Microsoft could end up in 3rd place next-gen

[Mr Puggsly]

VGKing said:

I'm sure you all have seen the doom articles about Microsoft these past few days. I think they all reveal that there is a problem within Microsoft in the form of leadership and strategy. Let's look at Xbox. Microsoft has placed all its bets on Kinect on the back-half of this gen and it seems to have payed off(2011 was Xbox 360s peak year). But has Microsoft thought about the long-terms consequences about this decision? How do the core gamers feel when Microsofts new IPs are all for Kinect? I think I speak for most when I say that they are pissed off. Even the casual audience of Kinect doesn't care for these new IPs are shown by the sales figures. People are buying Kinect, they just aren't buying Kinect games.

This is where next-gen comes in. Rumors have shown that the Next Xbox has sacrificed a fair bit of power in favor of Kinect processing and multi-media focus. The success of Kinect on XBox 360 has gone to Microsofts head. It is widely rumored that Kinect 2.0 will be packed-in with every single next-gen Xbox, this drives up the cost of the machine and forced Microsoft to cut corners in order to sell at an acceptable price range. Here is where the mistake is made. How will consumers differentiate the Kinect from Kinect 2.0? Why would they buy another Kinect when the one they already have is sitting there collecting dust? Keep in mind that Kinect 2.0 is packed-in to the Next XBox so as a result Xbox 720 sales will suffer. People won't see the need to upgrade. Their current Xbox and Kinect already have all the important apps such as Netflix and Hulu Plus. Microsoft simply cannot market this machine as a multi-media center and expect people to flock to it.

Microsoft needs to focus on the games, especially new IPs for core gamers. They need to rely less on 3rd parties and Halo. Rumors point to Sony building the PS4 with a focus on games first and everything else second. This, combined with the same price point against the Xbox 720 will lead to Sony being the industry leader once again. Sony and Nintendo are a lot more powerful than Microsoft gives them credit for. Nintendo's focus is on family-friendly gaming and casuals while Sony's is on the core gamer. Microsoft needs to rethink their strategy or they could end up losing both.

1) Casual gamers don't buy as much software as core gamers.

2) Some recent Kinect releases have done well and older games are still selling.

3) As long as core gamers get software they enjoy, they'll be happy. It doesn't have to be 1st party software. Bear in mind the best selling games PS3 and 360 are not new IPs.

4) Arguing about rumors is a complete waste of time.

5) Since Kinect uses the console hardware for resources, the current Kienct could actually perform better on MS's new console. Kinect hacks on the PC are more impressive than what we've seen on the 360.

6) Sony has focused on a lot of games and what do they have to show for it in 2012? A lot of flops. People are primarily buying 3rd party games that aren't exclusives. If MS isn't focused on games than I'm confused why their 2012 lineup was arguably better than Sony and Nintendo.

7) You're under the illusion that MS isn't focused on games, yet you ignore the 360 is a total package. Great games, it has the most streaming services, and it has a low price point. Perhaps you should be giving credit where its due.