Alex Heat Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Okay, Microsoft, you win. I concede. You guys really aren't as dumb as I thought. It turns out that you're actually dumber than I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Hoping that the Next Xbox would be a real replacement for set-top cable boxes is on par with hoping that one would win the Powerball without buying a ticket. Just securing the agreements with every cable television operator would be a nightmare, let alone dealing with the technical details. We will have a la carte television standard before we have a third-party replacement cable box that works with every provider. But based on the way they've explained it so far even the HDMI pass-through only works with cable boxes from companies MS has a partnership with, it doesn't support all providers. Given that, I fail to see why negotiating a deal to have the Xbox be the cable box would have been any harder. Because the cable providers want to control the hardware that decodes their scrambling and presents their content; they also want to hang onto cable box rental fees and DVR fees. The technical costs would also be heavy. Although there are uniform standards, cable boxes are not all the same and MS would have to account for the different systems used by different providers, driving up the hardware costs for the One. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 The part about them wanting to control the hardware makes sense, the rest seems like it's just details that could be worked out fairly easily. I'm no expert on cable systems, but it seems like connecting to the various networks could be handled in software and not drive up hardware costs. Anyway, regardless of how unrealistic it is, what I'm saying is that I can see a market for that box assuming it existed. What I cannot see is a market for this weird middleman they've created. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I've worked in telecommunications law in law school, though it was a few years ago, and am very familiar with how telecom companies operate and make deals. Cable providers make a lot of their money on such fees and it would be very difficult for them to place a value on that for a deal with MS that MS would also be willing to pay. I mean, cable companies are monopolies and will not give an inch if they can help it. Pass-through is the best MS could do. Satellite TV providers might act differently, however. Does the one have HDMI pass-through with any satellite companies? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I've worked in telecommunications law in law school, though it was a few years ago, and am very familiar with how telecom companies operate and make deals. Well fine then, Mr. "I know more about this than you because I've actually worked in the field." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 He is right sadly about the US market. The less spoken about how atrocious US Telecom companies are the better. The infrastructure runs far too deep to be uprooted right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Microsoft talks to Joystiq about the question of used games and always online. My favorite part: Yeah, these are some of the specifics... honestly, I'm not really dodging, I just don't want to tell you something we haven't fully baked yet. Honestly, at this point I think MS is doing more harm than good by even talking about it at all. If they just stayed silent we'd assume the worst but we wouldn't be sure, but with them talking about it but refusing to deny it it comes across as basically confirming it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Hot Heart Posted May 22, 2013 Popular Post Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 That could be a new slogan. "Xbox One: Assume The Worst" 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingGerbil Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I understand that they were revealing the platform and there will be more game related info at E3 but to have not even one second of gameplay in an hour long presentation - I feel almost insulted though unfortunately not surprised. Kind of drove the point home when the only mention Halo - their marquee title - was as a TV show. One thing I don't understand is the "deep relationship" with EA. I get the times exclusives with CoD (seriously cheap way to win over customers - heaven forbid they actually create some compelling exclusive content). but what's special with EA? I've seen it mentioned in a few interviews without actually saying what it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 it was that MS paid EA to go on stage and say they have a special partnership. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Also that MS paid (or discounted licensing fees for) EA to implement Kinect and feedback trigger tech in EA's games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Heat Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 I just had a revelation. The Xbox One has no analog video output. The number of Americans who have HDTVs is at about 75% as of February while only 51% have more than one. Microsoft, I... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) I just had a revelation. The Xbox One has no analog video output. The number of Americans who have HDTVs is at about 75% as of February while only 51% have more than one. Microsoft, I... To give them some little credit...they could change that...maybe? Didn't, at one point, the ps3 was going to have two hdmi ports? Or...something? Edited May 23, 2013 by Vecha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 PS3 was going to have two HDMI outs, but still had analog in that, and as does PS4. And it'll likely be the same exact port PS1, PS2, n PS3 has too, which is kinda nice .Just here's hoping this time around the cable in box by default is HDMI, though at this point I think most folks with HDTVs have a few hanging around. "Why can't I hold all these HDMI and Micro-USB cables". My mum has exactly zero HDTVs in her house except for the occasions on Xmas break I'd take mine with me. But she's not exactly the audience for any of the 8th gen consoles so not a huge biggy. No SD outputs means it keeps costs down, and I don't think it'll be as big an issue in the forward thinking since I'd say in 5 years HDTVs will likely be much more common. Unlike regular TV watching. What is that all about? Might as well put a floppy disc drive in too. I watched the reveal with my housemate, so that was my highlight of it all, "Isn't this just a Sky box?". Oh also after stream stuttered a bit "Eurgh, now we've got to watch this advert". Then it turns out it wasn't a regular advert but Remedys new game Then we watched PS3 reveal cos she hadn't watched it. "Please be excited for E3!" is now her favourite phrase. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Yeah, I really don't get MS's "we're trying to future proof this console by centering the design around live TV. People still watch live TV, right?" Even my parents don't watch live TV except for sports, and even then they're typically at least half an hour behind the actual live broadcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 I'd be surprised if this didn't essentially become a cable box in it's own right at some point. If Sky expand their internet delivery to all their channels then you won't even need the Sky box. I imagine that all the content providers, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, etc, etc, etc, would be quite happy to not have to make boxes, send out engineers to fit dishes and so forth and instead just sell you an account that allows you to stream content. Their overheads would shrink dramatically. Also, I've heard talk that this is MS last "console". From here on in all upgrades and what not are happening cloud side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 This whole power of the cloud rubbish. They really don't know what they're talking about and I'm talking from the engineering perspective. It's like Redmond is Jonestown and everyone else looks on at how they're being indoctrinated to the 'powah of the clowds'. We aren't at that stage where you can just do your CPU processing heavily on the cloudside for media-heavy applications. Also Sky, Virgin Media, BT and such get huge margins from these boxes. I know this personally since I have a client from one of the former CIS nations who manufactures these boxes and they actually do extremely well. Satellite boxes are quite profitable. Insurance on satellite boxes is also a profitable market. It's not going anywhere soon. In order to cement their boxes as movie delivery services they are providing better HDDs so as to support their own VOD stores. They aren't in the streaming position as yet, primarily because streaming solutions are currently controlled by 4 or was it 5 major companies. I had to do this as part of research since there's a project I'm consulting on. Google Play and AppleTV didn't lift off as cable boxes. Neither will the XBone. The living room isn't where the battle is headed- cable providers and telecom firms know this and are trying to combat it in different ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 I'd be surprised if this didn't essentially become a cable box in it's own right at some point. If Sky expand their internet delivery to all their channels then you won't even need the Sky box. I imagine that all the content providers, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, etc, etc, etc, would be quite happy to not have to make boxes, send out engineers to fit dishes and so forth and instead just sell you an account that allows you to stream content. Their overheads would shrink dramatically. Also, I've heard talk that this is MS last "console". From here on in all upgrades and what not are happening cloud side. It will not be a cable box in the USA, though. Cannot stress that enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 You know, if cable companies really have that much of a stranglehold on the television business, and it was always impossible for the Xbox One to do any of the things a cable box can do even from the design stage, then why in god's name did they still decide to make this thing into a television box? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Because it's something over which folks in the top 10% to 20% of household incomes would "ooh" and "aah." They also want it to deliver other video entertainment content (Hulu, Netflix, exclusive shows like the Halo show, and content bought directly from the NFL), so the One would serve as a one-stop shop for video entertainment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 You can get Hulu and Netflix on pretty much any internet enabled device now so who cares. And making a console which caters to the top 20% doesn't seem very forward-thinking to me, especially when those people probably already own something cheaper and better that does all that tv nonsense. I just don't get who this is supposed to be for. I don't know many gamers who still watch live tv except for maybe two or three super popular shows like Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, or Breaking Bad. Change of subject, but I've seen a lot of people saying we should withhold judgment on the X1 until we see the games at E3. I feel like that's a canned statement. Yeah, sure, it will be nice to know what the games are, but at this point unless these are the best exclusives ever and they come with a peripheral that gives you a reacharound while you play them, I don't see how they could make up for what we currently know about the console based on Microsoft's absolutely horrendous reveal event. Unless all these awful rumors about Kinect and DRM magically turn out to be not true, and I don't think that will happen based on how evasive and contradictory Microsoft has been, then I just don't see myself wanting one, games be damned. I mean, a recording device in your home that's always listening? Did they not think about how creepy that is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecha Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 I have a questions for any and all here.If Xbone had some major, awesome, whatever exclusives(think your dream game, or close to it if you will) would you consider getting an Xbone?(And I don't mean at launch/early launch...maybe down the road).Is there any reason you'd buy it?Personally, I could see myself nabbing it after it gets a price cut 2-3 years down the road...if it has games that I can not play on the ps4, wii u, and pc...and only if none of my friends were foolish enough to buy it before me...so that I could "borrow" their whole bloody system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted May 23, 2013 Report Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) They still own Rare, right? Banjo Kazooie. A REAL Banjo Kazooie game, not that Nuts and Bolts shit. Right now that's the only thing I can think of that could be at E3 that would make me want an Xbox One. Edit: I guess a new Conker's Bad Fur Day could maybe work too. Maybe. Edited May 23, 2013 by Mister Jack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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