Gaming Critical Hit: Is the Xbox 360 Dead in the Water?

Is the Xbox 360 running out of steam, and has Microsoft Game Studios lost the plot?

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/xbox-360/2011/03/03/critical-hit-xbox-360-dead-water/1

 

Calling the 360 "dead in the water" seems a little brash. While there's not a huge lineup of exclusive games announced right now, multi-platform games tend to still sell better on the 360 then on the PS3 for the most part.

Microsoft Game Studios isn't the only publisher that relies on rehashes to make sales. Activision, Ubisoft, Nintendo, and Sony all do the same thing.

In my honest opinion, this was a pretty poor article about the state of gaming.

 

didnt actually think any of my 360's life until i read this and i must it does ring true, there isnt much excitement around a 360 exclusive release now with the exception of halo.

 

I brought an xbox for halo played it for 1 year sold it and brought a pc and ps3.

 

Does seem like they have stagnated a bit but then I wonder how much of that is because Microsoft have put all their marketing muscle behind making Kinect a success to expand their userbase and at upcoming games shows perhaps we'll see more from them when they shift focus.

May be their focus is actually on the 360 successor and Microsoft are being tightlipped about it.

 

Joe, couldn't agree more. The 360 is an out-dated console that has little more than a fan-boy following still playing (i.e. those who generally can't see the failings and how hopeless the console is, even after a RROD incident).

Amazingly enough we're seeing alot of developers focusing on the PC side of everything again so something makes me think the 360 may not be around as a major contest to the PC/PS3 in say... three years?

 

This is nosense. Every company relies on big name games to resell. Also with the release of kinect i feel the console is going from strength to strength. You just made a mountain out of a molehill there.

But i do agree we need to wait and see if any games are going to start taking advantage of kinect.

 

Somebody should make a collage about which gaming publications have called which gaming platform dead. If reality was as trendwatchers and journalists see it, we'd all be playing farmville on an iPhone.

 

I've always been about PC gaming so I never ventured into consoles after the PS2, for me it was always a choice between buying a next gen console or a great upgrade to my PC such as a new GFX card or an SSD.

However I agree that this gen of consoles will ultimately decline over the next 3-5 years. As the PC storms ahead in terms of technology, console gamers are going to be itching for the next gen of consoles whether that is between 3-5 years we will have to see, but it should be, preferrably 3 years for Sony & Microsoftw side of it, and 5 years for us PC gamers as the longer they wait to bring out the next gen of consoles the stronger the PC gamer industry should grow *hopefully*.

 

Kinect aside there is a lack of Xbox exclusives this year. That said though have you seen the list of multiplatform games hitting the console in 2011. Seriously there's so much stuff I need a second income and half the year off to play them all.

 

Jon writes Critical Hit, not I.

 

You can play them all on pc with 360 pad and I own a 360 but the pc versions are just better most of the time

360 has / had 3 great franchises

Halo
Fable
Forza

Yes gears of war is a good game but you don't here people saying I brought my 360 for it.

Kinnett is a failed experiment with no real game support as far as I see it lack of hardcore game support which is what the 360 is ment to be about remember

360 - hardcore game
Ps3 - gamer media server
Wii - casual gamer

The hardcore Market went back to there pcs

The casual Market is doing what they did to the wii buy the console and 1 game called kinnett adventures or some dance game

Not exactly huge sales margins there, no one I know has kinnett no one has space for it requires to much distance

 

Child of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of EdenChild of Eden

 

Do exclusives actually make that much difference once your console base is installed? Of course they are still selling new xbox's but a lot of this will be on the back of kinect now and every kinect game is exclusive. Personally I own an xbox so the only thing that annoys me is when ps3 get an exclusive so I can't play it. Xbox having a game ps3 people can't play makes no difference to me buying that game. I'm eagerly awaiting Fight NIght and there seems to be a long list of games I want to get my hands on - which after the last 3 months is something of a relief. My only decision is PC or Xbox now and apparently both of those gaming formats are dead if you believe what you read.

 

Do exclusives really matter? I mean with all games coming out across all 3 platforms now, there seems less incentive to make an exclusive. Why close two thirds of the potential market even before a game's release. (from a developer's point of view.) Take crysis as a prime example. Once the preserve of the pc gamer; now about to go multi-platform. Okay, there's no exclusives anymore, but so what? And as long as developers are willing to go multi platform (and they will) the xbox has a future. (unless microsoft pull the plug...)

 

very interesting article Jon . Perhaps this is a result of all the long life spans of the console. It is a long time to push games out onto hardware where eventually it limits what you can do with game engines etc. I know that hardware doesn't drive creativity specifically but it must be a partial factor.

 

In an ideal world, thered be no exclusives. Whats wrong with letting people buy forza for the ps3 if they want? and why would they prefer to play it on that?
(yes i'm aware of dev costs vs sales and exclusive payments etc.)
A console (or any platform) should be able to stand on it's own based on the hardware inside it. If it needs a bunch of exclusives to prop it up to keep it alive then it's time for a better one.

 

That's probably because my Xbox only red ring onced (was replaced same day), and my PS3 has died twice, so I'm now stuck with a crappy slim one.

Sure the console has failings, but so does every other console including the PC, hopeless though? I wouldn't call it hopeless. In 3 years the console is going to be 8 years old which is approaching its end of life, unless Microsoft have other plans.

 

When's next gen of consoles out anyway? By the time the ps3 catches up it will probably be change over time anyway.

 

To be fair, if a game is multi-platform I'd usually prefer to play it on the 360 because I prefer the 360's Joypad to the Ps3's joypad (except in Beat-em-ups, the Ps3's D-pad rules for that). That and I'm addicted to boosting my gamerscore (yes I know it's pointless, but it's still fun)