Bilnick

Cybergoth, on Thu Feb 9, 2012 1:58 PM, said:

Why do you assume that the people who bought the first game used would buy the sequel new?

A franchise can grow even if it sells to a smaller percentage of the user base year to year. If a game sells to 10% of a user base of 10 million Xbox 720 userss one year, but only 8% of 20 million Xbox 720 users two years later, the franchise grew by 60%.

I would argue gaming is more affordable this generation compared to previous generations.

The price of current AAA titles is $60, the same or less than I paid for similiar titles during the SNES and Genesis days (Star Fox, SF2 or Virtua Racing anyone??).

If I want I can visit the PSN store or Xbox Live marketplace and buy 100s (maybe thousands) of games that cost $5 - $20 on the day they were released. No waiting for the game to get older and drop in price, or wait for a greatest hits version to be released.

A gamer on a budget has more choices than ever this generation.

OldSchoolRetroGamer, on Mon Feb 6, 2012 1:34 PM, said:

Don't you usually have to pay a fee to transfer the warranty services for a car, furniture, etc. if you buy it used? I am not sure about fucking houses since I do not frequent those types of establishments, I would guess there is no warranty on those services though (maybe a no VD guarantee?)

I would equate the fee to transfer a warranty to the fee game developers want to charge, aka the online pass. Like transfering a warranty, it is your choice whether you want to pay or not.

Alot of predictions you made for the next gen Xbox is contradictory to the direction they went with this generation.

I don't recall a silver level of service on the original Xbox, only a paid service (correct me if I am wrong). The 360 introduced the gold and silver levels of service. Having only a gold level of service would be silly, it would cut out any customer who didn't want to pay for gold, but still wanted to occasionally download a map pack, arcade game or movie.

When the 360 was introduced it did not have an HDMI port on it, Microsoft added it with later revisions of the 360. If they wanted to sell you a specific cable or adapter, they could have easily done that with the 360, but did the complete opposite.

I agree with you that Kinect will be a big part of the next Xbox. Think of Siri with the added flexibility of hand movements, facial recognition, etc to navigate menus, DVR service, TV service, etc.

I would guess the next Xbox will have a Blue Ray drive in it. If Microsoft really wants the next Xbox to be a all in one entertainment unit, it needs to have a drive for people to play thier existing DVD or Blue Ray movies, CDs etc., or it isn't much of an all in one box. Retailers will still want to sell discs for the next generation Xbox as well. I would guess that videogames generate a lot of foot traffic for stores like Toys r Us, Best Buy, or Wal Mart. You usually have to walk by many different departments in most stores to get the the game section, I would guess there is a reason behind that placement.

Of the three current consoles only the Wii feels old. the PS3 and 360 seem like they have a couple years of life left.

By the time a new Xbox or Playstation is released it will be nearly 2 years from now (fall of 2013 probably???), and by then I will be ready for a new console or three.

Who am I kidding though, I am gong to buy any console from Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft whenever they are released, ready or not.