Nextbox rumors..

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I just realized that my absolute pie in the sky dream for the Xbox 3 would be for it to be MS giving us a Steam Box. They could still do some of the fabulous things they do, but give me Steam sales on my TV.

I'm very resistant to buying PC games these days, because I really want to chill out on my couch. I don't want to spend $1000 (or whatever) building my own Steam Box. But I do want access to Steam Sales, etc.

The Xbox is already similar to a PC. Just add this feature, come up with a revenue split with Steam, and I think they'd dominate the next gen and add tons of users who weren't Xbox owners in the past.

Maybe they will add Playstation games, too!

I think Microsoft just needs to move in the same direction as sony and start offering Games On Demand the same day the release in stores. Once consoles start to be primarily digital, i thin we will see more steam-like prices and sales.

Jayhawker wrote:

I think Microsoft just needs to move in the same direction as sony and start offering Games On Demand the same day the release in stores.

Nintendo does this too with select titles.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Once the consoles all have 25 GB discs, the game sizes will likely double. I don't want to download 20-25 gig games plus the install time required, especially off Japanese networks. If they reliably release everything at midnight and allow preloading, that's better, but I think that's optimistic.

I can't even think of any PC games I own with a 25GB install.... However, completely agree that pre-loading and smart positioning of content servers (or some element of P2P networks as Blizzard uses) would make 25 GB game downloads a lot more bearable.

shoptroll wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

I think Microsoft just needs to move in the same direction as sony and start offering Games On Demand the same day the release in stores.

Nintendo does this too with select titles.

Once the consoles all have 25 GB discs, the game sizes will likely double. I don't want to download 20-25 gig games plus the install time required, especially off Japanese networks. If they reliably release everything at midnight and allow preloading, that's better, but I think that's optimistic.

Taking a step back, I think maybe the issue is less "when will everything be available digitally?" and more "when will nothing be available physically?"

shoptroll wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Once the consoles all have 25 GB discs, the game sizes will likely double. I don't want to download 20-25 gig games plus the install time required, especially off Japanese networks. If they reliably release everything at midnight and allow preloading, that's better, but I think that's optimistic.

I can't even think of any PC games I own with a 25GB install.... However, completely agree that pre-loading and smart positioning of content servers (or some element of P2P networks as Blizzard uses) would make 25 GB game downloads a lot more bearable.

I know Vanguard clocks in around 28 GB and that's a rather old game. Metal Gear Solid 4 weighs in at 32, I believe. Lost Odyssey I think was on 4 DVDs, lol.

Aaron D. wrote:

What's funny is that MS did a true Trojan Horse when they linked the 360 pad with PC games across the board. Some years ago PC gamers would have laughed at the thought of using a game pad instead of k/m. These days, most have seemed to adopted the 360 pad with open arms.

Now 7 years later you have a controller standard across two large gaming markets.

Like I said earlier, I hope MS doesn't mess with it too much or overthink it trying to keep pace with the competition.

I don't know, I had a PS2 style pad on my PC before the 360 came out. I'll grant you they've done a good thing by standardising inputs though, although it's had the (intended?) side-effect of cutting out everything that's not a 360 pad and I now often need to do weird X360CE hax to get the old one working on modern games.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I just realized that my absolute pie in the sky dream for the Xbox 3 would be for it to be MS giving us a Steam Box. They could still do some of the fabulous things they do, but give me Steam sales on my TV.

I'm very resistant to buying PC games these days, because I really want to chill out on my couch. I don't want to spend $1000 (or whatever) building my own Steam Box. But I do want access to Steam Sales, etc.

The Xbox is already similar to a PC. Just add this feature, come up with a revenue split with Steam, and I think they'd dominate the next gen and add tons of users who weren't Xbox owners in the past.

Is there something super special about a Steam sale vs. a sale? I got a brand new copy of ME3 for Xbox 360 for $21 with Free Amazon Prime shipping..sure its not digital distribution but I got it fairly cheap.. I agree though its time for simultaneous release of everything physical with digital straight from my Xbox.. no more having to have a physical copy if I don't want one.. as well though then I need the ability to add secondary storage easily as well.. no matter how big a HD the next Xbox ships with it will get filled up and I don't want to have to delete unless its super easier to re-download again.

TheGameguru wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

I just realized that my absolute pie in the sky dream for the Xbox 3 would be for it to be MS giving us a Steam Box. They could still do some of the fabulous things they do, but give me Steam sales on my TV.

I'm very resistant to buying PC games these days, because I really want to chill out on my couch. I don't want to spend $1000 (or whatever) building my own Steam Box. But I do want access to Steam Sales, etc.

The Xbox is already similar to a PC. Just add this feature, come up with a revenue split with Steam, and I think they'd dominate the next gen and add tons of users who weren't Xbox owners in the past.

Is there something super special about a Steam sale vs. a sale? I got a brand new copy of ME3 for Xbox 360 for $21 with Free Amazon Prime shipping..sure its not digital distribution but I got it fairly cheap.. I agree though its time for simultaneous release of everything physical with digital straight from my Xbox.. no more having to have a physical copy if I don't want one.. as well though then I need the ability to add secondary storage easily as well.. no matter how big a HD the next Xbox ships with it will get filled up and I don't want to have to delete unless its super easier to re-download again.

Steam sales tend to be larger, both in quantity of games on sale and size of discount. There will be physical sales that match (and beat) Steam sales but they're somewhat rare. Some companies have been doing a good job of rivaling Steam prices on digital sales though.

Just that Steam sales seem to get cheap a heck of a lot faster than Xbox stuff. That's pretty much it.

I actually don't think there's much of a difference. The difference is basically that it's easier to discount all digital games. And Valve has a different relationship with publishers than Microsoft does. I can foresee sales like Steam sales once consoles are mostly digital.

Frozenbyte (Trine) are saying that the WiiU store is very close to steam for developer freedom: http://www.shacknews.com/article/767...

Some basic guidelines, but they can set their own price, run a sale when they like, update the game when they like. This kind of thing is going to be one of the non-tech changes that shouldn't really require a generation change, but could be something companies use as ammunition against each other.

Well there seems to be a new fast-moving thread started today over at NeoGaf outlining leaked specs for the next Xbox.

What's interesting is that known, fact-checked "insiders" and press personalities are also chiming in confirming that the specs are legit (as much as they can without crossing NDA lines).

Eight-core CPU
8800 AMD GPU (custom)
8GB memory
Windows 8 OS
640GB HDD

Looks pretty darn impressive for a dedicated console if true.

Now the question is how are they going to reach an affordable price point?

Sounds like it could have the legs to last nearly 10 years. I'm hoping for an option to use a SSD.

The Conformist wrote:

Now the question is how are they going to reach an affordable price point?

Yeah, that's a good question.

I'd happily pay $499 on Day One, but I'm sure the non-enthusiast market would not bite at that price point.

If MS can pull people in at, say $399, with a two year Live contract, that doesn’t sound too crazy.

Love the specs, if true, except for the AMD GPU. Love the huge drive. Would also pay $500, although I wouldn't preorder or anything without some attractive day-one software - which the 360 lacked.

What's the premiere launch title going to be? Halo 4 just came out, and Gears of War Judgment is a 360 title that comes out in a few months.

The two franchises I'm most excited about right now are Dark Souls and Saints Row. DS2 with no screenshots is probably a 2014 title. Saints Row 4 was supposed to be 2013, but is in limbo waiting for the series to be sold off.

Crazy thought: Mass Effect prequel as a limited-time launch exclusive. What do we even know Bioware is working on right now?

I'd go bonkers for some kind of next-gen Red Dead sequel, as well.

What are y'all hoping for?

They're just starting pre-production on the next Mass Effect, so unless the Nextbox is delayed another year, I doubt we'll be seeing that at launch. I have a feeling MS is keeping their launch titles close to their chest for now, and if they announce anything at E3 they'll have a flood of launch title announcements as well.

I bet those 2 open-world games we saw at E3 last year will move to next-gen. The one with the dude and an overpowered cell phone, and the one with the woman going into people's memories. Completely blanking on their names at the moment. Those look fun.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Epic launch a new franchise to show off UE4. They've been expanding lately, so it seems plausible.

Maybe Fallout 4 from Bethesda?

I'm not too concerned about the software. With luck, there will be a new IP as a killer app. Could Bungie's next project be a launch-release?

I'm more concerned with Kinect being shoved down throats, and a quick/intuitive native OS. Hopefully the 360 Windows 8 is closer to the mobile version, to free up system resources.

I'd scream from the rooftops if Forza 5 was a launch title, but I'm silly for the franchise like that.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Love the specs, if true, except for the AMD GPU.

Well, the 360 has a ATI/AMD GPU and that's done okay. Would you say the PS3 has had an advantage from having an nvidia part?

Also they're not saying what *type* of CPU that 8 core thing is. AMD's direction right now is to push towards unification between GPU and CPU processing.

If you're taking about Watchdogs, beanman, I thought it was kind of out there already that it's a next-gen title. Those graphics are not possible in current-gen.

Watchdogs would work for me as a launch title, as well. I much prefer open-world games to shooters these days. Pretty much any exciting sandbox game could get me there: Saints Row, Red Dead, Watchdogs...even a Mercenaries sequel that wasn't a huge disappointment. Speaking of disappointments, I might even try a Crackdown 3 if they finally put in the effort to realize its potential. 1 was bare-bones, and 2 was glorified DLC. I still finished both.

Scratched - I know ATI/AMD GPUs are fine, I just prefer Nvidia in PCs. Personal preference. Your point about the PS3 is well made.

Aaron D. wrote:

I'd scream from the rooftops if Forza 5 was a launch title, but I'm silly for the franchise like that.

That's one of the strongest rumors I've seen. FM4 is maxing the 360 so it's going to take new hardware to advance Forza. They'd better maintain wheel compatibility, dammit.

Remedy recently stated on the Alan Wake facebook page that they're getting ready for a big announcement. The natural conclusion would be Alan Wake 2, and I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be a launch title.

Free XBL and no more MS points. That is what I need. I have too many options now.

Speaking of controller compatibility, I know someone suggested that 360 controllers would/should be compatible. That would be awesome, though it's very unlikely. I've heard new controller sales are a big profit source.

Seriously, there is nothing to improve on with the 360 controller, or at least, nothing that would make it into a truly new beast.

My biggest fear on the controller side is they will fiddle with it too much, overthinking it and trying to chase some novelty options.

I love the 360 pad and would only tinker with the admittedly lame D-Pad (haven't tried the latest swivel D-Pad myself).

Given the 8800 series hasnt even launched on the Desktop side..and while the 8800 should be midrange I still think thats probably on the high side in terms of power draw and cooling for a semi closed set-top box. Unless this is a 2014 release I'm struggling with believing that...OF course it could be 8800 in name only and be a heavily modified mobile type GPU/APU.

TheGameguru wrote:

Given the 8800 series hasnt even launched on the Desktop side

Didn't the X1000 series launch alongside the 360 which was using a derivative of that for the GPU?

shoptroll wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Given the 8800 series hasnt even launched on the Desktop side

Didn't the X1000 series launch alongside the 360 which was using a derivative of that for the GPU?

Wikipedia says something very similar, the Xenos (360 GPU) is related to the R520, or X1300-X1950 GPUs, and was closest to an X1800.

I'm just comparing it to the nvidia chips at the time to see if I can make any predictions (if current trends continue) to see what the next geforce 8800 would be, that can handle the console ports awesomely for the next zillion years (in computing eras).
edit: Probably whatever next new 'generation' or new chip design launches in the years following the console launches. So Radeon 9000s or probably geforce 800s