GearWERKZ TechBlog

It has been quite nearly 3.5 years since the Xbox 360 launched to much acclaim. Several hundred red-rings of death later, the little green console is certainly entering its waning years of pre-eminence. I have postulated on several forums that I fully expect to see news leak of the Xbox 720 (or Xbox 3602) before the year is out. I am veritably shivering in anticipation of the news of what the successor to the 360 will bring to the table. Microsoft certainly has it figured out with regards to the digital distribution model and multi-media integration with a home PC network, so I expect those themes to be heavily leveraged in the new consoles design. With that being said, I thought it was timely to consider the state of the console market.

Follow up:

Instead of my standard commentary where I lambaste all three console manufacturers, I’ll cover that very quickly (how the manufacturers stack up). Then I’ll spend most of the rest of the time reminiscing about which titles have been my favorite (on the 360) and comment on what I am using each console for.

Not much has changed since the 360’s initial launch window and the Sony/Nintendo follow-ons one year later.

Xbox 360 Report Card (3.5 year-point):

• Pace of truly great multi-player titles has slowed (-)
• Still has a great market-place for video content (+)
• As peripherals age, is it really worth the investment to replace them? (-)
• Camera never found a use for much of anything (-)
• A lot of the multi-media features were great up-front, but have lost their luster in the out years (streaming; iPod integration) (-)
• Should have had larger hard drives available. Streaming is great, but having your media right there on the console would have been a better option (-)
• Games age well; titles that were great are still awesome to play (+)
• Xbox Live Community has gotten less migratory as the frequency of AAA titles has slowed; a lot are revisiting titles that they had abandoned (+)

PS3 Report Card:

• Gets nod for “most improved” console (+)
• Idiotic frequency of firmware updates has finally become reasonable (+)
• Upgrading the hard drive does not result in a loss of the system configuration settings, just game saves (+)
• Incredible high learning curve with regards to online marketplace GUI and content; Sony has finally gotten this right (+)
• Even higher company learning curve with regards to media content. Still makes no sense that Sony does not distribute music from their own record label as digital downloads via the PSN Store that could be played on both your PS3 and PSP (+/-)
• Integration between PS3 and PSP is a value-multiplayer (+)
• Upgradeable HD means more space for direct storage and a lot more space for media downloads (video) form the PSN store (+)
• I’m going to call PSN Home a wash. There is not a lot to do, but its mere presence is more than XBL offers, so plus one. Then again, XBL does not need it, since their friend’s list and dashboard features are global, Sony’s is not; gig to Sony. You don’t net points for making something cool just because you had to because your management of online social features was broken. Nor do you get points for forcing me to launch into a special app just to be social with people who own the same console that I do (+/-)
• Its library is on the up-swing, while the 360’s is becoming more stagnant than its previous pace. (+)
• Great Blu-Ray player (+)

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