Until Apple launches their home console, the choice now is between the Sony Corporation and the Microsoft Corporation.
Sony is an amazing hardware manufacturer (well, not as much as they used to be but still in the top five for consumer electronic goods) but they are behind the curve for now on software development. See Teiman’s original post on why this is being discussed.
It’s possible Microsoft bounces back, I agree there. I do think that they have a higher hill to climb than Sony did. Sony’s big mistakes weren’t things that gamers had an emotional response against. It was just “this isn’t good enough/ this isn’t worth the money”. That is something that can be fixed by making your console a better value, and that’s what happened over time.
With Microsoft, it’s flat out “we don’t trust you/we don’t like you/we think you’re trying to make things worse for us”.
It’s like the difference between making a god-awful, terrible game, and god-awful terrible DRM. This is why we actually saw boos at Evo. (it was 80% Xbone, 10% KI dislike, and 10% “When’s Mahvel”)
I don’t remember Sony being in a situation where people actually booed them. I remember folks being disappointed/thinking they were dumb, but those are forgivable. I think to at least some folks, Microsoft went into the unforgivable territory.
I would take 10:1 odds (in other words, I think there’s a 10% chance), that Microsoft as we know it will be forced to undergo a major and painful restructuring, perhaps bankruptcy , by 2025.
They didn’t have an emotional response? Ah, I see. You joined in 2010… that explains it. Go back and dig up the PS3 thread. There were PLENTY of people wailing about how much the PS3 suxx. Trust me, there was an emotional response.
That said, I agree with your general point - Microsoft is in a much worse spot. Reversing the DRM, admitting that they absolutely @#$% up out of the gate, talking about ways to bring back family sharing (which would be great) are all steps in the right direction. But they have a long road.
Like I said a few posts back: They didn’t lose money; they harmed their reputation. And that’s worse. But it’s something that can be repaired. Ask Ford. Or Apple. Or IBM. Or Comcast.
Wait… Don’t ask Comcast.
When I say emotional response, it was PS3 suxx, not PS3 is evil. That’s a big difference. Suck can be made to not suck, once folks think you’re outright evil, it takes much more to win them back.
The PS3’s faults were blamed on bad decisions that were mistakes or overreaches, The Xbone people think the bad decisions were intentional that were designed to hurt them.
People generally were mad at the PS3 for rational reasons alone, with the Xbone it’s a combination of rational and emotional. I remember a friend of mine posting on her facebook wall that her support of the Xbone was the thing that generated the most hostility for her ever, and she’s a cosplayer- so she’s used to drama queens left and right. For the Xbone to generate more hate than cosplay drama, that’s special.
hahahaha. Hard for me to argue with that Alstein!
That would be a great kicker quote to a feature story on the gaming community’s response to the DRM fiasco.
You guys forgot to mention that xbone still has the cost problem, even worse than ps3 had.
In this generation Microsoft is trying to sell a significantly less powerful console for significantly more.
Until they admit customers aren’t this stupid, they have little chance at starting to fix their problems.
RickH
3153
Their marketing message that “Kinect is worth the extra money” is having a hard time getting traction with all those folks who bought a Kinect and found it wasn’t worth the money.
Dusty Kinects and dusty Wiis are anchors dragging down the prospects of successor systems that promise more of the same you got bored with the first time around, but supposed to be better somehow the second time.
In contrast, Sony’s message is “let’s play some games.” Works for me.
Well, not to beat a dead horse, but here it goes:
Price is a factor, it is not THE factor. If people simply purchased game consoles on price, we would all be talking about how dead the Xbox One and PS4 are because man oh man, the Wii U has them beat on price.
It’s price + game library + features + friends.
YOU might think, well, I’m not interested in any of the features or games the Xbox One has. And I hate Nintendo. In fact, I have only ever loved PlayStation games. Well… that’s great. But just think about it a little bit more before assuming no one is interested in those features or games.
RickH, I think Microsoft’s marketing push is not really about the Kinect 2.0 camera. It includes the Kinect 2.0 camera certainly but their argument is “All in One Experience.”
What they’re saying to journalists, developers and directly to consumers (through their new advertising campaign) is that if you want games AND movies AND television AND gesture and voice controls AND instant switching AND apps (well, we’ll see how true that will be) then the answer is the Xbox One.
European developers not interested in Xbox One.
The data showed that only 20 per cent of 300 surveyed developers in Europe considered the Xbox One to be, “the most interesting new games market.” That’s significantly behind the PlayStation 4 on 39 per cent, the “Steam Box” concept on 37 per cent, and Android-based micro-consoles like Ouya on 32 per cent. Tablets and smartphones were comfortable leaders with 61 per cent and 53 per cent respectively.
“Not interested” is not true. But it doesn’t surprise me that it’s lower in the EU. And it’s a problem for them.
jpinard
3158
Has Microsoft lifted the “requiring a publisher” thing for independent developers? This is probably the last hurdle they have to clear before I’ll consider the XBox One. We’re in the digital age and the big publishers don’t need to raid developer’s for every last cent like they did in the past. No publisher required for the PS4. Microsoft?
RickH
3159
They have to explain the price difference somehow. Has there ever been a console generation where the major players have been so similarly specced?
And the Kinect 2.0 appears to be a massive money-hole:
Two days ago, a confirmed Microsoft Xbox One developer did an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit in which he dropped a number of tidbits on the console’s design, Microsoft’s plans for the project, internal opinion on the always-on DRM fiasco, and how Microsoft had interpreted the feedback from that event. One of the startling facts of the session was his claim that the Xbox One’s Kinect sensor is nearly as expensive as the console itself.
I thought this was announced at E3. Either way, I’m glad this is a feature on both consoles.
Most importantly, yes. I do want to see this functionality compared side by side. Ditto the major apps. And instant switching.
This. Very much this. I don’t even understand what the rationale is for requiring a publisher.
Not only that but having a publisher can prove detrimental in the digital age. Look at Pinball Arcade on the 360, the publisher they partnered with went under and now the 360 version of that title is in limbo/dead meanwhile the actual developer has been cranking out new tables for IOS and Sony platforms.
So what’s the deal with that requirement? I’m sure I can ask but I’m hoping someone here just knows.
Well, if anyone cares to elaborate - either here or via PM - please do so.
Microsoft says it’s part of bringing value to the store. They don’t want a bunch of half-assed games and spammy crap cluttering up the marketplace like their own Indie Games section or the Android Play store has. By requiring a publisher, Microsoft is making sure that someone has some financial stake in the game being of decent quality.
On the one hand, I can agree with the general sentiment that a completely open store is a nightmare of spammy F2P games and janky my-first-programming efforts. On the other hand, there has to be a middle ground that allows self-publishing and some curation.
