Switched On: Aping Donkey Kong: The bizarre 180 of XBox 360
posted May 25th 2005 4:50PM
As the last Switched On discussed, paid subscription services and the kind of reputation-tracking that Microsoft is planning for Xbox Live Gold are not the kinds of features that will expand the console gaming market far beyond its current audience. Nonetheless, Microsoft remains determined to pursue this nebulous target market. Judging by a recent interview, the new console was apparently named after the total number of things that the company sees as not being key to expanding the market.
Microsoft's positioning has changed as completely and dramatically as one of its new console's removable faceplates. According to its Xbox executives, it's (now) not about better graphics. It's not about better sound (this time). It's (suddenly) not about more capacity. It's not about having a custom CPU (or presumably a new graphics processor). It's not even about the potential Microsoft advantage of launching earlier than your competition. And it's not about serving as a more affordable Windows Media Center or more powerful Media Center Extender.
Surprise, it�s about the games. But at least since the late George Plimpton pitched in vain to sway would-be Atari 2600 owners toward the coil-corded, keypad-sported, Keyboard Component-aborted graphical superiority of Intellivision, it has always been about the games. How will this forthcoming generation, then, be different? Microsoft will have a few exclusives and strong first-party titles. But Sony�s equivalent lineup looks at least as strong, and as the market share leader, the PlayStation purveyors have more leverage to negotiate exclusives. Finally, Nintendo plays its deck of character franchises like a master of Texas Hold �Em.
So, if one simply extrapolates where the industry has been to where it�s going, it doesn�t appear as if Microsoft has any advantage in the next round from which to gain market share, much less expand the market. Microsoft would counter, though, that its ace in the hole is XBox Live. Live is a powerful idea in console gaming, a strong proof of concept that is dragging Nintendo kicking and screaming into the online age and forcing Sony to think about providing at least more infrastructure around online play in its next console. Unfortunately, it cannot be captured in screen shots. Yet, Microsoft�s grand game unveiling at its E3 press conference was Final Fantasy XI; it�s questionable whether that will even expand the market for the incredibly insular massively multiplayer online role-playing gaming community.
Is Microsoft simply talking Nintendo�s walk? Nintendo is the only console developer that has any historical ties to the arcade experience that was the true birthplace of casual videogaming. In stewarding the Game Boy for more than 15 years, Nintendo has attracted simpler games because they were written for a simpler device with a younger demographic. (Indeed, PSP titles, while more sophisticated, are also relatively friendly to a casual gamer.). Finally, Nintendo was downplaying having the hottest specs in favor of focusing on gameplay years before it became fashionable to do so in Redmond.
Games like Mario Tennis, Donkey Konga, and Mario Kart are easy to jump into and enjoy, and Wario Ware has pioneered a new genre of thumb candy (although its occasional focus on nostril lubricating agents provides a strong case against photorealism). While Nintendo the console developer struggles to support a wide variety of titles for its hardware, Nintendo the software publisher probably understands the casual gamer best. As long as you buy into its Disneyesque milieu, you�re welcome to join the Mario Party.
Indeed, while there are things console manufacturers can do to facilitate casual gaming, software publishers are the companies responsible for expanding the base of gamers. This is a challenge to which they�ve repeatedly if inconsistently risen to through a history that includes Ms. Pac-Man, Tetris, Myst, The Sims, Snake and Bejeweled. Many of these games flourished on multiple platforms. And by the time the tallies are totaled on the next generation, more consumers will likely be playing games on mobile phones than on all three major consoles combined.
The Xbox 360 may be able to recreate the laws of physics, but it can�t change the laws of logic: dedicated gaming machines aren�t likely to be purchased by consumers who don�t have a serious interest in games. There�s even an argument that the next generation of consoles may provide slower growth than in the past. After all, at least the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 need scarce high-definition TVs to demonstrate their full superiority over their predecessors, and rumored higher console and game price titles may delay mass market adoption. If Nintendo and now Microsoft are right, and we are reaching diminishing returns in terms of graphics improvements, will consumers � who have been driven to upgrade by improved graphics � pass on new consoles the same way they are likely to stop upgrading to higher-resolution digital cameras?
Microsoft should capitalize on its differentiation with Live and continue to pursue that social � but still relatively dedicated � gamer. The company sees the great potential for extending the service in terms of cooperative play, matchmaking, tournaments, digital merchandising, sponsorship and even �spectator mode� (although, if all you want to do is watch people play videogames, there�s already a cable network for that). Microsoft can greatly increase its revenue per customer and expand the scope of console gaming, but it will be the formidable task of software publishers to expand its audience.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis at NPD Techworld, a division of market research and analysis provider The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On, however, are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.
"With the Xbox gaining support from major BS3 supporting game studios, this generation will not see the Bull-Sh!tation play the card of 'broader and better catalogue' again."
Yes, the 360 now gets last generatons PS2 games ported like Final Fantasy XI :)
I still can't believe all the people that have bought into Sony's hype.....again. Remember the PS2 and the Emotion Engine and all the pretty tech demos shown on that. Now flash forward to Sony using the Cell and showing all the pretty tech demos. Do not trust the Sony hype.
As for the PS3 using like 8Cells, it does not, last I saw the PS3 runs on 1 Cell, with one core running at 3.2ghz. It has 6-8 things, I can't remember the name, running with the Cell to help it process data.
Fact is if people are legitimately thinking the PS3 is twice as fast as the 360, I believe you to be sadly mistaken. If there is a difference in power this gen it will be less than the difference between the Xbox and PS2 this gen.
I see a lot of fanboying around here, but a few of y'all have got it right. Sony has the performance edge, but to be quite honest, you won't be able to tell the difference from the Xbox 360 without an HDTV over 40-50" at least. A large portion of the gaming market are broke-assed kids who want excellent gameplay and immersion, while still having the odd party-game. Last season, the (North American) title belonged (barely) to Microsoft, as we could see by the huge grab they made of market share. I believe Nintendo has just played the trump card. They've kept the portability (party-bility) that made the gamecube somewhat nicer, and they've busted out the nicest attraction EVER: 20 years worth of games...which essentially boils down to one simple fact: The revolution has more 'hits' than any other console... and most gamers know at least a few of them, EVEN if they've been out of the gaming community for over a decade. Nintendo should have Microsoft and Sony running scared, and the only chance they have is to prove themselves before Nintendo's debut in early 2006. Nintendo is poised to go for the jugular, having decided to place a flagship store in NYC and announcing the console with the greatest gaming library to date.
Christ - how sad do you have to be (im looking in the general direction of Marty here..) to be a fanboi :/
One day son you will grow a set and assess things on their merits rather than walking around with a PS logo on your head.
At the moment - I can justify the XBox 360 more because of its media capabilities. I am a hardcore (PC) gamer who does get consumed by them... which I see as a sign of the game's quality! But rather than build the home server I was going to build for streaming my DivX films to the TV downstairs, I can get the Xbox and have that for 'free'
So there ya go - the proof that actually marketing things other than the gaming capabilities pays off :) I have an Xbox and love the live service as it is frankly faultless and the voicecomms make everything so easy to organize in more tactical games like some of the shooters.
Features Features Features... because cmon lets face it, in terms of real world applications here there is going to be no visible difference in performace or appearance between PS and Xbox Games.
No difference in quality of games (there will be good and terrible for both of them but that is the developers fault and not the console's) but there will be a difference when I can save the money I was gonna spend on the media side :)
There maybe one or two channels to watch people play, but i'd be happy when MS takes it up a notch in organizing WWF-style (wmedia coverage, xbox-camera?) competitions, imagine them crossing regional boundaries, maybe accompanied by live reporting...advertising big matches on MTV (and the likes), is that far away? once a world title series has been established (given 10s or 100s of online channels) this would possibly compete with WWF in attendance. Imagine the simple advertising revenue. Non-gamers (like me), who love watching live tournaments will have a new subject of addiction, i may even wana learn a particular game (just to immitate??). Microsoft is a behemoth, and they didn't get there by sleeping, they will keep biting (or devouring) to create new markets, imagination is our single limitation, and they have lotsa that (if u wana count). A PC in every household? Gates dream continues, and i'm cheering.
its people like most of the posters(fanboys of all colours)here, that still make it embarrasing to admit yo my "gaming" passion in public.
I'll agree that it sounds like the author missed E3. PS3 is such a huge jump over XBox 360 that the comparison is not even close. PS3 is a much bigger jump over PS2 than PS2 was over PSOne. And while PS2 was released well into DVDs product cycle, PS3 will be released at the beginning of Blu-Ray's, making it more attractive as an integrated gaming/movie device.
360 is capable of some great things, but so far only EA (with Madden 06 and The Godfather) appears to be taking advantage of the hardware. Most of the other games looked like XBox titles with slightly better graphics.
The excitement inside Sony Studios during the demos of Unreal, Fight Night, and Killzone was electric. You can't get a feel for the color depth and resolution produced by PS3 from watching a video file on your PC. When people see PS3 in the flesh, they will want one.
That's not to say 360 won't sell like hotcakes this Christmas. It will be the only new console, and the controller is heavenly. But it is due to run headlong into a wall next May.
Natiahs
Come on people, 370 is an amazing price for the PS3, X360 (or if u prefer XBOX 1.5) has little to compete in terms with what its selling and what it will probably cost (between 299-399). Being within the same price range, PS3 will have so much more to offer than the X360 and cost similar. Evidentally PS3 will sell more and X360 fans have "even less" to talk about now.
PS3 will launch under 40,000yen (under US$370). Now what can the X360 fans say? Also, for those people who wouldn't buy a PS3 because it was rumoured to be over US$500, now you can be happy to get more for your money as the PS3 will be selling at a competative low price! I have plenty to back my opinion but I've written similar in the "Bizzare 180 of the XBox 360" topic~ LOL, it's quite hilarious to see XBox fanboys squirm for their beloved Halo and Xbox Live, which inturn will also fall to Sony in due time. Food for thought, there is still 7 months for Sony to unleash their online plans for the PS3, so wait for your XBox Live comparisons till a later date. So far, for what IS comparable, Sony have already succeeded in the preliminary rounds.
"uclatommy
BTW, BS3 = "Bling Station 3" != "Bull Shitation 3""
You're a math geek. I'm sure you know a lot about "bling" and I'm sure it matters a lot to someone who states in the post before the one i've quoted that the reason they are buying the BS3 is the spec's.
You give people crap for liking the 360, saying maybe if they hang out with the cool kids and watch MTV they might like it then you go on to defend the PS3 using the word "bling".
Personally I think everyone should wait and play the games themselves, on the device (not on two apple G5's) before making a decision about which is superior... Unless of course, you're buying it for the... ahem... "bling"
I'll buy whichever one seems to be easier to replace my desktop with. I'm confident that the ever-lovable linux people will do something wonderful to both devices.
Ryan-
For clarifcation
(incomplete)PlayStation 3 Specifications
CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS
now with all that it seems to me that we are looking at once CELL with 8 cores and 1 reserved so 7 cores x 3.2 GHZ
( I presume SPE to relate to Cores only because the whole point of the CELL was to have a cpu with multi cores or at least thats what it says on SONY's Website. Granted of course they COULD be lying but that would leave a lot of people unhappy so I kinda doubt that they would.... unless they are trying to kill of their fanbase)
with all that said I think it's important for me to mention that I am NOT a sony fanboy, but for the sake of good conversation I thought I should bring in some solid specs....
Man I can't wait untill Apple makes a console, thats gonna be da shiiiiiiiiit.