"Hilary Goldstein, IGN 360 Editor , Bashes Xbox 360
In a recent "3 Red Lights" podcast, Hilary Goldstein, editor in chief of IGN X360, completely attacks the Xbox 360 and argues that the PS3 will ultimately win out. He begins his rant at 1 hour 4 minutes into the podcast. Quite insightful and informative for all listeners"
This neogaf thread summarized what was stated in the first post.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236446
"* Xbox can't compete and PS3 will win.
true
* "From a hardware standpoint, MS is in trouble."
true
* HD-DVD is dead and MS will have to add a BR player or add-on , but that it will always make it a more expensive console b/c even if they do an add-on for $200, why would anyone buy it?
true that HDDVD is dead
* They even bash the XBL movie download service.
Dont know much about it
* Sony's 10 year plan is going to make it dominant. People don't want to buy a new console every 4 years.
True
* The PS3 is going to sell b/c of of BR just by default.
huh?^^
* XBox makes you pay for online and PSN is free.
true
* PS3 is only going to get more and more attractive with better games long-term.
true
* PS3 is better value and you can replace the HD with any bigger Hard drive.
true
* MS is reluctant to offer user-generated content while Sony is embracing it.
nah^^
* "No way that MS can offer you what Sony gives you" for the money.
true
* MS needs a redesign of the XBox.
true
* MS is getting too arrogant.
true^^
*360 peripherals more expensive for less functionality (HDD, wireless etc)
yep^^
I think most of his points are understandable and right"
Another summary:
"Hilary: "I think they're in trouble because, you know, their console is not built to be around for 10 years and if you believe Sony which I think they way they talk about it sounds reasonable, their console is gonna actually build on itself for 10 years and be really strong...and I think that people's willingness to buy new hardware is not going to get shorter. They buy a TV once every 10 years, they buy a DVD Player once every 10 years, they're going to want to buy a console every 7 or 8 years not something that will only last 4 years (or something that is going to break). So I do think MS will be in trouble if Sony is going strong and actually have a bunch of games because sooner or later people are gonna turn around, the system is going to sell because Blu-ray is winning, just by default, I mean if the PS3 drops at all in price, even if it doesn't drop in price its a 400 dollar Blu-Ray player with a game system that happens to come with it, the same price as Microsoft's offering with no HD movie player, no Wifi included, pay 50 bucks for online service, there is a whole lot that xbox does not offer, and the only way it does offer is if you buy more stuff whereas the PS3 is not going to get more expensive, its only going to get cheaper, its only going to be more attractive, its only going to get more and more games coming out for it and they're going to be looking better because as time goes by developers will be able to make better looking games for it.
So yeah PS2 sold better but one it was also a brand name that had been around for a long time, two dont forget it sold alot because people were switching to DVDs. Kids could convince their parents to buy the PS2 saying "we need a DVD player, so its already included", people in the next two years are gonna start switching to a Blu-Ray player, they're not gonna buy a 360 to play Blu-Rays. They're either gonna buy a blu-ray player that stands-alone for 300 bucks or buy a PS3 for 400 bucks. Kinda seems like a simple leap of logic that the installed base is gonna grow because of the fact that it has a blu-ray player, and if you already have the system and you see cool games coming out you can buy those cool games."
*talk about 360 offering blu-ray add-on to compete, Hilary counters with:
"But they're never going to offer a competitive price, the hardware will never be able to compete with a feature set like the PS3's. Imagine if the 360 was 300 bucks, and they offered a blu-ray add-on for 200, that'd be 500 bucks for the package, with a smaller hard-drive, *goes on about HDD advantage of PS3 and how you can have linux on it and get your own HDDs cheaper than the ones Microsoft offers, and how PS3 does user-generated content which Microsoft is very reluctant to offer, free online service with their only problem being they dont have the broad gamertag that works with every game, game to game. Microsoft is never going to have the full functionality of the PS3. You've gotta pay 100 bucks (which is ridiculous) for the Wifi with the 360 itself being whatever amount, lets say 400 bucks, and then blu-ray addon for 200 bucks thats 700 bucks, then you gotta pay for Live thats 750 bucks, and then what? Microsoft makes a NEW machine...its just not going to happen, they're in trouble. One of the problems Xbox had was the lack of games and lack of 3rd party support, Sony is still going to have 3rd parties making games for them, they're gonna have more games than the Xbox did definitely."
Grammar and paragraphing be damned. That sucked to transcript :(
And yay I was beaten :("
The Xbox 360 is always judged to a higher standard. Hell, anything Microsoft does is always judged to a higher standard. It's been like that since the Xbox 1 days and it continues to be true today. The game press continues to be tough on Microsoft. When they launched the Xbox 360 they all doubted it could defeat the Playstation 3. They were wrong, and yet they still stick by their original conclusion, basing it on past history and now they've added the 3RL issue into the mix. I agree that 3RL is a major problem however where guys like Hilary live, this issue isn't even an issue at all. They can just walk into a store and get a replacement. Or buy an enhanced warranty and if the Xbox 360 breaks, they can get a brand new one just like that. And, plus...these guys in officially supported countries can make so many demands on Microsoft once the console does break. They can get new games or other things if they complain enough, and Microsoft will give them what they want.
Anyway, I'm used to seeing the press act like this against Microsoft and I don't visit IGN often anyway. It's much easier to get gaming news off forums like NEOGAF, and usually, they get it first. That said, there'll never be any kind of 'professionalism' in game journalism; the easy way to get more site hits and more attention (and ultimately, advertising dollars) is to be so negative about anything, and in this case, Microsoft is a very, very easy target.