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Egann on 04 September 2014
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jnemesh said:
Arkaign said:
Egann said:
The parity clause has never made sense. "It's on someone else's system? WELL IT CAN'T BE HERE! NYUK NYUK NYUK.

It just feels like infantile bullying. Microsoft knows this content won't make them money,. So rather than try to foster a solid marketplace MS holds their breath and turn blue. You have *not* put a ring on it; business partners are not romantic partners and have no reason to be faithful to you. And with the PS4 selling like it is, indy devs will just say "you know what? I don't have to mess with your bullshit."

True, it's great for the market at large that they are losing so badly. Considering the global sales rates (more than 3:1 in favor of PS4 in 2014), there is less and less reason to even bother releasing XB1 software. Sales in Europe are so bad (and Japan joining in the fun now) that stores have already cut shelf space for XB1, and completely dropping it wouldn't make much of an impact at all.

Although I anger some by saying things like this, I honestly believe that if MS doesn't improve their sales SIGNIFICANTLY by the end of the year, they will probably kill it off.  They are losing money on it, and Nadella has already said that it's not part of Microsoft's "Core", so how long do you think the board and shareholders will tolerate it in third place?  How long will they tolerate the negative PR that the Xbox generates?

The real question is if that would help at all. The PS4 launched ridiculously strong with no sign of stopping and the Wii U looks like it will have its act together come this Christmas. By comparison, Microsoft had to basically buy Tomb Raider at the last minute just to have a AAA release for next Christmas. I imagine that Bloodborne and Miyazaki's cult following will actually ship about as many PS4 units Q1-2 2015 as the timed Tomb Raider exclusive over Christmas will with the X1, and Zelda will probably do double both of them.

The parity clause is a pain, but when I look at it and the X1, I can't help but feel like it is a really DINKY issue compared to the console's problems.