Microsoft Games Division in deep doo-doo?

Doo-doo - that's what everyone's four year-old cousin would call it. It's basically a childish euphemism for excrement or for a bad, bad situation.

SeekingValue.com's Nick Germain notes that while Sony is getting a whole lot of bad press for all of their problems with the PlayStation 3, he wonders why the press has been very kind to Microsoft. This kindness has been forthcoming despite the fact that, when you look at their expenditures, it seems Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division is in deep doo-doo.

[power of Green]

Hell Yah! it takes money to take down the Monopoly Sony had on the industry matter of fact it was so powerful Nintendo did not want to take a risk competing with Sony and Nintendo made a move thats proving to be working so far" even though it seems riskyer than straight forward competition with Sony in the long run.

[QuackPot]

Playstation may have been the dominant system for the last decade, but Sony never exercised monopolistic practises to force out the competition to maintain market share. Great consoles, great games - playstation simply won the battle. Fair & square. Okay, with every new console the price started high but it also eventually dropped....and a large library of games followed. Likewise with the Ps3.

Contrast that with Micro$oft and the monopoly it has with Winblow$ on the PC. This OS and Office are M$'s cash cow. Micro$oft could have easily made Winblow$ more secure and stable years ago but why haven't they? If you understand how monopolies work then you will understand why? Now with Linux and Mac OSX slowly gaining more market share, surprise surprise, M$ brings out Vi$ta which is very much like Mac OsX with Unix/Linux like features. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? Seems like M$ was feeling the heat. Unfortunately, I'm still forced to pay for preinstalled Winblow$ when I buy a PC - its included in the price - even though I have no interest in that piece of crap on my HDD. Monopoly, monopoly.

And now Micro$oft has entered the game console industry. Think about that. Do honestly believe they support open competition? Especially in a Market where you always make huge losses in the consoles you sell, to be eventually made up for in games sales.

Sony has been involved in the highly competitive market of electronic goods/hardware for years - they have never had a reputation of being a monopolistic titan. Okay, some of their poducts may be overpriced but you can go and buy a competitors product instead. However, there is a company that is currently a monopoly - and has made $Billions over the last 20 years. Micro$oft will spend/lose as much as is necessary to drive Sony out.

I'm not pointing at anyone but it's is rather suspicious why there's so, much dishing on Ps3 while Micro$oft seems whiter than white. The xbox 360 is a capable machine with awesome games but it's not the best console. It is however, the tool for M$ to gain market dominance. Xbots, stop being sucked in. Walk towards the light.

The good news is, if you look at things OBJECTIVELY, logically, rationally and sensibly you can see that Sony will win the console war in the next 7 years - I repeat 7 years not six months. And when they do that, Micro$oft will finally give up the ghost and focus on games development only and port Halo, Gears, Viva, Forza etc to the next gen winner.

Remember: Sony won't make the same mistakes with Ps4 as they did with Ps3. M$ must win this generation or its over...and they obviously won't.

[Bhai]

...It seems to me that what press, critics and media is trying to do is to have 360 established for some time now...remembering what happened to the original xbox. I remember Square Enix folks say that they want to 'Tame' Sony this generation and they "don't want Sony to be the over-whelming victor again" for if all consoles other than Sony's get slaughtered just like in the past-gens, the industry would seize to grow, investors would seize to invest due to fear and smaller devs will vanish.

Now we all have asked this question over and over again that yeah ! why is press so kind to MS/360 when they totally abandoned 4 years of fanbase, millions of people and billions of dollars just in 2005 ? When they promoted nothing new to the market but XBL, and even that was the star of only North America ?

Another set of questions has been why 360 got so much praised when they only have a single cliche'd but next-gen killer-app game 'gears' and even after a whole year ? how the hell PDZ got a 9.0 ranking from gamespot.com HaHaHa ? especially that, how on Earth does 360's existing games and a few upcoming ones change the perspective of games from the last-gen besides normal-mapped textures at all ? do they have procedural synthesis, hi quality physics or motion-sensitivity etc. ?

When each and every developer has supported the idea and cause of a heavier disc, how does press keep satisfied with the existing 360 DVD games, are they too short-term thinkers as MS is ? 360 might never fully utilize HDD functionality because of it being non-standard in 360, so then will every huge game be all pop-y like Oblivion ? and that its fine with press if its on 360 HeeHeeHee ? Is this all short-term thinking or is western press all envious of the Japanese console ?!

For an idea upon all these questions, read the first paragraph of this post !

[jib]

Because a lot of people care more about whats happening now, the present. not "future potential." not what "it could be in a few years." but instead, what each console offers so far and so far and the 360 is ahead in terms of great games and the amount of it. like i've stated before, the PS3 still has to prove its 600$ worth to the masses.

about your question on "short term" DVDs. go to gametrailers and listen to GOW creator jeffe. he'll give you an answer.

[nix]

Nick Germain says: "Expect a detailed blog post later this evening, and more posts throughout the week on this important topic."

it's going to be a long week guys! hope you guys have enough health and armour! q:

[THAMMER1]

I wonder what the profits look like.

[Saint Sony]

As long as gamers are happy, all is fine.

[Shadow Flare]

I know no company is perfect and that all companies do something they live to regret, but microsoft seems very shifty. It's already come to light that they 'stuffed the channel' with 360's. They purposely shipped thousands upon thousands of 360's that never got bought, just so sales figures made it look like it was selling. Then look at the scores that 360 games get and the very good press it gets compared to sony. It wouldn't surprise me at all if microsoft bribed reviewers to score their games high ( "Bhai: how the hell PDZ got a 9.0 ranking from gamespot.com HaHaHa ?". Too true) and if they bribed reporters to give 360 good press while giving sony bad press.

Look at the facts, what major ways has sony slipped up?

- European delay
- Cost
- Amount of games
- Lack of rumble
- The apparent similarity in games to 360

Those are the main points yet have recieved SO much bad press

- European delay : Mismanagement, they probably deserved bad press. It doesn't matter now though.
- Cost : Expensive, but not overpriced. Bargain for what you get and Sony is actively working to cut the price because they know they need to. Expect price cut around Q3/Q4.
- Games : Had better games then 360 when it launched. Motorstorm and Resistance rock a lot more then PGR3 or Ghost Recon. More games are coming
- Lack of rumble: Well they can do it now
- The apparent similarity in games to 360 : Like sony and developers have repeatedly said, they have to get used to working with the cell. Games are already reaping the benefits like Lair and Heavenly Sword. Little Big Planet practically has Pixar quality graphics with real-time physics to match.

What ways has the Xbox 360 slipped up?

- Feature-wise, nothing new from the original xbox; except ammendments to Xbox Live
- Poor, poor build quality
- Red ring of death
- Scratches discs
- Took 1 year for a AAA title
- Noise
- Xbox 360 Elite is more expensive and does practically nothing new again
- Uses DVD's
-'Channel Stuffing'

There is also the issue of whether Microsoft will continue to charge for Xbox Live once PlayStation Home is released. If they stop charging, then why did they charge before? If they continue charging, then they may lose customers since Home does everything Live does in a fully 3D, interactive environment AND MORE FOR FREE

I would say microsoft has the bigger issues which should warrant attention and the bad press, not sony

[Saint Sony]

"Little Big Planet practically has Pixar quality graphics with real-time physics to match. "

Little Big Planet looks damn sweet and is really innovative what comes to game idea and it will sell loads and loads, but come on.. it's not quite there yet what comes to pixar quality rendering. It's faaaaaar from it imho, but I work in 3D animation industry (movies), so maybe I'm biased.

I wish it would come to other platforms as well. Though im sure it won't at least for now.

[Diselage]

If your going to compare at least be consistent and look at each point made for each side, not just one.

- Feature-wise, nothing new from the original xbox; except ammendments to Xbox Live - HD gaming, XBLA, XBLM. What did Sony add other than SIXAXIS that 360 didn't offer other than motion sensing.
- Poor, poor build quality - Yes there was issues but theire sorted out, only the news ones are the ones that are really causeing problems now.
- Red ring of death (unfair) this goes hand in hand with the top.
- Scratches discs - again it goes hand in hand with the top and Microsofts tech. support has been helpful
- Took 1 year for a AAA title - Oblivion wasn't AAA?
- Noise - So many people say this but what do they do play with out sound coming out of the TV? I've never heard it over my tv unless my head is 6 inches from the console.
- Xbox 360 Elite is more expensive and does practically nothing new again - More expensive? It's retail is 479.99 which is cheaper than both SKU's last time i checked?
- Uses DVD's - So it should use VHS? Majority of the world still use DVD's as their primary source for home movie viewing.
-'Channel Stuffing' - Oh well, does this affect how my console opperates?

[DrRage77]

some of your points i can see where you are coming from, but some you really can't make if you actually look at them. my biggest problem is the build quality issue. people keep bringing that up, but let's think about this. there are over 10,000,000 360's sold (but we'll say that 8,000,000 are actualky sold and the rest are on the shelves). if you take 8,000,000 and apply the typical 5% failure rate for electronics, you end up with 400,000 failed 360's. that looks high, but it is 5%. and people keep saying "no, all the 360's have problems"....no, they don't.

the problem with people estimating the number of failed 360's is that they take those numbers from percentage of people reporting problems on forums. um, how many poeple do you know go on a forum to write "hey, my 360 is working perfectly fine". a MAJORITY of people that jump on forums are there because they have problems and they start posts on it. too many people do not take into consideration that there are millions upon millions of 360 owners that have no problems, and that they do not jump onto forums to say "mine's working great". when you see reviews of any type of product, and there are like 20 reviews, more than likely there will be like 4 or 5 bad reviews...does that mean that 20-25% of the products are faulty? no, it just means that the people that have problems have more motivation to voice their opinion on something and get their frustrations heard than those that have a perfectly working product and are happy with it. it is as simple as that. if people want a true indicator of faulty consoles, then maybe they should send out surveys to 360 owners, instead of taking numbers from forums and blogs to get "estimates"

feature-wise you say the 360 has nothing new from the original xbox? do you not consider better graphics something new? what about the multimedia aspect of the 360 where you can stream movies, pictures and music from your computer onto the 360? that seems like a new feature to me. then there is a countless number of peripheral support through usb that is a new feature, a larger harddrive, etc.

then you say the 360 elite is more expensive but doesn't really do anything new? well, for one, it as 6 times the storage space, so that is pretty significant considering people are downloading movies and tv shows on the 360. also, the entire motherboard is brand new because it now has hdmi so the elite send out a pure digital signal, that is also a new feature. the elite also upscales all dvd's, yet another new feature. so for the $80 upgrade cost, you get a decent amount more, without having to break the bank.

yes i know, EVERYONE keeps saying that the ps3 is not overpriced because you get a bluray player and wifi, BUT because sony dropped the 20gb version, someone that is looking for a gaming system has 3 choices with the 360 depending on what they actually need in their gamign console, ranging from $300-$479, or they have one choice with the ps3 for $599. you have to admit, that is a HUGE disadvantage for the ps3, and it has been the main sticking point as to why sales have been less then stellar for the ps3

[Silver360]

"PS3 can sell six million units without a single game"
" Riiiiiiidge Racerrrrrrrr"
Sony is arrogant and that is why they get bad press.

[Shadow Flare]

Diselage---

- "Feature-wise, nothing new from the original xbox; except ammendments to Xbox Live - HD gaming, XBLA, XBLM. What did Sony add other than SIXAXIS that 360 didn't offer other than motion sensing."

--XBLA and XBLM are additions to Xbox Live like i said. HD gaming, fair enough, that's new. What's sony done that's different from ps2? Motion sensing, stuck a harddrive in, Full HD, proper online gaming network, invested millions into the development of the Cell chip with the mind of including into the ps3, invested millions into the development of the Bluray with the mind of including into the ps3, psp integration, wi-fi and bluetooth capabilites. The ps3 is a bigger improvement over the ps2 then 360 is over the xbox.

- "Took 1 year for a AAA title - Oblivion wasn't AAA?"

-- Yes it was. But im talking about AAA exclusives. Oblivion isn't. Motorstorm and Resistance are.

-- "Noise - So many people say this but what do they do play with out sound coming out of the TV? I've never heard it over my tv unless my head is 6 inches from the console."

-- My brother HAD a 360 and it was a noisy piece of crap. When watching a dvd or playing a game and it gets to a tense silent bit in the film/game, you don't want the 360's jet engine sharing it's thoughts. Like one guy said once about Ace Combat 6: "I want the afterburner sounds to come from the game not the console"

- "Xbox 360 Elite is more expensive and does practically nothing new again - More expensive? It's retail is 479.99 which is cheaper than both SKU's last time i checked?"

--I meant its more expensive then the premium 360

-"Uses DVD's - So it should use VHS? Majority of the world still use DVD's as their primary source for home movie viewing."

-- Again, i meant it uses dvd's for GAMES. A HD console should use HD disc formats. DVD's are restrictive and unwanted by developers.

-"'Channel Stuffing' - Oh well, does this affect how my console opperates? "

-- It doesn't. It just shows how insecure Microsoft is with their sales.

DrRage77

The whole issue of Xbox 360's reliability is a big issue. It's not uncommon to hear people who have had 2-3 360's. Some have had 4. I don't think im stretching the truth to say that the 360 is possibly the most unreliable gaming console in recent history. A 4% failure rate for the 360 is a joke. Microsoft WOULD say its 4%. I've heard its up to 40%. Point in hand, do you know anyone who's ps3 has broken down? The ps3 is a far more complicated machine. Logic says it should be more unreliable then the 360. It's no where near it.

"feature-wise you say the 360 has nothing new from the original xbox? do you not consider better graphics something new? what about the multimedia aspect of the 360 where you can stream movies, pictures and music from your computer onto the 360? that seems like a new feature to me. then there is a countless number of peripheral support through usb that is a new feature, a larger harddrive, etc."

--I don't consider better graphics as a new feature because with a new generation, that's expected. You're right about multimedia aspects and streaming to pc, that's a new feature. I don't consider any periferals as part of a consoles features. I never thought guitar hero was a feature for ps2. If it's not an in-built console feature, it's not a console feature. Therefore, 360 lacks considerably. For people who don't have an internet connection, the 360 offers next to nothing.

"then you say the 360 elite is more expensive but doesn't really do anything new? well, for one, it as 6 times the storage space, so that is pretty significant considering people are downloading movies and tv shows on the 360. also, the entire motherboard is brand new because it now has hdmi so the elite send out a pure digital signal, that is also a new feature. the elite also upscales all dvd's, yet another new feature. so for the $80 upgrade cost, you get a decent amount more, without having to break the bank."

--Upscaling dvd's is a good feature. Bigger hard-drive? What a joke. Considering you can insert ANY size HDD into the ps3, that makes the 120gb sound pretty unimpressive. PS3 also always had a HDMI port. The higher cost of the Elite reduces the price between the cost of the ps3 and therefore reduces that phychological price barrier to consumers. The Elite is one of the stupidest moves microsoft could have made.

You're right though. There are only 2 things that stop people buying the ps3. Price and lack of games. Neither are permenant issues.

One point i wanna bring out is the exclusive issue. The media has been giving sony bad press for keep losing exclusives.

Fact: This generation, most developers are going to need to go multi-platform to cover the costs of developing.

Therefore, sony losing exclusives shouldn't be surprising.

Opinion: The fact developers chose to be exclusive to ps3 originally shows that they prefer the playstation brand, and were forced to put it on the 360 for finanial reasons, not because they wanted to.

Something to think about

[gta_cb]

aaahhhhhh i see the reason you only have 2 bubbles!

*cough* sonyfanboy *cough*

[DrRage77]

this is a nother one of those pointless articles by someone that nobody has ever heard of, trying to get his name out there with this article. we have already been over this, and it's been talked to death. microsoft did NOT get into the gaming industry for short-term gain, they went into it with a business strategy that is going to pay off in the long-term. that is why they are tying in the 360 and pc gaming folks, it is all being setup so that microsoft has the largest install base of any other company.
it was prevsiously discussed that when developers look at what platforms to make games for, they can easily be swayed to go for the 360 and pc because those combined have a HUGE install base of gamers.

and as for BHAI's comments, um, you think that Gears is the only killer app for the 360? intersting. anyway, everyone is entitles to their opinions, and it is pointless to argue back and forth on opinions, so i will just leave it at that.

this fall is going to be a gigantic swing forward for microsoft and the 360 because of 4 or 5 killer apps being released (Forza 2, Bioshock, Blue Dragon, Shadowrun, Mass Effect and Halo3). Once these games come out, especially Halo3, we are going to see sales of the 360 explode. that is not really something that can be denied by anyone, as everybody knows that about 2/3 of original xbox owners have not bought a 360 due to waiting for Halo3 to hit the shelves. with all those games coming out within the next 5 or 6 months, plus a lot more great games, this year and next year we are going to see just how wrong alot of these no-name "analysts" are. i'm sure we will read several articles from these types of analysts when they backtrack and say how good they always thought the 360 would do....

[overrated]

no matter how all you little boys twist it, your still wrong.

MS is a buisness and a buisness is created to gain money. MS are losing money on there games devision so its a failure. Thats it its a failure to the buisness aspects. But to a gaming aspect thats a different ball game. Stop crying and move on this really has nothing to do with people who are suppost to be just playing "GAMES"

Dr Rage wake up mate, yes the 360 has killer apps but so does the PS3 dont be a fanboy. The 360 is not doing good, its sold just around 10 million units, thats pretty poor for a games console that had a years headstart.

But really if you care about this shyte your not a gamer. You probally just a no body who sits on the computer all day trying to justify your purchase.

[FadeToBlack]

If MS is making money on each consol they sell these days and have the highest software attach rate of 5.7 and are in deep doo doo, then sony must be bleeding to death. The PS3 has an awfull attach rate of under 2 and are losing alot of money on the system itself. Please could someone explain to me why MS games division is the one in trouble here?

[DrRage77]

overrated, you really do not understand anything. your exact qoute was "MS are losing money on there games devision so its a failure"....do you NOT UNDERSTAND that microsoft did not enter the gaming industry with a SHORT-TERM business strategy? this has been specifically stated by them when they were getting ready to launch the original xbox. how hard is that to understand?? you really seem to be a bit naive with your comments. if a company comes out BEFORE they enter the gaming market, say they are coming into it KNOWING it is going to take several years of hard work to see profits, then how are you still able to keep saying that they have failed because RIGHT NOW they are losing money in the gaming division? MOST OF THE MONEY LOST IS THE STARTUP COST FOR ENTERING THE MARKET. Microsoft is laready MAKING A PROFIT on the 360. take a look at sony, are they making money on the ps3???? no? then i guess your "analysis" is the same for sony, right mate?? the ps3 is losing MORE money per console than micrsoft did with the 360, PLUS, they are selling LESS consoles than the 360, and the ps3 is a newer console. oh yeah, sony also DISCONTINUED the 20gb version, that really seems like their gaming division is doing great when they have to cut the cheaper ps3 in order to recoup some of the money they are losing.....get a clue, and then make an INFORMED comment....

[THAMMER1]

Oh no!!! LOL The 360 is still out selling the PS3. Bottom line. The 360 is not doomed at all.

[ben hates you]

you said "its sold just around 10 million units" it has indeed sold 11.8 million units at the end of 2006 dec 31 microsoft stated 10.4 million 360's have been purchased. add the sales from jan feb and march it is "just aroud" 12 million units. and MGS{microsoftgamestudios} is the one not making any money not Microsoft they have seen a profit from the 360. why do you hate bubbles

[Rooted_Dust]

Xbox 360 is the popular favorite right now. But if the analysts are right then Microsoft Game Division has failed to take that popularity and turn a profit from it. This probably doesn't necessarily mean the end of Xbox. It just means they may have to be wise about how much they spend on hardware, software, and marketing. Something needs to happen because no company will operate at a loss forever.

[kamisama]

i think this is sony funny to compare the amount of games sony has compared to the 360 when in fact 360 has been out so much longer wich gives it the uper in hand with more games and that game developers know more about creating games for the 360 rather then for the ps3 but in time ps3 will have tons of games and developers will be more familiar with the ps3. ever system launch is the same way even when the 360 launched it wasnt that great but it seems that everyone likes to forget about that fact funny isnt it sony has been out for a short amount of time and hasnt even been able to show what its capable of and MS is already afraid of what the ps3 can due..

Ps.

i was at walmart last night and they were selling some of the accessories for the "Elite" and they happen to have the 120G HD wich cost 196 or 198 i forget exactly it was one of the two then you had on tax and boom its gonna cost you over $200 that is pure insanity.

[BIadestarX]

I guess we have to face the fact that we will have to hear apocaliptic crap from people that can't stand the fact the xbox brand is still around. They don't want people to focus on what's happening with microsoft's game division today (Making lots of money with gears, making money selling consoles, highest software attach rate, dominating the console market, etc) or the future (Forza 2, Mass effect, blue dragon, etc)... they want you to focus on the past (the original xbox which was a introductory product that was expected to lose money). These people know how investment works. They know no matter when microsoft decides to enter the game industry they were going to lose money in order to stablish a brand while having Nintendo and Sony around. These people are telling you, to forget the fact that now the XBox brand is an established brand and that microsoft successfully introduced the xbox 360 to the market. The fact that microsoft now have more revenue streams such as xbox live, xbox live anywhere, movie marketplace, zune, games for windows, etc. Focus only on the fact that they lost money on the first xbox which everyone was expecting. We get one of these article every 2 days don't we?

[hamburgerhill]

That was very well written and kind of moving actually! I love my 360's since I own 2 and wouldn't choose any other console over it because I like were MS has taken me over the years! It's obvious that certain people just don't want to see 360 succeed and that's why when I read comments from guy's like shadowflare, Bhai, and DJ I just read them and ignore them because they will always down play the competition! I respect Sony and MS but will never go back to bashing because were all in it for the games and some guy's are just in it to cause trouble!

[Bathyj]

This is not new news. Its common knowledge that Xbox has never made money. Why this glut of stories in the last week going over and over it again.

It does make you wonder why M$ is in it. They are unlikely to turn a profit even this generation but still, only M$ stock holders should care. Its good for all us gamers that they stay and I cant see Bill Gate losing face by quitting.

The one good point this story raises is about the media kindness toward M$ and the hostility towards Sony. Things sure have improved for them alot since GDC, but for 2 years before that it seemed they couldnt do anything without pissing off half the internet. Meanwhile M$ have gotten away with everything apparently scott free despite continuely hurting their own customers.

Anyway, can this be the last story we hear saying the same thing.

[Torch]

I want MS (and Nintendo) to stay right where they are.

Because it's their very presence and competitive offerings that compel Sony to make me love my PS3 as much as I do.

Because if they WEREN'T around, we'd all still be playing PaRappa the Rapper on a PSOne platform (IF!). And for those of you who think Sony's arrogant NOW...well, you 'ain't seen nothing', hadn't the competition been around to keep them in check.

And don't fool yourself by thinking that these influential factors don't reciprocate with MS and Ninty as well (XBox 360 Elite with once-"irrelevant" HDMI, anyone?)

That said, I sincerely wish for MS to prosper, pull some black numbers out of their hat, and maintain a reputable user base, so that we can ALL continue to enjoy big-budget (maybe even cross-platform) games on our console of choice.

[kewlkat007]

Everyday some analyst come up with a stupid title, "Ms's game division is in deep Doo-doo yet again"...and people fall for it everytime. It gives the sonycamp one more stupid reasons to say the same thing over from the last "MS Doomsday Article."
"Microsoft is doomed" awww really thats the forth time they are doomed in one week. Give it a break..the console is still a success, regardless how you spin it.It has always been an uphill battle to eat at Sony's market-share, and the war(if you see it as is) continues regardless of articles like this. We'll see another tomorrow fa sho.

The real Facts are right below:

"Microsoft's tactic is to completely ignore its "toughest competition." Indeed, "The latest numbers have been released by NPD, and we're HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE that XBOX 360 CONTINUES TO LEAD SONY'S PS3 IN NEXT-GENERATION GAMING CONSOLE SALES with 199K units sold in the month of March.
The Microsoft press release describes AN ATTACH RATE OF 5.7 GAMES SOLD PER CONSOLE (with four games making it into the NPD software top ten), as well as Guitar Hero II shifting over 291,000 units within five days.

Games like Guitar Hero II that were ONCE WERE PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVES are now enabling consumers to HAVE MORE OF A CHOICE when it comes to platform selection, while also broadening our portfolio of games that appeal to customers of all ages." GIVING CONSUMERS A CHOICE IS ALWAYS A PLUS, though you'd better hope they don't choose your primary competitor. Which totally isn't the Wii, by the way."

The funny thing is Xbox fans are not the ones that are worried about these kind of articles, we all know where the games/online experience are at right now. Sonyboys with their arrow tips set abalze, can't wait to launch.

[Diselage]

Why do these articles keep being approved. I would submit the same about Sony and Nintendo but they're meaningless. Come one guys can't we keep the "prediction" articles by "experts" down a little.

I've never even heard of this site, most of these articles seem like they were written to get fanboys to go to their sites.

[_insane_cobra]

Old AND ignorant, tailor-made for N4G.

[omansteveo]

Its All Flame Bait and it keeps people coming back to argue..just like MS and Sony N4G.com is also a business thats why crap like this gets approved on both sides, it keeps their traffic heavy. Look we'e seen these same stories on both sides of the fence for how long now? N4G keep the game news coming not flame bait so your site gets traffic.

[snoop_dizzle]

um this story does seem a little familiar. Even though it could be slightly different. Either way, i want to hear something new.

[power of Green]

You Sony fanboys crack me up as if your bais opinions will effect what will happen down the road, i can't believe you guys are pooring your hearts out on this new MS always gets their ass kicked and loses a ton of money before the take over.

[achira]

every other company on the world would go bankrupt if they had such bad quality like xbox and xbox360. but oh yes ms has his windows monopol.

[snoop_dizzle]

why didn't sony go bankrupt because all the issues the PS2 ha? but oh yes sony had its videogame monopoly.

The 360 has great games, so did the PS2, both has a # of problems(havent had one problem with my 360 but did with my PS2) and thery were NOT the most powerful consoles of their generations, yet the PS2 was the best console of last generation. Granted the 360 or PS3 wont reach that point.

So really whats your point?
Ill try to give you a bubble so you can respond.

[freeza]

m$ sucks ass when it comes to console gameing we all know it

[snoop_dizzle]

I'm looking at my 360 games right now, and playing lost planet. hmmmm

Msoft sucking at console gaming really doesn't come to mind. I dont know about you, well i guess i do, but im having fun. And soon i will with my PS3.

You know what sucks, people with that are so obsessed with brand loyalty. They really miss out on some great games. Expand your horizons, and since i'm feeling nice ill give you positive feedback because you need it.

[One]

IT MIGHT BE DOO DOO!!!!!!!
HAHAHA
1

[gnothe1]

I hardly even use my Ps3, there's nothing available for it that really interest me right now. I have motorstorm, I play it for about 30 -35 minutes then i'm done. then on to my 360 where I almost spend my WHOLE weekend playing it!!
oh yeah I installed yellow dog linux on a 10 GB partition of the PS3 HDD an played around with that some this weekend(tried to get xmame working)but I couldn't!! I only did that just because I didnt have anything else to do with my PS3.

so I played around with linux for a few days an I must say that im IMPRESSED!!!

I'm impressed with windows xp even more now!! I dont see how people claim that they would rather use linux. that OS is crap!! unless its the version I was using I didnt like it!! an now I see why MS has the PC OS world the way they do!!

the PS3 WILL be great but right now its the 360 thats hold my intrest an the interest of my wife an kids the most!! these analyst can predict all they want the evidence that the 360 is better is right there in your face!!

[DJ]

Microsoft has been on a downward slope for quite a while, and it’s not in just one or two areas. True sales of their flagship operating system have been slipping further and further, and in order to combat this trend Microsoft has been pushing PC manufacturers to include their upgrades in ALL hardware offerings. This may have worked between 1998 and 2002, but PC sales are also slipping since the market is getting fairly saturated. Their other offerings such as Microsoft Office aren’t as popular anymore since the upgrades are both expensive and don’t offer any compelling new features; you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Office 2000, ME, 2003, and XP. Their market share in the server arena is also falling in the face of Linux, which happens to be open-source, more secure, more reliable, and completely customizable to fit each company’s needs.

Then there’s the console arena, the one that matters most in this particular discussion. One has to ask why Microsoft entered the console race in the first place considering that they dominate 90% of the PC market, and the main reason is because Microsoft did not achieve dominance through capitalistic practices. They know damn well that the fact that most owners of Microsoft Windows, Office, etc, didn’t choose those respective pieces of software means that the Microsoft Brand has very little staying power-> Someone could easily topple them over. And because they are a software company, they can also be pushed around by hardware providers like Dell or HP. At the end of the day, consumers are purchasing physical hardware; the software is replaceable at basically no cost.

The Xbox brand was created in response to this inherent fear that Microsoft has, and while the original Xbox was simply to test out the waters, the 360 is the full realization of that mindset. Think about it. Microsoft has created physical hardware that they own the rights to, hardware that also runs a Microsoft-built operating system and requires software developers to use Microsoft hardware + software to build videogame titles for. They run a closed online network and take away almost all control from developers for those online features. Everything is in their control, and that’s the way they like it because Microsoft has never had the ability to have that much control over a single product.

Videogame consoles were originally meant to generate profits and that’s it, but the Xbox brand exists for a completely different purpose. True, Microsoft would love to make the Xbox brand profitable and delete their Xbox Division’s $5.4 Billion debt, but really the Xbox 360 is there as a way of easing consumers back in and erasing their negative image. Anyone who’s been keeping track of the PC gaming market knows that Microsoft now requires that all games that run on Windows now have to come with a fancy “Games for Windows” tag. Why? Because PC gamers don’t give a sh*t about the operating system; they care about the physical hardware that makes those games run at breakneck speed.
The Xbox 360 is a decent effort, but wasn’t/isn’t being pushed to its full potential because Microsoft is scared of truly unifying their PC and Console markets.

“But wait a second DJ, they created the Live Anywhere system to unify PC and 360 users!”

Eh, not quite. Here’s what I mean. The 360 is meant to be Microsoft’s little Trojan horse, a way of sneaking in a physical piece of Microsoft hardware into your living room. It has almost all the functions you would need such as the ability to run videogames, play movies, communicate online, download both game and non-game related content (IPTV is a big example), burn music from CDs, and communicate with your iPod or PSP. But it’s missing something, specifically a Web Browser. The PS3 has one. The Wii has one. But Microsoft, the all powerful inventor of Internet Explorer lacked the technical know-how to port it over to the 360? Huhm.

You’ll now notice that I said Microsoft is afraid of unifying their PC and Console markets, not PC and Console gamers, and there’s a specific reason I said that. Microsoft, or at least certain divisions within Microsoft, are worried that the act of including certain Windows-based features with the Xbox 360 will end up eating into their PC market share. Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo Corp. are able to include fully functional web browsers because they don’t have software-based stakes in the PC market. Basically, Microsoft has looked into the situation and doesn’t want PC owners to abandon their hardware and move over onto the Xbox for their basic needs because that would equal hundreds of dollars lost on potential upgrades for Microsoft software.

But web browsers are only one significant aspect. The other is the subject of operating systems. While Sony was able to make the PS3 essentially open-source and free to tinker with, Microsoft has kept a lid so tight on their hardware that they release firmware updates that attempt to dismantle Xbox hardware that has been tampered with (or at least, allegedly). The big issue is control, and the fact that Microsoft is trying to run two markets that are becoming more and more similar with each generation.

Say a team of programmers builds a Linux-based Operating System that ran programs like Adobe Photoshop, Itunes, Firefox, AIM, and word processors on the PS3, or say that similar programs are built to run on the Playstation 3 platform. This would end up benefiting Sony since such features don’t compete with their own offerings, and thus expand Playstation 3’s market share. If the same thing happened to the Xbox 360, Microsoft would sh*t their pants. Can you imagine people buying the Xbox 360, but at the same time abandoning their PCs in order to run free open-source programs that Microsoft doesn’t make a dime off of? Good god. Their financial situation would make the Titanic look like Apollo 11.

The people who have been attacking Microsoft for allegedly being ‘greedy’, ‘arrogant’, and ‘over controlling’ should actually take a step back and look at the complex dynamics behind the corporation’s behavior. Microsoft’s fears are very justified, and they’re simply making decisions that help preserve their market share. Well, ok, you can go ahead and state that they’re over-controlling ‘cause that’s pretty obvious. I’m just hoping that the users of this site can look into these situations from a broader perspective and see what’s really going on. If you’re worried about the Xbox brand dying out, don’t be. It is not a for-profit venture, and it’s actually that very fact that is going to keep the Xbox brand alive for at least another hardware generation after the 360. There actually might be a day when all consoles are finally launched at a profitable price point (no, Nintendo doesn’t count =P ) because consoles are basically becoming personal computers. I can actually imagine Playstation 4 launching with an array of Office titles that anyone can purchase at their local Circuit City or Gamestop, software that would allow owners to do everything from make Powerpoint presentations to write documents, do their email (already possible on PS3), or even put together their own home movies a la Windows Movie Maker. Better yet, these could be built by competing companies and foster even better software every year that consumers get to choose.

If Sony does this (and you know they will) Microsoft will be forced to do the same with the Xbox brand, lest they switch gears and use Nintendo’s image of ‘games only’.
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The main thing right now though is that a lot of underhanded tactics on Microsoft's part are being exposed, such as the subtle bribing of reviewers with lavish gifts and channel-stuffing (i.e. inflating) sales of their 360 console. And it's not just investors that are getting the full wiff; consumers are hearing about these tactics as well. I'm not sure how much of an effect these events are going to have on the company, but they can't be good.

[Shaka2K6]

I love sony very much...I like the way they take risks and lose money to pass value to the consumer......this can't be said about nintendo (milking their fans).....at least microsoft owners can know that there is a lot invested in their machines......thought i would play nice....