Microsoft Says ‘No Need’ for New Console

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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During a briefing at CES last week, the senior director of Xbox product management, David Hufford, said that tech like Project Natal extends the life of the 360 and that “there is no need to launch a new console.” Maybe he should talk to all of the people with hardware problems before he goes any further.

”There is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal," said David Hufford, senior director of Xbox product management in a briefing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life, and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."
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you mean the hardware problems that were fixed nearly a year ago?
 
Good. Maybe developers will start to migrate back to the PC after a few years. I cant imagine them wanting to work with now antiquated hardware for 4-5 more years.
 
no new hardware? yea they don't need it, would they need new hardware to stay ontop and ruin competition? yes...

they don't need to do this like this year, they do still have good hardware in there.
 
How will DX11 take off when they have to made games run on hardware that's growing cobwebs.
 
Watch, they say this now, and six months from now they'll be like "Oh hai guyz we haz a new console in the works."
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
Watch, they say this now, and six months from now they'll be like "Oh hai guyz we haz a new console in the works."
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They'll deny deny deny right up until the actual announcement to keep the xbox 360's moving off the shelf. I mean, who would buy a new console if another one was coming out soon.

They'll have another one out by 2012 at the lastest. Worst case (of best case) they try to stretch this generation out and developers move back to the pc for true innovation not seen in years.
 
Good because I don't plan on buying any more consoles for awhile.
My 4x repaired 360 is chumming along as is my Ps3. If my 360 fails anytime now I get to attempt to repair it myself. Thanks Microsoft.

Next console you come out with I'll be sure to buy the longest most ridiculous extended warranty for it that I can because obviously your R&D department doesn't know shit.
 
Awesome! Now PC users have several more years to look forward to games designed for NV 7XXX and ATI 1XXX video cards! :rolleyes:
 
This is why consoles are ultimately bad for gaming. The manufacturers try to stretch out the life of outdated units for as long as possible to milk every dollar out of consumers they can. It stifles true innovation in game development. What good are things like Project Natal when the games are mediocre?
 
Let's be realistic folks. We're in the middle of a bad economy. It would be stupid to launch a console until the economy turns around.
 
This is the exact same stance every company takes when they are roughly 2 years out from a new console, and they are at least being honest about it. They aren't saying "no need forever", they are saying, no need for now.

It's hard to imagine we would see new systems before 2012 from the big three. Maybe a 4th company comes up with something for 2011.
 
Hardware addons huh? Hmmmm let's think back a few years and recall what happened the last time a company did that to prolong the life of their console...

Sega CD
Sega 32x

That is all I have to say.
 
Personally, I agree with them. At least for now.

Take the example of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. I think that graphically the game was greatly improved from one to the next, which is saying something considering it's on the same hardware. They also did a bit more with the physics of objects in the environment. They manage to change up gameplay enough to keep it fresh and more fun than the last one.

Now look at where MW2 suffers.... it is mostly in glitches in the game and the matchmaking system. Things that would NOT be improved by new hardware. If I made a list of things I wanted changed in MW2, graphics quality would be the last thing listed.

I use MW2 as an example because I haven't played many 360 games lately. However, I did play L4D2 a little bit, and I honestly thought the graphics were rather poor compared to MW2. Maybe MW2 just has something that I find pleasing that I can't describe, but I think it shows that you can improve upon something without having to make new expensive hardware.
 
The engine L4D2 runs on is like 7 years old. Whatever, 360 users can continue on 1024x768 upscaled to 1080p while PC users move to 5760x1200.
 
The graphics aren't going to last another 5+ years. They need a new console out no later than 2012.
 
niconx said:
Hardware addons huh? Hmmmm let's think back a few years and recall what happened the last time a company did that to prolong the life of their console...

Sega CD
Sega 32x

That is all I have to say.
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How about the PS2 Eyetoy?
 
DudeItsMe said:
Personally, I agree with them. At least for now.

Take the example of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. I think that graphically the game was greatly improved from one to the next, which is saying something considering it's on the same hardware. They also did a bit more with the physics of objects in the environment. They manage to change up gameplay enough to keep it fresh and more fun than the last one.
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Are we playing the same game? Cause my MW1 and MW2 look like the exact same games, but with a different story and some different guns. Course I had it for PC and not 360/PS3.
 
wolfen22 said:
The graphics aren't going to last another 5+ years. They need a new console out no later than 2012.
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The point on making a new console isn't solely on graphics.(tho that is one big aspect of making a new system...beefing up the hardware)
 
krotch said:
Are we playing the same game? Cause my MW1 and MW2 look like the exact same games, but with a different story and some different guns. Course I had it for PC and not 360/PS3.
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Plain and simple... no they don't. Upgrade your GPU or turn up the graphics.
 
MW2 was barely better looking than MW1. Honestly at first I thought I was looking at pretty much the same game.


But what else can you expect? Both games were designed for consoles, and the hardware hasn't changed.
 
S3th13 said:
Plain and simple... no they don't. Upgrade your GPU or turn up the graphics.
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It is turned up. I bought and played MW1 about 2 weeks before MW2. Both set to the exact same settings, look exactly the same way. Sure, turning up the graphics is going to make it look better, but doing it with MW1 will result in the exact same thing.

Turning up the graphics up in one game and not the other, doesn't make it better looking than the other. It's just putting the other at a disadvantage. If I take the original CoD and have it at max settings, then MW2 at max settings, yes. I will see a huge different. With MW1 and MW2. I see absolutely no difference at the exact same settings.
 
They need new consoles badly. 1080 HD TVs are popular now and the console can't even run all games at 720.

Of course who believes what Microsoft says. They will lie to the public to keep them buying their current shit, and to keep the information from their competitors. They've already stated that coming out before Sony is the most important goal for their next generation. It's much more important to them than quality or reliability.
 
MW2 is a damn fine looking game, but I wouldn't use it as an example of a game that pushes the consoles to the limit - you have to go platform exclusive, and in their respectable fields I would say:

Ps3: Uncharted 1 + 2, God of War 3
360: Gears of War 1 + 2
 
If they can deliver several years of games with graphics like any of those (respective to their platform), and keep the framerates steady - I have no problem playing on either console another 3+ years.

Problem is, most companies ditch their platform before companies finally grasp the power of the hardware enough to push the limits....and they give them a completely new devkit of hardware to play with.
 
zero2dash said:
MW2 is a damn fine looking game, but I wouldn't use it as an example of a game that pushes the consoles to the limit - you have to go platform exclusive, and in their respectable fields I would say:

Ps3: Uncharted 1 + 2, God of War 3
360: Gears of War 1 + 2
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Well most multiplat games suck at making use of a console, due to well...having to be coded for multiple platforms.

zero2dash said:
If they can deliver several years of games with graphics like any of those (respective to their platform), and keep the framerates steady - I have no problem playing on either console another 3+ years.

Problem is, most companies ditch their platform before companies finally grasp the power of the hardware enough to push the limits....and they give them a completely new devkit of hardware to play with.
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Ya, I don't see any problems with these current consoles. It feels like we barely even stepped into them. I can see 3+ more years of use.

Most companies do ditch their previous platform, but we aren't seeing that right now with the PS2. It's more like the game developers are jumping off that ship themselves (minus most Japanese market developers).
 
zero2dash said:
MW2 is a damn fine looking game, but I wouldn't use it as an example of a game that pushes the consoles to the limit - you have to go platform exclusive, and in their respectable fields I would say:

Ps3: Uncharted 1 + 2, God of War 3
360: Gears of War 1 + 2
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I agree with this. The saddest part about Gears 2, though, is that Gears PC looks WAY better, and the gameplay is faster+smoother.

To say that the 360 maybe hasn't even reached half its lifespan like the microsoft guy was quoted as saying brings pain. The hardware isn't very strong, its a horribly outdated architecture, and we're already seeing it be maxed out by some major titles. I hope this stagnation brings gaming back to the PC in force.
 
RADEoN said:
you mean the hardware problems that were fixed nearly a year ago?
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Right, because my most recent 360 (about 5 months ago) didn't RROD on me? Don't get me wrong, I love the 360...but until they get their hardware issues fixed, I wont be getting another one.
 
krotch said:
It is turned up. I bought and played MW1 about 2 weeks before MW2. Both set to the exact same settings, look exactly the same way. Sure, turning up the graphics is going to make it look better, but doing it with MW1 will result in the exact same thing.

Turning up the graphics up in one game and not the other, doesn't make it better looking than the other. It's just putting the other at a disadvantage. If I take the original CoD and have it at max settings, then MW2 at max settings, yes. I will see a huge different. With MW1 and MW2. I see absolutely no difference at the exact same settings.
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There are few differences, and both games use the same engine - but, to be fair there are much larger and expansive scenes in MW2 than in MW1. Also, MW2 supports ambient occlusion and bloom lighting, which makes the game look nicer than MW1, IMO.
 
I'd like to point something out here...

Xbox 360 has been made to be "more than gaming" (chasing the Wii train?) to include other programs like Movies (Netflix, Zune, MS Store, evne some MSNBC) and Music (Zune, MS Store, Last.FM) not to mention voice-chatting outside of games (VoIP - and likely this new addon will add Video Calling) There are also rumers of a web-browser (and I dont mean MCEBrowser)

They're trying to make the 360 a true MediaCenter for the home - They're not focusing as much on graphics and games. This is part of the reason the Wii (with it's severely limited raw hardware capabilities) is so popular - it's more than just "for gamers"

(I'm not familair with the PS3/PSP offerings, but I know they do streaming from home servers and stream from PS3 to PSP as well a NetFlix now)

We're no longer in an arms race to see who can pump out the best graphics, it's more about what additional functionality can be added and how easy it can be integrated (personally I'll love it if I can just wave my arm to scroll through NetFlix and point at a movie to watch, no more batteries to worry about charging and no wondering where I left the remote!)
 
Ashton said:
it's more about what additional functionality can be added and how easy it can be integrated (personally I'll love it if I can just wave my arm to scroll through NetFlix and point at a movie to watch, no more batteries to worry about charging and no wondering where I left the remote!)
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Welcome to the PC. :p
 
What they need to do is launch a console that doesn't have a bunch of problems and failures within the first month of use.
 
stop!theradio said:
Welcome to the PC. :p
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IF you have a program that can use a webcam to ACCURATELY navigate a program like MCE (not even regular windows desktop) without fancy tech like IR gloves, I want to know where to find it.

back on topic though...

yep. Make a console that's basically a very-limited PC. Why most people dont just connect their PCs to their TV like practially all of us have done is beyond me...
 
ajhodges said:
Good. Maybe developers will start to migrate back to the PC after a few years. I cant imagine them wanting to work with now antiquated hardware for 4-5 more years.
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Because they can code for it easily and pop out more games easier, and if they are still making lots of cash why not....

i just cant wait until 360/ps3 can be easily modded and they will see how loyal their console user base is.....considering they already know 1 mill people were willing to mod their 360, for what ever reason.
 
Ashton said:
IF you have a program that can use a webcam to ACCURATELY navigate a program like MCE (not even regular windows desktop) without fancy tech like IR gloves, I want to know where to find it.

back on topic though...

yep. Make a console that's basically a very-limited PC. Why most people dont just connect their PCs to their TV like practially all of us have done is beyond me...
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Er...well I was talking about the first part of what you were talking about, the expandability and all that. Sorry, I shouldn't have quoted the rest of that. No, Natal looks pretty cool and there is nothing (that I've seen) like that for the PC.
 
Ashton said:
yep. Make a console that's basically a very-limited PC. Why most people dont just connect their PCs to their TV like practiCally all of us have done is beyond me...
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i don't , and im sure a large amount of people here have not either. it's not "practical" for most people and certainly not the average.
 
Ashton said:
They're trying to make the 360 a true MediaCenter for the home
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It will never be a good reliable media center though, not unless they let you install xbmc on it. Until that day, its always going to suck at being anything else other then a console.
 
Ashton said:
IF you have a program that can use a webcam to ACCURATELY navigate a program like MCE (not even regular windows desktop) without fancy tech like IR gloves, I want to know where to find it.

back on topic though...

yep. Make a console that's basically a very-limited PC. Why most people dont just connect their PCs to their TV like practially all of us have done is beyond me...
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PCs use more advanced technology than that, it's called the "Mouse".
 
heatlesssun said:
Let's be realistic folks. We're in the middle of a bad economy. It would be stupid to launch a console until the economy turns around.
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THIS ^



and the simple fact that they don't have any reason to make a new console as far as competition. The 360 is really doing good things with Live now and Sony has no intent to release a new console until they recoup some from the PS3 financial expenses!
 
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