Has Microsoft done the right thing to try and "win" this gen?

[boffo]

Since the first debate thread seems to be working out well I figured I'd start another one focusing on the 360 instead.

It's been quite obvious that Microsoft has been doing just about everything possible to make the Xbox brand relevant this generation and in those regards it has probably succeeded. The question is has it really been worth it? They made a push to be the first next gen console on the market to get a jump on everyone else which they did. However that haste was likely one of the main reasons behind the RRoD fiasco that cost MS $1 billion plus the lack of trust in the reliability of the console.

The one year head start has already been easily overcome by the Wii(who MS conveniently no longer considers competiton, except in the attach rates they like to brag about now) and while they still own a lead over the PS3 it really isn't much larger than it was when the PS3 first came out.

Game wise they still center around Halo but many former PS exclusives have become available on the 360 either by developer choice or by a large payoff. It's now only a couple of months until we start to find out if their $50 million payout for exclusive GTA4 DLC will be worth it. So far GTA4 has sold more copies on the 360, but it has a higher attach rate on the PS3. Perhaps sales for the 360 version will increase again once the DLC is available, but it's hard to see them making back the $50 million they spent.

It seems that MS is content to throw money around in an effort to force success upon the 360, but has it been worth it so far? There's really no chance that they will make anywhere close to a profit from the 360 but do they care? It seems most likely that the 360 will end this gen 3rd in sales(unless they consider the end of this gen the moment they release their next console, which they possibly do) but will MS still consider it a win if they sell more consoles than they did last gen, or see Sony's sales go down significantly from the PS2 days? Will MS continue to throw money around to get what they want or will they be able to just count on the Xbox name being enough to gain support?

boffo keep posting gaming threads and start thinking of other ways to encourage discussion here at NGW.

[boffo]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

boffo stop posting gaming threads and start thinking of ways we can get back at kfz

I'll leave the getting back at KF up to you, as long as you DON'T do it on behalf of this site in any way.

I'll also edit your post to keep it at least somewhat on topic however the next one will likely just end up deleted. There are other threads that can be spammed in so this one is being kept clean.

[codenamelenny]

The things they did right was releasing it before the others and getting lots of 3rd party support. Things they did wrong was not have a HDD standard, have a bad design(RROD), and not having much 1st party devs.

[boffo]

Releasing it early ended up becoming a big problem for them, though. While the RRoD might have still been an issue it would seem unlikely that an extra year of development wouldn't have done anything to help fix the problem.

I do agree with the need for more 1st party development. 1st party games have really become the key to a console/brand differentiating itself and the Xbox is still looked at as being Halo's system with Gears of War probably now having worked it's way in as a 2nd key franchise. I can't help but think that the $50 million it cost for GTA4 DLC would have been better spent on developing a new MS exclusive franchise or two instead of giving them the bragging rights that they have the bigger verson of GTA.

[Carnage]

I think from launch until now, Microsoft has learned a lot about the community of gamers, and has since improved greatly. They've reduced the failure ratio of 360s from 10%-2% with the new chip installed, they've released a money-friendly and casually appealing system in the Arcade, and now have a great selection of casual games since they had at launch.

[E6600]

Microsoft did everything right except for the hardware, lack of motion sensing controller and their choice of DVD DL, they could have chose HDDVD, but they didn't.
In terms of software, the X360 is doing well, they secured a number of exclusives and got a number of Playstation games to their console.
They still have a lot more to do, and they are failing badly in Japan.
Microsoft doesn't necessarily want to come on top, I mean everyone wants to, but it isn't the goal for Microsoft, they want to build a brand and get enough support for their console.
They will lose if they don't break into Japan. Japan should be their goal next gen, but they have to start now, and they already did.
One thing not helping them in Japan is the name, they also need to bring a smaller X360, and attract even more Japanese developers.

[Carnage]

Originally Posted by E6600

Microsoft did everything right except for the hardware, lack of motion sensing controller and their choice of DVD DL, they could have chose HDDVD, but they didn't.
In terms of software, the X360 is doing well, they secured a number of exclusives and got a number of Playstation games to their console.
They still have a lot more to do, and they are failing badly in Japan.
Microsoft doesn't necessarily want to come on top, I mean everyone wants to, but it isn't the goal for Microsoft, they want to build a brand and get enough support for their console.
They will lose if they don't break into Japan. Japan should be their goal next gen, but they have to start now, and they already did.
One thing not helping them in Japan is the name, they also need to bring a smaller X360, and attract even more Japanese developers.

can i has moar jrpgs on mai 360 plz?

[E6600]

Originally Posted by Carnage

can i has moar jrpgs on mai 360 plz?

you summed my post perfectly

[Spindel]

Being a Nintendo fanboy I would say that even though MS has succeeded in making Xbox a recognized brand I would still consider them a failure in since they don't make a profit (same goes for PS3).

It's a really bad business strategy to not make any profit from your product.

Nintendo (oops there the fanboy comes again within me) is the only one that has made everything right this generation by taking one step back and refocusing with something new.