m a big fan of lists. and it seems that gameplayer.com is as well. They just recently published an article titled 10 Reasons The Next Xbox Will Launch In 2009. The excuses for such were pretty lackluster, in my opinion, and seemed rather fanboyish. (No, I'm not a 360 fanboy. Anyone from PS3informer can vouch for me) So, I'll be publishing their points and why I disagree with them.
1: The Xbox 360 is unreliable.
True, but instead of rolling out a new console, why not just fix the current one with a new motherboard? Fixing the problems on the 360 is a lot more cost effective than introducing a new console and the consumers won't feel as cheated since they get free repairs.
2: The Xbox 360 has a three-year warranty.
“the three-year retroactive warranty now in place for all Xbox 360 owners. It was a big decision, putting that warranty plan into place. Console owners now need pay nothing for repairs in the first three years of a 360’s life. It’s estimated this scheme will ultimately cost Microsoft over one billion American dollars. And billion-dollar decisions are not taken lightly. A lot of time and thought went into choosing that number. Why not two years? Why not four? Why not a ‘lifetime’ warranty? The simplest answer may well be that three years is the effective lifetime of the Xbox 360. Beyond that, the world will have moved on…”
Or enough time to get that previously mentioned motherboard into stores. 360 launched in 05, the new motherboard will be here around August of 08. If there was a new console coming next year, we'd heard about it by now.
3: The Xbox 360 Dragged Its Feet On Wireless Guitars.
You don’t roll out a new system just to enable wireless support for a few guitars. MS could just as easily let devs use their proprietary wireless for free.
4: The Xbox 360 Doesn’t Have HDMI as standard.
“This new wave of cheap flat screens will arrive sooner than you think. Don’t be terribly surprised if Christmas ’09 sees the debut of LCD 1080p screens for under $1000. HDMI will come standard on all those sets, along with digital TV receivers. The rip-off merchants that make HDMI cables may even bring the price down by then, too.
The point is, HDMI will be standard. And right now, that particular socket is not standard on Xbox 360s. Even if it was, 720p is still the de-facto resolution for 360 output; 1080p wasn’t part of the console’s original vision, and only added later via a firmware update.”
Assuming the new TVs will not allow for either composite or component then, yes, this would be a problem. But since crazy fanboy land is not part of the real world, there doesn't seem to be a problem.
5: The Xbox 360 doesn’t have a hard drive as standard.
Their entire point is moot because a person can easily add a HDD to their console. 20 gig not enough? buy the 120 gig HDD. (albeit at an inflated price due to having to buy specialized HDDs for the 360.)
6: The Xbox 360 doesn’t have Wi-Fi as standard.
Cry me a river. You can easily buy a Wi-Fi adapter, you don’t need a whole new system for it.
“There are health & safety considerations, too. Penny Arcade readers will recall the fate of Gabe and Tycho’s friend Jim, who got tangled in the cords behind their telly and never escaped. His skeletal remains are a grim reminder of the plastic shackles of 20th century technology.”
Do these people know that Jim is a fictional character?
7: The Xbox 360 is limited to DVD for games storage.
This point might have some legs but we didn’t have a problem using multiple disks for the PS1 and I doubt we will here. The only problem is that there are games that’ll be very uncomfortable playing with 2 disks. (GTA would be an example of that. Having to switch disks for different cities would be a pain.)
8: The Xbox 360 is ugly and loud.
Much like your mom. I’m just playing, I’m sure she’s pretty. But who cares if the system is ugly? I’m not going to be staring at it when I’m playing games.
“Its physical size is also a turn-off – it’s still basically just a PC in a different case. All the removable face-plates in the world can’t conceal that fact.”
Neither the Xbox’s nor PS3's size bothers me because I’m not carrying it anywhere. And it’s a lot smaller than a PC.
“Then there’s the ring. The ring of LEDs, now synonymous with the dreaded triple-red-light malfunction indicator of death. Even when the system is working perfectly, those lights are a reminder of failure. They have to go – and the only way to get rid of them is to start from scratch.”
This should be up with point #1
“Oh, we almost forgot – the 360 is the noisiest video game console ever made. It grinds, it whirs, it grunts, and it does its level best to drown out whatever game you’re playing. The noise issue is definitely a ‘do over.’”
No need to start from scratch because a system is too noisy. Just use a better fan.
9: The Xbox 360 is failing in Japan.
I doubt rolling out an Xbox 5000 will change that. Japanese people like certain types of games. Games they can get more of on the DS, wii, PSP and PS3.
10: Microsoft, and everyone else, considers the Xbox disposable.
This one is just pure speculation.
”Why? That’s the way Microsoft works. It’s a company that has made countless billions by endlessly rolling out new and (supposedly) improved products, making arbitrary changes to consign older software to the dustbin of history (with the exception of Notepad – you can’t improve on perfection). Microsoft makes money not by producing superior technology, but by forcing people to upgrade.”
That’s just the way things go. Out with the old, in with the new. Nintendo has dropped support for all of its consoles once the newer ones hit the market. The Sega add-ons aside, Sony is the only company that supported its consoles even when a newer one was on the market.
Microsoft is in the video game business to make money. They’ve even stated that unless they can make money this time around, they’re dropping out. Don’t fret. They’re expected to be in the black in 2008. All the more reason to stay longer rather than start all over again.
The only reason I can foresee Microsoft of launch another system in 2009-2010 would be if consumers flock toward the wii and disregard the 360 and PS3 completely. The third-party publishers and developers make a mass exodus to that platform and disregard the other two due to high development costs and small profit-margins. Keep in mind that this is the worst case scenario and I highly doubt this will happen given the 360s high hardware and software sales.
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