Ok, so Xbox 360 is coming out November 22. I am excited about this. I am not excited about the decisions Microsoft made for this next generation of video game consoles.Problem number 1: Two SKUs. They are offering the core and premium packages. The problem with this approach is this (or these). Game developers have to make their games work on the core system without a hard drive. Now, a good developer will utilize the hard drive if present, but that will require extra resources and cost. End result will be that time will be spent on this and not on making games better and optimized for the system. That is the reality.
Microsoft says they did this to appeal to different gamers and to not take a loss on harddrives that users didn't utilize. Wake up Microsoft, this is the next generation. You can't take features away. The loss thing is just stupid VPs who can't think of smarter solutions. How much does a 5 GB harddrive cost now days? You don't need more than that. They did make a mistake putting in a 10 GB on the original xbox. Tough to fill that up with game saves and cache. The solution is have an internal 5 GB or less HD with the expansion slot like they have now. So those who want ripped music or download tons of new maps will have the choice of upgrading to hold that extra content. Now you only need 1 SKU that has harddrive caching capabilities, backwards compatibility, and ability for downloadable content.
Wasn't that simple? No confusion on which to buy, no seperate facilities for packaging two different versions. They just dropped the ball.
Problem 2: No killer app. Now Microsoft claim Perfect Dark Zero can fill these shoes, among others. Once again, wake up guys. Go check your sales. You need a Halo. Shoot, hire 20 guys to retool Halo and Halo 2 to work on 360, then make Halo 1 live compatible. Great way to launch a new system. As of now, those that buy will be dissappointed. I have no desire to buy a new system until a new game is out that I must play.
Now, there is still a chance for MS to save their butts. Sony is launching ps3 next year sometime, so this killer app issue doesn't really matter until then. So, mark my words, I'm saying it now. Xbox 360 will get creamed by PS3 if Halo 3 isn't ready by then. Hope all you want MS, that is the only killer app you've got. Gears of War you say? Sorry buddy, great graphics do not a best seller make. Gameplay is where it's at. GoW does not have that. It will bomb. Again, you saw it here first.
Small Problem 3: No digital HD signal at launch. There's no adapter from MS to use dvi or hdmi. Now, I know this doesn't really matter, but a lot of people got suckered into buying a tv with this. Some bestbuy salesman convinced them they needed it. So with MS bragging about the High Def era, the should probably have these high end options. Of course these same people still have a satellite with coax output hooked up to those TVs, so this doesn't really matter, but it is a psychological thing. If they spend the extra on it, they will want something to hook up.
Anyways, when microsoft gets creamed by sony, these will be the core reasons it happens. Do you like my turtle Kirby in his Xbox 360 debut? He's awesome.
