Once a staple of the games market, the supply of platform-exclusive titles from third-party developers is drying up. Aylon Herbet explains why this isn't such a bad thing... The gaming industry is changing in this generation and there's a bunch of possible reasons.
It may have to do with the higher cost of development, different systems' market share, peripherals or different control requirements, but none of that really matters. The reasons are irrelevant, the point remains the same: we are seeing less and less third-party exclusives (that is, games that are only on one console and which are developed by someone other than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo themselves) in the world.
The recent announcement that Final Fantasy XIII is coming to Xbox 360 brought this change into focus. All they needed now was a Metal Gear Solid 4 announcement and we could start poking a stick at the corpse of third-party exclusives. Let's face the facts, even if Metal Gear Solid... More »
GN has been following the Xbox 360's various hardware alterations for quite a while now, and it's been a pretty interesting story so far. From the original, RRoD prone Xenon mobo to the Zephyr and Falcon successors as well as the upcoming Jasper design, there's been no shortage of news in the field. Today, as a matter of fact, we've got a look at another Xbox 360 chipset, the extremely rare "Opus" as discovered by member Electric Tunder on the Xbox-Underground forums.
Designed specifically to help Microsoft recoup losses on RRoD'd hardware that's been returned for repairs, the Opus chipset is a Falcon-generation mobo that'll snap into original Xenon Xbox 360s. Because it is installed in refurbished Xbox 360 launch chasses, the Opus lacks HDMI-out. It does, however, feature the Falcon-era HANA video chip that supports digital output, which means a really skilled modder could potentially retrofit such a connection.
The Opus also looks to be sporting the 65-nm ... More »
An Xbot’s take on why the time is now right for Xbox 360 gamers to seriously consider getting rid of their 360’s and purchasing a PS3
Before beginning this article I would like to make it clear that I’m a confessed Xbot. Even after churning through 3 separate Xbox 360’s due to hardware failure, I have remained loyal to Microsoft and believe that Xbox Live is an amazingly fun service, even worth paying for.
BUT do I really? What has kept me coming back again and again when a normal gamer would have spat the dummy and gotten rid of the Xbox 360 years ago? Why is now the right time to finally break away from Microsoft?
The following reasons are what I believe to be the most compelling as to why my fellow hardcore Xbots should seriously consider taking the plunge and moving over to the PS3.
The Play Station Network Now I hear what you guys are saying, nothing beats Xbox lives usability, social aspects and servers, bu... More »
Microsoft is now winding up operations in several cities in India, as trouble seems to be brewing over the performance of its Xbox 360 console, according to a report from CNBC-TV18.
The report, which cited anonymous sources, concludes that Microsoft has withdrawn from several Tier-I cities due to lackluster sales. Its Entertainment and Devices Division has also reportedly withdrawn the marketing budget for the current fiscal.
The Xbox 360, which launched in India in September of 2006, has been facing dismal sales already due to sloppy customer support, high hardware failure, and pirated games, the report said. Games are easily available in the grey market for Rs 100, while official titles cost upwards of Rs 2,500.
Microsoft has already repeatedly refused to share its India sales numbers.
“The Microsoft Entertainment Devices Division is very much on track with its targeted business plans,” a Microsoft India spokesperson told CNBC.... More »
Is the era of the X-Box over already, almost before it began? Premature ejaculation of fanboy glee, a beautiful moment but over in a flash, with nothing but a mess and disappointed people left in its wake?
A little look at what the experts say on the subject certainly tells us so. An article on Joystiq’s PS3 Fanboy gives 10 reasons why the PS3 is back in the swing of things.
EGM and EDGE have both within the last four months run cover stories on the return of the PS3 — titled “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Revenge of the PS3″ (which if nothing else, tells us that The Force Unleashed is going to have good sales) and some analysts have predicted that the PS3 will do at least as well as the 360 this year, and some have gone so far as to say that it’s going to edge out the unstoppable Wii by 2011.
In terms of general PR too the PS3 has been doing great, with the Human Genome Project and then the USAF taking a cartload of PS3s defini... More »
The Xbox 360's RROD has been the monkey on Microsoft's back for the past couple of years, but according to some reports, Sony has been dealing with some similar problems with the PS3 as well.
Complaints on Sony's own forums show a small percentage of users being greeted with 80010514 errors, and finding out that their Blu-ray drives are no longer functioning. A quick search via the information superhighway seems to indicate that Sony has not released an official breakdown of the code, but that it veritably indicates an issue with the Blu-ray drive.
To be fair, it has to be mentioned that isolated reports of this error have been around for quite some time -- since the PS3's launch, in fact -- and that we've heard nothing about it coming anywhere near Xbox 360 levels of concern. However, it should be known that at least a couple people on staff know of others who have had issues with their PS3's giving up the ghost.
The X360 needs a new SKU, and this is what it should include...
Look left, look right and there is nothing but good games on the horizon as far as the eye can see, especially for the Xbox 360. To one side you have an awesome catalogue of hits, from Dead Rising to Halo 3 and Just Cause to Mass Effect.
On the other there’s Fable 2, GTA IV, Too Human, Halo Wars and more coming our way. But look directly in front of you at the machine that can play all these wonders and there is a maligned console struggling to keep up with the pace. Microsoft needs to get serious and release a new SKU for their console that gives it a fresh image, and a fresh sense of purpose. And here's how...
Before we start, we should point out that we love the gaming we've had on our Xbox 360s, were just not oblivious to its flaws. This is not an attack: it is a call to arms, a request to Microsoft, to do something positive to make video gaming better for everyone.
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Yeah, that's right: why don't they enter the competition? Is the bid for Yahoo too expensive and they're out of money now?
In the recent period Microsoft went from the acquisition-spree that characterized the burst of the "dot-com bubble" era to a more pragmatic approach to business. And by pragmatic I mean " building products in house".
Just think of this classical example. In 2000, Microsoft had two options in order to enter the increasingly profitable gaming market: one was to buy the ailing Nintendo, which at that time was valued at "only" $13 billion (compare that to the $70.89 billion today) and the other was to build its own console. Guess what: top representatives from Redmond thought that Nintendo was too expensive, so they went on with crafting the Xbox, which debuted in 2001.
Fast forward four years later and Microsoft unveils the second generation of Xbox, dubbed Xbox 360, after reporting a whooping $4 billion loss at the Xbox divisio... More »
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