Will The 'Nextbox' Be A Casual System?

It seems like, as far as the core gamer is concerned, the Xbox 360 is in somewhat of a decline. Microsoft has all but abandoned the search for excusive core content in favour of capitalising on Kinect’s early popularity. They know there is a lot of third party support coming in this year but changing their focus to such a degree warrants a worrying thought from their valued core audience, who, let’s face it, got the Xbox brand where it is today.

Part of the success of the Xbox 360 is price, even Aaron Greenberg agrees that they wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t the cheapest HD console.

"You can't underestimate that we're half the price of the PS3 at a time when consumers were looking for great value," – Aaron Greenberg

So with that in mind, it is looking like a very real possibility that Microsoft may choose to make their next generation step a small one to reduce costs and keep it cheap and cheerful. Where does that leave the core gamer? With a Wii like jump in graphics and more dance games than you can shake a lady gaga at? This is something I really think the core Xbox fanbase should be worrying about; I don’t think any of us want to see the ‘Xbox 720’ turn into the ‘Xbox 361.5’.

Looking at Sony’s track record for consoles, they seem to take a 10 fold leap in technology every generation and to achieve something like that in the coming generation definitely won’t be cheap. Sony doesn’t seem to mind making us pay through the nose though but they always deliver a high standard of hardware, whether it’s TVs, laptops or game consoles.

When I look at the Xbox to Xbox 360 jump I see a lot of improvement but also a lot of steps back. In built HDD being one of them and of course reliability. I definitely think Microsoft have learned from the RROD fiasco and their next console will be at least industry standard with regards to build quality. However they may achieve this by cutting costs further, why have a super fast CPU/GPU combo that will overheat the system when you could put something lesser in for a cheaper price? Why have loads of RAM when you could stick <1gb in and pass the savings on to the consumer? The lessons of the Wii seem to have taken hold in Microsoft’s mind and the lure of the massive casual market is too much for them to resist.

So this goes out to Microsoft:
Please don’t hold back on the next Xbox, we, your valued core gamers, demand a Sony-like ‘balls-to-the-wall’ attitude and hardware that can waffle through polygons like Queen Latifah through chocolate pudding. We demand a core console with core features: Interchangeable, non proprietary HDDs, rechargeable controllers, free online gaming, Bluetooth headsets, HD video drive, full 1080p minimum, proper 3D etc. The casuals will betray you for ipads and pretty much anything Nintendo, you have been warned.