Gaming A Disaster For Microsoft

I'm pretty sure that their strategy has always been to buy their way into the market, in the hopes of strong-arming Sony and Nintendo out of the market. I seem to remember several articles to that effect back when the first xbox was launching, but I don't have references. Judging by the ps3's performance, their tactic may have worked with regards to Sony. I also think that 360 sales will pick up more now that more and more ps3 "exclusives" are being announced to be released on the 360 as well. As much as I hate microsoft, the 360 seems to be a really solid product, with xbox live being a fairly excellent service. I will be purchasing one when I get some cash together.

gears of war

None of these arguments holds water if you take a hard look at the author's claims.

The "hard core" gamers have always driven the gaming industry. While the novelty of the Wii has succeeded in reaching a new audience, it isn't going to change the core of the industry. The novelty of the Wii will wear off. But the hard core gamers, who will continue to spend lots of money for years to come, are going to buy either an XBOX 360 or a PS3.

Let's look at developers and exclusive titles. With the unimpressive launch of the PS3, developers are already shifting their budgets away from the PS3 and toward the XBOX 360. XBOX has Gears of War, and several outstanding multiplayer shooters. There really isn't a single exclusive title that justifies buying a PS3. And speaking of a techo-trojan horse to destroy freedom, have you heard of a little thing called Blue-Ray? XBOX 360 has already won the battle against Sony. Don't take my word for it. Look at the sales figures.

And what about Japan? The Japanese video game market has stagnated, and developers are shifting their focus to the U.S. for revenue growth. Japan is no longer the leading indicator that it has historically been.

XBOX is here to stay, and the profits for Microsoft won't be far behind.

While this may appear to be bad publicity for microsoft and bad news for its investors, Its great news for gamers. If it is part of microsofts grand scheme to invade our living rooms, then they will keep throwing money into the machine. Not only do you get a very nifty piece of tech at a heavily subsidised price but also they will pay the money to secure key the game releases. I think the PS3's technical superiority will eventually show on the cross-platform games, the 360 has, so far, the better exclusive titles lined up.

what actually constitutes a "Hardcore Gamer" anyway? if your talking about a system the provides games and graphics that prevent the user from leaving the screen and experiencing the world for real then the PS3 and Xbox 360 are exactly what they want; however don't these "Hardcore Gamers" also want fun original games and ideas that allow them to experience gaming in a completely different way? We've become so stuck with the idea that gaming involves sitting down and using a multi-button controller in order to mimic activities within the game. what Nintendo has done with the Wii is not "... succeeded in reaching a new audience" but rather opened up an entirely new way of looking at games. "Hardcore Gamers" may find solitude in their small controller and large couch, but now that the idea that gaming is less about mimicking activities and rather actually doing the activity more and more of these "Hardcore Gamers" will move towards the Wii.

Scottish guy,

I'm simply utilizing the "hard-core" gamer label that the author has chosen to distinguish the various consumer groups.

Are you suggesting that playing virtual bowling is the same as actually bowling? It's still just a simulation that uses a controller to symbolically represent an activity. People who really want to go bowling will go to an actual real life bowling alley, with balls and pins and beer and disgusting shoes.

I know one thing for certain, my friends who've grown up with the SNES or N64 or PS2 are going to buy an XBOX 360. The people buying the Wii are a totally different group. This was Nintendo's goal, and they've succeeded marvelously. I'm not criticizing Nintendo at all. They're a great company with a lot of fun titles, and I dearly love many of their games. Zelda is my favorite franchise ever. But Nintentdo's market is simply not the same as the PS3 or XBOX 360. A family with a 9 year old kid will love playing virtual bowling together. But when that 10 year old kid gets a little older, he's going to want an XBOX.

Think of it like this: Nintendo is Dr. Pepper. Sony and Microsoft are Pepsi and Coke. I love Dr. Pepper, but it's not the same as cola.


bruno

Isn't that all that games do anyway - simulate aspects of real life? If that's true how is the Wii any different from the other consoles. Why not join the army then, if you like shooters, or learn to skate, or join a sports team.

Anyway, Microsoft isn't the type of company to quit, while it still has money in pocket and hasn't completely taken over the industry. This is an etierly different way of looking at business, how to you define success - by profits or market share? Don't expect Microsoft to go leaving the console war any time soon...

Well I think this guy is missing the point slightly! Microsoft have always stated from the start they didnt expect Xbox to make serious money until version 3. We are still only in the early stages of version 2!

Secondly, most of my 'casual gamer' friends are only really beginning to understand and consider Xbox. I have to say, they all seem fairly positive about it as well. Acceptance is coming, but it hasnt yet, when it does the money will flow. We definately still live in a generic Playstation world.

Finally, this investment is into the whole division, not just Xbox. Things like IPTV havnt taken off yet! However, services like 'BT Vision' are just launching all over the place that use the technology. This is another avenue of revenue that basically is only just coming out of R&D so its obviously going to have made loses.

Microsoft arent idiots, they know EXCATLY what they are doing. Even if in another 10 years they only just break-even, they will have still got a major slice of the 'living room', which knocks on by tying in Windows, which in turn secures Windows future! Windows makes a sh*t load more money than your talking about Microsoft investing in their entertainment division....

Well I am not sure about the world wide popularity of the x-box 360 but I can only speak from experience. A company that has a product that is fun and inexpensive will definitely dominate overall. I purchased an x-box 360 when it first came out. Since then it has been for repair twice. Both times it was made unusable by what seemed the same fault. A laud noise followed by a frozen screen. Oh sure Microsoft responded properly but promptly sending a replacement but still all that can't be cheap. It must be costing millions just to fix ill conceived hardware that was rushed to market. So I am now on my third machine and so far it is working ok but time will tell. Another note is that not all x-box games function on the 360 like I assumed they would. Most won't even load and lots load then crash. My son in law has about 25 x-box games and only one would run on my 360.

Back to the original equation. It is fun and lots of stuff there is a big library of games. Not having to pay $50-$70 for a game each time.

Oh well I am not too happy as this is my first foray away from PC gaming.

Bill

Thats fine but we will get microsoft everywhere...From mobile OS desk OS music player Gaming console media centre it will be good to see MS and bcoz of the grt arrival of competition they are
bending to customers this time..We will wish them a wina nd to be a grt player in the technological religion

I think you should proof your article for spelling.

I hate everything that Microsoft represents.

That is what makes me like the way Microsoft do things, too, with the XBox. They're willing to lose a lot, for my benefit. I don't like Microsoft in general, but from the games point of view, it's amazing.

I'm still not buying any of the 3 new consoles yet, though - because they're too expensive, and also because they're not properly established yet. (If I got a Wii, I would sell it for a profit!)

The definition of "hardcore gamer" I am, is someone who doesn't just buy whatever says it's for "hardcore gamers" - I actually care about games, and I'm waiting a long time to make sure I buy the best consoles and games. Not just because I have limited money to spend, but because I have limited time to spend playing games as well. For example, one game can take hours, which I barely have spare, so the one I want to play, I want it to be the best. A lot of games haven't met my expectations for a long time, which is something that has converted me into a more casual game-player (the word "gamer" is a ridiculous word; part of the fact that people choose to call themselves "hardcore" as some kind of status symbol - in fact, they are not the most important group of people to companies who sell the games - games are mainstream nowadays, get over it).

I don't hate Microsoft although I dislike dominance.

The 360 is a fine piece of equipment as is the PS3. The price/equipment will eventually level out. The Wii is interesting because it concentrated on changing the gaming experience at a reasonable price, the guys behind Wii had the guts to go against the main stream and do their stuff instead of chasing the others. A good lesson to learn also for entrepeneurs.

I do not agree with the article. I think the strategic move that Microsoft made is still going to pay off (how do you calculate the worth of the advertisements and the articles that the 360 generates? Just to mention one thing.) I think the article is over simplifying things greatly.