The next Xbox

[divine visitor]

I don't think a new Xbox would be on the cards until late 2010.

I do wonder though, about games like Resident Evil 5. If it gets a 2009 release, do the developers then start planning RE6 for current generation, or for next? I doubt developers would like having spent so much money and resources on one game and then having to develop new tech all over again for the next gen.

[DarhkFox]

It depends how MS play it. Xmas 2009 might be a little soon - they would be silly to announce it at E3 this year because of the forthcoming games like RE5, GOW2 etc

But next year is anyones guess. I really cant see any huge titles, besides perhaps Bioshock 2.

360 is clearly not selling as well as it should be for this time in its life. I personally have no issues with my machine and will gladly be happy if it lasts till 2010 onwards (well if it doesnt RROD before then).

However I can see Nintendo lining up a followup to the Wii in perhaps 2010 or at least announcing it. I can not see how Wii sales will continue to strive during 2009 so surely Nintendo are working on a new system - hopefully with at least 360 type graphics and enchanced wiimote support.

MS is obviously going to try and get the casuals in from the start next time round - this was clearly a HUGE mistake - something the PS3 will have to also battle against in the fourthcoming year.

PS3 will easily be around till 2011-2012 pressuming developers stick with the system. It's more than capable to cope with the latest tech (well if its written specifically for it) and Im sure a lot more 1080p supported titles will eventually be released.

MS really need to make their next machine perfect, otherwise their name will be forever associated with dodgy prone to break machines. The amount of people I know who have a RROD story is unbelieable. The fact that MS *still* have not rectified this problem does not look good for the future.

[tobert]

I read somewhere that they've frozen the Xbox 360 dashboard. No new features.

If that's true then it looks like the team have moved on to the next machine. Hopefully they'll come up with a way to deal with more than a couple of dozen LiveArcade titles.

I wonder how Sony will fare if MS bring out a seriously enhanced 720 in a year or two. And perhaps Nintendo bring out the HD Wii which is comparable to the current machines? Could put a bit of a spanner in the 10year plan for PS3.

I was thinking about this the other day and wondered what if MS (or the other console Manufacters) came out and said they don't need to produce new hardware but will release a Firmware/dash reboot .

So you would get a completely new dashboard ("xbox Vista") and perhaps MS would integrate new tech in the background such as the lastest version of Direct X to give everything a little boost in the background.

I honestly can't see this happening this generation (espcially with the shonky hardware) but there must be a buiness case for rebooting your system (and generating loads of hype in the process) whilst keeping your several million stall base. I can see the count down timers until "xbox 360 2.0" on the old dash now...

[Fugitive]

However I can see Nintendo lining up a followup to the Wii in perhaps 2010 or at least announcing it. I can not see how Wii sales will continue to strive during 2009 so surely Nintendo are working on a new system - hopefully with at least 360 type graphics and enchanced wiimote support.

Will Nintendo sell another new and improved Wii to the masses though? Surely to those from outside the usual sphere of gaming - those who have made the Wii the phenomenon it undeniably is - the Wii, as it stands, is all the Wii they'll ever need.

[DarhkFox]

I was thinking about this the other day and wondered what if MS (or the other console Manufacters) came out and said they don't need to produce new hardware but will release a Firmware/dash reboot .

So you would get a completely new dashboard ("xbox Vista") and perhaps MS would integrate new tech in the background such as the lastest version of Direct X to give everything a little boost in the background.

I honestly can't see this happening this generation (espcially with the shonky hardware) but there must be a buiness case for rebooting your system (and generating loads of hype in the process) whilst keeping your several million stall base. I can see the count down timers until "xbox 360 2.0" on the old dash now...

You can't just patch a dirext x 9 graphic card into direct x 10 then. It's got extra hardware onboard, i dont see how that could really be patched. Sticking a new "OS" ala dashboard on the machine is more likely to slow it down if Vista is anything to go by.

[tobert]

You can't just patch a dirext x 9 graphic card into direct x 10 then. It's got extra hardware onboard, i dont see how that could really be patched. Sticking a new "OS" ala dashboard on the machine is more likely to slow it down if Vista is anything to go by.

True, didn't think of that, but I still think there will become a time when services are more important that grunt (you could argue that time is already here with the wii). So i do wonder if MS will market their updates better so joe public sees it as a real selling point (or infact is aware of them at all).

Imagine if they stripped out everything which is there and completely rebuilt/designed it to cope with the amount of content on the system with a sexy front end plus tied that in with some big new features (how about a flash games channel via an offical MS portal with free games paid for by advertising)

[Ryan]

Can't see it for another 3 years yet, at the least. I just don't think the hardware's there. Plus we're kinda hitting the point where real world performance might be reaching an geometric improvement point through multiprocessor problem-specific chips.

..and whatever I say, the software certainly isn't there. It'd expect it to take another two years or so for a decent tool chain to be developed to make programming massively multicore efficient, and another 1-2 for the best developers to learn it (more for the less talented).

[ras el hanout]

Guys, you don't honestly think the next Xbox will appeal to you guys do you? Come on. You don't honestly think Microsoft are going to make another hardcore gaming machine? Bill Gates didn't get rich writing cheques. The next Xbox won't be an Xbox. It might play games but it'll be cheap and easy to use and you'll all fucking hate it.

[DarhkFox]

Will Nintendo sell another new and improved Wii to the masses though? Surely to those from outside the usual sphere of gaming - those who have made the Wii the phenomenon it undeniably is - the Wii, as it stands, is all the Wii they'll ever need.

It's hard to believe that Nintendo will be able to recreate the sucess of the Wii and DS. One ponders whether this generation will be remembered as "the wonder years" of gaming, before things take a tumble in the early twenty-teen years.

The Wiis major selling points are obviously waggle and the fact its cheaper (or was cheaper) than its competitors. Word of Mouth and heavy advertising has done wonders for the wii and has given it the casual image that is raking in the big bucks, something MS and Sony can only dream about.

I don't see what Nintendos big pull will be next gen, but they can only hope their fanbase is big enough to support a new system.

[ras el hanout]

I don't see what Nintendos big pull will be next gen, but they can only hope their fanbase is big enough to support a new system.

Games people want to play? That's worked pretty well for them for the last 25 years. People are all too quick to suggest Nintendo just stumble on these things.

Where would nintendo be without Pokemon, they used to cry. Where would Nintendo be without the Gameboy. Where would they be without the DS. Where would they be without the Wii?

[Fugitive]

Guys, you don't honestly think the next Xbox will appeal to you guys do you? Come on. You don't honestly think Microsoft are going to make another hardcore gaming machine? Bill Gates didn't get rich writing cheques. The next Xbox won't be an Xbox. It might play games but it'll be cheap and easy to use and you'll all fucking hate it.

Sadly, I think this may not be too far from what happens. I reckon there's a good chance the next Xbox will be a 'Mii too' console.

[Comrade]

I read somewhere that they've frozen the Xbox 360 dashboard. No new features.

What about this new Avatars thing though? That's on the Dashboard, isn't it?

Anyway, here's what I think will happen: this E3, Microsoft will at least obliquely reference a new machine. Next E3 it's "officially" announced with some hardware demos and CG trailers. E3 after that MS have playable demos of their games, and then that Christmas it comes out. That's in 2010. It came out (in the States) in 2005, so that's a console cycle of 5 years, which is perfectly reasonable.

[Okotta]

Will you still be playing on that shitty telly of yours once the PS4 and the xbox720 are out, Okotta?

Lol HDTV's.

The TV in this photo is the TV you want to play games on. And you'd want an official RGB cable too of course.

[Kryptonian]

With the investment in the PS3, Sony have to support it for at least another 4 years before they could announce anything remotely new. MS however have the luxury of launching something earlier but what apart from more grunt could the console offer ? we have already moved to motion sensing/online/hd gaming. MS will truly have to innovate this time.

Hard Drive as standard!

[squirtle]

I posted ages ago - in fact I started a thread on it - that we would see the next Xbox by Xmas 2010.

I still stand by that.

[ras el hanout]

Lol HDTV's.

The TV in this photo is the TV you want to play games on. And you'd want an official RGB cable too of course.

Did you buy those speakers from Judge Reinhold when he was starring in kidnapping crime caper, Ruthless People.

[Meh]

Lol HDTV's.

The TV in this photo is the TV you want to play games on. And you'd want an official RGB cable too of course.

Why would you want to run your HD console through an SDTV? Because like, one or two games are a tiny bit smoother? You're fucking mental, especially if you think the PS3 looks like anything but AIDS in SD.

[Okotta]

Hard Drive as standard!

They did that in 2001 with the original Xbox. They failed to do it in 2005 because MS suddenly became idiots.

[Kryptonian]

They did that in 2001 with the original Xbox. They failed to do it in 2005 because MS suddenly became idiots.

That was my joke, yes.

[Okotta]

Why would you want to run your HD console through an SDTV? Because like, one or two games are a tiny bit smoother? You're fucking mental, especially if you think the PS3 looks like anything but AIDS in SD.

You obviously haven't seen MGS 4 on my TV, so fuck off.

I'm not going into the SDTV Vs. HDTV discussion in this thread, so don't even go there.

[ras el hanout]

Leaves the door open for Sony.

It's like the trenches: Sony and Microsoft at one end and Nintendo at the other. If MS go over the top they'll be shot to pieces. Unless they have excellent 'weapons', that is.

You don't believe Sony are going to fuck up again by making a console that apeals to you guys, do you? I used to wonder where they got the people who appeared on The Apprentice from. Seems like they found them here.

Next gen you're getting back in the bedroom with your PCs, I'm afraid. Fun has invaded the living room and everybody's on board.

[Super Craig]

Why would you want to run your HD console through an SDTV? Because like, one or two games are a tiny bit smoother? You're fucking mental, especially if you think the PS3 looks like anything but AIDS in SD.

Some people can't afford an HDTV you know.

[Ryan]

You obviously haven't seen MGS 4 on my TV, so fuck off.

I'm not going into the SDTV Vs. HDTV discussion in this thread, so don't even go there.

Depends on the sets, obviously.

[JPickford]

What about this new Avatars thing though? That's on the Dashboard, isn't it?

Yeah. And that's been written. I meant they've just frozen it.

[Okotta]

Did you buy those speakers from Judge Reinhold when he was starring in kidnapping crime caper, Ruthless People.

The setup in the photo is not mine. I just did a search on Google on Sony KV-32FX60E and this photo turned up.

The TV in the photo is the same as mine.

[fatoy.japa]

You obviously haven't seen MGS 4 on my TV, so fuck off.

I used to own that very TV, even ran my 360 through it for the first few months of its lifespan so I could hazard a good guess. I eventually gave mine away because, weird overscan and only one RGB scart input aside, HD was proving to be quite the resolution du jour and I wanted to see what I was missing out on.

I suppose I'd still use it for my older consoles if I'd had the room to hang on to it. It was a very nice SDTV.

[imp]

People spoke about the first Xbox as just a means of getting the brand out there. That's strange for one thing. Playstation didn't need a practise generation.

.::: The Saturn.

I rest my case.

The Sega Saturn?

Which was of the same generation of consoles?

Wat?

[ras el hanout]

The setup in the photo is not mine. I just did a search on Google on Sony KV-32FX60E and this photo turned up.

The TV in the photo is the same as mine.

My mistake.

[Super Craig]

I think he's saying that Sony had no competition. At the start anyway.

[MK-1601]

I suppose Bach can promise whatever he likes, he knows there's no way MS will be developing another 'big box' console. Expect bigger hard disks and incremental upgrades from here on in. If they still can't woo the casual market, they might not even bother with that. With plummeting hardware prices, digital distribution and Windows 7 on the horizon it simply makes no sense to keep throwing away money subsidising proprietary hardware.

All of the current gen consoles are going to have a loooong lifespan, for one reason or another.

...

I also think tobert's idea is not that far fetched. Once disc-based game sales fall off, slap in a new firmware that's geared towards digital downloads (and unlocks being able to read USB HDDs, etc., for people with Cores).

Anyway, here's what I think will happen: this E3, Microsoft will at least obliquely reference a new machine. Next E3 it's "officially" announced with some hardware demos and CG trailers. E3 after that MS have playable demos of their games, and then that Christmas it comes out. That's in 2010. It came out (in the States) in 2005, so that's a console cycle of 5 years, which is perfectly reasonable.

What you fail to take into account is that in between 2005-2008 MS had to face a $1bn+ repair bill and the (multi-$100m) failure of the HD-DVD addon, which will have soured the prospect of rushing another machine to market. They'll be sticking with the 360 in one form or another for as long as possible.

I just want the current 360 controller with a better d-pad for the next xbox. No waggle nonsense please

Thankfully the Wii's phenomenal success has ensured that no hardware manufacturer is going to cater to people stuck in the 1990s. Consoles have pointing devices now, get over it.