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May 14, 2005
game girl advance: Armistice Xbox
Xbox 360 does not compete with Sony or Nintendo. It is not a gaming console. It is a powerful device to deliver content online and over WiFi. Microsoft's real competition is Apple, Yahoo, and Google. Apple's movie-download service. Yahoo's retail channels. Google's - well, everything. Heck, throw Comcast and TiVo in there for good measure. The games are merely a means to an end - an "instant-on revenue to support an exponential expansion into the livingroom," as Eric put it over an IM chat we had.
Look, a TIVO is basically a couple of hard drives, a really powerful processor (or two), some awesomely useable software, and as quiet a cooling system as can be fitted into a box small enough to fit in the living room. So, too, is the new X-Box...
Indeed, way back on the 7th of July 2003, I wrote:
I expect each of the next gen. systems to ship with at least what the X-Box shipped with, and what the PS2 is being upgraded to: a Hard Drive, and a broadband adaptor. I also wouldn't be too surprised to see out of the box 4 controller support. To be completely honest, I don't think that there is a whole lot of room for innovation in the hardware, though the software side of things is set to explode. Other than better graphics, we shouldn't expect too much new next time around…More Specifically:
The reason for the Hard Drive is simple: the thing is bloody useful. Players are able to turn their consoles into media centers (more on that later), bringing the much-anticipated "convergence" around in a way that no one quite saw coming. It also lowers load time dramatically, increasing the intensity of game play by not forcing the player to pull out of the game's world...
Hot damn, 100% accurate! Am I good or what? Indeed, I may not have gone far enough-- Microsoft seems to be going completely convergence happy, taking advantage of the existing home networking infrastructure and letting people play movies and music, as well as their games...
One thing that Microsoft really doesn’t get enough credit for is interface design. I have constantly found them to be the best at figuring out how people want to use software, and designing their interfaces around that. So I fully expect Microsoft’s DVR software to be better than TIVO’s. All in all, I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these things. And in a couple of years, so will my parents...
Posted by Andrew at May 14, 2005 10:38 AM
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Comments
yes, punning pundit....too true.
Posted by: well... at May 15, 2005 10:55 PM
I love my TIVO but I'm always looking for a better product and a lower cost. Do you think that this is what Microsoft has in mind?
Posted by: Punning Pundit's Dad at May 16, 2005 09:08 AM
It look so sleek, easy choice for a Christmas present for my friend.
Posted by: Alexa at May 16, 2005 03:13 PM