The_Rev Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Sounds like an acceptance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Interesting conversation/speculation on the Bombcast on the next gen from this week. Starts at 2:05:00 (ish) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 No optical drive means that all the titles people have at the moment wont be playable. I agree about microsofts desire to go digital download but there is a big difference between download / streaming a hd movie and download 4, 6 or 8 gig of game data. I dont doubt for one second that the next xbox after the 720 will be without an optical drive though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted January 10, 2013 Administrator Share Posted January 10, 2013 Sounds like an acceptance! It does?Why would MS care that your current games aren't playable? That's never been a significant issue for any console release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 The projector/VR Room thing that was mentioned earlier in the thread is currently being demo'd at CES by Samsung. It uses Kinect and a projector, and is called the Microsoft IllumiRoom...ooooooOOOOOoooooo...and basically does exactly what the earlier discovered patent said. Projects game specific stuff around the walls, ceiling and floor - be it snow, smoke, lasers. etc., and it can also be used to project the game screen beyond the edges of the TV to cover the whole wall. There are videos of it on Youtube. Although a Xbox360 is present at the display, that's just for show, and the thing is actually running from a PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 It does? Why would MS care that your current games aren't playable? That's never been a significant issue for any console release. Of the bet Mr Admin. It sounds like an acceptance of the bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted January 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2013 I hope so - how very exciting. And charity wins, yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted January 10, 2013 Administrator Share Posted January 10, 2013 Of the bet Mr Admin. It sounds like an acceptance of the bet. The site ran two posts together. P3te needs to confirm the bet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted January 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2013 I'm only speculating what they want to do, not what they will do... ...hmm?! ... NB. I am not saying this is the right thing to do, nor is it what I'd do. This is what I think MS will do. Cough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted January 10, 2013 Administrator Share Posted January 10, 2013 Your point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted January 10, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 10, 2013 Just a jokey comment at some incongruity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted January 10, 2013 Administrator Share Posted January 10, 2013 I've put my money where my mouth is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 The International Data Corporation (IDC) who are probably the top tech industry analysts in the world released an interesting report today. They suggest that while disc sales will (obviously) decline with the increasing popularity of digital distribution, they expect them to be the 'mainstay' of video game related income until at least 2016. (link) The report also gives the surprising fact that the PS3 has now outsold the 360 globally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) ^Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that is based on shipping estimates, rather than actual sales figures. It's generally accepted that worldwide sales for PS3 and 360 are basically equal. Some interesting tidbits in regard to the above discussions from a press conferance yesterday, in which Microsoft announced a new studio based in London - which will focus on creating games for tablets (Surface), rather than home consoles A new UK studio call Lift London has been announced by Microsoft, but it won’t be creating games for the Xbox 360 – but instead tablets. The chances of Microsoft not announcing its next generation Xbox home console by at least June now seems so remote as to be not worth considering. But as has been obvious for a few months now this creates a problem for publishers, who can’t announce their new games because the format they’re intended for hasn’t been made public yet. Microsoft themselves are subject to the same issues and they’re clearly champing at the bit to tell people about their future plans, and what exactly the next generation Xbox will be. This is all lead to a curiously vague press conference yesterday, in which Microsoft exec Phil Harrison (previously a key frontman at Sony Computer Entertainment) announced a new UK studio called Lift London. But rather than creating games for home consoles Lift London’s priority will be tablets, and although some titles may eventually make their way to Xbox Live Arcade and PC they’ll never be released as a physical retail product. ‘The shift is from packaged goods to connected products. We will continue to support retail with our products for sure. But we are going to keep creating features that are enhanced and improved by the network,’ said Harrison. ‘The traditional retail games release model, massive up-front-design and development costs, will change and as we do know is change. We will still see the big blockbuster games. But for the larger, networked gamers, we need to think of new business models.’ Harrison made it clear that Microsoft’s other games would be released on disc, as normal, in the next gen but the focus for Lift London is creating original new games, to experiment with new business models, and to encourage games with a much longer shelf-life, as it were, than traditional blockbusters. Lift London is being run by Rare veteran Lee Schuneman, and we were able to speak to him after the press conference to get a clearer idea of what all this means for Microsoft gaming. He started by explaining that Lift London’s location in the UK was no accident and that the whole project was focused specifically on Europe (no doubt a reaction to the fact that, on the Continent at least, the PlayStation 3 outsells the Xbox 360). ‘We care about the different regions, we care about Europe,’ said Schuneman. ‘We care about experiences that actually work in those regions. If you’re in Germany then the humour for the game has to fit. Or if you’re in Russia, or wherever else you are. We will be building experiences that work across those regions. And sometimes we’ll be building experiences specifically targeted at a part of a region too.’ Naturally this will involve working with local developers and part of the idea behind Lift London is that Shuneman will invite indie developers to work at their offices, offering them access to advice and equipment. London developer Dlala Studios will be the first work ‘in residence’, with others set to follow. One thing Harrison focused on in his speech was a move to ‘games as service’ a favourite industry phrase that has been bubbling under for years now. Shuneman though tried to demystify it: ‘This is about the consumer engaging with something that they really like. So you could call Coronation Street entertainment as a service: it exists for a long time, it’s always evolving and bringing it viewers along for the ride. ‘So don’t think about this being just about business models, think of it as creating new brands, new experiences that can last for a long time. And they last for a long time because consumers care about them.’ But there was still little in the way of specifics, particularly in terms of the pricing model for the games and their use of microtransactions. And Shuneman was also reticent to admit that any of this had anything to do with Microsoft’s next generation console plans, or a possible games-orientated version of their Surface tablet. ‘At the end of the day we have to keep creating experiences for whatever devices come. We’ve got some great devices out there right now with Surface and across mobile and across Xbox 360 and that’s where we’re focused right now,’ he said. But does all this suggest that, as some rumours suggest, the next generation Xbox isn’t going to be a single console but a number of different devices with the same branding? ‘It’s difficult to say if that’s a correct assumption,’ said Shuneman. ‘But definitely you should think of Xbox as being a wider entertainment brand that will span a number of devices.’ sorce Edited January 11, 2013 by hogso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted January 11, 2013 Administrator Share Posted January 11, 2013 It's good to see Microsoft sticking with their "one platform for all" strategy. That did't last long did it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted January 14, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2013 (edited) Some rumours.... Though, point 8 is rather suspect. 1 State of Decay and LocoCycle will be the stars of this year’s Summer of Arcade. 2 Shadow Complex 2 will finally be announced…as an Xbox Live Arcade launch title on the next-generation Xbox. 3 Said next-generation Xbox will be publicly announced at a special event one month or less prior to E3 in June. It will be broadcast live on Xbox Live and the Internet. 4 Microsoft will take a page from the Apple playbook and officially call the next-gen Xbox simply “Xbox.” Not Xbox 720, not Xbox Infinity, not anything else. We’ll casually refer to it as “The New Xbox” for a while until it’s not new anymore. 5 The New Xbox (see, we’re doing it already!) will cost $400 in its most popular/gamer-friendly configuration. Not a penny more. A basic, smaller-storage version will run you $350. 6 The New Xbox will be released in November and kick serious *** on both the tech bench and at retail store registers. 7 Bungie’s new game Destiny will be the headliner at Microsoft’s E3 press conference and be the flagship title for The New Xbox – though it will also release for Xbox 360. 8 Both the Xbox 360 and New Xbox versions of Destiny will be cross-compatible. It’s all the same Xbox Live, after all… 9 Meanwhile, Alan Wake 2 and Forza Motorsport 5 will be two of Microsoft’s biggest first-party (read: exclusive) launch titles for The New Xbox. 10 Harmonix will have a big new thing for Kinect 2.0 ready to go at The New Xbox’s launch. Edited January 14, 2013 by PieFacE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 The site ran two posts together. P3te needs to confirm the bet confirmed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 The report also gives the surprising fact that the PS3 has now outsold the 360 globally. if you factor in the fact that most, if not all, xbox 360 owners have owned more than 1 due to hardware failures, you'll actually see that the ps3 passed it out in terms of actual owners a long, long time ago. of course MS would never admit to that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted January 14, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2013 I think i've had about 4 Xbox's over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Some rumours.... Though, point 8 is rather suspect. I'm not saying it will happen (as I know nothing), but haven't Sony already done this with the PS3 and Vita? I'm pretty sure the advert for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale made of point of saying Vita and PS3 players can play together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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