Debating the 360 Elite's "eliteness"
Oh, thank God someone finally grew the balls to say what needed to be said. GamePro has the most awesome article up on their site about why the 360 Elite isn't as elite as Microsoft makes it out to be. Now, everyone who reads FWA knows just how much I hate this whole multimedia hub thing Microsoft has going. It's a console, not a freaking PC, damn it!
8. The machine isn't intended for gamers. Ultimately, the Elite has nothing to do with enhancing the gameplay experience; it's for multimedia whores. HDMI, a larger hard drive, new movies and TV content? Great. Remind me why the gamer in me cares? How will the Elite improve my games? From a game saving and demo download standpoint, a 20 GB hard drive is more than enough (hint: you were right the first time, Microsoft). After all, despite whom Elite is being pitched to, gamers are the ones really buying the product.
Thank you, GamePro. You have my everlasting respect. It might be Sony who claimed the PS3 was a computer, but it's Microsoft who are actually trying their very best to emulate a PC using the Xbox 360. And considering they already own Windows, this seems like the most retarded thing ever. Wouldn't these features have been better off on Live for Windows? Why not wait until Live for Windows to roll out the video marketplace and all that other crap?
The PS3 has two uses. Play movies and play games. Period. I'm not even sure what the 360 is supposed to be any more. Click the link above to check out the rest of the article at GamePro. The other seven points made are pretty good, too.
9 comments:
I didn’t kept up with the news about the Elite, I have to say that black is definitely an improvement, It still is a ugly machine tho. Why did MS went with that odd shape, why is that hard-disk outside the box, like it’s slapped on? You’re right tho, I don’t have the slightest interest in all the new stuff they added. HDMI might be nice for in the future but I believe they didn’t even add the latest version.
Yea, I really couldn't care less. I just want more good games and more variety. Very few people get this, but there's not much on the 360 that I really, really want to play. Assassin's Creed is one game, but that's on the PS3 as well. Then there's Bioshock, which is definitely worth a shot.
But other than that? Not much at all. I had high hopes for Bullet Witch, but that turned out rather sucky from what I hear. Oblivion is on the PC, and damned near every other game on there that's worth checking out is multiplatform.
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I really need to see more variety on that system before I even consider a purchase. And that's saying something, considering I'd be ready to buy a PS3 if I could afford one at this point. It's going to have a ton of variety on it.
Where they can't compete on software or "Innovative" game mechanics they'll add features to out do their rivals. Really if I'm going to spend $500-600 on a system it had better do more than just play games and I'm sure thats the logic both MS and Sony are applying.
Now, the real point is, instead of offering an Elite, should Microsoft instead be working on a new Core unit that is priced at $200-250 but isn't as crippled as the previous one? I know I'd be much happier grabbing something for the odd game at that price level as I'm sure people were with the PS2.
I'd agree with you on that but in all honesty, I think three SKUs is way too much. Two is OK, but three? Pushing it.
It causes confusion, it causes a large part of your consumer base to feel like they got the raw end of the deal, and it complicates things for no reason.
What I think they should do is maybe promote compatibility with the PC. It would be cool to make it so you could just use a PC game on the 360 with a mouse/keyboard setup. That would be mindblowing. It'd also be nice for people with low-spec PCs.
I'd like to see a low end ($200-$250) game centric device.
A PC card or certified GPU/CPU combos to allow Xbox games to run in Vista ($150-200).
Then a top end solution like the Elite for those who want a console based personal computer plugged into their tv.
You maintain your two SKUs and price points, give a sturdy fixed platform for developers to design to and still bring in PC gamers through the back door. However only MS are in a good position to do this which is why I'm not counting them out just yet. I think, 720 will be their last crack at it and if they don't get sucess there they might pull the plug.
Well, they've already seen enough success to keep them going at it for a while. They might not be raking in profits the way Nintendo is, but Microsoft's a big name in the gaming community now.
Oh yes, they've certainly established themselves but are they getting a return on all that investment?
Nintendo has no choice but to make a profit in this area but Microsoft can happily walk away knowing its other divisions are bringing in the money.
I'm sure they want to stay in it, but if they can't win or turn their position into something profitable why bother. Unlikely but the Live online stores and content are all nice profits right in their locked down portal, perhaps if they maximise that having a 50+ Million userbase won't be such an important factor in turning a profit.
I don’t think you can call it exactly a success story, they’re doing ok, only place where they doing better than the competition is there online service. There library is at best average. If I personally would rate it I say below average to only games I’m excited about are Sensible Soccer (a vamped up Amiga port) and some arcade fighting games with online modes, maybe Viva Pinata. The rest is a big grey mass of shooters, race and sport games. Sadly I don’t see a big change coming in software anytime soon. They sold about 10.000.000 units now. There only big succes was Gears.
If Sony would have released there PS3 around the same time and was not busy right now trying to get there act together it they wouldn’t even made to the 10.000.000.
I compare it to the F1, they a semi-top team that’s doing well because the top teams (I’m not counting Nintendo because they race in a different league) are doing worse right now, in the end it’s always harder for the the Semi-top to stay on top than for the top team to catch up. Maybe they get lucky and is the championship finished before the other team can pass them in points.
I just love the way Nintendo side stepped this whole arms race. No only has it saved them bankrupting themselves to build a system nobody can afford to buy but they have also given themselves a huge pocket of choice on where their future hardware goes while keeping costs realistic.
Your racing analogy is right. While MS and Sony play around in cars that race real fast but have no practical use, Nintendo are racing a street legal and picking up all the looks. :)
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