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Microsoft: Next gen will be about software and services, not hardware

Posted Jul 31, 2009 at 4:29AM EST by Karl B.

Listed in: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 Tags: Microsoft, Shane Kim

Shane Kim - Image 1

Microsoft has been making some noise lately regarding an extended lifespan for the Xbox 360 console. One of the things they're counting on is Project Natal. Another is software, the very thing Microsoft was built on.

The latter is also what Microsoft exec Shane Kim thinks will be one of the deciding factors for next gen, even more so than actual hardware. According to Kim, software and services like Xbox Live will be deciding factors for the "next generation." Speaking with Fast Company, Kim said:

In the past we would always get this question, "Hey, there's a new console launch every five years and you're coming up on that time for Xbox, right?" That's the old treadmill way of thinking.

Before you had things that were very obvious, from a hardware standpoint -- pushing more pixels, the move from 2-D to 3-D, 3-D to HD, etc. We got a very powerful piece of hardware in Xbox 360.

I am confident that we have more headroom available, in terms of developers and creators figuring out how to get more out of the system. So I worry less about new hardware having to enable us to move to a different level of graphics. It's much more about the experiences that you are going to deliver.

That's why I think we're very well-positioned, competitively speaking, because Microsoft is a software and services company.

Via Fast Company

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2D-3D and 3D-HD.

Does he realize that 2D and 3D are spectrums of view and not a freaking resolution?

Apparently we went from having 3D games to just...HD games...WTF does that mean? it means the HARDWARE can now support a resolution that the HARDWARE from before can not.

Look at onlive. it looks very promising. Yes it is a very powerful service for VGOD. but guess what they need very powerful servers with very expensive HARDWARE to get the service up and running.

I'm not not trying to come off as an angry or mean person. but....no matter how great of an OS you make the Xbox360 will never be able to produce what the next line of consoles will be able too.

I love xbox live just as much as the next guy....but it is not THAT great. They make it seem like it is better then like ***.

When the time comes MS better make a new xbox becuase if they "Rely on the software" or w/e for too long they have forever lost my buisness.

# WTF!?!?!?!?! — ISOHaven 2009-07-31 05:49

I think this is hilarious! Watch the 360 idiots all praise this move.

Yet when Nintendo takes a vacation on hardware improvement and did EXACTLY what MS claims they are going to do next time, they get slammed for *****ty hardware.

I hope everyone slams MS for *****ty hardware as Sony and Nintendo busts out 12 core monster powerhorses. HAHAHA!!!!

# I concur. — TheRockness 2009-07-31 05:56

It sounds like they're not going to go for a large hardware jump next time around. I've heard articles that say they've followed the PS2 business model somewhat this time around and they're doing pretty well with that. So they see the Wii "dominating" now and it suddenly becomes their future business model?

# Shows what Microsoft is made of — damonous 2009-07-31 05:59

They probably were able to confirm via corporate spies, etc. that Sony has no intention (especially financially) at producing a PS4 anytime in the next 3 or so years ..... so they decided to sit back and relax.

Microsoft is not about innovation. They are about keeping competition at-bay long enough so that they can buy them out or outmaneuver them.

# Lol. — GodGates 2009-07-31 06:00

The guy above you, who is obviously an Xbox fan, didn't praise this move. xD

# ... — FelisCatusLover 2009-07-31 06:40

Lol, well if it's Microsoft software, I assume we'll be having more problems then we had with RRoD? Cause Microsoft software is worse then their hardware.

# ehh — oeusr 2009-07-31 07:07

ehh this sounds dumb to me. "We got a very powerful piece of hardware in Xbox 360." The ps3 is more powerful. Don't get me wrong I own a 360 and a ps2 before that, and I hope this generation lasts longer, but I'm not going to buy another xbox if its like the wii this gen.

# I think everyone is missing the point... — Diablith 2009-07-31 07:15

What it seems like he's saying is that the way the industry used to move was by new hardware. If you look at the console back in the day, they couldn't evolve on their own. No firmware updates, no nothing. If a console maker wanted to add something to the box itself, they used to have to come out with a whole new console. Those days are gone. If you look at what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have been adding to their consoles, it's a lot. Sony and Microsoft are in no hurry for a new system. Now in reference to the 2D-3D 3D-HD thing, it seems like he's talking about the move in focus of the consoles. Sony and Microsoft are really pushing the HD front in gaming. Nintendo fell behind in that respect, but without a doubt they'll have it in their next console. You can see the switch of importance in the phone market right now. Must people don't care about the hardware anymore. They want to know what services and software the handset has. You can see it in the commercials too. Everyone carrier is talking about "Apps" now. Apps store this and Apps store that. Of course they'll come out with new hardware when it's needed. Both the PS3 and the 360 are every powerful systems. There's still much more to be done that's why they're trying to make the 360 and PS3 last at least six more years. They need more time to come up with more power tech to put into the next consoles. They've hit the wall for whats available to fit in such small console sized boxes.

# you win — oeusr 2009-07-31 08:15

I did miss the point, but you're right

# Another point. — TheRockness 2009-07-31 08:41

They used to have to build a console like they were sending it to Mars. Like you said, there were no firmware updates to fix mistakes. However, this means that they don't have to hold themselves to the same quality standards they used to. Now they can deliver a "broken" software system and just patch and update until its fixed. I understand that consoles these days are far more complex, but that's no reason to let your quality slip.

# Spies? — Freya 2009-07-31 09:00

Sony themselves already publicly announced that they're hoping the PS3 can last at most 10 years. While it can do that, I'm sure it'll only go around 7-8 years considering how fast technology is advancing these days.

# umm no... — zzk2001 2009-07-31 10:00

Sorry but that may be true to some extincted BUT The Xbox 1 was and Had many updates in the Software side with Dashboard updates and many more,

BUT M$ did not take the full advantage of the Software updates for the Xbox 1

So it's not like it's something New to systems, Just M$ has Learned from there mistakes.

# They ditched Xbox1 too quick. — TheRockness 2009-07-31 10:16

I suppose I forgot about the xbox having updates. I wasn't really including the Xbox1 though as I was talking more about the anything PS2 and before. I would argue that it is fairly new to Consoles if you're looking at the big picture. The XBox was such a quick flicker of a console, I'm not sure I want to count it. Be that as it may, we're on the 7th Generation of consoles and only this latest generation has the capability. I'm not forgetting Xbox1 but you said it yourself they didn't do enough with it and we never saw the full potential of Xbox1.

# Nintendo — Orlyeh 2009-07-31 11:13

you are the only idiot here

Nintendo did not simply decide not to keep up with the hardware race, it put all of its chips in the controller gimmick

sure, you can have sex with a bunch of prostitutes but what of the consequences?

# i have been to the edge and back +) — zzk2001 2009-07-31 11:24

Well i am a Xbox Softmodder and the users never gave up on Xbox 1, We has seen the full potential.

And still to this day it is a Sweet Media system BUT it still would have been much cooler if it had the hardware of the PS3 +P

# ... — [DVSDevise] 2009-07-31 12:35

What if...next generation of gaming was all in the cloud. Basically like OnLive. MS wouldn't actually have to rollout any new hardware, only new services.

# To zzk2001 — Diablith 2009-07-31 14:22

I agree with you that Microsoft ditched the original Xbox way too soon, but Nvidia and Intel really were the root cause of the sudden drop. Nvidia decided that they were just going to stop making the GPUs for the Xbox. Microsoft wanted to keep going, but Nvidia didn't And when Sony dropped the price of the PS2 to 129.99 from the 179.99 price tag, Microsoft wanted to follow suit, but Intel wouldn't let the drop the price. So they really had not choice. If they were able to keep going with the Xbox, I think the 360 would have turned out better and more reliable because they would have had more time. I've got a modded box myself! I love it!

# Above.. — VashioKun 2009-07-31 19:41

I completely agree if they spent more time on the old system they could've made a better one in the future, but with them rushing and rushing to be released a year early.. Wasn't really good, but yet it still was a smart move considering most buyers bought the 360 because of their friends bought it right away. At least from what I see. Just image if they priced all 3 systems at $250 released on the same day. Who'd be the winner?

# to power or not to power... — Walo 2009-08-01 04:52

Power is already available, just look at the PC market. The PS3 GPU is based on the nvidia 7800 gpu and there has been a lot of gpu improvements ever since. What they want is affordability and maybe the development of a better graphics API to push performance forward.

# just for fun.. — zzk2001 2009-08-01 08:16

It's be funny if they make the new system with like SLI 8800's LOL and core i7 type CPU with DDR3 ram 12gigs.

One of the main problems of Newer systems is to little ram

(it's been that way from the start)

But i am just playing around LOL. ;)

# "the very thing Microsoft was built on." — rollypoly 2009-08-01 15:43

that's licensing and very aggressive business practices, not software...

# what I think — Just_a_guy 2009-08-01 20:53

although I do think that there are some good points made here, I just don't think that anyone really is looking at the situation very close. I belive that many people think that because graphics can't get much better that we have nowhere to go at all with games besides making a new playing model. I will say it, and I have said it before in other places, but firmly beleve that the next area of technology to be upgraded is with sound. I feel that with the technology used in psycoachustics and speaker technology, that companies are going to be able to make it so that you feel as though though what you are hearing, that you could acutally be in the game. I know that I only have a TV which has two speakers, and so does my laptop, but I have used some technology from sRS labs which makes my music have more space to it, and bass tones, and feel as though the speakrs were put on top of my laptop screen instead of in the case. I know that if we were to find a way to expand this technology, then players with two speakers would not need all the expensive equipment to get surround sound. Heck, I could see a video game system have a headphone plug in it, for personal and private use, and then having system spesific speakers hooked up to the system. This would allow the company to create effects and sounds that are tailored to the hardware that they are using, and thus getting a much better effect of sound...

I beleive that the company which gets ahead in the realm of sound in video games first, will be the company who does the best next generation, if this is to happen. I would like to have this happen to nintendo, and see them in this next generation, giving reasons for the people who think "i've already got a wii, and I don't need somethning else" to think "I do need another system", and then bring them into a more hardcore game experience, that gets them to be the middle ground people, so that developers can finally care about putting their best games onto that system. I just hope that the three companies each do well, and that there is good healthy compition. I may not like one company as much as the others but I do like it how they offer choice, and cause innovations to happen.

# i see where you are going... — rollypoly 2009-08-01 22:29

and it's good. anything to improve the sound for the guy/gal too broke to buy a decent/nice system is good.

however you just can't get good sound without good equipment. take a standard stereo and put it next to some mackies, or even their consumer line: tapco, and tell me you can't hear the difference. especially when listening to compressed audio...

you can't get true surround from 2 channels, or 2 speakers... besides most TVs made in the last 7 years have that built in don't they?

# Xbox department shows how dumb they are — TAce355 2009-08-02 06:03

Seriously, in every new update Microsoft's Xbox department just shows how dumb they are. What the ***** does he mean by 2D to 3D to HD???? what the *****??? This guy is extremely stupid.

And the main thing in new consoles is the hardware dumbass not the software, you can't expect people to buy xbox 360s that will have xbox original graphics but 360 interface.

# LOL — blackmobb 2009-08-03 19:55

LOL someone just finished watching "Duplicity"

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