Microsoft likely to showcase Xbox 720 in April reveal

#47

Well there are 2 things MS need to do, or they are dead in the water:

1) Show that gamers and developers are the absolute top priority. Sony absolutely nailed the ‘tone’ of their show with the message: “This machine is for you guys (devs) to easily make stuff for those guys (gamers). That is all.”

2) Beat the PS4 spec. Not match it, but beat it.

The entire world hates MS right now. I mean they really hate MS. On equal terms I think Xbox would die in months. The only reason the 360 kicked so much ass was because the PS3 is utter garbage. PS4 seems to have fixed everything that sucked about the PS3.

A sober, focussed Sony like we appear to have now is not something MS can afford to be complacent with.

A Kinect-centric, media-focussed machine/show will end the Xbox. I’m 100% certain of it.

I honestly don’t know if MS have it in them to innovate enough to counter the PS4.

It’s not about WOW factor or gimmicks. Sony just have not made any mistakes, and MS have not had that situation to deal with before.

@51
The entire world hates MS right now? Really!

Well no need to reply to you, obvious u live in some fantasy fanboy world.

My only fear with the new Xbox is of it being a Kinect focused multimedia player. This seems to be the way the 360 is heading and while some may enjoy that, at the end of the day I buy a games console to play games not browse the internet or watch TV or be wowed by gimmicks (Which is why I find the share function on PS4 rather boring). I have a PC and a set top box for that.

Atm I’m leaning towards PS4 as my first buy, but only because I know nothing about how Microsoft will approach the next gen yet.

*Also because I was impressed with the tone of Sony’s reveal in taking design input from devs. Wonder if MS has done the same.

I was actually Impressed with Sony their focus was spot on and they delivered an epic show they need to keep this path up more new IP’s sequals and focus on the games focus on building up that fan base. I’m not gonna lie I like the Xbox as a brand right now but Sony has impressed so far not convinced yet though let’s seewhat microsoft have got they will need to pull out some massive wameys here. Fable 4, Halo 5 cod partnerships and well alot more innovation in tech and IP’s to impress.

#52

I exaggerate, obviously, but the message is pretty clear: Gaming forums are only a slice of the wider community, but they are almost devoid of positive comments with respect to MS.

Sony, on the other hand have gained tremendous support for things like PSN+ and opening up for Valve and MMO’s.

BTW, which fanboy side would class me on? I’m intrigued…

@ 47
I was,nt slagging either or but just giving my opinion on where this gen is ending really.
IMO Sony made mistakes at the beginning of the PS3 such as price, no rumble, average launch games, inferior online service, big delays in games like mgs4 gran turismo.

I personally felt they were sitting on the high ground coming off the ps2 success.

Now as this gen comes to an end MS appear to have let a lot of there momentum evaporate with only a hanful of exclusives whilst Sony have been plugging away at the games and the likes of the + service which has evolved into an excellent service.

Just so you know and the older posters here would confirm this I was a 360 man for most of this gen and own both but I have been spending most of my time on the PS3 over the last 18 months or so as I just seem to get better value out of it and the few exclusives MS have left is not enough to change that.

I want both to do well next gen and I certainly hope MS come up with the goods as far as gaming goes and shag the entertainment end of it such as gimmicky kinnect things.

@56 By virtue of being online forums for people to rant, you really only ever hear the bad things. They are a very small slice of the wider audience. 95% of the PS4 and Xbox720 buying public don’t even know the thing was announced the other day or that the 720 will get a showing in April.
We are the more hardcore gamers so we take an interest. The Fifa, CoD and JustDance buying public are not like us. Look at the fact that games that get battered for being piss poor like Aliens, ends up top of the charts. The wider audience doesn’t see and hear what we do. They do appreciate Netflix, Kinect, Facebook integration and the rest.
Don’t be as naive as your hyperbole might suggest you are. No one is going to fail so long as they deliver on what they promise.

I’ll be honest I’d love to see both do well. Competition is what drives companies to try harder for our business.

@57

Sony did indeed grab alot of new IPs the last few years, sadly alot of them ‘flopped’ in terms of sales too. PS All Stars didn’t too well if i remember correctly, was Motorstorm ever a huge success? Then you got things like Warhawk and Starhawk. So while they all are new IPs..they didn’t do too well.

It remains to be seen how many IPs we’ll see on PS4. But that of course goes for MS too. As for the Xbox 720, even if they do bring a lot of apps and shit like Netflix, i have no problem with that if they also bring some great games. Halo will always remain a strong force, but hopefully also something else next to that and Fable, Forza and Gears. I do remember lots of articles on VG247 through the years about studios that were hiring people for new next-gen Xbox projects. Certainly not all of them can be casual crap

But like Giga says here:

http://www.vg247.com/forum/topic.php?id=8578#post-44063

Maybe it really won’t be what we all think it will be. I’m really curious. Read his second reply.

@ 60
I read that and it spiked my interest tbh.
Knowing me I will probably end up getting both anyway.

#56

Yea, you over exaggerated. Gaming forums are full of fan-boys.

I do agree with some points, but saying MS is not focus on gaming is kinda ridiculous. Its the top selling console in the US for the past 24 months.

Show that gamers and developers are the absolute top priority? How can you be a console manufacturer and not do that? Sony and Microsoft has always done that, what I think they need todo now is try to make easier for smaller developer, like iPad game developer, to make and release games on their new consoles. And allow for .99 cent price point. Else if Apple make an Apple TV you can play games on both Microsoft and Sony will have issues.

I also agree MS needs more value for Gold subscribers, they have actually started some exclusive deals for Gold members but no where as good as PSN+ deals.

I agree with you on MMO’s, and I’m pretty sure that will happen as for Valve good luck to Sony on that one, let see how that partnership hold up when the steam-boxes are released.

I agree with Gadzooks. MS lost lots of respect from both devs and gamers: devs are tired of MS’ ridiculous rules for creating xbox games and the lack of self-publushing, gamers are tired of getting always the same exclusive IP’s, their focus on Kinect shovelware, the growing amount of ads, paying for p2p gaming and monetizing of services that are completely free elsewhere.

What Microsoft needs imo:

- A few new, fresh IP’s in diverse genres instead of more brainless shooters doing more of the same with better graphics

- One or more core Kinect games that are actually fun to play. Oh, and are actually better with Kinect.

- Free online gaming, and an optional payed subscription that gives more value than access to free services.

- An open mind to indie games and new ideas, instead of throwing money to buy exclusivity for already proven concepts.

@51
Sony have clearly fixed quite a few of the problems they had last time, but I think its still worth remembering that one off their problems was over promising and under delivering. There is still a long way to go yet.

Specs can fall by the way side a little. Promises broken. I hope they keep it up and deliver, but there are still some twists and turns to this tale I think.

#64 Over promising and under delivering about Kinect didn’t prevent MS to sell 20.000.000 of those devices

#63

I agree with most of you points, but this ad whining is getting ridiculous. Its a game and media device/service you get ads on the latest games and movies, its not like its Burger King or Coke ads. There is one ad tile on the bottom right of each dashboard page, half the time i don’t even notice it.

With all the stuff Sony is adding to PSN online services for the PS4 its highly unlikely to be free. I’m pretty sure they would said that if it was.

What I total hate with Xbox online is forcing people to pay for gold to use Netflix or even IE, which is totally silly and greedy. But to play online games is totally justified and Sony wishes they could have done the same. There is no difference they are both companies with the same goal of making money.

@66
It’s not just direct ads. The majority of the pages and information you look through are essentially adverts. The is so much frippery and guff that to get to where you want you tend to wade through all the crap MS want you to look at first. If the Dash let you fully customise the front-end like a phone, or a Wii-U or Vita for that matter, it would be much, much better.

#67

Indeed, yea I agree a bit more customization of the home page would be nice. But I still don’t see how the way it is now now is such a big deal.

The PS3 home screen is just the same, PSN+ or not.

@68
Disagree about the PS3 home screen – at least in terms of accessiblity. Adverts for games are minimal and restricted to a particular place. From boot up I can get to my games collection (sorted into folders as I categorise them) very quickly and easily.

@69

Every time I put on my PS3 its takes me to “Whats New” and starts show latest games and sometime game news , which some people consider to be ads. No different from the what happens when I put on my Xbox.
Maybe u can change this behavior on the PS3, but its not an issue for me.

#66 I don’t think Axe Spray is game-related :p

I’m whining because those ads are still visible when I pay for premium Xbox Live Gold subscription, and that MS is pulling more and more advertising partners to the Xbox.

There is no indication that online gaming will be payed on PS4. Some Gakai streaming functions (full game demo’s tru streaming etc) probably are PS+ or premium only, but p2p gaming will not. They kept online gaming on Vita still free, despite extra services like cross-game chat and Near. Sony confirmed in several interviews in the past few months that they have no plans to change this.

So for now, Xbox is the only platform where you have to pay to host your own games, since that’s exactly what P2P-gaming is.

#69 What’s new can be deactivited in the option menu, xbox live ads can not.

@70, you can set whether you want to see “What’s New” at start up in the System settings.

If you set it to No you start on the Games tab unless you have a disc in the tray, in which case it will land on the appropriate tab for that disc.

@70
As mentioned above you can turn off going there on boot. You can also put your game content into albums and display them that way – hence a limited form of customisation too.

@51 Dude you live in LA-LA land. MS is hated by gamers? Yeah I guess gamers that were born yesterday and don’t realize what MS ushered in with their online capabilities. Gamers that don’t value a company updating software non-stop for years.

MS needs to appeal more to DEVS? I agree that MS needs to always appeal to devs but let’s be clear on something. The more Traditional DEV friendly of the 2 is MS. Sony’s the one that shipped a PS3 without an SDK using an architecture DEVS (like Carmack) told them was not how games are made. Lo and behold 6 years later they get the point. Now the PS4 comes with a DEV friendly architecture.

MS just needs to better appeal to small start up DEVS (small guys), regarding the traditional DEVS MS just needs to keep doing what it has always done.

Moving on. In order to not be “dead in the water” MS’s Xbox needs to be specced better than the PS4???? Where is your common sense? MS’s strengths lies in Software development. All the Xbox has to do is be close to the PS3. MS then plays to their strengths by levering their software development capabilities.

Your whole assessment was ass. Sorry if I come off like a prick but freshen up on some common sense my man.

Gotta pretty much go with what Gad said. I am one of many xb360 owners that supported the crap out of the platform early in this gen and now is against buying a new one. I just feel like a walking wallet. Over monitized and exploited.

Unless MS blow the roof off the place when they reveal their next system, screw em. I have a WiiU. I have a nice PC. And I can have a PS4.

And that is another thing. I can make a case for Nintendo. I can make a case for Steam/PC. I can not make a solid enough case for owning BOTH a PS4 and XBXNXT. Those two machines are going to live in the same eco system. They are going to offer the same kinds of experiences and services. I know Tea is prolly sputtering about Sony exclusives. Or Polly is mumbling something about Halo. But for me, I could take em or leave em. Been there done that, not interested in playing last gens games with a new coat of paint. It isn’t that I hate those games, but if I own a PS4 I won’t miss the XBox and vica versa.

@OG
I’m in that place too. Since the PS1 I’ve ended up with every console released, normally on or around release. Partly due to other pressures – like a family to feed for example – but also the sort of reasons you allude to I’m likely looking at one or the other of the MS and Sony offerings.

At this point though I’m not discounting MS. They have shown very little, we have rumours and conjecture. I’ve got some expectations – but I’m not calling it yet. MS have the opportunity to pull something great out the bag still and Sony certainly have the opportunity (and the track record) to stumble.

@61

Me too, but also a bit afraid. I wonder if a new way of gaming is needed. The controller is fine as it is. The new way of gaming Kinect was supposed to do…didn’t really do its job. But we’ll see soon enough hopefully.

@63

Different genres? Shit i sure hope so man. They would spark my interest right away if they come with a action/adventure or horror game like Alan Wake 2, along with a new shooter..perhaps from Rare? Who knows they still can do it. Maybe a new racing game, that stuff is inevitable. It’s going to be interesting, because we have no idea what to expect.

Pins allow a custom view of games and apps. Accessible via one ‘down’ and one click.

The ads don’t bother me one bit.

The ads on 360 for me are all about gaming all the time. Maybe different in the US, but i’ve never seen a axe ad on my dashboard. And i’m not bothered by it one bit either. I don’t see the problem. I can easily check out what deals MS has to offer for the week and when i want to check demos or videos i can go there no problem.

“MS have the opportunity to pull something great out the bag still and Sony certainly have the opportunity (and the track record) to stumble.”

Very much agree, Doc.

With Windows 8 being a complete and utter flop. Please dont say it isn’t because it is no doubt a complete and utter mess at the moment. The only reason it has 2% of the total market is because every new PC and Laptop comes with it preinstalled. I have lost count on how many laptops I have had given to me asking me to put and I quote “A proper version of Windows on it!” (ie Windows 7 or sometimes even earlier with people asking me to put XP back on lol).

They will without a doubt be wanting to make money and lots of it. I bet that the “720″ will come with some shruken down version of Windows 8 RT with very basic Windows-like functions.

It will come with Kinect 2.0 and this is where they will focus their efforts. They will advertise the hell out of this. On the back of the success of Kinect for 360 which was the fastest selling consumer electronics gadget ever.

The machine will be more powerful than a 360 or PS3 but I really dont think it will be anywhere near as poweful as PS4 as some of the rumours are suggesting its only about 20% less powerful if that. I find this highly unlikely.

It will be offered as some monthly fee basis payment such as a mobile phone where you pay £30-40 a month for the machine and its features so the box will be free.

It wont come with Hulu, Netflix, or Lovefilm, Microsoft will offer its own or will have an exclusive deal with one company for its machine access to this will be included in the monthly price.

Some form of free Video calling will be available like Skype, this too also included in the monthly price.

There will be a slew of Kinect enabled games, and there will be hardcore games but mainly from third parties and not from Microsoft. Only Halo, Gears, and maybe a few other will be exclusives.

They will sell the hell out of Kinect, and its features, and it will 50/50 be completely DRM locked.

It will also have a variant of the Windows 8 app store too. This will also come tied in with Windows Phones.

Microsoft will become the “new” apple, weather or not they succeed will be another thing.

They will be the “Wii” of this generation. So if you love games get a PS4, if you love Nintendo get a Wii U, if you love streaming films, talking to people on video chat, and dancing around your living room… get a 720.

@81

Please let me borrow your crystal ball for a sec, alright? Please dude that’s just ridiculous. None of us have any idea what they will do. What you are saying here would mean they are going to be losing all their customers who bought the 360 for games and nothing but games. I think you are very wrong there. Time will tell.

Even if its true that the specs are less powerful than PS4…that should not be a huge problem. Look at 360 and PS3 for example….and who’s to say they didn’t change those leaked/rumoured specs already? WHo’s to say they won’t surprise everyone with 16GBDDR5 in it…for example?

@81 TL;DR this guy has a magic crystal ball.

Your arguments are flawed. A big reason any Windows OS does good is because it’s loaded into PCs that are currently selling.

If Windows 7 wouldn’t have been pre-installed it’s sales would have also SEVERELY suffered.

“They will sell the hell out of Kinect, and its features, and it will 50/50 be completely DRM locked. ”

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.. MAKE sense! What does that even mean?… and don’t say: “I don’t know but it gets the people going”.

Interesting..more news:

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2013/02/xboxeventcom-just-registered-by-same.html

Polygon mentioned before that both MS and Sony were to have a Apple like press conferences.

#71 You sure use lots of text to say phuck all.. And poorly worded at that.

Where did I day THIS WILL HAPPEN!??

I was stating my views on what I think will happen. I have no idea what Microsoft will announce or what they will do. Its me speculating. What I said seems the most logical direction for Microsoft to take. They have done so before, by relying on third party software to drive their machine. Whilst they focus on the hardware side by trying to make it appeal to a wider audience with easier to use software and adding more features like Netflix, Youtube, and a Web Browser.

Kinect was massive for them, and what company wouldn’t want to follow that up. By offering the console for free on a subscription based model people would flock to the stores in droves to get one if the monthly fee is reasonable and they offer a good service.

Who knows SONY might offer something similar, have the PS4 for free and then offer a monthly subscription and you get full access to the library of games with Gaiki…?

Also I meant they will advertise the hell out of Kinect 2.0 and its features.

The system will be DRM locked much like Apple and their Iphones/Ipads etc.

But then again this is me just speculating.

Also Windows 8 is a massive flop, no matter how you look at it. I own and run a PC hardware store and the amount of Windows 8 copies we have sold is a joke compared to Windows 7 and even Vista which sold out on day one and we had over 300 copies in store. Windows 8 we have 125 left out of 200 and Windows 7 we are still selling pretty well it sold out by day three after it launched I put that down to piracy though.

But dude…if MS is gonna count on the third party again, who’s to say people won’t go over to PS4 then? PS4 is gonna be one powerful beast and MS knows that now too. They will have to come with at least a few interesting exclusives for their fanbase to stay intact.

@88

“The system will be DRM locked much like Apple and their Iphones/Ipads”? LOL. What do you mean? You wanna borrow and exchange iphone apps now?

Load of sh*t.

I’m with OG, I loved my Xbox 360 and Xbox but the 2nd half of the 360′s life was all about Kinect, services, dashboard, and video streaming. All we get Ip wise from MS is Kinect titles, Halo, GOW, and fable. We havent seen any really great new IP from MS for a long time.

They really have let third party be the reason to own a 360, buy timed exclusivity to DLC and updates,etc etc. They haven’t invested in new IP in a long time. I hope they actually bring some out for the 720 launch.

If Alan wake 2 is a launch title, Id probably have to get one, or if it has a really great RPG that isn’t on PC and has some specific next xbox feature.

I hope MS wows me but im not actually counting on it.

@85 Thanks for that! Added.

No problem Stephany. It’s awesome that you guys pay close attention to comments and edit the article with it. I apreciate that