Osmium, it will happen no doubt. But we are still a long way from the day when the common house will have a server type computer that runs the entry system, alarm, fire detection, monitors lights and temperature, turns on the TV/stereo and controls the media on them. That is the logical direction to take. And several companies have dreams of that being the case in the near future. Thou I would bet the near future for the common household is more like the next 20 years. So MS is going to do their best to be one of those companies, if not the leading company, offering those services & equipment. They are looking long term like with the X-Box.

I have yet to see anything remotely close to that in this town. Thou a networked house is not surprising. Just that most families are only using it for internet and data sharing. And the few I have been out to(I work in telecom)are just sharing a high speed data line throughout the house. Still it's step in that direction.

As far as X-Box... I was far too angry with MS buying Bungie and then stealing away Halo from us PC gamers to even think of buying X-Box. Thou I was very very close on a few occasions. Luckily I have a wife that knows when I am at my weakest and she keeps an evil eye on me to stop me from buying too many toys.

I have been dying to get my hands on Splinter Cell. I reserved my copy(PC) about six months ago. Along with Raven Shield. I love all of Tom Clancy's Rainbow-Rogue-Ghost games.

The thing is there are so many great PC games that I find it hard to justify(while my wife is around)buying another console...

You think that is where this is going? Microsoft is lossing money at a pretty fast rate on the XBox. It is doing very bad over seas (save for "down under") and it is not doing as well here as some people would have you think. Heck, there was the news here on Blues about the XBox has lost MS $177 million over the last 3 months. Now, if it is that unprofitable for them, I can't understand why they are still doing it. Is it becuase it is a very public product for them? It's not like MS Ultimate TV, which they cut loose becuase of it lossing money. Most people didn't even notice that one going away. But the XBox has had a much larger ad compain.

This comment was edited on Dec 6, 09:21.

#9 when you consider that traditionally the pc is a box, with a monitor attached, and then see what people are already doing with them to make them more attractive to non-"dweebs". I'm talking about things like home-brew casemods to make the pc not look like a pc right through to microsoft developments like mira, media center, tablet pc, embedded systems, terminal services, right down to smartphone and xbox (which share common code with windows at a very basic level). For somethings yes, the pc as a box and a monitor will always be the best way to work, but more and more you will find especially in the home market and consumer market that pc's crop up in the most surprising places. Eventually with systems and processing being done remotely you'll find that devices will become more like dumb terminals with the processing done remotely - anything from applications, right down to content on demand and games. Sony and microsoft have already hinted at this as where they want to be in 5+ years. You may not like it, but unfortunately it's the way things are going.

Besides I thought they were already planning X-Box II

would be silly of them not to be thinking about xbox2, in just the same way sony have been thinking about ps3 since just after ps2 was launched in the states.. sony make me laugh with their wild claims for ps3 - anything for quantum level computing, right back to embedded systems i talked about earlier. Something they will not be able to pull off in the next round of the console wars.

I think MS and their push into other areas/markets all comes down to one thing... the same reason all businesses are in business... to make money

granted, however microsoft are a force to be rekoned with. If they want to give the videogame market a sly shove in the direction of set-top-boxes, or backend processing they are the company do it, not sony. And MS have a whole lot more money to make when they can introduce subscription services, and control the applications installed (read, cutting out warez)

This comment was edited on Dec 6, 09:00.

If you are looking for the killer ap, you obviously havent played Splinter Cell.

I can understand if Halo is not your kind of game, but Splinter Cell is a masterpiece. If you can wait it'll be out for PC soon, but frankly I couldn't. The game is so incredible in every aspect I can't do it justice in a small post, but I encourage you to read pretty much any review (Gamespot, IGN, Firingsquad, etc.) and they summarize it pretty well.

Mechassault is another killer game. It balances mech sim with arcade style beautifully into an action rampage that is simply pure fun, in the way that Serious Sam and Shinobi were. And XBox Live multiplayer is a dream. I thought that deathmatch was as dead and stale as it could be, but Mechassault delivers in spades to completely revitalize the deathmatch experience.

I have not had a chance to pick up Steel Battalion ($200 controll and all) but I am hearing good things.

So, there are just 3 of many more titles that highly justify the console. I would suggest the PS2 as a first console, but if you had to choose between Gamecube and XBox, theres not much contest (but then I haven't had the chance to try Resident Evil 0 or the incredulously hyped Metroid Prime, of which I may rent one simply to play).

And if you think Splinter Cell and Mechassault suck, well then, check your gaming badge at the door and go play some DOOM or The Sims because j00 r0x0r 3Nd R 1337!

-DSR

"Diatribes are not my specialty. Getting pissed off is my specialty. Diatribes just come naturally from that."

Anybody ever see Space: Above and Beyond? That was an awesome TV show that I think was prematurely cancelled.


-----------------------------------------------------
Cry 'havoc', and let slip the dogs o' war!

"At the end of the day micrsoft know that the pc in its present form wont be around for many more years to come, at least not in the home market"

Huh? The PC "in it's present form" has been around in the "home market" for well over 15 years. Closer to twenty I would think. (Somebody help me here.) When I was a teen there was a little thing called the Commodore 64 (and a few other brands of home PCs). It was pretty much the same thing as we have now except a dinosaur by today's standards. And it was in numerous units instead of one larger tower or desktop unit. I doubt the basic form will change much... there will be innovations of course but it won't be that drastic. I think MS and their push into other areas/markets all comes down to one thing... the same reason all businesses are in business... to make money.

I am still waiting for that killer app(game) that would force me to buy X-Box. Besides I thought they were already planning X-Box II...

This comment was edited on Dec 5, 22:28.

here's a good quote from Jay Allard in this months edge magazine.. they asked him "where do you see xbox in four years time?"

his response was "here's the thing, we set out to build the ferrari of videogame systems. We are the most patient company in the world. The xbox is a 20year business. It's not a quarter to quarter business. It's not how many unites do we sell this christmas..."

At the end of the day micrsoft know that the pc in its present form wont be around for many more years to come, at least not in the home market, so they're starting to push into other areas.. xbox, mira, xp media center edition, smartphone.. all aimed at getting the core microsoft brands out of the pc arena, and into the mainstream consumer market. Billy boy gates had a vision back in the late 70's / early 80's to get a pc in every home, he's practically done that so where else is there for him to go? Keeping the xbox / videogame business going longterm is a big goal for them, where as $2billion isn't that much, especially when spread over a few years.

As much as I'd like to do some M$ bashing along with the rest of you, I have to give them credit. They entered the market late in the game against two established competitors, and managed to create a viable gaming system. I would not have said this two months ago, but between garnering developer support to release such games as Splinter Cell, Mech Assault, Dead to Rights, and others, It is beginning to show its true potential, and I believe Microsoft is realizing where exactly their niche is in this market, which is why they are redoubling their efforts.

The key thing here is that they didn't win purely by their blitzkrieg style like they did with the web-browser and (attempted) in the PDA markets. They will survive purely because they finally understand that a good product is the key to winning hearts and minds, and after a rough start where noone thought they would make it, it looks to me that they will triumph.

All aside from that however, PC is still my platform of choice

-DSR

these headlines are sooo misleading.

ms was asked if it had an exit stratagy for the xbox. then the spokesperson merely implied they'd put more money into if it ever came to that. Bid deal. Why didn't any reporters think to ask MS if they expected the console war to be this hard on them? That's what I'd like to know.

I guess it just hates my GeForce3 then, which is odd considering that I've learned this is a five year old port, still available in Japan, and Nvidia once bundled it with their cards.

Schnapple

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I just played it under XP, works fine except it's really choppy/grainy. The Orta preview movie at the end is incredible, though.

I only tryed it under win2k :/

I though it would be a preview of the XBOX Panzer Dragoon, but it's the old Saturn game... Just doesn't feel right with a keyboard...

I think with the xbox live sevice rocking like it is - they will soon be recouping their money - you seen the statistics on who their hardware and software sales have leapt since XBL launch? Staggering!!

I know this is not a tech support forum but has anyone been able to get that Panzer Dragoon demo to run on XP? I can get it to run on Win2K but not XP.

Schnapple

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