2011....will it be the beginning of the end for the Xbox 360?

[Coca Cola Duracell Franklin.]

The only truly valid point is Xbox players having less to look forward to because Microsoft doesn't make game announcements three years in advance like Sony does.

People freak out every year, and in the end, Microsoft always pulls through with a great year. This year will be no different.

 

[Erzengel]

My PS3 sits in a box waiting for a TV to be hooked up to it. It's going in my basement while I await Uncharted 3. Meanwhile upstairs in my family room rests my 360 soon to be connected to a 60" TV. I have Star Wars Unleashed, Fable 3, and Fallout: New Vegas to play while I await LA Noire, Gears of War 3 and Mass Effect 3.

I'm not trying to poo poo on Sony or praise the 360 but I rather play games on my 360.

 

[Benstamania]

I'd rather play single player games on the PS3. 360 gets the MP stuff... but I'm slowly getting out of that.

 

[Soapy]

As far as I'm concerned, the biggest thing the 360 has over the PS3 is that all my friends have 360s. If it wasn't for that, I would probably do most of my gaming on PS3.

 

[Benstamania]

I was kind of in the same boat, no my friends list on PS3 is about as large as my 360 friends list and if I'm going to be honest, I don't game with half of my friends on the 360, lol.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

I think a more appropriate thread would be "Why does Isildurs Heir need to create a thread asking a question that only he cares about and clearly already has his own answer."

This thread should be shut down. It's sole purpose is to take swipes at Xbox which will start yet another console debate which in turn will do nothing but spark arguments, trolling and negativity. Why not save everyone alot of time, frustration and effort, and shut this thread down?

Wouldn't life be easier if people talked more about the things they loved rather than the things they hated?

 

[Coca Cola Duracell Franklin.]

I think a more appropriate thread would be "Why does Isildurs Heir need to create a thread asking a question that only he cares about and clearly already has his own answer."

This thread should be shut down. It's sole purpose is to take swipes at Xbox which will start yet another console debate which in turn will do nothing but spark arguments, trolling and negativity. Why not save everyone alot of time, frustration and effort, and shut this thread down?

Wouldn't life be easier if people talked more about the things they loved rather than the things they hated?

In honesty, you get better and more intelligent discussion out of debates, rather than circle-jerks about how great some game or system is.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

I don´t want to start a new thread, so, let´s put this here:

- I just read that HipHopGamer just started the rumor that Ustream will go to the 360 this year.

Yeah, i know, HHP is not a good source for information, but this actually makes sense.
With Twitter, Facebook......it makes sense if you think about it, even more when you have Kinect.

 

[Iceman]

An interesting read. However, I don't believe that the 360 is going anywhere anytime soon. I own PS3, 360, wii & a high end PC & am a big fan of Sony & the service they've done to gaming with Playstation. But I find now 360 has become my primary gaming platform. The wii is packed away & the PS3 predominantly serves as a (great) blu-ray player.

I do agree that quality of single player exclusives has now swung in favour of Sony but, hardware deficiencies aside, the 360 has enjoyed such a strong headstart for about 3 years that it still has the momentum to carry on for a fair amount of time. Also with so many big games now available multiplatform, top multiplayer exclusives I think are possibly more important to cementing loyalty than single player (imagine if a console secured CoD as an exclusive) & Microsoft's Halo & Gears of War on XBOX Live are capable of keeping things ticking over by themselves! Like you I don't want any company to win a console war, rather that the level of competition drives all of them to offer the best possible product & to an extent I think we're getting somewhere close to that. As a result, the lifespan of the current console generation looks to be a lot longer than we have seen previously.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I remember reading a couple of months back something like 60% of people are on Xboxlive mainly for Call Of Duty.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

More on the all "2011 will about Kinect" thingy.
It seems that MS has something to announce on CES....

....aaaannnnnnddd it looks like is more of the same

 

[hippie_hunter]

I don´t want to start a new thread, so, let´s put this here:

- I just read that HipHopGamer just started the rumor that Ustream will go to the 360 this year.

Yeah, i know, HHP is not a good source for information, but this actually makes sense.
With Twitter, Facebook......it makes sense if you think about it, even more when you have Kinect.

I don't know about Ustream, but I do think that 2011 is going to see an explosion of applications for both the PS3 and 360.

I don't know about the 360 since I don't own a PS3, but considering the way Sony has been acting with their electronics beyond the PS3, I think that Sony is going to end up releasing Facebook and Twitter apps in 2011 just like their Sony Internet TV's. I think that Sony is going to expand their partnership with Google and have a YouTube app along with changing the Internet Browser to Google Chrome, just like their Internet TV. I think to counter the 360 getting ESPN3.com, I think that Sony will make a deal with the NBA and MLS/FIFA to create NBA League Pass for the PS3 and create an app for MLS/FIFA just like how the PS3 already has MLB.tv and NHL GameCenter. And I think that Last.FM will end up on the PS3 as well this year along with apps Pandora and NPR just like their blu-ray players and Internet TV.

While Microsoft seems to be a little behind on the app bandwagon, I think that this is the year that Microsoft will try and go all out with it as well after seeing the success that Apple and Google are having.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

Isildurs Heir, out of curiosity, have you used Kinect?

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Isildurs Heir, out of curiosity, have you used Kinect?

No................

 

[Wolvieboy17]

Cool. Was just wondering.............

 

[Wolvieboy17]

Cool. Was just wondering.............

 

[hippie_hunter]

The times I tried the Kinect demos it really felt like an updated Eye Toy. I really wasn't impressed.

 

[Grievous]

Microsoft might only have Gears 3 as their big fall title but with Kinect and their already well established Xbox Live community I can't see Xbox running into any serious problems.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

I was playing kinect at my friends house and was just amazed at how responsive it was. Even things like just scrolling through menus was a blast, and there was no accidental page turning or anything. I think it has some really exciting potential application, it just remains to be seen what will be done with it. I love the idea of integrating it in with controller gameplay though.

 

[Danalys]

they can survive on multiplatform titles for the incumbent users. new users they expect to come for Kinect. so they'll give them the Kinect games that shouldn't cost that much to produce and should have alright turn over. so they don't need more studios. they're happy to sit back raking in money off Kinect, live and licensing. even if it means ending up 3rd worldwide in total console sales for a year or so.

 

[elgaz]

Beginning of the end?

I don't think so. I'm sure Microsoft are working on a successor (the 360 has been on release for almost 6 years after all) but there is a huge Xbox 360 userbase out there, and they're not about to disappear anytime soon. The PS3 has done well but hasn't had the same degree of success as the Xbox, with part of the problem being the initial price at it's launch, which was crazy - and also the lack of an epic game - such as GT5 - for so long. The Xbox has kinda become synonymous with the hugely successful Call of Duty series, even though they are also available on numerous other formats, and this has helped it no end. I know that I spend about 90% of my time on Xbox Live playing COD, be it MW2 or Black Ops, and between that and Forza they were my main reasons for getting the console.

With regards to people having 'allegiance' to one kind of console - seriously, grow up.

I'm old enough to remember the insane bickering that went on back in the day between SNES and Megadrive (Genesis in USA I think?) owners . . . . we almost had fights on our bus going to school because of people arguing over which was better. Who cares?? As long as you enjoy your favourite console, there's no need to run down every other console or try and convince people that your opinion about the console is more valid than theirs.

I have an Xbox 360 slim which I love, but I also fully appreciate the PS3 and PC gaming experiences - and if I wasn't careful with my money, I'd probably end up with one of each console. Again, harking back to the old days, when I had a SNES and Gameboy, I also loved the odd time I'd get a play on a Gamegear, Saturn, or whatever. They all have their own pros and cons . . . . . . . variety is the spice of life people!

 

[hippie_hunter]

I was playing kinect at my friends house and was just amazed at how responsive it was. Even things like just scrolling through menus was a blast, and there was no accidental page turning or anything. I think it has some really exciting potential application, it just remains to be seen what will be done with it. I love the idea of integrating it in with controller gameplay though.

The Kinect menu was cool and it was responsive, but I found the software demoed to be rather boring. I think that the Kinect's biggest problem is going to be despite being great hardware, it's going to be plagued with ****** games.

 

[Erzengel]

But almost every system in the beginning suffers from the barrage of crappy games when they are first released. 360 and PS3 both had like a handful of good games in it's 1 - 3 years when they were released.

 

[Wolvieboy17]

The games were fun enough but i'm over the party type games. All that impressed me was how responsive the software was compared to when I first used a Wii, and the fact that it's controller free means it has so many more applications than Wii did. I haven't bought one yet, but as soon as they announce a proper hardcore gamer game with Kinect integration, I will be very interested. I think it's impressive hardware and it just makes Wii look all the more gimmicky considering they're 4 years in and still most of they're games are about either waggling or simulating a snes controller.

 

[Iceman]

Anyone who's at all serious about ganming has probably already bought one of the main consoles at this point. So really it's mainly the casual crowd left to fight over which Kinect seems to be making inroads into (whether or not it's any good).

The userbase has already been firmly established & those with Xboxes can easily survive on the many quality multiplatform titles out there (as mentioned above). The only way I could see things going downhill is if everyone started cancelling their XBox Live accounts.. but it only takes a handful of good multiplayer games to prevent that & as long as CoD, Halo & Gears (& Battlefield Bad Company personally) continue to have relevant games out, I can't see this happening either.