"With more than 70 million units sold around the world and a particularly healthy commercial performance of late, there’s no doubt that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 system has more than held its own this console generation.
"But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement when the console’s successor rolls around. And with the new Xbox due to land at the back-end of next year, a number of shortcomings really should be addressed."
30°
40°
10°
20°
Ad 
30°
Nice try though
http://www.joystiq.com/2011...
Either way Xbox live has been far from a mistake. In fact it's been the 360s killer app the entire gen.
Evil
I agree with the author that I don't want to see microsoft rely on too much on kinect. It's ok for kids but that's about it. As for the Japanese market?? They are very loyal to japanese brands and companies. It's a small market also. Marketing dollars would be better spent in europe and the U.S.
The reason MS should invest more in exclusives is because despite having a year head start to Sony, the PS3 has been slowly eating into MS lead to the point that world wide some reports say it has past xbox 360.
Of cause worldwide it's hard to prove one way or the other, but if MS want to keep the lead it needs to do more that just sit there thinking it doesn't need to do anymore.
Sony has had to cover a lot of ground to get PSN up to the same level as Xbox Live, and there are things they will not be able to fix until the next model Playstation comes out.
But when the next models do come out and people look back at the history of which console created the most exclusives for hard core gamers... which company do you think will come out on top if the online services were about the same but one had on line gaming free?
Other factors like timing and cost will also have an effect, but only time will tell.
I think the basic right out of the box standard multiplayer should be available free for the average Joe who just wants to game online. While his options to subscribe to be completely up to him.
Other than Live is great, it only improves and gets better. Next gen Live should be nothing short of amazing.
Genuine question! How come XBL and PS+ cant match Steam on this? Not trying to troll or anything just interested :/
@jimbobwahey more user as in having more than one free account , cause if that the case that not having more user. that's user having more than one account. So do you switch ISP when they suffer set backs outages seeing as how you pay for that services also or when the power goes out.
For me personally though, having owned a Xbox 360 since launch, I was really frustrated when the original Modern Warfare launched and Xbox Live went down for about a month. It was really frustrating to pay for a service that didn't even work, while PS3 owners could play the game online for free without any problems.
That was the time I decided to invest in a PS3 :)
I enjoy Xbox Live's interface more but that's not to say PSN's is bad.
2.) Lack of exclusive. Debatable. There comes a Catch-22 in exclusives. Too few makes hardcore fans unhappy. While too many will cannibalize their own market. Yet, a valid argument non the less.
2. Debatable only in that they exist, but they haven't been plentiful in recent years. They don't even necessarily need the PS3's level of exclusives in recent years; half that- and variety, not just a bunch of shooters- would go a long way toward enticing the skeptics, like myself. Even if they just brought back more of the IPs they had at the start of this gen- and, hopefully, kept them coming- that'd be enough.
Last time i checked, xbox live is free.
XBL a mistake? So now a billion dollar revenue making feature is a mistake? LMFAO. So many companies WISH they were making that "mistake".
2. lack of worthwhile exclusives every year
3. heavy emphasis on Kinect
I can only think of 3. They actually tried getting into the Japanese market by getting some Japanese exclusives but it just didn't appeal to them.
Yes Xbox needs more exclusives and I think MS is working on it. They opened up 343 for Halo. They put together that new team in Canada for a AAA next gen franchise. They purchased Twisted Pixel a little over a year ago. They still have Rare, Lionhead, Turn 10, etc. So I think next gen could be better.
The article mentioned where is Xbox's journey, well journey is brilliant and I love it, but to say Xbox did not have quality titles, then they forgot the likes of Mark of the Ninja that was a darn fine game GOTY contender with 90 average review scores so lets not trivalize the industry like the author does to try to make a point.
MS and Sony both have great exclusives with Sony having a few more.
I like my Xbox though and I'm 95% sure ill get the next Microsoft machine over the ps4. It just feels like a better machine overall than the playstation. When you pick up an Xbox pad compared to a ps3 pad the difference in build quality is noticeable straight away. Red ring of death aside the Microsoft machine is faultless and for me the clear winner in design terms this gen. The third party games run so much better on it than on ps3.
If Microsoft matches Sony for paid content next gen there's only one winner if this gen is anything to go by in terms of hardware.