It's a solid B.
They catered to all their fans with every primary franchise represented in Halo 4, Forza, Gears, Fable. They added function and capability to consoles that are 7 years old. The average user is using their console 84 hours a month and indeed uses apps and non-gaming content for a good chunk of that time. Since they added the new entertainment apps in December, Live usage is up 30% year over year and entertainment app usage has doubled. To just downplay that functionality as pointless is to show your ignorance of the console business. People accustomed to using their Xbox in every facet of their entertainment are way more likely to buy the NeXtbox. Halo/Gears fans are gonna buy it anyway. They're locking in everyone else so that the platform succeeds.
The tablet/phone integration is a MUCH bigger deal than you guys are giving them credit for. You want to fully connect with your PS3? You MUST buy a Vita. You want to fully integrate with your WiiU? You MUST use the proprietary and tethered tablet controller. Here, you use your iPad or Android phone or Windows device. The fact that they opened up to iOS and Android is HUGE for MS to expand the reach of the Xbox brand.
Yes YOU may not care about Nike+, but Nike+ has millions of weekly users. 360 has pushed over 6 million combined sales of fitness games in the last two years. It's not an insignificant partnership.
Yes it's not an A+ amaze-balls conference. It's the last year of the console cycle for them. And they have one platform, versus Sony and Nintendo having two each. The D's and F's are just people following the herd because it's somehow cool to be a hater and/or just playing Sony/Nintendo Defense Force.
E3 2012 is NOT about locking in hardcore users, except for Nintendo who is trying to recover their foothold there. It's about expanding brands while maintaining the base. Serving up all your core franchises does the latter. Everything else does the former. NEXT year is all about getting the hardcore to switch to the next gen. And you'll see changes.
Can't we all just get along and play our games in peace?
