Microsoft has a long line of moves that it made against Sony the past years. Some of which are listed here.
1. Microsoft jumped on the opportunity to shine with online gaming on a console and now leads Sony in that position.
2. Microsoft got the third party support more so than Sony. Example, Star Ocean exclusive to 360, Final Fantasy multiplatform Microsoft is trying their best to cut in to Sony’s market.
3. Price! That advantage will always be there and will possible grant Microsoft the victory against Sony this gen.
4. One of Microsoft’s biggest moves was also releasing the 360 a year earlier than the PS3.
But What’s Next? If rumors are true then Microsoft is ready to drop the price on their 60 GB model to $249 at the same time as Sony drops their lower end model to $299. I say lower end and not 80 GB model, because Sony is making moves. They will more than likely make the 160 GB the core system for $299 and then release a 240 GB or higher for $399. With that price cut, Microsoft is most likely to follow. But are the sales of the 360 beginning to saturate? Just as the Wii in Japan, to many people have Wii’s and the sales are reducing since everyone has a piece of it. Is this happening to the 360? The lead is beginning to loosen up and PS3 may catch up, but if Microsoft follows with a price cut, chances are minimal.
Microsoft might unveil more First party titles this year as they have claimed that they would, but this doesn’t seem to be a very smart move since people are unclear of what the games are, if they will be good, and if they are just mere XBLA games or full retail games. Microsoft could have unveiled an outstanding lineup and build a lot of hype for their games and that would without doubt make everyone more crazy about their lineup. That would’ve been a smart move seeing how it would drive people for pre-orders and actual sales seeing how people would be craving for many of these games.
Rumor: Microsoft can also take the fight to Sony once again by offering an online tournament service for the Xbox 360. This service is supposed to be similar to 1 vs. 100, you sign up for tournaments on the 360 and you win real life prizes, and the part that’s definitely going to drive this is the fact that to access this tournament, you have to have a Gold Membership. Now this may drive the sales for people wanting to play online, but it can also mean many people won’t enter the tournament seeing how they have to first buy a membership. The tournament is said to include many games instead of just the popular ones like Call of Duty and the Halo. It is said that you could also join it and play on Bejeweled, Street Fighter, Uno, or any game that you could think of. This new tournament service can add a lot of depth to the 360 platform, more than it already has. Details are still sketchy but it’s possible that this service is going to be revealed later this year, but nothing’s confirmed until Microsoft comes out and says it, but as of now it’s on the drawing board. Will E3 be the place to unveil this? Let’s hope!
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