I care a great deal about Japan and their culture of creating great games, you'd have to be mad to not see the value of diversity in the industry.

I agree with point 4 microsoft should forget about Japan and focus on USA and Europe. I dont agree that CPC is the only thing that PSN is missing the internet browser is rubbish.360 also has youtube which is fullscreen and high res.Facebook twitter and lots more.And lastly dont all companys focus on competition thats why sony made the Move and ms have Kinect.

agreed. Lots of great things come out of japan

1. They have a clear path. Its called the media box. Its not core or casual, but putting an Xbox in the living room of every family. This has been their goal since the Xbox, and they've stayed on this path since 2002. I don't think they care which market they must cater to, as the huge differentiator last gen was their online exclusives (which were greater than Wii and PS3 combined by about a factor of 10).

Just because Microsoft pushed Kinect doesn't mean that they must abandon core gamers. When was the last time a major 3rd party developer went with another console simply because? Microsoft knows that 3rd party exclusives are very difficult to come by, so their strategy is to keep pushing things that will allow developers to earn more money, which is mostly tied to online infrastructure. Again, Microsoft's goal is to sell as many consoles as possible, then developers will come to them.

2. Sony is still well behind Microsoft in infrastructure and ability with online functionality. The challenge for Microsoft is to ensure that Gold is a service that people value. With >20m monthly subscribers, I think they've proven that people value it. Going forward, Microsoft will continue to add new content that makes it worthwhile. I think that free multiplayer will come with the next Xbox. What is next for gold? IPTV, I believe. Microsoft has their $99 console subscription, and I think that is monumental for the future of the system. Imagine what happens if Microsoft releases the new console at $199 and a $10 Gold subscription...How much will that undercut Sony and Nintendo? I think it will be significantly beneficial for Microsoft, and (again), it fits into their Gold-as-a-value strategy.

3. Microsoft had more online exclusives than PS3 and Wii combined. Minecraft has outsold all new WIi and PS3 digital releases combined. If you're looking at retail releases only, you're leaving out the fastest growing segment of the market. Digital content will continue to grow by leaps and bounds - especially when the #2 best-selling game this year for the 360 was a digital-only title.

Given the cost of next-gen titles, it will become nearly impossible to moneyhat true 3rd party titles. Instead of costing $20 million, they will cost $50 million, and present a huge risk for Microsoft (and Sony, and Nintendo) to justify. Again, this is why digital is important, and why Microsoft is far ahead of both Sony and Microsoft.

4. Go look at Japanese-developed digital titles for the 360. Go ahead. There are quite a few, and seemingly growing. Your "Smaller studio" argument is very, very poor. Small developers aren't going to develop retail titles on the WiiU or PS3. They're either going to do digital titles (which heavily favor the 360), or release to mobile or handheld.

Additionally, Japan is becoming increasingly irrelevant. The vast majority of unit sales are from handhelds and not consoles. Next gen, its likely to be the 4th or even 5th largest market by the time its over. This is due to a combination of factors such as economic and demographic. Oh, and look at 360 sales compared to Xbox: the 360 sold much better than the Xbox did (about 5 to 1). I don't ext the next Xbox to have that kind of growth, but even 3-5 million units would be enough for developers to justify digital content for the system.


5. I don't think Microsoft is rushing into a late 2013 release date. They've likely known that was their target date for a very long time. Most analysts and commentators have stated that would be the release date for the console for many years. Additionally, the components for the next Xbox are in fabrication right now. That gives Microsoft about 12 months to work out issues. Given the RRoD fiasco, its very unlikely that Microsoft will take a billion-dollar hit from shoddy workmanship this coming generation.


In summary, your points aren't very well researched. You're using last-gen arguments on a next-gen situation. The market has evolved and changed significantly. Digital content will be the #1 issue facing next gen consoles. Unless that is wrong by a huge margin, such an ecosystem plays into Microsoft's digital delivery system better than anyone else. Nintendo's infrastructure is far behind Sony's, and Sony's is still behind Microsoft.

Nah. MS has their eye on the ball. People claim Sony is doing all the right things now but they are still struggling in last place.

While JRPGs are in decline, people, including me, still want them. It's just that Western Rpgs have become so damn incredible in recent years that their decline isn't as painful as it could be.

5 good reasons but still quite short of the 600 dollars reasons MS was so successful this generation.

ROFL.

Ironically because Live is a charge service its precisely why it will be by far the biggest and best service. Sony and Nintendo will have good game services. But will not compete with the sheer Multimedia everyting under 1 roof service Live is already proving to be.

Being free will hurt Sony and Nintendo next Generation.

He article focuses too much on the gaming market, when the only thing that can really kill off msft gaming is if and when msft gets in bad shape financially, say as bad as Sony is doing currently.

They are clearly starting to loseinfluence and presence and market share but the OP just isn't giving them enou credit for how much moat msft has. It will take at least ten, possibly twenty years of google and apple stealing market share, a death by a thousand cuts, for msft to have its ratings cut multiple times and it's breakup or sellout rumored.

they over came all these "problems" this gen. i see no problem for the next one. haters gonna hate i guess