The Times: Xbox 360 Brings Nothing New to The Next-gen Battleground
So says The Times, in a thoughtful and considered analysis of the next-gen battlefield:
For the first time since the mid1990s, three rival consoles from different manufacturers are doing real battle for our leisure time. Back then, it was Sony, Nintendo and Sega. Now, Microsoft has taken Sega’s place; worryingly, it seems also to have taken on Sega’s habit of confusing potential customers with too much hardware.
The new console is finished in sleek black, with controllers to match. But its looks may be the best thing about it. The truth is that Microsoft’s 360 console range has been designed in reaction to its competitors, and is no longer leading the way.
At launch, Microsoft’s representatives were at pains to point out that the 360 now competes on price with the Wii (£179.99). What they did not point out was that the 360 still offers precious little in terms of games for fun.
Second, Microsoft has the Play-Station 3 (£399.99) in its sights. The PS3 comes with a built-in Blu-Ray high-definition DVD drive, wireless internet, a 60GB hard drive and HDMI, and offers a similar type of gaming experience to the 360. Microsoft’s response is the 360 Elite, with a bigger hard drive and HDMI. Yet still, there’s no built-in wireless capability.
A special wi-fi adaptor costs nearly £60, and if you want to play HD-DVDs on your 360, you can add another £100 to that for a separate (white) machine. Suddenly, the 360 Elite looks like less of a good deal.
So, just who is Microsoft aiming at with its new console? The Wii market? Not enough fun. The PS3 market? Not enough ability. The all-in-one multimedia home hub market? Where’s my wi-fi, HD-DVD and separate audio outputs?
The uncomfortable truth about the new 360 Elite is that it feels like a product from a company that is struggling to come to terms with the fact that it no longer has the next-generation playground to itself. The Elite may turn out to be a stop-gap on the road to the next version of the 360, but for now it feels like a Jack of all trades. And a master of absolutely none.
It begins. First the media turns, then the consumer turns. How long will the public put up with half measures and half promises from Microsoft? Not for much longer I suspect. With huge debts mounting at the Xbox division, and sentiment turning sour, Microsoft’s exit from the industry can’t be far away.
“the Times”? do you mean the New York times or that british paper
ah, the 360 doesnt have enough ability, is that why it has better games?
So how about revolutionary online play?
Oops. Nope, that would make it too unfair for the other consoles to include that as a factor of this console. :/
Man I love this site.
What if you don’t need Wi-Fi or a high-defenition movie playback drive? Those are the only two reasons to buy a PS3 anyway, if your looking for a gaming machine, try a Wii, 360, or a PC.
I don’t give a fuck about what the console have or don’t have, if there’s simply no games that are fun to it then it’s the other console that has that win. It’s just that simple.
Great article.
Sums up MS’ predicament perfectly and explains consumer apathy to their reactionary line-up.
mOdus how is it a predicament? The PS3 has a very week lineup of games and the damn thing has been out for almost a year. If anything Sony better get there heads out of there asses and do something quick or else the PS3 might just become another Dreamcast.
This article is horrrible. 1 this is the sucky British time. Not the New york time. Alos You provieded a source but your source had no facts. Your source just took a bunch of There says and made it look good. The PS3 May be a bit better but this site is what why 360
And you also know The reason PS3 Got a bad name was 1. This site and 2. The bioshock reivew.
Okay, thanks for explaining it m0dus, the 360 is outselling the ps3 because people are reacting apathetically toward the 360, that makes so much sense [/sarcasm]
No you guys have this wrong its comparing the Elite to the ps3 and what they are doing to stay in business they have 6. 360s out they are doing what they can, But i believe at the end there is only going to be the ps3 and the wii.
ps3up please stop smoking your mothers meth long enough to attempt to write a decent comment
Yeah, PS3UP, you’re the only person who supports this site. I’m starting to think you helped make it.
It’s funny that people won’t stop *****ing about the WiFi, or lack thereof, on the 360. It has an ethernet cord for a reason, and as far as I can tell, wired has always been more reliable than wireless.
I honestly don’t think that many PS3 owners make use of the WiFi.
Oh, and about the high-def movies, the public obviously doesn’t care as DVD is still the highest selling format.
Time Magazine(if that is what you are talking about) didn’t much like the PS3 either, remember?
Time Magazine:
Sony’s Playstation 3 is Not Worth the Hype
By LEV GROSSMAN
Friday, Nov. 17, 2006
Sony released the Playstation 3 in Japan on November 11. That was last Saturday. By Thursday Japanese import units had already made their way halfway around the world to New York City’s Chinatown, where they were available for a 100% markup — and they were selling. That’s how high the demand is for Sony’s new video game machine: people would actually pay double the price to get it one day early.
The Playstation 3 goes on sale in the U.S. today, but I wouldn’t recommend buying one, not even for the regular price, which is plenty expensive without the import markup. Sure, the Playstation 2 was the bestselling machine from the previous generation, and sure, the Playstation3 is powered by a stupendously powerful chip, the “Cell processor.” (I’m sorry, but naming a computer chip is like naming your genitals: you’re compensating for something.) Patience, young padawan. The time has not yet come.
Look at what you get. The Playstation 3 is expensive: $500 or $600 bucks, depending on which version you buy, plus $60 for each game. (An Xbox 360 only costs $400 max, and Nintendo’s Wii — yep, that name, still funny — is only $250.) For that kind of scratch you want the deluxe treatment, and the PS3 simply doesn’t deliver it. It’s got some good-looking games, but unless you have a top-notch TV, the difference isn’t mind-blowing. (And even if you do have a fancy TV, Sony makes you supply your own HDMI cable. Stingy.) And Sony’s launch line-up just isn’t that interesting. Almost all the PS3′s outstanding games — F.E.A.R., Madden NFL ’07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Call of Duty 3 — are available on the Xbox 360, and most (all except F.E.A.R.) are out for the Wii, too. There just isn’t the leverage there to make buying a PS3 de rigeur.
The only exclusive Playstation 3 title I’m really excited about is Resistance: Fall of Man, which is a truly fun shoot’em up set in an alternative version of the 1950s. Aliens have invaded earth; your job is to put bullets in them. While doing so you prowl through some gloriously detailed, beautifully gloomy factories and labs and shattered cityscapes. The audio is gorgeous, the weapons copious and diverse, the levels huge and complex. In short, it’s my idea of a good time.
But so is Gears of War, the stunning shooter just out for the Xbox 360. Resistance isn’t enough to drive sales of a $600 console, or it shouldn’t be. Playstation 3 doesn’t have a battle-tested, feature-rich online service the way the Xbox does. It doubles as a Blu-ray player (that’s the main reason for the high retail price), but guess what? Nobody cares. And did I mention Playstation 3 controllers don’t rumble? Whose genius idea was that? Without rumble, it just ain’t a jungle.
Give it time. The price will (probably) come down. Sony’s online strategy will (probably) mature. More decent games will come out — the Playstation3 is notoriously difficult to develop for, and game-makers are still figuring out how to get the most out of it. Next holiday season, it just might be worth it.
For now it’s pretty much moot anyway. Because of the difficulty of manufacturing Playstation 3′s, Sony has only been able to put a few hundred thousand units on sale in the U.S., so unless you spent last night camped out in front of a Gamestop, buying a Playstation3 is not an option. Congratulations: you made the right call. And you smell better for it, too.
I live en Russia and evryon in mi cuntry es plyink on the Wii.
I do nut no what this ps3 is?
not being rude to anyone but they keyword is TIME yes the 360 outsells ps3 but the ps3 has only been out not much longer than 5-6 months and has not alot of games where as the xbox has been out ALOT longer so all you people arguin that the 360 is better wait it out a while then argue you dont expect something with a high price tag like the ps3 to come out then BOOM best console ever alot of people will wait to buy it so duh ofcourse 360 outsells ps3
no one waits if they have the choice, what has happened is the 360 is the new ps2 and the ps3 is the new xbox. people are probably going to make the same choice they made last gen, and who won that? ps2.
If PS3 didn’t stand for Phailstation 3. I’d buy it. Oh. And if I could afford it.
PROTIP: The 360 might not bring anything new, but PS3 so far hasn’t brought anything at all.
It’s not targeted at the Wii market, the PS3 market, or the all-in-one multimedia home hub market. It’s targeted at GAMERS.
this article is written by a rich twat that wants all his shit pre-packaged and thoughtless
the fact that the 360 is cheaper and on equal performance with the ps3 somehow escapes him, but noooo mister wants a wireless and a hd dvd player despite the dvd’s being expensive and with limited selection (just like bluray)
but in the end THANK GOODNESS FOR SONY AND THEIR AWESOME PROCESSING POWER because they have sooo many games to use it on
oh wait