| JPL78 said: Look, isn't it obvious. No one on this post wants to recognize Microsoft for doing anything at all for gaming period. The people who are speaking up are just being told to kindly shush, only Sony and Nintendo have accomplished anything. When I said original Xbox it wasn't a fanboy thing, the original Xbox was the LAST system I bought that generation after owning a dreamcast, PS2 and gamecube. Oddly enough it was also the most advanced in terms of features and growth for the industry. But we've long since established this post is all about popularity not innovation. Although I could argue that being a Halo freak was a cool as cool could be and you started seeing X-boxs on TV shows and movies, which made it mainstream which helped 360 take the place it has now. |
I've omitted the last paragraph in your post because it opens up a completely different can of worms (albeit one that is tangentially related to the topic). If you wish, we can address it later.
The problem you have with arguing that the Xbox belongs in the list is that while it may be advanced, and it did introduce some innovations to the console field, it's tough to argue that it really made gaming more "mainstream." Granted that many of its games, most notably Halo, were multi-platinum sellers, but there is little to indicate that the appeal of those games, or the system they're hosted on, expanded their reach beyond a single (albeit sizeable) niche of 16-25 year old males. Indeed, if the Xbox line made inroads into the mainstream, it would not only have sold far more units than it did, but Microsoft would not be exerting anywhere near as much effort to change its image towards being a more family-friendly console.
As a single example, consider last year's E3. Nintendo was widely expected to offer more "hardcore" games, because they knew that the Wii and DS had already locked up the mainstream gamers. By contrast, everyone expected Microsoft to offer more "casual" games so as to entice that very same mainstream. And that "everyone" includes Nintendo: it is no coincidence that it highlighted Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing, and Wii Music at its conference, rather than titles like Pikmin 3, Punch-Out, etc. After all, Nintendo expected that Microsoft would begin to court the expanded audience. And you don't court an audience that you already have...
In short, Microsoft is pursuing the mainstream because it does not yet have it. Its behavior belies the claim that the 360, let alone the original Xbox, was truly in the "mainstream."
