Nickname: raycatng

Review: The Xbox 360 will not be a replacement for the DVD player until it stops overheating and they reduce the noise it puts out.

Date reviewed: Aug 2, 2006 1:21 PM

Nickname: eric prebys

Review: I agree with Nick's comments, but I think their are several crucial differences which demonstrate that the set-top boxes of yesterday were "early" (something which is usually even worse than being "late"): - wireless controllers are much better. - HDTV resolution actually supports viewing text. - on demand digital media is here, not on the way.

Date reviewed: Nov 29, 2005 10:17 PM

Nickname: Nick

Review: I'm not exactly seeing much point to the article if you're not discussing any of these potentially revolutionary applications, or discussing any of these whole new kinds of gadgets competing against it. Most of what you're describing has been repeatedly discussed over the past 10 years as the eventuality of gaming consoles. The name you're looking for is "convergence device." It goes as far back as 3DO. Further, much of what has been said could equally be said about the potential of the Xbox. It too had a hard drive (except, by contrast, it was not optional), had network capability, remote patching, Live! service, and could very well deliver the applications you pointed out. It's not so much the new hardware that makes these interesting things possible, but the emphasis by Microsoft to take advantage of them. Perhaps you should have refocused the article to point out the trends in where and how we will consume media in the future, using the Xbox 360 as just one example.

Date reviewed: Nov 24, 2005 8:17 AM

Nickname: jbelkin

Review: It's a gaming machine. Like the PSP and the PS2, gaming companies are under the delusion of grandeur. What's holding them back is the number of polygons they can throw up on the screen. Yes, it impresses the hell out of the gameboys and yes, there are now three or four generations of gamers, but the bottom line is that these are gaming machines and for 75% of people, when it's time to watch TV or listen to music, the controller just doesn't cut it. Even geeks want to cool the machine down and watch a DVD elsewhere so they don't kill the DVD drive.

Date reviewed: Nov 23, 2005 12:03 AM

Nickname: Dre

Review: This is not your father's "game box."

Date reviewed: Nov 22, 2005 9:58 PM

Nickname: csven

Review: I've suspected for some time that Microsoft is working toward creating a "Metaverse," and some of the features of the 360 (not mentioned here) along with some recent employee comments has me thinking I was right. This isn't about gaming.

Date reviewed: Nov 22, 2005 8:18 PM

Nickname: bill

Review: the future

Date reviewed: Nov 22, 2005 6:14 PM

Nickname: raycatng

Review: It is time for some change. We haven't seen any significant leaps in entertainment in quite some time now.

Date reviewed: Nov 22, 2005 3:42 PM

Nickname: TomB

Review: They will lose money on each box the sell-- that is already known. Whether they can recoup the loss on game sales-- that is the question. I am guessing they will not. I think game boxes are heading towards passe.

Date reviewed: Nov 22, 2005 2:10 PM