I loved my 360, but I hope MS eats dirt, next gen

I actually hope that too. I've used and enjoyed my 360 much more than my PS3, and beside the ads and the occasional slowdowns I think the dashboard is fine, but lately Microsoft has been acting exactly like Sony did at the close of the last generation.

It's about time platform developers started catering to consumers and game developers.

EDIT: Just so we're clear, I'd much rather Microsoft get their head together without having to "eat dirt" in this coming gen.

Yeah, I was a huge fan of them starting the generation, and now I just am happy with my PC.

On one hand I hope there are big, awesome console games announced at E3, on the other hand, I hope they're not XBox or PS4 exclusive so I can enjoy them on PC.

I don't know why people are paying any attention to Microsoft - if you don't love Call of Duty, Madden, FIFA, and Halo, or aren't interested in paying $60 a month to access netflix and "entertainment" options they're really not paying much attention to you. They've very clearly shifted from games to wanting to be a cable-box like device. I have no interest in such a thing, and I suspect most people who are traditional fans of games don't either.

Well, I was mostly talking about them not having more than 2 big retail games per year. I know first party stuff is not all that important, but since I´m mostly on PC now, I´m looking for reasons to buy a console. First party stuff would be a good reason.

The problem with XBLA is twofold: Yes, there are still some great games coming out, some of them even produced by Microsoft. I would even go as far as to say that XBLA saved the 360´s ass from 2009-2011. But now the tables have turned and most of the interesting indie stuff comes out on PC. Microsoft also treats their indie devs like poop, which is why Fez gets updates on the PC and not on Xbox (or not anymore). So, there are more and more memorable indie games out on PC, they´re cheaper and they run better most of the time. XBLA is not the ideal platform for those games anymore, not by a long shot. And whenever a game comes out and has some weird timed exclusive, I can´t help but wonder if it would run 100x better no PC.

In short: I want Microsoft to have good exclusives next generation, but not at the expense of gamers. They should not have the need for so many timed exclusives.

Edit: Timed exclusives exist in part to keep the other consoles from having that content. Sometimes it almost seems like Microsoft is doing it only to hurt the competition. That´s what I meant by "shitting on the other consoles". Combine that with the subpar versions you get on Xbox most of the time and the situation really, really sucks. I wanted to play the last Skyrim addon when I still had a lot of fee time in December.. so I got it on 360 and it ran like crap. I just recently got it again (!) on PC and that would have been the preferable version. If it hadn't been blocked by some arbitrary exclusive deal back in December.

I actually find it quite baffling how Metro could be so effectively implemented in Windows 8 while being such mess on the 360.

You don't need to place commas before the last word or two of your sentences.

It's like saying you really enjoyed the time you spent with your ex-girlfriend and she made you really happy, but ever since she broke your heart you want her to burn in a car wreck.....

Relax a bit and try to enjoy the memories you have. People move on and so should you. Because of your own selfish reasons microsoft should put out a shitty console just so they can "eat dirt"?

@vinny_says: Not a valid comparison. It's a business (not a person) that previously got things right, but has now lost its way. Most businesses have to be humbled before they get back to what made them great.

Windows 8 is fantastic. . . once you purchase and install Start8 for 5 bucks.

pay for a sub par experience in free online services, pay for ads, pay for crappy avatar gear, pay for online..

yeah.. kinda fuck MS

microsoft did a good job this gen. they won, but as a ps3 user, aside from a couple games(most eventually coming to pc or ps3), I have had zero regret in picking the ps3. Sony seemed so open and proconsumer. I mean, originally the ps3 could use any laptop harddrive, they allowed linux installations, they didnt charge for online and all the usb devices I plugged into it actually worked (also their system wasn't shoddily made). Later on they added their payed service which still seems to be going strong and amazing, granted I have not taken advantage of this. All these years, when I compared xbox to ps3 I would always see microsoft's box as very closed and inflexible. I love my ps3 and I think that Sony eating dirt at the beginning of this generation will just lead to more good things next gen.

Um, buying games, movies and music on your console is kind of a thing now. I really don't see the issue with MS letting me know I can buy The Hobbit for half price, or that a game trailer has been released which I can view with a single push of the button. I know what games are on my hard drive, I don't need them displayed front and centre on the dash. There are aspects of the current dashboard that I can't stand, Recent and My Pins being two absolutely useless squares but it's hardly as offensive or ugly as XMB.

We want both companies to be competitively healthy, Sony and Nintendo as the lone major console manufacturers is just as bad a situation as MS and Nintendo being the only ones. It's incredibly short sighted to want anyone of the current players to back out and leave us with less choice, MS forced Sony to get the lead out and make other consumers on the fence and desire a PS3. I want the same from MS, not for them "Eat Dirt".

Moved to the DiRT forum. That's what you were talking about, right?

Nailed it.

Fixed

I don't see what the problem with the dashboard is. It's one of the best OS experiences in all of technology, right up with Windows 8 Metro. It's great that it's different every time you turn it on, and a lot of times the ads are for things I want to it's doing me a favor. I can jump right into Netflix / Hulu / MLB.tv in a matter of seconds. Nothing about the dashboard is slow.

@superfriend: Yes, PC versions of games run better(duh). Doesn't mean those games aren't a plus for the Xbox. Unless it was some amazing deal, I'd never buy something like Skyrim for 360. That's just common sense.

PC is great for indie devs but MS wants the 360 version to sell very well and having it only available on that platform accomplishes that. So they don't let them release those games for a while. I feel like that's meeting halfway more than anything.

Haha you really are slowly throwing all the conventions of these forums in the trash and having your fun with it aren't you? Funny stuff. Now there's a thread about Microsoft listed under the DiRT franchise forums, is this Y2K all over again?

The worst part about it is that they raised the price because they felt the "service's" value had increased with the addition of Netflix, NFL-MLB-ESPN-CNN-NBC-CBC-TBC-CCC-CCC-BLAH-TV, and many others despite the fact that 90% of these additions required subscriptions to third parties.

Also because no one wants that shit.

The Metro screen on PC is customizable, so you can make it less cluttered and have only the things you use all in one screen. The Metro UI on the 360 has full pages of stuff most people don't use (like seriously... who listens to music on their console?) and there is a bunch of space on the screen that isn't used at all.

Yeah, it makes total sense for Microsoft. But I´m not with the company and I don´t care about their business plan. All I see is that for my personal way of playing games and buying them, their strategy is kinda harmful.

It´s not the end of the world yet, but what if they feel the need to secure even more exclusives next time around? The PC crowd is the one getting screwed then.