Publishers are doing their virtual E3 announcements, such as Ubisoft Forward and ID@Xbox’s Indie Showcase. There’s other wild news going on, and some not even in the official news items below.
Said news items include:
Let us know what you think.
This week we’re flashing back to Metroid II for the Game Boy, something new and different from the normal arcade/console/pc flashbacks. We’re also tackling a good deal of community comments and hitting up the news wire:
We didn’t get to cover history this week because we had lots of back-and-forth arguing about Netflix and the PS3 and rants upon DJ Hero and its “obvious” low-demand. This weeks question of the week, are there any good sim games left that are simple?
This week’s Gaming Podcast is full of Animal Crossing, which Scott can’t get enough of. You’d think TJ would be all over Resident Evil 3, but he reveals a plot twist, and talks about another game. Meanwhile. the Gaming Flashback is the titillatingly titled Deathspank.
This week’s news items include:
Let us know what fish you’ve caught in Animal Crossing.
It’s amazing to think we’re in our third year of “next generation” console bliss. Three years have passed since the first Xbox 360 shipped, for good or bad, and it’s time to start thinking about the future.
Or is it?
Bobbie Bach, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices president, seems to believe this generation of consoles will expand out further than the typical four-year release cycle. Perhaps because the console developers have invested so much money in defeating each other in the market and making their console “number one” in the eyes of their investors.
Bach does not believe we’re cresting on the current generation, that is for certain, and we’ve yet to hear any hype over a new next-generation console from Microsoft. They were the first to market so, theoretically, they should be the first in the next-generation as well, right?
Their move to be number one was really a strategic attack which has paid out well, leading them above the past domination of Sony and Nintendo before it. However, they are holding strong with the Xbox 360 and there might be cause to sit tight and let this generation playout before bringing in another piece of hardware.
Bach stated that he believes consoles today are competing at different levels than ten years ago. There isn’t one clear winner, there isn’t one dominating console. There will be victors in different areas of the industry; casual consoles, top game sellers, best graphics and others. It’s not about sheer “units sold” it’s more about being profitable and building a community around your hardware, see Xbox Live as a great example.
Next generation will be full of fantastic new features, ways to connect and crazy hardware specifications, no doubt, but… for many of us, it will take years before we forget the pain and suffering we paid shipping our dead Xbox 360’s back to Microsoft for repairs. Would you be willing to buy into their next generation as their first customer?
(Thanks, 1up)
