Gamers have been shifting around in their seats in anticipation of the launch of both the Sony PlayStation 4 and the new Xbox (code named 720). After Sony‘s mysterious launch of the PlayStation 4 in February, many Xbox fanatics have been scouring the web for any shred of information surrounding the possible launch of the Microsoft gaming platform. Well Xbox fans, time to get those wallets ready! Popular blogger Paul Thurrott reports that “œsources familiar with the project“ has informed him that the new generation Xbox will make its debut on the 21st of May. Thurrott claims that the new console will retail for around $500 and that there may be a $300 subscription model available. Precious little information has been leaked regarding the new console, but Microsoft did announce that they have partnered with Ericsson to enable serious development of the Xbox‘s TV features.
The console wars have taken a bit of a backseat after the smartphone skirmishes started heating up between Apple and Android. We see a lot of similarity in the gaming console market, where Microsoft and Sony have been bumping heads for years now. Although, unlike the relatively close battle we see in the mobile market, one of the console sides sit with a potential end-game strategy. If Microsoft plays it right they might deliver a KO punch to the proud history of the PlayStation console. Microsoft in is the unique position to offer an experience that is connected across a user‘s devices. Microsoft controls different software ecosystems including the desktop, mobile and gaming consoles as well as cloud-based gaming titles and software. This enables the company to bring everything together to create an environment that is even bigger than the current Apple ecosystem.
That said, there has been much talk of the DRM (Digital Rights Management) for the new Xbox that will require a constant internet connection to access games even for offline play. We saw this phenomenon with the release of the hack and slash PC title Diablo III, and lately with the release of the much anticipated SimCity. Forums all over the world raged as fans complained when the EA servers couldn’t handle the load, resulting in EA giving all the customers who had already bought the game a free premium game of choice to download.
There is much support for the always-on feature, which enables software developers to authenticate each user due to their connection to their servers. The support of course emanates mainly from anti-pirating groups and the developers themselves. What is worrying, and especially so in South Africa, is that many people do not have the ability to be permanently connected to the internet. Should Microsoft opt for the always-on route, they may just doom the new console right from the beginning.
