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Stupid, Stupid xBox

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Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#41

Post by lelandbatey »

theevocater wrote: post #19
czr80 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? The number one pre-requisite? I think you're greatly overestimating how much the general population shares your particular hobbies.

I think you are underestimating how much the general population wants apps

Normally, I very much try to temper my thoughts on what the "general population" wants. I realize that I'm probably an outlier (as is nearly any person considered in isolation).

However, I just do not see the never ending thirst for apps that people act like exists. What I do see is people enjoying well produced, well adapted, easily distributed pieces of software that do what they need, whether that's in the form of a web application, a mobile app, or a desktop program.

I don't see people just flat-out demanding apps. No one says "I'd prefer to type all my documents on my 9 inch touch screen device" when there's a nice, light, ultrabook with a keyboard right next to it (and the same office suite on both devices).

HOWEVER: of course people want their devices to be able to do lots of cool things. However, that's only if you can do LOTS of really cool things and do them well.

Everybody, even your grandmother, snickers at the shoes equipped with a Twitter reader. There are limits, and developers would do well to take a good hard look at those limits.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#42

Post by lelandbatey »

theevocater wrote: post #19
czr80 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? The number one pre-requisite? I think you're greatly overestimating how much the general population shares your particular hobbies.

I think you are underestimating how much the general population wants apps

Normally, I very much try to temper my thoughts on what the "general population" wants. I realize that I'm probably an outlier (as is nearly any person considered in isolation).

However, I just do not see the never ending thirst for apps that people act like exists. What I do see is people enjoying well produced, well adapted, easily distributed pieces of software that do what they need, whether that's in the form of a web application, a mobile app, or a desktop program.

I don't see people just flat-out demanding apps. No one says "I'd prefer to type all my documents on my 9 inch touch screen device" when there's a nice, light, ultrabook with a keyboard right next to it (and the same office suite on both devices).

HOWEVER: of course people want their devices to be able to do lots of cool things. However, that's only if you can do LOTS of really cool things and do them well.

Everybody, even your grandmother, snickers at the shoes equipped with a Twitter reader. There are limits, and developers would do well to take a good hard look at those limits.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#43

Post by klausa »

sophacles wrote: post #32
tibbon wrote: post #15

The modern round of game systems are quite flawed from a UI/UX perspective, as the author here points out. My Playstation 3 forces me to do various updates to watch Netflix (which is what I use the system for 90% of the time). All of the systems ask you to input text in a super-awkward way to setup various aspects of the system (on-screen keyboards really suck for typing in complex WPA2 passwords). The XBox 360 is th…

Seriously, the fact that I can't plug in an old keyboard to the PS3 for the occasional password or search drives me nuts.

You actually can use USB keyboards on PS3. I'm fairly sure it works in any OS-provided text fields, but I'm not sure about support in games and other apps.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#44

Post by endlessvoid94 »

I've also been yelling this to my friends for some time. I actually can't figure out why Apple hasn't yet released an Apple TV with a more powerful graphics and some active cooling, plus a controller.

Allow iOS games and you have a serious, serious competition crushing game platform with a TON of existing games and content. Instantly.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#45

Post by esrauch »

GuiA wrote: post #7

"how it is crushing its original console competitors" Previous gen: > Xbox sales: 24 million > PS2 sales: 153 million Current gen: > Xbox 360 sales: 76 million > Wii sales: 100 million > PS3 sales: 70 million (all data from each console's respective Wikipedia) How is it "crushing" its competitors? Otherwise, I bought an XBox360 recently to get the Kinect for openFrameworks hacking and played a little bit with the con…

Total sales figures are somewhat misleading here, Sony and Nintendo both in much much worse positions today than they were 5 years ago.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#46

Post by natbro »

csense wrote: post #26
WestCoastJustin wrote: post #4

He has a massive point -- " Why can’t I write a game for xBox tomorrow using $100 worth of tools and my existing Windows laptop and test it on my home xBox or at my friends’ houses ". I am wiling to guess that game development will follow the path of app stores. Consoles like the OUYA [1] will start to take over. The cycle from development to distribution will be cut by orders of magnitude. xBox needs to get on it an…

Why do the tools need to cost anything at all?

you're spot on, they shouldn't really cost anything. XCode for iOS development, for example, doesn't cost anything (once you've bought a mac). similarly Android development tools don't cost a thing. charging a small fee like $99/year for the apple developer program or the Amazon store, or $25/year (i think it is) for Google Play is something they say simply helps defray the costs of hosting your apps and icons and in-app-purchase stuff, etc, reviewing apps, supporting you as a developer, and they all say it "helps improve the quality of apps in the store." To be fair, Windows development tools and access to the Windows Marketplace and the XBLGI are similarly free and/or priced (although honestly the tools are pretty stunted in free form). I was really trying to make the point that the cost on xBox for developing games that get real promotion or are easily visible to users are very high and Microsoft gets overwhelmingly strong veto power over your apps/games.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#47

Post by clobber »

redblacktree wrote: post #31
clobber wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody seems to remember just how much money Microsoft and Sony have lost on their consoles. - Through 2005, the Xbox gaming division had lost over $4 billion [1] - Microsoft took a charge of $1 billion dollars on its June 2007 income statement to account for the cost of replacing bricked Xbox 360s [1] - Xbox 360 and PS3 losses total $8 billion [2] Luckily for Microsoft, they've had the cash to burn to strong-arm the…

Isn't this how the console market works? You lose money on console units, but make it back in licensing? Or are you saying that, taking licensing into account, the Xbox still lost money for Microsoft? 2005 and 2007 were a long time ago. Do you know of more recent numbers?

I'm saying they're still losing money. The "lose money on units, make some back on software" model doesn't make economic sense anymore.

The second link has recent numbers.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#48

Post by natbro »

endlessvoid94 wrote: post #44

I've also been yelling this to my friends for some time. I actually can't figure out why Apple hasn't yet released an Apple TV with a more powerful graphics and some active cooling, plus a controller. Allow iOS games and you have a serious, serious competition crushing game platform with a TON of existing games and content. Instantly.

i personally think you'd also need a really good/new controller, but fundamentally i agree. i would develop for such a console in a heart.beat.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#49

Post by WestCoastJustin »

After letting the article percolate for a bit. Just think about what the industry will look like in 10 years.

- internet game distribution is going to change content delivery just like it changed VHF/DVD rental stores. The game stores will be gone, walmart will not display/sell them.

- those who can provide a pipeline like netflix for games are going to destroy the current establishment. It will likely be worse than what netflix did, simply because the development of games is easy compared it TV/Movies.

- the idea of xbox, playstation, wii might be gone. There might be a generic console with an online pipeline connected to it. Or maybe you will have a xbox, playstation, wii portal that will connect you to the pipeline just like what netflix does for movies?

Maybe I'm just talking out my ass but it looks like things are going to massively change.

Re: Stupid, Stupid xBox

#50

Post by theevocater »

anigbrowl wrote: post #37
theevocater wrote: post #28

I've been shouting this for as long as I could: Once Apple (or maybe an Android company or even someone new) enters this market in earnest, Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo should take watch. Apple has the infrastructure to deliver games, has tiny/medium/large touch devices that can connect via bluetooth in many customers hands (which already play games), and many many game developers familiar with the platforms. Every big st…

It'll be interesing to see what Sony reveals next week when they unveil the Playstation 4; one hopes this device will be capable of downloading something in the background. I have to say I find a lot of Apple stuff maddeningly quirky as well, and don't think they have a magic fix for this space. But they could certainly shake the space up if they choose to enter it, and I wish they would since more competition is goo…

I am super curious. Sony is at a huge turning point here. They are faltering badly and sort of stumbling around. For example, they released the new PSP and the Xperia Play last year which are basically direct competitors. They have all kinds of products but no real clear strategy as to how to put them together. It boggles the mind that they sell everything in the home but haven't found a way to actually get it all together. They literally sell everything from laptops to televisions to receivers to speakers to phones to consoles and more. Just imagine if they had a strategy as coherent as Apple's across all those products.
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