Microsoft Needs To Get Real

"Gamer-rider.com writes: I really dislike feeding into rumors, but I'll take the bait anyways since Yusuf Mehdi himself said the Xbox 360 is changing from being a gaming console, to an "entertainment console," something synonymous with Sony and the PlayStation brand. The rumors are that the next Xbox will be heavily influenced by apps and non-gaming related things, and that's all good because I'm sure there's a market for it. But for a bit of perspective, Sony and the PlayStation brand did something similar, but they did so in an era when Smart TVs, Smart Phones, and Tablets and many other gadgets simply didn't exist. Nowadays, we have TVs with built-in wifi receivers that can stream Netflix, check out Facebook, Twitter, etc. In my opinion, I think there exists the danger of very quickly becoming irrelevant when you alienate your core audience by focusing on offering things that are more easily accessible elsewhere."

[The_Infected]

I agree. MS is riding the entertainment train right now and need to hop off and cater to the core gamers who made Xbox exist in the first place.

[Cupid_Viper_3]

Nothing wrong with added value, but to treat that as the main dish seems to be the wrong way to go about it in my opinion.

@Kalowest

So was the PS1, PS2, and the PS3, but Sony never stopped focusing on making games for the core audience even when they had all of those third party games as well.

I think the problem is that so far Mirosoft has shown that they either can't get the balance right, or maybe they just don't care. I'm inclined to go with the latter, given how the original Xbox was dropped, and how they've ignored the core again this once they realized that there's lot of money in the casual market, and did a full 180 and went after it with Kinect.

[Kalowest]

Alot of MS studios(they have 16 or more) are now working on Next-gen titles; Theirs even talk of a new PGR. I think MS can't get the balance right when it comes to making games. Look at how many IPs were created for the Original xbox, compare to the 360.

[Cupid_Viper_3]

@ Kilowest

Please name those new IPs that were created for me.

[blackbeld]

So true, Microsoft should get real and jump off this console market.

I bought the xbox cause I thought it will be great for hardcore gamers but instead I got only multi plats games and not even close to what hardcore gamers really need.

[Army_of_Darkness]

I can't understand why Microsoft don't just jump into an xbox 720 tablet, instead of another console if they are mainly focused on the casuals??

[MikeMyers]

Microsoft needs to get real in many areas.

1. They need to realize they have to do better outside of the U.S.A.

2. They have to provide a free way of playing games online. Not to try and cover up that feature with apps and other non-gaming perks.

3. Kinect is not a core experience gaming application. It can add extra immersion but not to be treated as something games must have.

4. Investment in new ip's and let your game studios be creative.

5. Get rid of your deadweight. There are some key visionaries within Microsoft, don't let them be smothered with bureaucracy.

6. Allow Xbox Live to be more open. All these cap sizes for games, high fees, and restrictions have turned off developers.

[Oh_Yeah]

Funny thing is, Microsoft is one of the richest companies in the world, they can definitely afford to take risks making new AAA ips, buying up quality studios, taking a loss on their console selling power for cheap to get on people's good side, free online gaming like everyone else. Yet they do the opposite...

[MikeMyers]

Oh_Yeah, they have done the opposite because they are still a company that needs to show profit margins and not continuous losses like we seen on the original Xbox. What Microsoft has done is take away the perception that Sony is the go to device for multiplatform games. So by aligning themselves with all of these publishers (who make up the majority of games on any Sony gaming platform) they have created parity. No longer are key franchises like GTA being outsold on the Playstation by a 5-1 or larger margin like before. Games like Final Fantasy will because of the Japanese market and how they view the Xbox brand but they still got that ip as well as others like Virtua Fighter and Ace Combat.

They are taking steps but most people tend to want to ignore them. They have now tapped into the casual market and have acquired studios behind the scenes so I will wait and see just what transpires. I don't want the new Xbox to change directions later on like the Xbox 360 and I don't think it will now that they got casuals onboard. They have come a long ways of being recognized solely for shooters but they still have a long ways to go IMO.

[dubt72]

@mike myers As you can see by my one bubble, I am a huge MS supporter, and I agree with all your points.

[DOMination-]

They have 22 studios all of which are working on next gen. 6 of them are casual studios, a few are hybrids and the rest are working on core content. ...

and i can't name the new IPs because none of them are announced yet!

[EVILDEAD360]

Microsoft needs to get real in many areas.

1. They need to realize they have to do better outside of the U.S.A.

Do you honestly think they don't know that? They have a strong prescence in the UK as well. But Japan is a lost cause this gen. They have already made a big push in Europe and have been hiring to hep in that regard

2. They have to provide a free way of playing games online. Not to try and cover up that feature with apps and other non-gaming perks.

Who knows what they will do next gen, but right now it is what it is and they have at least 20 million subscribing to gold.

3. Kinect is not a core experience gaming application. It can add extra immersion but not to be treated as something games must have.

Kinect was never the all out core game experience. It was marketed for families and it's best for most of those experiences. They are improving the device and even Sony is packing in their own Kinect type device with the PS4.

4. Investment in new ip's and let your game studios be creative.

You havent been looking close enough if you havent seen how much they have been investing in new IPs. Short answer they are.

5. No comment. All I know is tht there is proof that there has been massive hiring of people directly tied to pushing better games as well as entertainment.

6. Allow Xbox Live to be more open. All these cap sizes for games, high fees, and restrictions have turned off developers

Didn't bother Notch who sold 5 million copies of Minecraft which is huge on Xbox Live. All devs arent turned off.

In the end, MS is in the best position they have every been leading into the next gen.

They look like they are making all the right moves to improve on what makes them successful last gen from hardware to games and entertainment.

If the rumors of the used games ban are false and they are backwards compatible at launch and the included the Blu-Ray then the 720 will be huge.

But it won't mean they will win next gen by any strtch of the imagination. I think both consoles will do very well.

Evil

[MikeMyers]

EVILDEAD360,

1. Of course they know that but we all know they love to emphasize how well the Xbox 360 is doing but rarely speak about how well it does outside of the U.S.A. I know Kinect was an attempt to reach out to different demographics but their marketing needs to branch out and connect more outside of the U.S.A.

One belief I have why they don't do as well is because the emphasis on the brand is tied to Xbox Live and you get the most value out of Live in the U.S.A.

2. Yes, they do have 20 million likely Gold members but that could be drastically improved if it were free. There is no reason to hold part of the game you bought as hostage unless you become a paying member. Not in todays times where there are more free alternatives that can compete with Xbox Live. Back in 2002 Live was head and shoulders above the competition in many areas. Today not so much. They can continue to have a paid model but the basic necessity of playing with other people online should be free.

3. Kinect was marketed as better with Kinect. That didn't really pan out. The core gamer found out quickly that Kinect wasn't as accurate or as technically advanced as first imagined. The Milo demo was smoke and mirrors and the lag from the camera to the actual movements could not replicate a good experience for most games. Kinect 2 could improve on that but we clearly seen a shift in focus from Microsoft the last few years where they coasted off of existing ip's to appease the core gamers while they put more investment into Kinect.

4. I hope so and I also hope they are not mainly just XBLA games and Kinect enabled games. Thy need more than just Fable, Halo and Forza to carry over to next gen.

6. Is Minecraft as good on XBLA as it is on PC? You can't cherry pick your titles to ignore real issues. Valve and the creator of Oddworld are just a few who have been very vocal about the restrictions. Then you have the indie scene who are pissed off about how their games are marketed on the dasahboard and indie developers like Jonathan Blow who have had terrible dealings with Microsoft. This isn't vaporware and just because some games sell well doesn't mean there are no issues within.

All I know is I will be watching very closely to how the next Xbox grows. From hardware reliability to Live and the value of Gold to how multiplat titles compare to their own investment of ip's. I have been a long customer of theirs but they need to show me why I should stay being one. Getting up on stage at E3 and showing what it can do and not what it actually does are two separate things. We've seen first hand how Kinect was displayed to real game environments. We've also seen a total reliance on 3rd party publishers and I imagine the PS4 will do a much better job in this category and not have hardware that puts up barriers like we saw on the PS3.

Microsoft is not going to be able to use bully tactics to reform 3rd party publishers for much longer. If games like Rayman were indeed delayed (on the Wii U) because of Microsoft's policy to have simultaneous releases the consumers will start to back away and publishers will stop catering to their demands. Especially if the PS4 and the Steambox do better than expected in the U.S.A.

[EVILDEAD360]

1. In 2011, MS promised they would outsell every console that year Worldwide.At the end of the year they announced that they accomplished that goal. It's been only days since they announced that they almost caught the Wii in sales in the UK. Both instances counter your claims, but like I said they just made a huge hire to push even harder in Europe. Your just not aware so you only see what they do in the US.

2. Again, no need to reanswer this. Your opinion on Live is your opinion. The facts are they have 45 million subscribers, 20+ million Gold and they just released the date to show the success they have had with the content that the pushed for the service. What happens next gen is anyone's guess.

3. Better with Kinect was not the only way Kinect was marketed as it predominantly has games that are strictly for Kinect. Which is where the device had it's greatest success. If your pretending that releasing sequels to your biggest IPs 2-3 years after the last one is 'coasting' then maybe your biased, as the other two consoles are guilty of the same. When was the last major new IP Sony had for the PS3. And if we arent talking major then XBLA and Kinect had plenty of new Ips. Bottomline Kinect brought them mass success, but they are improving on it next gen.

4. MS definately will bring their biggest IPs into next gen for their true Xbox fans s they should. They invested heavily into new AAA IPs and they would be idiots not to invest in the core as well as supporting XBLA and Kinect.

6. It's irrelevant if Minecraft is 'better' on PC. It's the biggest indie PC developer that has had a huge success story this past gen on the 360. It's not cherry picking, because had it been a horrible experience it would have been your #1 example. They fixed the dashboard and even have huge promos for indie games on the front page of the dashboard now. Again, no one is saying that there werent developers that had issues with MS, but you are pretending that ALL of them have had them and that some of those mistakes like the dashboard havent been resolved.

Again,every single console company has made it's mistakes this gen. But if you are going to make up stuff like Ubi got bullied by MS for a game like Rayman when there is no evidence of it being true at all then maybe one could say that MS isn't the only one who needs to get real.

Evil

[Kalowest]

PS4 and 720 are both multi media entertainment devices, not just the 720.

[The_Infected]

^ your right except Sony is actually caters to hardcore at the fullest aside from entertainment.

[miyamoto]

Mr. God of War, M$ has been bandwagoning and riding on emerging markets since Apple computers, PlayStation, Android, EyeToy, Wii casuals and what not to stay relevant.

It has never created its own thing.

[Kalowest]

"It has never created its own thing."
Learn your history about companies before making comments like that. And in one way or another the same thing could be said about alot of companies.

[Cupid_Viper_3]

There's really nothing wrong with taking existing ideas and improving on them, most if not all companies do it.

But as you can see in this specific case, the TV makers have taken the ideas from console and included apps in their smart TVs. So any console makers who's going to rely on apps and thinking that they can charge a premium for it is going to find themselves disappointed with the results.

Another advantage for the TVs is that new Revisions come out a lot more frequently then consoles do. Meaning that a console who's relying on that become more irrelevant day by day.

[Shadow Flare]

Nintendo got into the games industry because of passion for gaming

Sony got into the games industry because of passion for gaming and revenge on Nintendo

Microsoft got into the games industry just for the money. And they'll go wherever the money is, even if it means dropping their core audience completely.

This is 2 generations now they've given their fans the middle finger. I wonder if their fans want to be duped a third time by a company that doesn't care about them, that makes them pay to play online and will just drop them at the first sniff of making money elsewhere. Wonder if they'll make a console that even works this time.

[-Superman-]

Microsoft has told that Kinect breaks records, and sells more than Xbox consoles, which means Microsoft will focus more on Kinect, than Xbox 360.
Look at last 3 E3s. 2010,2011 and 2012 were all about Kinect.

Well, i have to blame people too, Xbox 360 has so less many exclusive games, yet Xbox 360 keeps outselling PS3, which gives signal to Microsoft that people want more Kinect games, than hardcore games.

You want Microsoft to get real? Then stop buying Xbox 360 and Kinects, and this will give a signal to microsoft.

[juandren]

Obviously Kinect would sell faster than the 360? Lol that's just like a game releasing. The 360 outselling the PS3 is an outright lie, though. Even on the games front, PS3 is outselling the 360 globally (the world is much more than just the US my friend).

I do, however, agree with you that it needs to stop. Microsoft is ruining gaming with their pay for everything BS. And don't get me started on timed exclusives. But I guess they need to do what they have to to stay relevant. I feel Sony will come out on top in the end, though.

[Shadow Flare]

Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in the US

PS3 continuously outsells 360 in the World.

But I get the rest of your comment. Kinect has been their main focus at the past few e3's.

I heard rumours that Microsoft were meant to be showcasing the next Xbox before the ps4 but they weren't able to book Cirque du Soleil in time

[HeroReborn]

Could not agree with you more, from my view Xbox live needs to be restructured offering more to gamers. Making it worthy of my $60 a year, no offense but Access to netflix, acesss to hulu plus, or Espn is no longer going to cut it.

[otherZinc]

This article was BS from the point of a tomato not being a vegetable. Followed by SONY selling 77million PS3's and leading the 360 worldwide.

FACT is; SONY will never say that as it isn't true.
Again; it would be lying to its Shareholders!

However, M$ will always speak to its shareholders and make it public. Nintendo will as well, good or bad. SONY, they'll always have some mysterious spin on things as this author attempted to do.

Does the author know the American market holds 2/3rds of the entire video game market. Does the author know the PS3 Sold more than double in the American market than what PS3 sold in Japan? Does the author know that the 360 is leading the PS3 in the American market by more than 13Million units and climbing.

Also, this author is referencing VGCharatz...
NPD is the only quality source for sales.
One other sales tracking medium overseas is quality and it isn't VGChartz.

I wanted to stop reading when I read the PS3 sold 77million, but I wanted to see how well you were going to mislead the public. You then countered your 77Million PS3's sold by saying the TRUTH for once in the article saying: 77million PS3's sold "Unofficially"! About time you told the truth.

The funniest thing was: attempting to suggest the COD & Halo sales are insignificant due to the entire gaming market. WOW! If Halo is insignificant, what the hell is Killzone to the market?

Well written article, however, it can only fool the stupid.

Also:
Still waiting on SONY to announce to its shareholders...We (SONY's PS3) are leading the XBOX 360 in worldwide sales. This wont happen!

[ILive]

Slow down, xbox fanboy, slow down. Its okay.

[Xof]

Er, the 360 has only ever appealed to casual gamers.

[stragomccloud]

Let's not be entitled here. I say share the love. Companies don't exist for catering to only one finicky(and extremely hateful and negative) demographic.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

I disagree if MS decides

"The internet and blog sites hate us lets pull the plug on the Xbox and leave millions of people who supported us out to dry and refund billions and billions of dollars to everyone"

You have to look at the Gears, Forza Halo fans. XBLA junkies multiplat indie, Casual whatever the kind of gamer they are. You can't simply take all that away from the consumer who are supporting Xbox.

What about PlayStation? They would get extraordinarily lazy and guess what? Seeing how MS isn't around to push Sony, Sony would start to cater to the casual crowd in full force. PlayStation Eye Kinect games for everybody. Sure they'll sell allot but what about the hardcore? Well they need little from you. They'll release Killzone, Uncharted, Uncharted and Killzone, GT6, Gow over and over again. Because of that super sweet casual crowd is raking in the cash for them.

No we need MS and both Sony in this thing together. That would be a horrible prediction for gamers.

[rainslacker]

Sony already caters to the casual market, it just isn't their entire focus. There's money to be made from both causal, moderate, and hardcore gamers, and Sony caters to them all with PSN minis and retail games, as well as through their 1st party titles. If you look at their entire 1st party catalog, and stop looking at just their big AAA exclusives, you will find something for everyone in there, and many of them sell well.

MS now caters heavily to the casual market, does support the hardcore market to a small degree, and allows the 3rd party to fill in the rest. What I find discouraging most about MS though is the lack of exciting IP's that I PERSONALLY WANT TO PLAY. Two or three big titles do not a system make, and that is where MS has dropped the ball.

I don't want to see MS drop out, unless of course a better competitor comes along, but I do want them to do something that is appealing to me, and likely many others to boost competition and make things better for us, the consumers.

[dangert12]

I am not keen on Microsoft, but what they are doing seems to be working for them.

[JoySticksFTW]

I don't disagree, but it seems to be working for them short term.

Like MS only catered to the hardcore gamers short term for two straight generations.

I bought a 360 for Mistwalker games, Dead Rising, Crackdown, GeOW, and Mass Effect. And except for Gears, those titles either dried up (MW), went south (CD2), or went multiplat.

Now 360 gamers are left wondering if they'll be supported short-term to be pushed aside for Kinect and entertainment focus when 720 launches.

Even reputable sites like neogaf are already debating whether their 360 gamers will jump over to PS4 next gen, mostly due to Sony's track record of continuously providing content for the hardcore gamer and now PS+. And if the PS4 design leaks are to be believed, it seems designed more towards gaming than extras.

Me, I probably won't get either system day one anyways. I still have too many games in my backlog from this gen, so I'll probably get both eventually during sales or price cuts. But honestly, it's going to be hard if not impossible to hold back.

[stragomccloud]

MW didn't dry up. Microsoft cancelled the last game under the 3 game contract, neither party really wanted to finish the game anyway, so MW abandoned ship for Nintendo and made "Last Story" an amazing game~

By the way, Microsoft also brought down Ensemble studios. That was a sad story. After years and years of working under Microsoft, Ensemble was dropped before their final game(Halo Wars) was even released.