Xbox One

#476
#476
Brave Volunteer said:
God bless! Can MS do anything right? NO ONE is screaming for a disc-less Xbone. What people ARE screaming for is a Kinect-less one! If MS would release a Kinect-less unit and drop the price to 399.99 I would seriously consider getting one.
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There is a demand for a disc less console, believe it or not. I don't prefer it, but there is a customer base out there that want it. Hopefully they will lower the price a bit on did less versions of games. When that happens, I think you'll see a lot more people wanting to go in that direction.
 
#477
#477
BearCat204 said:
There is a demand for a disc less console, believe it or not. I don't prefer it, but there is a customer base out there that want it. Hopefully they will lower the price a bit on did less versions of games. When that happens, I think you'll see a lot more people wanting to go in that direction.
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I'm sure SOME want it, though I would think losing blu ray play back would be a much bigger feature loss than losing Kinect. I was just talking about directly compared to those who want a Kinect-less Xbone. I'd be willing to bet the ratio is much much larger in favor of the Xbone without Kinect. If MS wants to get their system down to 399.99, take that damn camera out!
 
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#480
#480
Brave Volunteer said:
I'm sure SOME want it, though I would think losing blu ray play back would be a much bigger feature loss than losing Kinect. I was just talking about directly compared to those who want a Kinect-less Xbone. I'd be willing to bet the ratio is much much larger in favor of the Xbone without Kinect. If MS wants to get their system down to 399.99, take that damn camera out!
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I personally still want the ability to play discs, just because for most games I still like having a physical copy, and I like having 2 or 3 Blu-ray players.

But as Blu-ray becomes the norm, I don't think the lack of a Blu-ray drive will be as big of a deal, because Blu-ray players are getting pretty cheap now.
 
#481
#481
VolsSportsFan said:
I personally still want the ability to play discs, just because for most games I still like having a physical copy, and I like having 2 or 3 Blu-ray players.

But as Blu-ray becomes the norm, I don't think the lack of a Blu-ray drive will be as big of a deal, because Blu-ray players are getting pretty cheap now.
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To me that's not the point though. Xbox One has been specifically marketed as a unit through which you can play any sort of media in your living room without ever having to turn anything off or switch any inputs. That's basically the reason I bought it over the PS4 because I can seamlessly switch between TV, movies and gaming. Seems like an odd choice to remove one of the key components of being able to watch movies, but then again, it's $100 less, so maybe its going to be marketed as a "gaming only" model to compete with PS4's price.
 
#482
#482
VolsSportsFan said:
I personally still want the ability to play discs, just because for most games I still like having a physical copy, and I like having 2 or 3 Blu-ray players.

But as Blu-ray becomes the norm, I don't think the lack of a Blu-ray drive will be as big of a deal, because Blu-ray players are getting pretty cheap now.
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Yeah but how many extra components do you want under your TV? Having the blu ray player included eliminates the need of one more piece of equipment connected.
 
#483
#483
Brave Volunteer said:
Yeah but how many extra components do you want under your TV? Having the blu ray player included eliminates the need of one more piece of equipment connected.
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This. I'd love to be able to only have 1 hook up for everything. However, my "cable box through the Xbone" doesn't work right. All of my channels don't sync up with the actual cable box guide. So for now I still have to use separate inputs for each.
 
#486
#486
#487
#487
bleedorange0037 said:
I sure as hell hope this doesn't happen.
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That's actually an interesting scenerio to think about. If that were to happen, does another company buy it up to try and get into the console race? Somebody like Samsung or Google maybe? Or would MS break it up and sell it in pieces?

Personally I don't think there's any chance in hell that happens but it's interesting to think about.
 
#488
#488
Brave Volunteer said:
That's actually an interesting scenerio to think about. If that were to happen, does another company buy it up to try and get into the console race? Somebody like Samsung or Google maybe? Or would MS break it up and sell it in pieces?
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I think if MS decided they wanted out of the console game, it would effectively be the death of the Xbox. They've spent the past 12-13 years turning it into what is IMO, the best gaming console on the market, and to cash out now would be disappointing. I've always liked their strategy of pushing the envelope and moving the gaming industry forward as opposed to Sony's reactionary strategy that seems to have them constantly behind the times. I know it kind of blew up in their face and led to them having to backtrack on a lot of things with the Xbox One release, but I think eventually we're going to end up right where they were trying to position the new console to begin with. We're just not there yet.
 
#489
#489
I agree with your opinion that this won't happen though. MS has worked too had, for too long, and spent too much money to get the Xbox brand where it is today to simply cash in their chips now.
 
#490
#490
bleedorange0037 said:
I think if MS decided they wanted out of the console game, it would effectively be the death of the Xbox. They've spent the past 12-13 years turning it into what is IMO, the best gaming console on the market, and to cash out now would be disappointing. I've always liked their strategy of pushing the envelope and moving the gaming industry forward as opposed to Sony's reactionary strategy that seems to have them constantly behind the times. I know it kind of blew up in their face and led to them having to backtrack on a lot of things with the Xbox One release, but I think eventually we're going to end up right where they were trying to position the new console to begin with. We're just not there yet.
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I just don't see a scenario where consoles go all digital. Console manufacturers NEED retailers to push their systems and it's a well known fact that no profit is made off of the sales of the hardware. Those are sold completely at cost. Retailers make their money off the sale of software and accessories. If companies like MS and Sony took the sale of the software out of the retailer's hands, what incentinve would they have to sell their consoles?

I also don't agree with your assessment of MS moving the gaming industry forward. With the exception of Live, I don't think MS has contributed much at all to the gaming industry. I hate their business practices and their bush league marketing strategies. Rather than paying off 3rd party companies for timed exclusivity and deceptive marketing ads (like only showing the Xbox logo at the end of Madden, insenuating that it can only be played on that platform), I'd much rather see MS invest more into growing their in-house development community and create more of a gaming identity for themselves. When I think Xbox I think Halo, Forza....and that's honestly about it. They have built the majority of their gaming library depending on 3rd party multiconsole titles (and among those a HUGE portion of that is Call of Duty alone) and I just personally don't care for that approach.
 
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#491
#491
Brave Volunteer said:
I just don't see a scenario where consoles go all digital. Console manufacturers NEED retailers to push their systems and it's a well known fact that no profit is made off of the sales of the hardware. Those are sold completely at cost. Retailers make their money off the sale of software and accessories. If companies like MS and Sony took the sale of the software out of the retailer's hands, what incentinve would they have to sell their consoles?
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We're slowly transitioning to a world where most of our shopping is done online. Eventually there will come a day where console manufacturers won't need the brick and mortar stores to push their product, but we're not there yet, and we really aren't even all that close.

There's also the used game market, which obviously game developers would like to see minimized, or wiped out altogether. However, I don't think that's going anywhere unless Sony and MS feel enough pressure from them that they're willing to team up to kill that market together. As we saw with the next-gen console launch last year, it's not going to work if just one console blocks used games, because people will just go buy the other one. It's going to take a team effort to weed that out.

Another issue is as consoles get better, and the data space required to play them increases, the speed of internet connection becomes a big concern. The idea of not having to wait in line at stores and have instant access to games upon their release is awesome in theory, but with games now pushing 40GB in size, you're looking at 3-4 hours to download a game even if you have a 25 mbps connection, and lots of people don't even have that. Some people won't mind just setting the download up and leaving it, but the hardcore gamers who have to have their game at midnight are just going to go out and buy a hardcopy so they can have it first.
 
#492
#492
Brave Volunteer said:
I also don't agree with your assessment of MS moving the gaming industry forward. With the exception of Live, I don't think MS has contributed much at all to the gaming industry. I hate their business practices and their bush league marketing strategies. Rather than paying off 3rd party companies for timed exclusivity and deceptive marketing ads (like only showing the Xbox logo at the end of Madden, insenuating that it can only be played on that platform), I'd much rather see MS invest more into growing their in-house development community and create more of a gaming identity for themselves. When I think Xbox I think Halo, Forza....and that's honestly about it. They have built the majority of their gaming library depending on 3rd party multiconsole titles (and among those a HUGE portion of that is Call of Duty alone) and I just personally don't care for that approach.
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LOLOL at "with the exception of Live". Moving gaming online is the single greatest leap forward for the industry in my lifetime, and MS's Live service was the catalyst for that change. MS understood that, saw it coming, and as a result, they flat out CRUSHED Sony in the early stages of the last-gen of consoles. In a lot of ways, even though they've made massive strides, Sony is still playing catch up on that front.

This past year, MS again tried to position themselves for what they saw as the future of the gaming industry and quickly found out the market wasn't ready for it. They ended up with egg on their face, and were forced to backtrack. I still think everything they were pushing will eventually play itself out, but it's going to be years down the line.
 
#493
#493
Also, you talk about MS not building their own identity through exclusive franchises, but so far they've had no need to. Thanks to an online service that was leaps and bounds better than the competition, they were able to get a majority share of the market though largely 3rd party titles. For almost a decade, LIVE WAS THEIR GAMING IDENTITY, and no one really came close to matching it.

Like I said though, Sony has made some decent strides on that front, and now that the services are getting closer to being comparable, MS may need to take the route you were describing to differentiate their console from Sony's.
 
#494
#494
bleedorange0037 said:
Also, you talk about MS not building their own identity through exclusive franchises, but so far they've had no need to. Thanks to an online service that was leaps and bounds better than the competition, they were able to get a majority share of the market though largely 3rd party titles. For almost a decade, LIVE WAS THEIR GAMING IDENTITY, and no one really came close to matching it.

Like I said though, Sony has made some decent strides on that front, and now that the services are getting closer to being comparable, MS may need to take the route you were describing to differentiate their console from Sony's.
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Well for one, I'm not a huge online gamer, especially the shooters. I just don't care for fast twitch, seizure-inducing gameplay and frankly I don't have enough time to get good enough to be competitive. Everytime I play online it's "die....respawn...die...respawn....die...respawn." LOL! So yeah, I'm the type of gamer that Sony's platform was more appealing to. I prefer story-driven titles that put more emphasis on single player. I have a friend who is all into Call of Duty and Battlefield. Owns every version that has come out. He spends HOURS playing it and that's all he plays! It's like military online shooters have created a huge ass distraction from any other kind of games or gaming for a lot of people. Like my friend, he has zeroed in on this one genre and it's like he cannot unplug from it. I tell him all the time he needs to try this game or that game. Nope! If it's not COD or Battlefield he's not interested! LOL!

You're absolutely right though. With the 360 MS didn't have to build their exclusivity. Don't get me wrong, I think Live is great and as a Sony guy, I'm thankful for Live because it made Sony improve their online service quick! Now the value of PS Plus is just amazing with all the free games and discounts you can get through it. For the little online gaming that I DO participate in, PS Plus suits me just fine.

I will say this though. To this day I still maintain that playing online is nowhere near as fun as when we used to have friends over to the house and we'd play local multiplayer games. Online simply cannot take the place of the togetherness of having everyone under the same roof, having a great time playing and trash talking.
 
#495
#495
MS has actually followed suit with their Live subscriptions and is offering free games as well.

I get how the online portion wouldn't appeal to gamers like you, but it has revolutionized the industry as a whole. Now that Sony is at least in the neighborhood of competing with MS from an online standpoint, it will interesting to see where they go from here.
 
#496
#496
Brave Volunteer said:
I will say this though. To this day I still maintain that playing online is nowhere near as fun as when we used to have friends over to the house and we'd play local multiplayer games. Online simply cannot take the place of the togetherness of having everyone under the same roof, having a great time playing and trash talking.
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Yes and no. Some of the best times I've ever had playing video games were when me and a bunch of friends were crammed around a TV playing Halo or COD 2. That said, once you get used to having your own TV, playing split screen just flat out blows. Now that most of my friends have their own consoles, the chat feature makes it just as much fun playing over the internet.
 
#497
#497
I prefer my own space. Maybe I am a loner... The occasional get-together is ok but I prefer online MP.
 
#498
#498
SmokeyVol said:
I prefer my own space. Maybe I am a loner... The occasional get-together is ok but I prefer online MP.
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This is pretty much me too. The nights of gaming at friends houses were fun 10-12 years ago when it was the only way, but with online affording everyone the option to play on their own screen at their own house, that just seems like a better way.
 
#499
#499
bleedorange0037 said:
This is pretty much me too. The nights of gaming at friends houses were fun 10-12 years ago when it was the only way, but with online affording everyone the option to play on their own screen at their own house, that just seems like a better way.
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I do like racing, sports, and fighting games for online simply because usually opponent A.I. is so attrocious in those kinds of games LOL! But then again those kinds of games aren't really dependent on any kind of story to drive them. I like first person shooters but only when there is a meaningful story-driven campaign attached to them. That's why COD and Battlefield have completely lost me. They are focusing so much now on multiplayer I just don't find those games fun anymore. I'm very much looking forward to Destiny because, while you're required to be online to play it, you can still play it as a single player experience.
 
#500
#500
Most of my friends have "outgrown" games or simply lost interest, so online multiplayer is all I got. I don't even use my headset unless I'm playing with someone I know online.

But I will say nothing will beat playing sports games against people in person, especially when they are close games. Some of my best memories are some dogfights in Tecmo Super Bowl, and later in NCAA and Madden; not to mention after college several friends had an NBA Jam and NFL Blitz get together. You would have thought we were watching the Final Four or something.
 
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