Topic: XboxOne ~News/Rumor/Speculation~ Biggest Console Released This Gen!!

[TJ Spyke]

because alot of people will not buy a console with DRM.

The sales have dropped a lot, but people still play PC games despite being full of DRM.

[Ymeegod]

Have you see PC sales?  Very few titles sell well anymore (Starcraft/Diablo and some MMOs) and it's why you see more and more developers dropping PC support.  DRM wasn't help piracy all that much on the PC. 

And if rumors are true, MS is going with a completely new API this generation making porting games to PC that much harder so you'll see even less software available in the future. 

[Chozo Ghost]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony includes DRM in the PS4. Sony has a long history with DRM - Hell they are practically the founding fathers of DRM, so yeah.

This means the Wii U will probably be the only system without it. Maybe that will help cement their dominance in this generation? I hope that is the case. Its certainly a great thing for consumers and used game retailers, but on the other hand developers may not like it and for that reason 3rd party support might suffer, but then again Nintendo has always had poor 3rd party support, so what's the difference?

[Enner]

Have you see PC sales?  Very few titles sell well anymore (Starcraft/Diablo and some MMOs) and it's why you see more and more developers dropping PC support.

PC games sell well enough for some specialty developers to continue making games. If anything, support for PC versions of multiplatform games has grown in these past few years. It's just that there is much more money to be made on consoles due to the wider audience. However, if you have a crazy game where it's possible to have crazy fan base, it would be easiest to succeed on the PC.

[NWR_insanolord]

Have you see PC sales?  Very few titles sell well anymore (Starcraft/Diablo and some MMOs) and it's why you see more and more developers dropping PC support.  DRM wasn't help piracy all that much on the PC. 

Remember, the numbers we see of PC games only include sales of physical games. Steam sales aren't included in that, and I don't think most other digital sales are either. You point out that Starcraft, Diablo and some MMOs sell well; it's probably not a coincidence that those are things that aren't available on Steam.

[Ymeegod]

Actually the developers post their own numbers which include digital copies and the numbers are low.  Crysis 2 for example sold something like 50% on the Xbox 360, 30% on the PS3, and 15% on the PC.  But if you look at torrent sites nearly 5 MILLION people downloaded the PC version where on the Xbox only 500K did.  That's the difference.  It's not there isn't PC gamers it just there's alot more piracy that's eating into sales. 

[Ymeegod]

Pirated games for 2011:

"PC Game Downloads
1. Crysis 2     (3,920,000)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3     (3,650,000)
3. Battlefield 3     (3,510,000)
4. FIFA 12     (3,390,000)
5. Portal 2     (3,240,000)

Wii Game Downloads
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2     (1,280,000)
2. Mario Sports Mix     (1,090,000)
3. Xenoblade Chronicles     (950,000)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean     (870,000)
5. FIFA 12     (860,000)

Xbox 360 Game
1. Gears of War 3     (890,000)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3     (830,000)
3. Battlefield 3     (760,000)
4. Forza Motorsport 4     (720,000)
5. Kinect Sports: Season Two     (690,000)"

----------------------------------------------------
PC gamers are just killing themsleves. 

[Enner]

PC gamers are just killing themsleves. 

In terms of dumb blockbuster games, yes. There is plenty of life in PC games of different scopes and scales. From small games like The Binding of Issac, to sprawling simulations like the X series and Railworks, and to smartly-produced big games like The Witcher 2, PC gaming is in a healthier state then some would think.

The Witcher 2 is a bad example to cite given recent news of that game in relation software piracy.

[Chozo Ghost]

If the NeXbox is 6 times more powerful than the 360 then referring to it as xbox720 would be inaccurate because 720 is only double the 360, right? Instead it should be called Xbox2160 because 2160 is the number you get when you multiply 360 by 6.

[Lithium]

true but chances are they're going to go with a different naming convention this time around, I just like to call whatever the next xbox is the "xbox 3" but thats just me.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Xbox World Magazine: XboxNext has a touchscreen controller!!!
Not bulky like Wii U but sleek like Vita and in HD...

The next Xbox will be a matt-black media hub with a mission to bring games to life in your living room with augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player finger-tracking Kinect. We told you all that last month. This month, our sources tell us it will have a touchscreen, too.

Microsoft are experimenting with a tablet-like controller with a shape closer to Sony's sleek Vita handheld / Apple's iPad than Wii U's bulky unit - it's an HD screen surrounded by the traditional 360 buttons and sticks.

On 360 that touchscreen will be second only to Kinect in how you operate your console. It could be a remote control when you're watching TV, a browser when you're on the internet, extra buttons and information when playing a game or a portable display when you want to take your game with you.

..

Expect to see the next Xbox at E3 this June.

No one is missing out on this idea this time around it seems...

[TJ Spyke]

The Wii U controller is not really bulky.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm only repeating what they said... so don't smite me over it... oooops too late.

But I agree based on what I've heard and seen in pics, the Wii U controller looks perfectly fine. It just need to be in black.

[TJ Spyke]

I would be surprised if Nintendo doesn't offer a black Wii U, though who knows when it would happen.

As for the rumor, it wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft (and Sony) do it. If something is successful, you can assume the competition will try to copy it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Mark Rein: Unreal Engine 4 for "systems we can’t name yet."
notice that that is plural. Pay attention to those PS4 & Xbox720 rumors. we just might see 1 or both at E3 this year.

The DICE summit is currently taking place as awards are being handed out and moments ago Mark Rein took the stage. While talking about Unreal Engine 4 he said that the graphics engine was running on “systems I can’t talk about by name.” This would obviously point to the next generation of consoles being pretty far into development. Let the rumors continue to come out of the woodworks!

UPDATE: The quote was technically “Including systems we can’t name yet.”

There are lots of rumors surrounding the Xbox720, and when it comes to MS, where there is smoke, there is usually a fire. Can't say for sure if it will be at E3, but I expect them to reveal it at some point this year.

[Chozo Ghost]

Whenever we hear rumors about some new console we automatically assume it must be something made by Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, but what if a new console gets unveiled made by someone else? Its entirely possible. These last two generations we've had three players and that's it, but in every generation prior there were other players which came and went. Some made it big like Sega and Atari, but there were others that only deserve a footnote like 3D0 and Neo Geo and Turbografix and so on.

But anyway, its not impossible that this upcoming eighth console generation might see someone else enter the game. Maybe Sega will return? Its not impossible, right? Or maybe Apple will jump in. Or maybe someone else who is completely outside our radar will step out of the woodwork and unveil some new console. Anything is possible, right?

[BlackNMild2k1]

There was a rumor about Apple making a console a while back, but then I think someone reminded them of the Pippin and then Apple decided that a TV was a better route to take if they wanted to take over the livingroom.

Have you heard about the AppleTV?

I could make a new thread about the rumored device if you want. I'm sort of an anti-Apple person, but it's not because of the hardware they make, it's the subculture and and closed environment that they promote, but I could still fill you in on some of the stuff about it. Could be an interesting thread.

[Adrock]

The Pippin was created during Steve Jobs' exile/absence from Apple and it was one of the products he immediately discontinued upon his return. Apple typically enters emerging markets rather than established ones. That allows them to create their own rules about what a product in a growing market should be like. I've never really been convinced that Apple, with its company culture so ingrained in how Steve Jobs did business, would want to release a home video game console. Games on iDevices are just something that they do rather than something that they're made for. Considering the structure of the gaming industry, I don't think there's a way for Apple to make a grossly unbelievable profit from it, even if they attempted to reinvent the wheel. It's probably not worth it for them.

I've heard some people say that Nintendo should team up with Apple but that's just silliness. Apple demands almost complete control of their products. I can't imagine Nintendo ceding that much power to another company. At that point, Nintendo would almost become a glorified 3rd party developer on Apple hardware. I don't see how that benefits Nintendo at all.

[Chozo Ghost]

Go ahead and post it in a thread, BnM. This general gaming forum is for the discussion of all game consoles, even the rumored and unconfirmed ones.

As for the failure of the Pippin, it was priced at $599 and had very little software support. Even Sony and their ultra popular Playstation brand struggled at that price point, and let's not forget that $600 was worth a lot more in 1995 dollars, so yeah.

I think Apple being the powerhouse that they are today could succeed now where they had failed back in 1995. They have enough money now that they could make stuff happen, and more importantly people take them seriously and would be a lot more eager to jump onto their bandwagon. All they would practically have to do is tell developers they are making a game console and they would probably just jump on board immediately, because that's just how big the Apple brand is these days.

So I don't think the failure of the Pippin has any relevance to the argument of whether Apple should or shouldn't create a console today. That's the same sort of logic as saying Nintendo shouldn't have made the 3DS because of the Virtual Boy.

[Ceric]

You know what does have relevance in this discussion is that believe that this is only a 3 console generation.  Its actually not.  We as gamers just don't recognize things like the Leap Frog lineup.  There are a couple of children only consoles out there.

[Chozo Ghost]

Ceric, do you think Leapfrog might be that unnamed console that the Unreal 4 engine is being ported to?

[BlackNMild2k1]

hey guys, the Pippin reference was a joke.

But as seeing that the Mac lineup already has a hard time getting real games made for it, I don't think Apple is interested in a dedicated games console.

The AppleTV, from what I've heard about it is much more up their alley. I'll post a thread sometime much later today.

[Ceric]

Ceric, do you think Leapfrog might be that unnamed console that the Unreal 4 engine is being ported to?

That would be awesome.  Now that Tad has aged out of the education programs, he's at least in college now, he's looking for some Real Edutainment.

LeapFrog XTreme.  Fraggin Noobs and Learning Numbers. 
That's some Calculus for ya Bitches!

For ages 18 and up

[NWR_insanolord]

Steve Jobs was on record as not giving a **** about gaming. He actually actively discouraged games early in the Mac's life because he didn't think that was fitting for the image he wanted to create for it. He seemed to have softened on that more recently, and Mac gaming has taken huge strides in the last couple years, largely thanks to the Mac version of Steam and also the Mac App Store.

And as someone who owns an AppleTV, that thing is woefully underutilized. It's a good product, and is a great choice for a Netflix/media streaming device if you own other Apple products, but it could do so much more than it currently does and Apple doesn't seem to have much interest on doing it.

[Ceric]

Knowing people who own an AppleTV.  There is nothing it really does that couldn't be done cheaper and/or better by a lot of other boxes.