Microsoft told Pachter their E3 focus is on services over games

[sales2099]

S.T.A.G.E. said:

VGKing said:

o_O.Q said:
its good business sense after all and ultimately that's what matters

It's bad business. Sooner or later people will move on to other platforms which are actually giving them new gaming experiences.

You think Microsoft can launch and sustain a new console with just more Forza and Halo + Kinect and 3rd party support? Sooner or later people will get tired of that.

NEW IPs are needed. If MS is cares about gamers they are developing some new IP for Xbox 720. If they were smart they'd launch new IPs on 360 and carry that momentum over to the 720.

Yep. Microsoft has kind of exploited the weakness of the gaming industry, in which the majority of sales don't come from the gamers. Give the gamers a little fun to give yourself a solid base and then let the third parties do all the work. Microsoft doesn't operate like a gaming company, but rather a smart, profitable American corporation who knows how to draw money out of people by any means necessary. Less money on games, more money on marketing. Kinect never came before the Eye toy, but everyone never knew the Eye Toy existed when the device was made primarily for them. Microsoft had the Kinect everywhere a casual would look in America which is smart. Americans will buy anything as long as it is a new fad during the holiday season. At this point it doesn't matter what the gamers want, they could launch without focusing on them and still survive. I made a joke today that Halo is their pacifier for the gamers, because if they bitch all they have to do is say STFU and put a Halo pacifier in their mouth. lol

Ya lets just ignore who started this trend cough* Nintendo Wii and blame MS for appealing to the mass market. 

But MS has only recently begun building up its 1st party base, so naturally the smart thing to do is make deals with the 3rd party.....I dont see how that can be spun negatively until MS has sufficient 1st party devs of their own. 

I really don't like how you downplay Americans as stupid and gullible. Given 360 has its biggest install base in North America your insults extend to Mexico and Canada (which is almost exactly the same gaming tastes as the states). Marketing is a useful tool to get the word out. Launching a great product and relying on gamer only word of mouth isnt gonna get you anywhere anymore. And you assume the eye-toy had the same potential as kinect....which is incredibly false. 

360 big hitters like Gears and Halo are what the 360 gamers want. You like something you naturally ask for more. Sony gives gamers something they like but instead of encouraging it and feeding it they move on to another origional game that the fans may or may not even want....like Starhawk for example. If you like a game they make you wont see a sequel for years because they are just throwing out different ideas blindly. I for one really enjoy Halo and I want as much as MS can give to me. And im sure im not alone there. 

But 360 still has variety in 3rd party stuff and XBLA especially so it all evens out. Just a difference between 360 and PS3 gamers I suppose.