here and said that we as a company would do so well, everyone would laugh at me" or something like that.

but i think being in that tight spot, nintendo was really put under uniqe kinds of pressure.

i think all three companies are in differnt positions, with nintendo being generally accepted in asia and europe with a need for innovation, sony known as the brand for power with a good japanese backing, and microsoft -- an american company that also does PCs, newly getting into consoles (well, comparitively new)

i agree when you say microsoft will be the wildcard, but microsoft has just so much more to do than the others in terms of possibility (not saying that the 360 doesnt have features comparitively). microsoft mediaroom, live everywhere, life without walls -- cloud computing, windows 7 or whatever is out there in 2012... (coupled with a lead in on world dommination :P) all this could really make the 360 more than a video game console, it would put true meaning to an media entertainemnt system....

maybe they would couple it with surface technologies, or something else. but they are really focusing on "natural" user input this year... (CES 09) maybe the waggle isnt so far off.... oh, and hardware failures :P

sony is in the same position nintendo was a with the gamecube, in need of a new buisness plan.... though their 10-year outlook may be different.

i wonder if nintendo would innovate at all for the next gen, or if hardware upgrades will be thier way to go.. because chances are thier cash printers will keep printing.

okay we get it you like your 360, some of us have different taste you know

*Use the reply button*

Ok your just proving yourself to be ignorant now. I said they used early adopters as QA tester for the 360 and that's the truth. You talking used in the generic more general term which I never said or implied.

MS only fixes RROD consoles when there are other more well known hardware defects. For instance disc read errors, disc scratching and console bricking after the NXE update are not covered under their warranty but are all well known and documented hardware defects. MS blamed the original RROD issues on the CONSUMER (YOU) until public outcry forced their hand. They are doing the same thing with disc scratching now. Saying that people are moving the console while the game is in the tray.

Sony offers a 1 year warranty from the day you purchase your PS3. The console is within the tolerable 1% failure rate of all consumer electronics. If you have an issue within the first year of purchase it will be fixed for free. They also offer an extended warranty for those who want more protection. They don't have widespread failure issues like MS so they give you a 1 year manufacturers warranty.

When did I say Sony cared about me? I never did. Microsoft dropped the original x-box like the bad habit leaving owners of that console in the cold.

What your doing is trying to rationalize being taken advantage of by saying Sony did it before. Listen, I had a PS2 and it broke down on me one time and that was after 3 or 4 years of use. All I can go by is what my own personal experiences were. I had 6 console failures in under 3 years. If you had that many PS2's die on you then I could understand if that's why you dislike Sony. You don't hear me calling you a hater for that.

You seem to think MS is your friend and that they are looking out for you. None of thse companies are our friend and all of them are looking otu for their bottom line. I have actual reasons as to why I no longer own a 360 and why I am bitter towards Microsoft. All you seem to have is blind hatred toward Sony because you chose a 360.

You are not better than I am because I prefer a different box with plastic and silicon. You seem to imply I am somehow naive why you are in the know. yet the funny thing is you are trying to equate myself with your own behavior. Denial is a wonderful thing for some people.

Don't be so dumb as to think they won't also have a regular controller. You can bet your savings acccount that MS & Sony will both have motion controls like a wii-mote next gen and probably by the end of this one. They are't biased when it comes to money. They want to tap into what Nintedo is doing.

This generation really is just starting to hit it's stride. I have to much money invested this generation to buy another console for at least 5 more years. Even if a new one releases I won't be buying it thats for sure.

Indeed. There's still room for a lot of improvement for software and even hardware this gen.

Microsoft could release a smaller model, cooler, quieter, with no rrod and with anti-scratch protection.

Nintendo could release a hard drive or the ability to play games from sd cards. They could improve their online system too...

Sony could redesign the ps3 so that it can drop its price to $300 and still turn a profit. Daydreaming, I know.

Yeah, I would love to add a PS3 to my library just for MLB the Show, but its too expensive for me at this point, especially just for a handful of games.

Or.. maybe 2K will make a decent baseball game. Now THAT is daydreaming :)