I can't see it. It would just damage sales of their current machines at this stage.
Microsoft will push a few big core games, more multimedia and social functionality with Kinect..and they are supposed to be pushing an App for tablets/phones so you can link them to xbox/xbox live for some of the social functionality we're seeing with the Wii u..
Sony won't announce the PS4 as that would overshadow Vita..and Vita has to be established this year or it's not going to have a bright future (outside of Japan at least). They'll likely push the PS3/Vita combo to try and make it seem like their answer to the Wii U.
History hasn't shown that, in regards to sales.
You're right with Vita though - it'd overshadow that, if that's what they're going to go big on this year, which I'd assume they are.
Internet Explorer for 360 is Gold only. I called that a few weeks ago. Can't have Silver members using YouTube or Facebook for free, that would would be outrageous.
And timed DLC exclusives for Tomb Raider, RE6 and COD.
I really hate DLC exclusives. Especially this late in a consoles life. I could understand it if these were all games for a new console as you'd want to get people buying your console over the other console that also has the same game, but I can't imagine that many people don't yet own a console that is also going to buy DLC so can't see why it is worthwhile for MS to do it.
For me the MS conference ranged from terrible to good.
Good bits:
Halo 4 (looked fantastic)
Forza Horizon (probably my most anticipated game this year, full day/night cycle and dirt racing confirmed too)
Gears of War: Judgement (hope to see some proper gameplay footage later)
Xbox Internet Browser (seemed great)
Few new XBLA IP's
Tomb Raider (genuinely surprised how good that looked)
Resi 6 (looked nice)
Bad Bits:
Everything else non-related to gaming including the cringe inducing Usher performance.
I think the next gen Xbox will be announced exclusively on MTV or something later this year, it's obvious all the top teams like Epic, Rare and Turn 10 are busy working on next gen games so I don't think we'll have to wait till next E3.
It was OK, nothing to shout home about, if'd just been about the games it would be good, Halo 4 looks interesting, Gears 4 does to, Tomb Raider was the stand out and South Park looks like it's keeping with the show. No kids this year, but you could tell that Woman was suppose to be where the kids were . And Usher, Oh My God indeed.
Conference may not have been great but been honest I don't really care about all the marketing stuff you get in the conferences anyway.
I only care about what games are going to be avaliable & In terms of games, There were a few shown in the conference that I liked the look of & a few that im definately going to buy so wasn't a total waste of time.
Halo 4, Splinter Cell, Gears Of War, Tomb Raider, Resi Evil 6, Metal Gear Rising, Forza Horizon & Black Ops 2 are the one's Im most looking forward to.
Tomb Raider looked good. Resident Evil looked boring. Not much of Forza was shown and really I expect it just to be a stop-gap for the next Forza game on the next-gen, so whilst it'll look great I wouldn't get your hopes up on major gameplay improvements.
Not much of Forza was shown and really I expect it just to be a stop-gap for the next Forza game on the next-gen, so whilst it'll look great I wouldn't get your hopes up on major gameplay improvements.
Forza Horizon is a complete departure for the series, it's nothing like main Forza installments. It's also being developed by an almost "dream team" of ex-racing studios and other top UK talent (Bizarre Creations/Codemasters/Slightly Mad/Rockstar North/Criterion/Black Rock among others). There's a lot going into this game and it will offer a completely different experience to FM so it's worth getting your hopes up if you're into racers.
Had to pause it for a bit, came back to Usher. What a waste of time (Though Dance Central 3 will probably be purchased...).
I knew they wouldn't announce a console but I didn't think they'd fill potential game time with such drivel. Though at least we know MS's position on the Xbox now, it's a media device not a games console. Oh well Sony can try to top them now, with little effort.
Halo 4 is my best in show so far.
This has always been Microsoft's plan for the XBox - they aren't interested in pushing a games console as much as they are a set-top box for their services.
The reason that they got into the console business in the first place was to stop Sony from taking over the living room. When the PS2 was released, it was one of the first serious attempts to create a centralised media hub - which was a major threat to Microsoft's long-held plans for Windows.
Of course, Sony have since completely lost their way and Apple are now the company best poised to take over the living space. Most of Microsoft's efforts in recent years have been fairly tepid "me too!" offerings. Nobody cares about Windows phones or tablets, and nobody cares about Zune, XBox Music or whatever else they are trying to push. There are already established services out there that are harnessing the synergy that Microsoft has been dreaming off but never achieved.
Games are secondary to Microsoft's plans to build a new ecosystems of Windows powered machines that supports their services. Microsoft haven't made any meaningful investment in their gaming division in years. Compare their first party studios to Sony and Nintendo's: if you don't care about Halo, Forza or Fable then Mircosoft don't have much to offer you.
This has always been Microsoft's plan for the XBox - they aren't interested in pushing a games console as much as they are a set-top box for their services.
The reason that they got into the console business in the first place was to stop Sony from taking over the living room. When the PS2 was released, it was one of the first serious attempts to create a centralised media hub - which was a major threat to Microsoft's long-held plans for Windows.
Of course, Sony have since completely lost their way and Apple are now the company best poised to take over the living space. Most of Microsoft's efforts in recent years have been fairly tepid "me too!" offerings. Nobody cares about Windows phones or tablets, and nobody cares about Zune, XBox Music or whatever else they are trying to push. There are already established services out there that are harnessing the synergy that Microsoft has been dreaming off but never achieved.
Games are secondary to Microsoft's plans to build a new ecosystems of Windows powered machines that supports their services. Microsoft haven't made any meaningful investment in their gaming division in years. Compare their first party studios to Sony and Nintendo's: if you don't care about Halo, Forza or Fable then Mircosoft don't have much to offer you.
I disagree that this has 'always' been their plan, but I think it has become their plan for a while.
They've identified very well what more it can offer other than gaming and everything has clicked into place with more and more content providers now realising the potential of streaming etc, just as the life cycle of the console is coming to an end and when more casual gamers will tend to pick consoles up now that they're reduced in price.
Sony on the other hand has had some of these things since day one, but not on the scale of the 360 and hasn't really improved upon its offering.
Will be interesting to see what they come out with later tonight.
I disagree that this has 'always' been their plan, but I think it has become their plan for a while.
They've identified very well what more it can offer other than gaming and everything has clicked into place with more and more content providers now realising the potential of streaming etc, just as the life cycle of the console is coming to an end and when more casual gamers will tend to pick consoles up now that they're reduced in price.
Sony on the other hand has had some of these things since day one, but not on the scale of the 360 and hasn't really improved upon its offering.
Will be interesting to see what they come out with later tonight.
You're right that Sony are also moving more and more into the services - unfortunately they stand even less chance of getting it right than Microsoft in this regard - but the difference is that Sony are still taking gaming seriously.
They have far more studios working on a broader range of IPs than Microsoft does. I'm sure that Sony are going to promote something like Qriocity (sigh...) tonight, but they'll be able to balance that out with interesting games that their internal studios are working on. The fact that they have a new IP from Naughty God - which actually seems to be doing something new from the limited impressions that we have so far - already tips them ahead of Microsoft's usual - here's a Halo, here's a Forza, here's a Fable and here's a Gears. Made better with Kinect.
Everything that Microsoft showed tonight - including the stuff from third parties worryingly - looked extremely derivative. Gritty shooters, linear set pieces, QTE fests and Kinect waggle don't really do it for me.
Comments
You're right with Vita though - it'd overshadow that, if that's what they're going to go big on this year, which I'd assume they are.
Aol, Napster, IE...It's like a time warp.
I really hate DLC exclusives. Especially this late in a consoles life. I could understand it if these were all games for a new console as you'd want to get people buying your console over the other console that also has the same game, but I can't imagine that many people don't yet own a console that is also going to buy DLC so can't see why it is worthwhile for MS to do it.
I think I'm done with COD now anyway, Battlefield is where the action is.
hahaha
Good bits:
Halo 4 (looked fantastic)
Forza Horizon (probably my most anticipated game this year, full day/night cycle and dirt racing confirmed too)
Gears of War: Judgement (hope to see some proper gameplay footage later)
Xbox Internet Browser (seemed great)
Few new XBLA IP's
Tomb Raider (genuinely surprised how good that looked)
Resi 6 (looked nice)
Bad Bits:
Everything else non-related to gaming including the cringe inducing Usher performance.
I think the next gen Xbox will be announced exclusively on MTV or something later this year, it's obvious all the top teams like Epic, Rare and Turn 10 are busy working on next gen games so I don't think we'll have to wait till next E3.
I only care about what games are going to be avaliable & In terms of games, There were a few shown in the conference that I liked the look of & a few that im definately going to buy so wasn't a total waste of time.
Halo 4, Splinter Cell, Gears Of War, Tomb Raider, Resi Evil 6, Metal Gear Rising, Forza Horizon & Black Ops 2 are the one's Im most looking forward to.
Forza Horizon is a complete departure for the series, it's nothing like main Forza installments. It's also being developed by an almost "dream team" of ex-racing studios and other top UK talent (Bizarre Creations/Codemasters/Slightly Mad/Rockstar North/Criterion/Black Rock among others). There's a lot going into this game and it will offer a completely different experience to FM so it's worth getting your hopes up if you're into racers.
You can read more details about it here.
This has always been Microsoft's plan for the XBox - they aren't interested in pushing a games console as much as they are a set-top box for their services.
The reason that they got into the console business in the first place was to stop Sony from taking over the living room. When the PS2 was released, it was one of the first serious attempts to create a centralised media hub - which was a major threat to Microsoft's long-held plans for Windows.
Of course, Sony have since completely lost their way and Apple are now the company best poised to take over the living space. Most of Microsoft's efforts in recent years have been fairly tepid "me too!" offerings. Nobody cares about Windows phones or tablets, and nobody cares about Zune, XBox Music or whatever else they are trying to push. There are already established services out there that are harnessing the synergy that Microsoft has been dreaming off but never achieved.
Games are secondary to Microsoft's plans to build a new ecosystems of Windows powered machines that supports their services. Microsoft haven't made any meaningful investment in their gaming division in years. Compare their first party studios to Sony and Nintendo's: if you don't care about Halo, Forza or Fable then Mircosoft don't have much to offer you.
They've identified very well what more it can offer other than gaming and everything has clicked into place with more and more content providers now realising the potential of streaming etc, just as the life cycle of the console is coming to an end and when more casual gamers will tend to pick consoles up now that they're reduced in price.
Sony on the other hand has had some of these things since day one, but not on the scale of the 360 and hasn't really improved upon its offering.
Will be interesting to see what they come out with later tonight.
http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/microsoft-conference-grade-/1292031?page=9
You're right that Sony are also moving more and more into the services - unfortunately they stand even less chance of getting it right than Microsoft in this regard - but the difference is that Sony are still taking gaming seriously.
They have far more studios working on a broader range of IPs than Microsoft does. I'm sure that Sony are going to promote something like Qriocity (sigh...) tonight, but they'll be able to balance that out with interesting games that their internal studios are working on. The fact that they have a new IP from Naughty God - which actually seems to be doing something new from the limited impressions that we have so far - already tips them ahead of Microsoft's usual - here's a Halo, here's a Forza, here's a Fable and here's a Gears. Made better with Kinect.
Everything that Microsoft showed tonight - including the stuff from third parties worryingly - looked extremely derivative. Gritty shooters, linear set pieces, QTE fests and Kinect waggle don't really do it for me.
GT is the way to go EA's stream just wouldn't work for me.
http://www.gametrailers.com/netstorage/e3/live.html
Good quality.