

Microsoft Game Console 252
Nukelear writes "MS will be releasing a gaming console in Fall of 2000. The box will be running Intel OR AMD chips (not yet decided) and NV10 graphics. The full story is here." Note that it hasn't been confirmed yet, however. Assuming it's true, it means MS is going up against (primarily) three companies with well established brands - Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. Even if MS is MS, it still sounds like they would be up for some stiff competition...
*cough* LAME (Score:1)
Also, Micro$~1 will not be building these boxes themselves. The reason game boxes are so cheap is because hardware makes eat the cost. Sony lost almost $100 on each playstation it sold at launch. This is the problem that 3do had. There boxes were made by third party's, instead of 3do itself. they cost far to much, so the market was very limited.
This Microsoft box is going to be going for at least $100 more then the Sega, and at the same price point as the Sony (although I don't know much about Sony's release date the price will be $300 at launch). I'm pretty sure that the PSX2 will have much more CPU power though.
So basically what Microsoft is promoting will be underpowerd (even less then current top of the line PCs, by a little bit. A new console should be at least 1 year ahead of PCs), and probably undersupported. Microsoft does a lot of things, and doesn't really follow through on all of them
Gamers aren't stupid, Microsoft isn't a 'sexy' company like Sony or Nintendo (or even Sega, rrr, I was a Super Nintendo zealot
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
MicroSoft Hardware... (Score:1)
Now, if their foray into gaming console means that they're going to leave their crap software business, then I say more power to 'em!
Of course, if they just want to re-do wince for gamin consoles, Sony and Nintendo are going to mop up the floor with them.
Game consoles don't suck, so I don't expect any tolerance in that market for a new player who doesn't care about quality.
-jcr
youre forgeting sony (Score:1)
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
I'm sorry (Score:1)
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
MSFT== perpetual failure (Score:1)
The only markets that Microsoft has done well in is the OS and Office app markets. Sure, Microsoft has some presence in other places, but they certainly don't 'dominate'. A lot of Microsoft initiatives die, remember how ActiveX was going to take over the web? Direct3d? Chrome? The only time that Microsoft can succeed is when there competition rolls over and dies, or just gets bought up. And I don't think MS will really try very hard on this one.
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
Not too concerned about this... (Score:1)
Console gaming is also more or less a Japanese-based industry. In the situation that Microsoft can turn out a powerful console and a strong first-party line-up (Which I doubt, but that could just be Linux snobbery kicking in) they still have the problem that Japanese companies make games for Japanese gamers -- Microsoft is not as big a name in the East, if I recall. There just might not be enough American/Canadian developers for Microsoft to lean on for third-party support.
There are also some technical issues. I mean, an Intel chip? I'm going to guess it'll be a P2/P3 type architecture -- which is barely (If at all) different from the x86 architecture (I think there are small differences, but I could be wrong). I suppose including nVidia's GeForce will balance this out, but it could also significantly raise the price point (Remember what price did to the NeoGeo and Saturn?).
And one last thing -- Microsoft partnered with Sega for the Dreamcast, as I'm sure you know. Now, the Dreamcast looks to be a huge success -- and after playing Power Stone, I really regret not having one on preorder -- but Sega has a nice track record of failures like the Sega-CD, 32X, and Saturn. Like I said, the Dreamcast looks like a success -- but mostly because of its marketing, price point, and lack of "next generation" competition within the next year. I really doubt Microsoft learned much of anything from this partnership, except under which conditions to release a console.
All of you fellow console gamers out there who are declaring the death of video games as we know them: I wouldn't worry about it. Microsoft may have managed to dominate in a market with which they're fairly familiar, but that doesn't mean they can just charge into such a fiercely competitive and fundamentally different one and expect everyone to bow and scrape.
--SA
Re:What this thing is... (Score:1)
I've never tried running, say, Baldur's Gate without a HD to store the 600+ MB cache, but I don't really think it'd be as enjoyable...
Many Systems have come and gone (Score:1)
only a few games use it, (Score:1)
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
My playstation doesn't crash (Score:1)
Re:Ouch... (Score:1)
With that said, let's look at the flip side of this...if this thing does come out, do you think Microsoft is actually gonna be able to compete with Sega, Sony and Nintendo? I doubut it. First of all, where are the games? What 3rd party developers are going to write for the system? I don't care how much money MS has, they aren't gonna take away Square from Sony, or Mario from Nintendo, or all those arcade games away from Sega. But hey, I guess it's not that bad, at least there will be a really good console version of Age of Empires!
The Phillips CD-I (Score:1)
...
Games and NT (Score:1)
I have to wonder if this is part of a move to make NT more of a pure business system (PHBs *like* it when a system won't play games.) Maybe not, but I don't doubt supporting legacy games is one of the more difficult aspects of combining '9x and NT, given the horrible tricks games are inclined to use for speed.
this and webTV (Score:1)
Re:Read the story (Score:1)
--Flam
installing 600megs.... (Score:1)
I'd rather install a game on the hard drive then dig up a CD, and considering that a CD is going to be much slower then the hard drive, it makes it faster to (much faster).
man there are lots of loosers in the gaming world
I think your one of them... show me a game you've writen...
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
s/saturn/DreamCast (Score:1)
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
Bloated OS = Slower Games (Score:1)
Re:COOL !!! (Score:1)
Re:Microsoft Bob? --> Half-Life. (Score:1)
I got into a flamewar with some of them regarding their dropping of the console from the main interface. They made it a command line option, but at least, they didn't penalize players who wanted a console (as was the initial plan). Not that I'm claiming credit for their change of heart...
Closer than you think.. (Score:1)
The sega dreamcast (which has been out in Japan since spring) is being released in 3 days. It costs $200, has a modified cd-rom drive which holds more data, and it will have an optional 56k modem.
And BSD has already been ported [slashdot.org] to the dreamcast
...
Re:BSOD on a game-console? (Score:1)
Re:hmm... (Score:1)
Ouch... (Score:3)
MS's second console? (Score:1)
Innovations don't matter _that_ much. (Score:1)
Pressuming all of the technology is basically similar (not like NES 8-bit vs. Playstation), I think people will just go where the games are. There are several things Microsoft could do with its huge amount of money to lure developers (such as was suggested earlier, not taking royalties on games (at least not _yet_)).
As for Sega, I think this is simply going to be their third failure in a row (the first two being SegaCD and Saturn (and wasn't there some kind of extension to the Genesis that was just abandoned after a couple of months when the Saturn came out?)). They seem to jump into the market a year earlier than the other guys with a new product and before Sega can get enough games to take over the older generation, a new, better system is released. Dreamcast games look better than N64 and Playstation, but they don't look so good that I absolutely have to buy one. I suspect in another year, something will be released that I feel I absolutely have to buy. This very well could be the MS system. The console system is completely proprietory, anyway, so why not go with MS. When I want to play a game, I just want it to work. I don't want to figure out all of the new damned hardware I have to buy everytime I want to play a game. Having a closed console unit makes this very simple. But my computer can still run Linux.
Hmmmmm (Score:1)
All of you are missing the point. (Score:1)
NO thanks, not if MS made it. (Score:1)
Strange... (Score:1)
MS trying to dominate another market (Score:1)
Actually, (Score:2)
Re:That'll be a laugh... (Score:1)
device/satellite receiver/etc. that you only have to connect three cables to at
an affordable price, and it comes it various colors to match your interior
decor. It sells well in educational, computer novice, and Sega-fan markets,
but everyone else blows it off as not being a serious computer.
And people bitch that the combo doesn't have a flappy drive, "Only apple will make a one-button remote control!"
CY
Games For Linux (Score:1)
But if you just want it for a gaming machine, why even bother to install linux? if you dislike microsoft, why not just get an n64? or one of those new fangled psx2's (acutaly the development platform runs linux, so there may be some bits of linux underlying the games
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
I want them to go through with this... (Score:1)
Control of the Box (Score:3)
Now the technical question (considering this is SlashDot) is should the x86 family really suitable as a media processor compared with alternatives such as Sony Emotion Engine or SH4? Would the component count be low and cheap enough to support broadband, ASDL or even wireless? And would the Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers be taking this lying down?
LL
that's 'nintendo' not 'nintento' (Score:1)
There were plenty of boxes at the beginning of the 16-bit era, and several at the start of the 'Next-generation' era (I don't want to say 32-bit because the N64 is, well 64 bit)
First the SNES and sega's genesis, the turbo-grafix16 didn't get anywhere. Recently there have really only been the N64 and the PSX. The Sega Saturn, the 3do, Atari Jaguar and whatever else, just died in the water.
I really don't think this box from Microsoft will make much of an impact, despite there success as an OS vendor, they are actually a pretty inept company.
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
Re:Why would anyone write games for it? (Score:1)
* PC owners might get some games which don't rely on installing GBs of stuff to your drive;
* MS will have a hard time imposing development control over a Wintel-based games console in the same way that Sony and Nintendo do now (i.e. special licenses, compulsary %age of profits from all games etc.);
* Nintendo don't exactly have a sqeaky-clean track record towards consumers either...
they did, it's called windows 98 (Score:1)
"Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
well.. (Score:1)
Re:Open up the market... (Score:1)
All of you are missing the point. (Score:1)
Why is this happening? Because of the increases in capabilities at the lower end of the market, aka consumer level. Microsoft, if not the entire U.S. PC industry, can no longer ignore the console market because if they do now they will give away control of the consumer level computer market to companies like Sony and Nintendo. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but in the near future. So what is really going in isn't so much about a company entering a new market but a company having to create a presence to ensure future market share. Basically what you're seeing is the "VCR"ization of the consumer level computer. (I'm not using "PC" because that has too many preconceived notions attached to it)
People talk like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are putting out machines but the reality of the situation is that they are simply backers of different platforms. Yes, Nintendo too. The "Dolphin" is not a single machine but a development platform that is upgradable like a PC. As a matter of fact, Nintendo's "Dolphin" isn't even supposed to have a DVD drive, Panasonic's is. What this means is that the next round of battles should be looked at in the context of situations like Beta Vs. VHS, not Sony Vs. Microsoft Vs. Nintendo.
And it is precisely because of this reason that all you guys out there who thinks Sony will be king of the hill in the next round should think twice. Sony has always chosen to go with their own proprietary platforms and have paid dearly for it. It's already common knowledge that thanks to internal squabbling Sony has already decided to kill the PSX2's ability to play back DVD movies, the very feature which would have pretty much sealed the PSX2's acceptance as the next VCR. Thanks to this rather unsound business decision, there is a clear possibility that PSX2 may become Sony's next Beta and this time it's going to cost Sony a lot more than anything that Beta did. Especially with so much of Sony's operating profits tied to the PSX product line, a less than spectacular performance out of PSX2 may prove fatal to the corporation as a whole.
Already the industry insider buzz is that Nintendo is the one to watch for the next round. And now with Microsoft possibly in the races, the next round may prove to be a close battle between Nintendo and Microsoft. Where is Sega in all this? Please. Sega who? They may not even be in the console business two years from now. (Their arcade devision I'm sure will continue to do well)
All in all, I'm sure it will be a very interesting next few years in deed.
pita pita pumpkin eata.
ehrm....some questions here: (Score:1)
a) NV10 (aka GeForce256) in fall 2000? Wouldn't that be a bit lame? (GeForce512 maybe)
b) What does Sega think of this? I mean they partner with M$ (BAD idea) and now M$ falls into their back. After all they own the OS so they can modify it in any way they want so Sega will always be number 2 after M$ (wasn't that the point Carmack made when Apple tried to find out which standard to follow in the 3d arena and made DirectX an option?)
c) I can still remeber articles where Bill himself said that consoles have no future and will be swallowed by HomePCs. 180 degree turnaround?
d) Maybe this "OR AMD" is a message to Intel ("stop supporting Linux so much or we'll cut your throat!") ?
e) Who wants to buy a console by a company that has a proven track record of crappy products?
Just my 2.
Re:*cough* LAME (Score:1)
History backs you up on this, if one looks at Apple's Pippen console. By the time it made it out, it's 75Mhz PPC603 and whatever minimal memory it had didn't look that appealing to game developers.
A game console has to have a pretty considerable shelf life, and a 500Mhz PII/K7 is going not look very appealing in 18 months. Sure you could play Quake 3, but there not going to be a large incentive there for the PC game houses who will be chasing the 1.5 Ghz chips and god knows what video and sound cards.
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Re:Fall 2000, let's see ... (Score:1)
Re:The Phillips CD-I (Score:1)
Re:Ouch... (Score:2)
Why not? They had no problem with working on the next version of Windows (which was basically a rewrite) while they were "partnered" with IBM on OS/2...
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"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
You do mean Sony?? Or Sega right? (Score:1)
Re:Intel vs. AMD (or "The Little Guy Wins") (Score:1)
Please... (Score:1)
But does it have a Hard Drive??? (Score:1)
Re:Ouch... (Score:1)
Re:Read the story (Score:1)
Actuallt I have an intellimouse (rarely used though, since i made "the switch") And hey, as long as the penguin is bigger than the MS logo, you're good to go.
Re:Why Why Why?! (Score:2)
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"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Re:Microsoft going into hardware, first time? MSX? (Score:1)
So many posts, so little threads (Score:1)
Re:Read the story (Score:1)
Okay, apart from that sodding Barney Actimate thing. I'm thinking about buying one of those just so I can set fire to it.
Ah, how history repeats (Score:2)
I used to be a hardcore nintendo lover, but then they got this hard-line attitude about emulation, and everything related to it, being illegal. Same with Sony. May those bastards rot in lawyer hell for what they're doing to bleem. Sega actually ASKED steve snake (of KGen emulator fame) if they could use his emulator in a Genesis compilation CD for the PC. no matter what I used to think about Sega, they are my one shining ray of hope in this black "intellectual property" tar pit that the console world has become.
My advice to sega: ditch windows CE... it's a hunk of poo anyways. Use Linux or *BSD, or hurd, or whatever tweaks your knob... as long as microsoft can't screw you over anymore then they already are going to. Sega needs to survive more than any other console company, because they have proved (at least to me) that they still have a soul left.
MindControl (Score:1)
Re:Ouch... (Score:1)
HAve they ever signed a contract with somebody that they didn't try to screw one way or another?
I guess some people never learn.
Just to make sure those don't know do... (Score:1)
BSOD on a game-console? (Score:1)
Re:Here we go again.. (Score:1)
is known for excellent, stable games.
Re:MSFT== perpetual failure (Score:1)
That's part of my point. They won't roll over and die, but will make better/faster/cheaper consoles to compete with the others.
Bottom line is; we win.
And I don?t think MS will really try very hard on this one.
Well.. we'll just have to wait and see.
Resolution (Score:1)
Re:Intel vs. AMD (or "The Little Guy Wins") (Score:1)
Yes!
MS making a game console (Score:1)
Imagine, you're taking a turn on your third lap and wham.... BSOD.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Arrrgghh! No one gets it! (Score:1)
Re:GREAT idea for the console's first game! (Score:1)
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Microsoft Beer (Score:1)
I wonder if Microsoft Beer 1.0 will be an irish stout. I'd buy a bottle, then set it next to a real bottle of Guinness and watch them fight to the death.
It is basically a PC made for gaming (Score:1)
http://www.next-generation.com/jsmid/news/7540.
"According to sources quoted in the article, Microsoft has kept quiet about X-Box so as not to affect the launch of partner Sega's Dreamcast, which can also use Windows CE technology, but it will be released in Fall 2000 for under $300. The article speculates that based on Microsoft's history and business strategies, the machine will probably be an open platform, like the PC, allowing anyone to develop for it without having to become a Microsoft licensee. It is also possible that X-Box games will run on PCs without further modification. "
Basically a dumbed down PC. Really.
Re:Here we go again.. (Score:1)
Actually, no.
The PSX2's sound subsystem will contain the same processor as the PSX CPU. Hence, rather than emulate the processor, it'll just use the one it has.
It's a pity that Sony have counted out trying to outperform the PSX1 the way Bleem! does (intercepting 3D API calls and running them through Direct3D, for higher resolution than a PS1 could muster).
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Re:My playstation doesn't crash (Score:1)
It's all about money (Score:1)
Re:New spin on MS investments... (Score:1)
Hmmm.... This isn't entirely factual. The US Dreamcast is shipping with a 56K modem that is swappable for future upgrades including ethernet for cable modems/DSL connections. I don't see home connections getting much faster than this in the next couple of years. PSX2 isn't announced to ship with any modem but will likely feature similar modularity allowing for multiple types of connectivity.
There are aspects of the M$ rumor that are pretty revolutionary for the console market. It scares me that it's coming from Redmond. Given Microsoft's track record, the already f*cked up world of console gaming is going to get a whole lot wackier.
And on the Linux front, rumors of PSX2 Linux SDKs abound. And possibly a slimmed-down Linux kernel running as the PSX2 OS?! Interesting times indeed...
Re:installing 600megs.... (Score:1)
hehe (Score:1)
Re:What this thing is... (Score:2)
By fall of 2000, the Sega Dreamcast will have been out a year, the Nintendo64 and new Dolphin box will have built some momentum and Sony's follow-on PlayStation2 will be hitting its stride with complete backward compatibility with thousands of games. Any one of these consoles (especially, and probably, Sony's) could wipe the floor with X-Box because of market momentum, consumer loyalty and brand awareness alone.
Console videogame OSs are also rock-solid stable (CE is an option, not the core, on Dreamcast), and they already run on workstation-level chips with equally brawny graphics co-processors, both of which are often 64-bit or better, and god knows how fast they'll be a year from now. (With apologies to all you open-source folks, this stability is because, at least in this case, each of these companies maintains tight, proprietary control over their hardware-software sets.) M$ can call it a game console till they're blue in the face, but if the hardware and software guts are hardly different than a crappy eMachines box, it won't be stable enough for the pre-teen kids and soccer moms who will have to run it.
As for the "may have other functions" line, my guess is this might be a play for set-top cable tuning. If that's the case, it's worth nothing that WindowsCE may not yet be a qualified real-time operating system, which it would have to be. CE is shipping on some set-top boxes today, but only as middleware, because that industry set up a consortium to keep all boxes open-source specifically to checkmate M$. And if M$ tries to position X-Box as some kind of "embrace and extend" advance, expect the $hit to hit the fan. M$ (or Dell or whoever) can build all the set-top tuners they want, but if they stray from the Open Cable specs, no cable system will buy them, not even the ones M$ invests in.
Re:No rewrites and/or special new software? (Score:1)
Re:Ouch... (Score:1)
for the dreamcast that actually use Windows CE, and those are pretty unknown crappy ones
too.
Um, Sega Rally 2 is a WinCE title.
But you're right - developers get to choose between Sega's own OS, or WinCE.
Attracting 3rd party developers is crucial to the success of a console (Sony wooed PS developers by providing excellent high-level APIs early on). Dreamcast developers would generally choose the Sega OS if they were developing directly for Dreamcast; WinCE if they were porting from an existing PC title.
I hear WinCE is a bit of a resource hog (RAM mostly), so I guess if you were embarking on a multi-platform release (e.g. a Tomb Raider) for PC/DC/N64/PS, you'd keep cross-platform issues in mind from an early stage and develop for the Sega OS.
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Open up the market... (Score:2)
This gives a result that MS enters the market and loses money on the hardware (not like they can't afford to). They give away their SDK and don't ask royalties for games. Game developers will swamp to this banner as they get to make more money for themselves, and still undercut the game prices on the other consoles. Sony and co have to do the same to remain competitive, but as they are already losing money on their consoles that are already out there, they stand a lot more to lose. Also it becomes a competition of who can afford the most loss. In that kind of race, my money is on Microsoft.
John Wiltshire
MS failed with Dreamcast, now they try themselfes. (Score:2)
But the truth is different. Microsoft could not deliver CE on time for the Dreamcast's launch here in Japan. In reality, all the big game makers have written their own OSs for their games. Much faster, more reliable. Because of this delay, the Dreamcast has basically failed here in Japan and Sega is in a really dangerous state financially.
My only proof would be that virtually no games have been ported from Dreamcast to PC. Though that been the basic idea behind using WindowsCE and DirectX on the Dreamcast.
With PCs becoming so cheap, I see no sense in creating a game console with x86 compatible chip and PC architecture. Better buy a cheap PC.
Consoles could be the next pc's (Score:3)
You see, the PSX2 will have a DVD drive and the ability to attach a modem. And it'll be available for around £250. Well cheaper than most pc's today.
So..kids will use this to surf the net and play interactive games..... they will not be using a large PC and not using windows.....The PSX2 will eventually become a PC with added periphials....Microsoft could be fucked.
What I want to know is how Microsoft intend to compete with Sony who substitute the hardware costs with game licencing.
Intel will not sell the x386 chips at a loss so MS can dominate a market, and neither will any 3-D board manufacturer. And since MS cannot control the hardware, they cannot control the software that runs on it, nor make any money licencing games (They don't on a PC.)
It's one this distributing IE over the net and CD's everywhere to crush Netscape when the actual costs are are tiny compared to hardware manufacturing and distribution costs.
The only thing going for it is the fact that the games can be a lot cheaper as the will not have to pay licencing fees to sony and saga. By the sheer fact that the could be a high volume of cheap games very, very quickly could mean that this console will get a lot more shelf space in the games stores.
Games volume and quantity (and quality) dictate console success. Not poly-fill-rate.
A linux console anyone?
Re:MS trying to dominate another market (Score:1)
While many here disapprove of Microsoft's business practices, I'd hardly call their attempts to make money "futile". They seem to be quite good at that part. It would be nice to see them do as well in developing the product they're so good at selling people.
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This isn't the post you're looking for. Move along.
Re:Too many things to do (Score:1)
they are no going to get anywhere with this..... (Score:1)
Re:Why fight Goliath when David is right there? (Score:1)
They know the cheap (free?) PC is destroying most of the market for the standalone WebTV unit.
WebTV's only (limited) future is in integrated SatTV, Cable and HDTV boxes, like the new unit from Dish Network which aims to be WebTV, Dish Reciever and TiVo in one box.
Re:Competition (Score:1)
Re:COOL !!! (Score:1)
Microsoft Console (Score:2)
Now this is interesting. (Score:3)
The problem Microsoft will face is that it'll be in an entirely alien position. Sony, Sega and Nintendo are not small-fry software startups waiting to be crushed by the Microsoft juggernaut. Nor are they lumbering giants past their use-by dates. Between them they've owned the console market for about as long as MS have owned the PC market, and they don't seem to be showing too many signs of vulnerability.
Microsoft's OS monopoly will be meaningless in this market. Sure, they could stick CE on it, and make it do email and web-browsing, but in the end, a gaming console is about the games, and the OS is just the screen you get when you've got no CD/cartridge in the slot.
On the other hand, if they fix it so that their console games will also run on a Wintel PC with a 3d card and DirectX, then that'll get the developers on board pretty sharply. This is something that console manufacturers could never do, because every PC version of their game that sold would be a reason not to buy the console. But for MS, it's just moving from one of their products over to another.
So the big, and very interesting question is how Microsoft is going to adjust to being the small fish in a big pond, and what cards they're going to play to drain some of the water.
Charles
Re:Read the story (Score:2)
Anyway on the console front I think they'll have a hard job competing against the likes of Playstations and N64's and whatever SEGA call their console. Because although Microsoft are a recognised name in the PC world, I don't see their name getting them anywhere in the console world. It'll take a lot of marketing for them to even get a small share of this market.
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Re:MS failed with Dreamcast, now they try themself (Score:2)
Arrrgghh! No one gets it! (Score:4)
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Scott Stevenson
New spin on MS investments... (Score:3)
But, as the first poster said, I'll keep my computer. This doesn't look to be a killer thing hardware-wise; at least, nothing that you couldn't get for the PC. And knowing MS, this thing will run like a PC, none of the traditional advantages of a console. A thought; it might also have the advantage of a PC, the ability to run Linux.
Basically, I think that this console will be marketed on the basis of a fast connection. That's the one advantage that the other consoles don't, and can't, have. Well, that and the GeForce.
Can't see it being up to much. (Score:3)
But let's take a look at the only Next-Gen console currently available -- the Dreamcast. As well as upping graphic/sound/CPU performace, Sega have *innovated* in several areas.
The VMU (visual memory unit), for example, is a stroke of genius -- it's like a PS memory card, but it slots into your controller, and gives you an LCD screen which a game can use for whatever it likes (speedo, stuff the other player shouldn't see, etc).
That's clever -- but the VMU also works as a standalone mini-gameboy-type-thing, into which you load software via the Dreamcast.
That would be enough to convince me that Sega are having good ideas; but there's more -- the VMU's connector is the same shape as its socket, so you can plug two VMUs together for two-player pocket shenanigans.
That's just an example of innovation in consoles. I can imagine Sony doing similarly clever stuff with the PS2 if I could guess what, I'd be earning a whole lot more than I do now.
I really can't imagine MS doing anything that imaginative. They are doomed to imitate.
Still, the public might fall for it.... they usually seem to.
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Why fight Goliath when David is right there? (Score:2)
-Barry
That'll be a laugh... (Score:3)
What this thing is... (Score:2)
I would be willing to bet that part of the advantage Microsoft will be trying to use here is to make this box run all of the current PC games for Windows. If this is true, it means it would already have a wide range of available games -- even before this thing is released! Microsoft would not have to commission more programmers to write games for it, as the PC industry would already be doing this. Basically, Microsoft is creating a box that would bring PC games into the console game market. If this were not true, I am not sure how Microsoft would ever expect this thing to become popular, as there would be a lack of games because everybody would be programming for Dreamcast and Playstation 2.
Either way, I am kind of surprised something like this hasn't been done before, as it seems relatively simple to do. I just wonder what a BSOD would look like on this thing...