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Xbox 720 a No-show At This Year's E3
itwbennett writes "Microsoft dropped a bomb yesterday: they won't be showing new hardware this year or 'anytime soon.' Microsoft told Kotaku that '2012 is all about Xbox 360.' Meanwhile, Bloomberg's mysterious sources are saying that Microsoft 'may show the successor to its Xbox 360 in June 2013 at the E3 conference and put it on sale that same year.' This would 'be a fast journey from announcement to launch,' says Peter Smith, 'but it'd mean we'd still get a new Xbox for holiday 2013, which is about the earliest anyone has expected it to arrive anyway.'"
Microsoft issues a press release to announce that they're not going to announce anything. And it makes the headlines of Slashdot. And I'm reading it on a Friday night. That's it, I'm off to drink beer, even if it isn't free.
The next XBOX will be teased at this E3, but nothing concrete will be shown.
It will be revealed in the Fall, probably through some shitty alternate reality game culminating in some MTV / other mass media "first look" at the console.
You'll then get a drip feed of information until E3 2013, which will be the big blowout and release date / pricing announcement.
In Fall of 2013 you will be able to buy it. Pick from 3 different SKUs priced at $399 (base shit), $499 (more storage, comes with Kinect 2) , and $599 (even more storage, Kinect 2, fancy headset, stupid shit you don't care about, possibly more Live! Gold credit).
I guarantee it.
The 360 was released in 2005 and still going strong. If you bought one then and avoided RROD, you're still good to go. Meanwhile ipods from then have been thrown away, your computer from 2005 is a dinosaur that you keep to run Linux on, your cell phone from 2005 has been somewhere in the back of your closet since 2006, your TV from 2005 needs a digital tuner, your DVD player from 2005 won't play Blu-Ray...
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
I highly doubt they will unveil plans for a new device before the holiday shopping season is over - otherwise a potential consumer might hold off on making a purchase until the new system is out. Chances are they will wait until the after major retail outlet return policy has expired before they make their next-next gen plans known...
Dungeon Tactics : Free Open Source SRPG
Bloomberg's Mysterious Source: Microsoft will show the Xbox 720 this year!
Microsoft: No we won't.
Bloomberg's Mysterious Source: Microsoft will show the Xbox 720 next year!
Next we'll hear that Microsoft was planning on showing it this year, but something happened at the last minute and they couldn't. So the rumor-monger wasn't wrong--it was a last minute change.
Gads, they're as bad as the Apple rumor mongers.
Yay, another bullshit console that's going to be obsolete and replaced by some other POS the year after that...
Really? You can say many things about consoles, but short lived is usually not one of them (for successful ones at least). If anything, IMO, this generation has worn out its welcome. Then again, I am primarily a PC gamer.
Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
My computer from 2005 had better stats then the 360, how is it a dinosaur but the xbox 360 is still relevant? The release of the 360 effectively halted all advancements in PC gaming technology, as modern cross platform development strategy dictates that any technology driven cutting edge features in cross platform titles need to be homogenized across the divergent systems they are designed to run on.
Dungeon Tactics : Free Open Source SRPG
You mean, if you bought it and avoided the RRoD (which my friend just encountered after three years with his machine) *AND* avoided the E74 error (which I ran into several 360s ago) *AND* avoided the optical drives that fail and stop reading DVDs so you can't play games anymore (just happened to me for the second time), then you're still good to go. Assuming you also aren't tired of looking at increasingly tired graphics and goofy looking models of human beings that animate poorly (yes, PC PC PC -- but no matter how powerful my computer is, I don't want to play *all* my games hunched over a desk *all* the time).
I am currently on my fifth or sixth 360.
First one died after 100hrs of use (but those 100hrs took more than the year of warranty). The optical drive stopped reading discs. Not covered. This is a VERY common failure of 360s. Google it.
Second one died of an E74 error after almost no use over the period of a year or so. Not covered.
Third system stolen in a home invasion.
Fourth system just stopped turning on. Even with another power brick.
Fifth system just recently died of another failed optical drive. It would only recognize games about 25% of the time -- and when it would read the discs, it would make a horrible noise and also scratch the disc.
So, I'm personally on my sixth machine. My fifth due to Microsoft. And on top of that, I've bought a 360 for a family member, bought one for a friend, and bought another for a random person who was on hard times that I read about in a news paper that had all their shit stolen.
In this same time? My original PS3 is still kicking ass. So is my PS3 Slim. In fact, my PS2 and PS1 also work. So does my GameCube, N64, SNES, NES, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Lynx, Nomad, GameBoy, GBA, Atari Jaguar. In fact, all of my Atari's and my Odyssey II still work (Atari 2600 dating back to 1977).
But I'm on my sixth 360.
Insightful, really? Might as well have just posted 'Use Linux!" as that would have gotten a +5 I'm sure for the fanboi perception bubbles we have here. Hell i don't even own a console but how can anybody say the consoles are "going to be obsolete and replaced by some other POS the year after" when if anything its the VERY LONG LIFE of the current gen that has held back PC gaming? Not that I can blame Sony and MSFT as we ARE in a recession after all and MSFT is riding high this round so why should they rush? Plenty of people seem to be happy with their system, sales are good, if it ain't broke.
I don't know, maybe its just me, but when i look at games like Just Cause II and the Bioshock series and the FEAR series and HL 2 games I have to wonder if we are reaching the point that games like PCs are "good enough" and are becoming a case of diminishing returns on graphics. I mean there is only so much bling bling bullshit you can look at while dodging hellfire raining down on your ass, I know that in the above games never did i have an instance where the graphics took me out of the game and ultimately isn't that what matters? that there is enough suspension of disbelief we can just enjoy the experience? Frankly how many games have you played lately that THIS description would fit "Killer graphics but sucky game"? Personally I'd take Far Cry I or even No One Lives Forever II or Freelancer level graphics for a kick ass story, characters I care about, a good weapon system, great balance, and levels that are interesting. In a way i hope the X360 and PS3 last another couple of years as maybe, just maybe, if the devs can't just keep piling on bling they'll have to spend those resources elsewhere like on what i just mentioned. One can hope.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Insightful, really? Might as well have just posted 'Use Linux!" as that would have gotten a +5 I'm sure for the fanboi perception bubbles we have here
You still butthurt about that? Your entire rant about Linux strongly put you in the MS fanboi category.....
However, I do agree that consoles have done very little to hold back PC gaming. I think we hit diminishing returns some time ago. Not enough attention paid to plot and AI.
If anything, consoles could have been pushing PC gaming forward with their draconian DRM and complete disregard for the consumers. The rumored upcoming suport on the 720 to ban used game sales certainly put some fire on the Internets.
Of course, Sony needs no help looking like dicks to their consumers. No help at all. Quite frankly, their next console better come with a blowjob machine if they think they can win back the hearts and minds of the people they screwed over.
Going strong? Developers are still coding for "640p" and small worlds to fit in with this old plastic box.
The low cpu, low gpu art is then passed onto PC games so we are all stuck in 2004.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
The traditional lifespan for a console generation is 5 years. That's the gold standard going back to the Atari 2600 days. The Xbox 360 now represents the oldest console generation in history, at over 6 years and some change (beating out the PS2's 6 years even). If a new Xbox isn't released until the Fall of 2013, it will be *by far* the oldest console generation ever (at 8 years) since consoles began.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
In this same time? My original PS3 is still kicking ass.
Mine isn't. After two returns and out $150, the third one has turned into a boat anchor too and I have given asking Sony to fix it.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
I'm personally on my sixth - fifth due to flaws (one was due to a home invasion, so that doesn't count -- although Microsoft certainly could have responded positively to my request to help track the console by serial number and IP since it was registered with them). I should note that my use of them is not in any way unusual (except that perhaps it is lighter use than most people). I go for months without touching my console and half of the failed ones died with less than 100hrs of utilization. They weren't mistreated or abused in any way (they sat on their own open-air shelf in the entertainment center next to the PS3 and every other device that has operated just fine).
It just seems to be the luck of the draw. Some people have no problems and some people have several. Especially people who bought the first iteration or two. Remember, the very first issue of the 360 is known to have fatal design flaws that WILL cause your console to die. If you have the first iteration of the console, it's just a matter of *WHEN*. That's why they extended the warranty on that one from one to three years. And the consoles that came after it didn't solve all the problems, either. They still encountered a variety of issues very widely.
Even today, there are tons of reports from people about the most recent kinect-oriented dashboard update flat out killing consoles that worked right before the upgrade and died immediately after it.
I also forgot to mention that my friend (who I bought an earlier version of the console for several years ago) just called me today to ask my advice on his console, which RRoD'd this week and won't operate anymore. Microsoft can repair it for about $110 and six weeks of time. He wanted my advice (other than to give up console gaming, get a PS3, or go straight-PC-only) as to whether he should get a new one or pay the repair costs.
He also doesn't abuse his. I'm in my mid thirties. He's just shy of 40. We're both professionals (he in media; myself in software development). I say this because the response from people who don't have problems with their console to those who do is often "well you broke it dumbass". Not a reasonable answer to design failures, of course.
I have a gen-1 360 and never RROD'd it. Still rocking strong on a daily basis.
Of course, now that I have typed this it will start on fire the next time I turn it on.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
Complaints about the graphics on the 360 are nonsense. There are more and more detailed graphics for 360 games every year. It is a trade off of space for the graphics data versus the quality of the graphics.It's just a matter of how much time the devs put into it.
Different environments treat different consoles...differently. I have gone through 4 PS2s and 3 NES systems, while my original first-gen 360 is still running perfectly. I had a problem with my GameCube the first week I owned it and had to swap it for a new working one. I had a PS3 for about three weeks(full disclosure: it was used and I have no idea what was done to it in advance) before it turned into a George Foreman grill and never started again.
For me, the 360 has been the most rock-solid console I have ever owned, followed closely by the Dreamcast. The only problem I have actually had with the 360 is that one time a friend tripped over the console and it scratched a big ring into my disc. Fortunately, Best Buy had no qualms with replacing the game immediately.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
Get a new 72 pin connector. For less than $20, and about 30 minutes to install it, mine has worked flawlessly for the last 5 years. Best $20 spent EVER.
Watch for Penguins, they eat Apples and throw rocks at Windows.
I think we can safely say that this generation is going to be better towards the end. As the developers get more familiar with the hardware, we will see greater and greater games. Provided, of course, they don't just abandon it in preparation for the next next gen. :) Just like the good old days of the C64, we'll see much better work towards the end because the developers become extremely familiar with the ins and outs of the system.
And your experience with the 360 is definitely the exception, not the rule. My PS3 (20GB, upgraded to 500GB) has been the most rock solid console I've ever owned. Not only does it handle 6 hours straight playing Fallout 3, but it can handle 3 Blu-Ray movies in a row and not even hiccup (probably more, but I have to sleep sometime.) I can't say that about my 360, but I do enjoy playing my 360 slim (which they should've release YEARS ago, instead of cycling the old RRoD repaired 360s through the system...) It was a defective design, and Microsoft all but admitted it with their extending of the warranty, etc. (And the RRoD turning into an E74 error in subsequent board designs.) The decision to release a half-baked machine just to be first this generation was a gamble for Microsoft. They may have escaped the bulk of the problems with warranty repairs, etc, but they burned through a TON of good will doing so. We will only know if it was worth it when their next console comes out. (Remember the DVD on the original XBox was pretty shitty, prompting the "dirty disc" error fiasco.) So by the time they make a 720, I hope to hell they understand they cannot afford to release another 360-like hardware aberration. :)
I'm extremely happy for you that your launch 360 has still survived. There are very few people (besides the fanboys lying their asses off) who can say that. :)
It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
If PC gaming technology halted how can your computer be a dinosaur?
You actually bought all thse consoles? Had I had that experience, I'd have dumped XBox360 and stuck to PS3 and Nintendo. Does the XBox actually have many titles that ain't commonly found in either PlayStation or Nintendo?
Sony AND Microsoft in one device?
Man oh man. That's going to get some Slashdot love.....
That will be a truly amazing device. It will steal your identity despite not being able to run.
I say this because the response from people who don't have problems with their console to those who do is often "well you broke it dumbass".
To be fair, I haven't met anyone in the last few years that didn't immediately assume that an Xbox 360 console failure wasn't because Microsoft builds shitty consoles.
In the beginning, perhaps, the fanboys would go apoplectic over people complaining about 360 failures, but I think by now most everyone knows that an xbox 360 console isn't so much bought as rented for a few years until it dies for no reason at all.
I'm personally on my third. Never got the RRoD, always had the DVD drives burn out and stop working. This is especially frustrating because it's just a standard DVD-ROM in the fucking thing, and I could replace it myself in a second, but Microsoft is a bunch of dickheads and every console is keyed to a particular model DVD drive (which has changed several times over the manufacturing cycle) that you can only get from them. There's methods out there for swapping out the drive controllers and all that shit to do it yourself, but it's all an incredible pain in the ass for something as stupidly simple to replace as an optical drive, and Microsoft wants 40% of the cost of a fucking entirely new console just to spend 15 minutes swapping a DVD-ROM? Give me a break...
That's at least one thing I give Sony kudos for as regards the PS3...you can go buy most any SATA hard drive and slap it into your PS3 with no problems whatsoever if you're looking to either upgrade or replace a burned out hdd. Seems kinda schizophrenic for a company that just cannot resist the temptation to make all their hardware use proprietary bullshit to lock people in but I suppose it's something.
People wonder why I stick to my PC for the majority of my gaming when the consoles are so much cheaper these days, but considering that it's cost me $500 for an Elite and $250 for the two vanilla replacements I've already spent almost as much on the damn consoles as I did on my last build and I can do a fuck of a lot more on this than I can on the consoles. I probably wouldn't have even replaced the console this last time if it wasn't for the 50+ games and the tons of accessories I have for the thing that would end up getting tossed or sold for $1 a piece to some kid at Gamestop...