Microsoft's 3 generation plan for the Xbox, will it work?

[rhisc]

dschumm said:
This deep into the thread it is hard to add anything. thanks to all for the excellent discussion so far.

The Microsoft strategy was for 2 generations not 3. It only became 3 after it was obvious that the 360 was not going to win. I also find it odd that people are already assuming that the 360 is going to be profitable. It was 2 billion in the hole before things started turning around with Halo 3, and it has made a few hundred million since then. Overall profit is far from guaranteed, particularly if the money set aside for RROD is not enough.

The one good piece of news from this is that they will be on a much shorter leash for the next console. They will be forced to make something more reasonable and approachable. Their biggest struggle will be overcoming the stigma of RROD. This seems like a much larger concern than the supposed, unproven , but much lauded, gimmick factor of the Wii.

And for the poster who claimed Ubisoft doesn't make money on the Wii, Rayman would like to say hi. He would love to take his 3 million sellers to another publisher if they don't appreciate him.

What I do expect from Microsoft nect generation is more a 360 slimline. Much like the end of last gen when Sony push out a refined smaller package to increase the PS2 life. Yes Microsoft will put more power under the hood but mainly they will focus on interface much like they started with the recent update last fall. But alas shoehorning too many features will result in beta-this, patch-that, that consumers hate from their PC. This is something only Nintendo understands.

 

The 360 is already profitable.  It makes money every quarter.  They don't accumulate the losses/profits and have a tally at the end of the generation.  Whatever losses have already been written off. 

With regards to the stigma of the RROD, it hasn't effected them now and in fact most consumers aren't aware or feel that MS has eliminated the RROD.  For the most part it is a non issue. 

As long as the Xbox division is profitable they will continue to produce consoles with the goal of becoming the dominant console.  Yes, this generation is going to be won by Nintendo.  That doesn't mean its a total failure for MS.  They have something to build on for next generation.