The Next Next Gen Thread o/\o - The Bear and Badger

Minnesänger

Microsoft will almost certainly acquire some more studios. But you can pretty much discount FROM, P* or any big Japanese dev of that ilk.

Diluted Dante

So you're saying Nintendo?

Moot_Geeza

I wonder if there's still an opportunity to stump up for Sega. Might work for both parties. I still reckon they've got some dormant IPs that'd have high levels of clout, and they could presumably force some of the other studios they've acquired to take them on.

Not fair on those studios perhaps, but I'm playing 'what I want' here.

Paul the sparky

What Sega games do you want to see then Mootsy?

Moot_Geeza

I reckon I'd be happy to do a list like this every other week.

What do I want to play, or what do I think might sell?

mistercrayon

The best Sega game:

Football Manager.

Paul the sparky

What you want to play. I'm not interested in the amateur industry analyst stuff that tends to go on in here, but forgotten IPs are interesting enough.

Moot_Geeza

What I want:

Shinobi and Ecco the Dolphin updates, in the nu retro 2D style of Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom or Megaman 11.
Sega Remix in the style of NES Remix
A new straight-ahead Outrun
I would play the shit out of a proper Bonanza Brothers co-op sequel.
I'm already getting a Panzer Dragoon remake, but anything to do with that franchise is fine with me.

And because I'd already typed out the amateur industry analyst bit:

Spoiler:

Minnesänger

No Japanese dev with a big Japanese audience will go to MS as a first-party.

Xbox isn’t a thing in Japan.
PC gaming is niche.

So any primarily Japanese IP will see a crash in sales. On Sega’s side, Yakuza and Persona (just to name 2 examples) need Japan.

If a Japanese studio sells out, it’ll be to a hardware developer with a strong Japanese install-base, namely Ninty or Sony.

monkey

Bonanza Bros is ripe for a do-over.

Paul the sparky

I liked Bonanza Bros. And Spy vs Spy for that matter. Glorious 2D stuff that hasn't really been translated to 3D has it? I'd be game for a few cheap indie homages.

Minnesänger wrote:

No Japanese dev with a big Japanese audience will go to MS as a first-party.

Xbox isn’t a thing in Japan.
PC gaming is niche.

So any primarily Japanese IP will see a crash in sales. On Sega’s side, Yakuza and Persona (just to name 2 examples) need Japan.

If a Japanese studio sells out, it’ll be to a hardware developer with a strong Japanese install-base, namely Ninty or Sony.

Japan still super xenophobic? Microsoft tried to appeal to them with Lost Odyssey and some other stuff in the 360 era and I think they went down like a lead balloon. Shame because Lost Odyssey was good. Definite recipe for disaster if they decide to buy a Japanese dev.

LivDiv

Spy vs Spy got a PS2 outing. No idea how good it was or how similar to the MS version.

MoesTavern

First pics in the wild?

https://twitter.com/Doug_DragoX/status/1219794270518947840

GurtTractor

There's yer vents. I feel like dust could be a problem with these eventually, ideally console designers should include a little slide out dust filter.

I dunno what the port/empty space is supposed to be, next to the ethernet port.

LivDiv

Looks to me like the rear panel is removable using the slit at the top as a finger hole type thing so hopefully it will be easier to clean dust out of than most consoles.

Yeah mystery slot is a mystery, could be dev related maybe and not on the final console.

Just the one HDMi port so no pass through.

GurtTractor

However, the nature of the port to the left of the HDMI output that remains a mystery. Brad Samms suggests that it's some kind of diagnostic port that may not appear on final hardware (this unit is clearly marked as a prototype). However, although purely speculation on our behalf, we wouldn't be surprised at all if this eventually turns out to be an expandable storage bay for NVMe PCI Express drives, perhaps encased in some kind of stick-like cartridge configuration - an idea mooted by our very own John Linneman when the Series X was first unveiled.

The dimensions look right and it would provide an easy plug 'n' play solution to a serious challenge posed by the move to ultra-fast solid-state storage: in a world where games are now frequently over 100GB in size, how do you deliver a cost effective console that's still capable of housing a substantial game collection? This may well be the next-gen iteration of the slot-in hard drive idea we saw Microsoft explore with Xbox 360.

Pretty interesting idea, though I hope the little NVME sleds aren't some overpriced proprietary bullshit. I still think the most sensible thing to do currently is have a medium sized SSD alongside a much larger HDD, then use some kind of tiered storage or caching solution to get the best of both worlds; cheap storage capacity and wicked fast read/write speeds. I would hope that they at least allow you to offload stuff onto a USB hard drive, so only a little wait if you want to try out that game you haven't played in ages.

Paul the sparky

LivDiv wrote:

Just the one HDMi port so no pass through.

Makes sense as you're hardly going to slot the bastard thing under your telly, but it goes against the "One device to run all your media" thing. Maybe the S will carry that role on.

bad_hair_day

This deal's gettin worse all the time.

g.man

At this point in time, the only thing more confusing than the XBox X Series is the Fox X Men series.

LivDiv

I believe its called the Xbox Placeholder now.

RedDave2

LivDiv wrote:

I believe its called the Xbox Placeholder now

Hmmm.

Hey, Wait a second...

Microsoft has been pushing HD through its consoles for years now, making text smaller...
This causes users to squint...
Squinting can become a permenant problem for many people...
Placeholder looks like Playstation if you squint...

OMG!!! Microsoft is planning to trick the planet into paying Xbox Placeholder, thinking its the new playstation!

We're through the looking glass here people.

hunk

Oh man. that is one ugly carpet.
Also, never run your console/pc on a carpet. Dust/overheating disaster waiting to happen.

Bob

Doesn’t appear to be plugged in so I think it’ll be alright

Eric

Minnesänger wrote:

No Japanese dev with a big Japanese audience will go to MS as a first-party.

Xbox isn’t a thing in Japan.
PC gaming is niche.

So any primarily Japanese IP will see a crash in sales. On Sega’s side, Yakuza and Persona (just to name 2 examples) need Japan.

If a Japanese studio sells out, it’ll be to a hardware developer with a strong Japanese install-base, namely Ninty or Sony.

Sega admittedly didn't go fully exclusive (there were a few multi plat Dreamcast games on the ps2) with the original xbox but did produce a shit tonne of exclusives for it.

Might be worth it though for someone like Treasure though? Big pay day produce a nice new shmup?

EvilRedEye

I bet the MYSTERY PORT is something special. It looks like they wanted to test having print there but not let people leak out what the port is.

LivDiv

It's a holder for your Wham chewbar.

Paul the sparky

LivDiv wrote:

It's a holder for your Wham chewbar.

Handy. Soften it up for you with a bit of warmth.

EvilRedEye

Instead of a disc drive for many games, it has a fathomless empty void for the zero games to go in.

LivDiv

Paul the sparky wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

It's a holder for your Wham chewbar.

Handy. Soften it up for you with a bit of warmth.

Its gonna be the best console ever.

Boozy

EvilRedEye wrote:

Instead of a disc drive for many games, it has a fathomless empty void for the zero games to go in.

I look forward to your next zinger.

Howdy, Stranger!

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