Next Gen Xbox - Your Thoughts?

[Pulsar_t]

I don't think the Cloud™ will replace conventional consoles just yet, but 8th gen might truly be the last in terms of the model that we've been familiar with for three decades.

As for bluray storage, why not? The standard isn't just Sony's after all. Another thing to watch out for is full Steamworks and Origin integration, not the crippled implementation in today's machines.

[DinnerX]

Frankly Nintendo is the only one who has had consistent reliability in it's consoles.

Sega comes in pretty good second I think.

The PS2 had tons of issues when it was released and the early PS3s aren't exactly holding up well either.

Don't forget the original playstation had problems too.

This is part of why I like nintendo and sega consoles. They both have fairly good track records and the few issues their systems have can generally be fixed easily.

[CFFJR]

I honestly can't recall a single major problem a nintendo or sega system had in its time.

Long term, the game gear has the capacitor problem, (the 32x has the ribbon cable thing, but that's so easy to fix its not even worth considering) and the nes has the 72 pin connector (though its also easy) but that's still all I can think of off the top of my head.

[BurningDoom]

I honestly can't recall a single major problem a nintendo or sega system had in its time.

Never used an original front-loading NES, I take it?

[AppleQueso]

I had issues with most NES's I'd played even in the SNES days... Hell I imagine the only reason I didn't have issues in the NES days was because I was born in 1989

I don't want it either. I'm sure most of us here would agree with that. As collectors the majority of us love our physical media rather than digital media. But that's not the case with the majority of the public out there. They love everything being in one package which is why consoles have gone the way they have with Netflix, Zune, and online networks built-in. I see a strong possibility of a full-shift to Smart TVs (if they actually work as well as they advertise, I've never even used one yet).

Even if you're right about people preferring all-in-one boxes, you're forgetting the fact that a lot of consumers really AREN'T willing to buy an entire new TV just to play whatever new console came out. Its simply too cost-prohibitive. Plus, nobody wants to have to buy 3 tvs just to play 3 major consoles.

Could we see TVs with built in consoles? Sure, but the idea that SMART TVs with built-in consoles would suddenly completely replace standalone units is silly. TVs with built-in VCRs didn't stop standalone units, so why would this?

[BoringSupreez]

I honestly can't recall a single major problem a nintendo or sega system had in its time.

32X's and SCD's in general aren't too reliable, but I think they worked fine "in their time." But as for Nintendo, the DS Lite had that hinge problem at first. They kept breaking.

DS Lite was kind of a lapse in Nintendo's usual high standards. Hinge problems, lame d-pad, lame buttons... it just doesn't measure up to other models of Nintendo portable systems.

I honestly can't recall a single major problem a nintendo or sega system had in its time.

Never used an original front-loading NES, I take it?

He said "in it's time." Those 72-pin connectors didn't start wearing out en masse until later.

[AppleQueso]

Never used an original front-loading NES, I take it?

He said "in it's time." Those 72-pin connectors didn't start wearing out en masse until later.

I don't know if barely surviving its own generation would count as 'until later'.

[BurningDoom]

Never used an original front-loading NES, I take it?

He said "in it's time." Those 72-pin connectors didn't start wearing out en masse until later.

I don't know if barely surviving its own generation would count as 'until later'.

You beat me to it. My NES started having the blinkies only a couple years after owning it, and that was in the late 80s/early 90s. You just learned to get good at cleaning cartridges and playing the wiggling game with the cartridges.

[CFFJR]

The front loader nes was my first console way the hell back when.

As for the known issues with it, mine worked perfectly for years, and we bought it used.

I didn't start having problems with it until about 5 years ago. Getting it to work today is an exercise in patience, but when I was a kid I never had issues.

My understanding was the that the common response to the blinking problem, even back then, was to cut that stupid lockout chip.

[Xeogred]

I didn't have much luck with the NES front toasters as a kid. I mean I played my first one daily so maybe I just killed it, but it got to the point where I had to use some cleaning kit on both the console and cartridges everytime I played a game before it just stopped working completely, lol. Went through another NES after that as well that went the same route.

I'd still like to get my hands on a top loader someday though.

My first SNES that I've had since 1994 still works a bit, but Super FX graphics (I think), don't work at all anymore. Stuff like the overworld maps in Zelda LTTP, Secret of Mana, etc, they are completely messed up on the screen. The system is pretty brown too, yuck. My other SNES that I got from my grandparents several years ago is still perfect though, it was one they owned for us kids and my cousins, but it was never used outside of that so it's like mint condition practically.