Microsoft is reaping the rewards of the Xbox 360 and Kinect’s success over the past year, and they’re showing it go in a large fashion at CES 2012. However, selfsame little of the Xbox buzz coming from Microsoft has to do with games. 2012 might identical substantially exist the Year of the Xbox 360, just not for many of the gamers that brought it therefore far.
Xbox 360: Your Young Streaming Media Set-Top Box
Streaming media isn’t anything young for the Xbox, of course–it was one of the foremost ways to watercourse Netflix Moment onto a TV without employing a PC. However, Microsoft is doubling down on streaming media this year, aiming for 100 apps by the closing of 2012. That’s not 100 dinky Android apps, either–each app requires that Microsoft partner with the message provider to make certainly that Xbox users are getting the best get possible.
Kinect for Windows: Not for Consumer
When Steve Ballmer announced that Microsoft would exist selling Kinect for Windows for $250, it caused quite a stir–why charge an special $100 for what is essentially the same product?
As it turns out, there’s a pretty good ground for that–the Kinect for Windows isn’t really intended for consumers in the first place. Afterward all, there’s not actually a entirely luck you could exercise it with in Windows, anyway.
Don’t Require a Young Xbox Any Time Soon
There’s no uncertainty that the existing generation of game consoles are starting to lag behind the PC. Blockbuster titles like Skyrim or Battlefield 3 only don’t tone as good or manoeuvre equally substantially on an Xbox equally they can on even a lower-end gaming PC–and when you reckon the high-end niche gamer who wants to modernistic their games, crank up the settings, or eve live-stream their sessions via Twitch.TV or other video streaming sites, there’s just no contest.
