XBox 360 Redefining the Console?

Game Girl Advance has up an editorial arguing that, in effect, Microsoft has already won the next round in the console wars by shifting the battlefield. Looking at Gamasutra's rundown on the 360's multimedia and Live components, its easy to see why jane says that the 360 isn't really a console anymore. From the article: "Xbox 360 does not compete with Sony or Nintendo. It is not a gaming console. It is a powerful device to deliver content online and over WiFi. Microsoft's real competition is Apple, Yahoo, and Google. Apple's movie-download service. Yahoo's retail channels. Google's - well, everything. Heck, throw Comcast and TiVo in there for good measure. The games are merely a means to an end - an 'instant-on revenue to support an exponential expansion into the living room,' as Eric put it over an IM chat we had."

Comments

Wasn't this said about the PSP?

[ReKleSS]

The PSP has movie playing capabilities, wifi, and a bunch of other non-gaming features as well... but wasn't that held against it, instead of being thought of as revolutionary? Time will tell, I guess...
-ReK

Re:Wasn't this said about the PSP?

[pbaer]

"4) The fact that your friend's, cousin's, boy-friend's uncle's PS2 once broke."

More like that fact that my friends' and my cousin's and my boy-friends' and my uncles' PS2 broke.

Looks great

[aCapitalist]

I'm sure I'll be getting one. Besides the very impressive hardware specs (is this where we get real-time Toy Story?), I like the builtin Wifi. It should've been done in the original Xbox. I don't know about you guys, but I don't have Cat5 running through my house, and I'm not going to setting up my Xbox next to my router. Wireless controllers are nice too.

I like the idea of my gaming box being part of a whole multimedia system. I'd be worried if I was Sony and Nintendo, but at the end of the day Microsoft has to get the games out. I still wish I had gotten a PS2 just for the sheer number of games on it.

Oh, and is this thing going to be backward-compatible with Xbox1?

Re:Looks great

[badasscat]

Actually the WiFi won't be built in, it will be an addon which you'll have to purchase separately.

Which is the whole problem with this article (or at least the summary of it - I'm following the /. tradition and not actually R'ing TFA).

The Xbox 360 is basically more of the same of the original Xbox. There's nothing revolutionary about it. It's got built-in Ethernet - just like Xbox 1. It's got Xbox Live - just like Xbox 1. It can act as a Windows Media Center Extender - just like Xbox 1. It can play DVD's - just like Xbox 1. It can play music - just like Xbox 1.

True, some of these things cost extra on Xbox 1, and they'll be built into the Xbox 360. Then again, the Xbox 1 currently costs $149, while the Xbox 360 will likely cost $300 or more at launch. So for the moment, it's a wash.

People always say how the new consoles will "revolutionize" entertainment, computing, or whatever else. It's been going on for 20 or more years, back when the Intellivision was promised to have a computer component available for it and everybody thought that would finally bring PC's to the masses. Well, that didn't happen, but we still have this same exact conversation every time a new console is announced. It's going to do this or that beyond playing games, it's going to revolutionize one medium or another, and blah blah blah.

In the end, it always seems to come down to the fact that it plays games a little better than before and has a little bit better graphics than the systems that came before. That's it.

I expect this to be just as true of the Xbox 360 as any other console. I was almost completely underwhelmed by the MTV unveiling, which seemed to show me nothing much that the current Xbox couldn't do other than playing games in HD (which requires a lot more CPU horsepower to support that 1920x1080 resolution, and no doubt that's why the games themselves don't really look much better... they're just physically bigger).

It's almost sad that it takes an apparently fan-made video to show us something truly new and revolutionary; something that I think we've all been waiting for, but will probably still not happen for quite a few years. (This video's been floating around for the past few days and making some pretty big waves; IGN says it's fake without citing a source, I'm still not sure myself.)

The Xbox 360, though, is basically just following the same pattern every other new system ever has... more of the same, just slightly better, and allowing the manufacturer to again charge a price premium. It's no revolution. (No pun intended.)

No they havn't

[FidelCatsro]

No matter what your console extras have , And i predict the PS 3 will offer many of the same features as the Xbox 360 , The overridding succes factor is still based on two things , how cool your console is (draw in the casual crowd) and the quality of your games .
The Xbox 360 has not even come close to wining on either front , Most of the buzz i hear from my freinds is not about the multi media capabilties its about having a rocking new version of Grand theft auto or other "Cool" titles.
People buy consoles to play games , they may enjoy the extra stuff like DVD playing and music play-back but the over-riding fansination is still to have some great games you can play alone or have a few freinds over for a game and some beers.

the buzz i do hear recently has mostly been about the PSP or the DS , mainly arguments over "nostaliga about the old game & whatch " vs a Playstation you can carry around.

People do not buy a console based on what ever else it can do , they buy it for the games .No ammount of media hype will change that , The average man dosn't need or want a multi media soloution they want something to waste a few hours on
when they get a chance to play some "wicked cool" game that they can later thrash their freinds at.

Once more, that's a big fat no.

[silentbobdp]

No matter what kind of features it has - and I'm very interested in the new Live stuff - without awesome games, it's no go.

I work in retail; I spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week selling these things. As soon as we start talking about it a customer asks me what's the difference between the Xbox and the Xbox 360.

And based on the games I've seen, I don't know what to tell them - DoA 4 looks exactly the same as DoAU on the current box, Perfect Dark isn't even in the textured stage yet (wtf have they been doing for the past 5 years), Kameo doesn't look a generational leap better...

People aren't gonna pay 300$ just so they can pay 2$ to download new cars in Forza while playing games that don't do anything new.

Which is it?

[DarkGamer20X6]

So, is Microsoft competing with Nintendo and Sony, or is it not? You can't say that Microsoft's changed the battlefield, that they're now no longer competing with Nintendo and Sony, and then say "the console wars are over."

Of course they're still competing with Nintendo and Sony. Yes, the 360 has some impressive specs. Yes, it's got some fancy new features. Is it still a console? Um... yes. So, it's going to compete with the Revolution and the PS3.

Microsoft's been talking about merging the PC and console gaming markets for a while now, and the X-Box 360 definitely shows that. So, it has a slightly different focus than the Revolution or the PS3, but it's still a console, and it's still aimed towards console gamers (among others, to be sure).

As far as winning the console wars? I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets tired of hearing that about systems that haven't even hit the market yet. Can we please stop saying that some piece of machinery has won a battle that hasn't even begun?

Astroturfing

[Anonymous Coward]

is not news.

I'm tired of theoretical specs.

[SetupWeasel]

Besides the very impressive hardware specs (is this where we get real-time Toy Story?)

I'm very sick of companies announcing theoretical specs. The current XBOX can manage about 10% of the 100 million theoretical polygon count in an actual game. The new XBOX can do 500 million! OOOOOOH! Maybe we'll see 50 million polygons in an actual title, but honestly, I won't hold my breath.

Here is my challenge to every company at E3: Show me something that could not be done this generation. I'm not talking micropayments. That would only take a simple software upgrade. I'm not talking a larger world or more enemies on screen. Again this could be done with simpler worlds or enemies in current consoles. I'm talking about games that are fundamentally different because of the new hardware. Like the difference between Mortal Kombat and Virtua Fighter.

I want to know why I need to pay for new hardware to play your new games. Pie in the sky theoretical bullshit and pointless processor speeds ain't going to get it done this time.

Content Delivery

[Captain Rotundo]

people see marketing-speak like "content delivery" and see right through it. I've seen dozens of ideas and products promising total home content delivery services, it basically is another way to charge for something you don't want or already have/can get.

This generation will be won the way all the others were won, games. people buy consoles because they want consoles. I personally only have a gamecube from the current gen ) first to go to 99$ :) so I am not the best predictor, but with that caveat I will say at least in the US if MS can deliver on the games it will be an interresting fight for sony to keep the mindshare. Nintendo is pretty much pigeonholed as a "kiddy" system unless they come out of the box with something really stunning .

Re:Nintendo Revolution?

[still_sick]

This has been confirmed as fake.

The Google-Translated version of the original Message Board - shows the creater of the vid.

Also, there's an IGN claiming it's a hoax that I can't seem to find ATM. But it doesn't give any reasoning, just says "it's fake".