First, I dislike the use of the term 'desperate.' It implies an inherent emotional context that corporations just don't have. I DO, however, use the term 'Motivated,' as any company is, in the end, motivated to sell their product. The closer sales come to meeting or exceeding sales targets, the more satisfied a company becomes, and the less motivated they are to 'push' further. By the same token, the further away they are from meeting their sales targets, the less satisfied a company becomes, and the more motivated they are to push, push, push. A comparison of Sony's and Microsoft's approaches show that Microsoft is significantly more motivated to boost their sales, (as, obviously, they need more boostin,) but again, it doesn't mean desperation.
However, I do think Microsoft might have found themselves in a bit of a pickle, when it comes to pushing their sales. Before, there were things that could be 'fixed,' basically, to boost the appeal of the product. Before the launch, it was things like introducing indie self-publishing to counter their previously kinda absurd loop-jumping system, and of course reversing the old policies that had account for a fairly sizable portion of the Internet's scorn on the product, and resulting less-than-ideal pre-orders. Upon release, after the initial holiday rush had cooled, and the sales began to slip behind Sony a bit, we saw things like pushing Titanfall as a major product, (to counter the usual 'first year game drought woes,) the removal of the Kinect from mandatory inclusion, (and, of course, the resulting cheaper price that addressed criticisms to that effect,) finally starting Games With Gold on Xbox One, and even relative nitpicks, like making the paywall less all-encompassing, so you didn't need Live Gold to watch Netflix anymore.
Basically, even though sales might not have been going quite as they wanted them to during 2014- whether it was hitting some overall number, or just keeping within a certain distance of the Playstation 4- there WERE things they could do to improve upon it, big, solid things.
But now they're kind of in a position where, as far as I know, they're still getting outsold, but there isn't really much LEFT to 'fix.' All that can really be done is toss more platform updates to increase the feature set of the core device- which Microsoft, full credit, has done very efficiently and quickly, though how much it sways a consumer is uncertain- and bolstering their first party and exclusive lineup, which not only takes a great deal of money, but also time. Short of buying out a nearly-completed game that'll release in the next six months, (which would land them right back in PR hell,) any extra 'gas' Microsoft sinks into game development, be it first-party titles or newly funding third-party exclusives, won't bear fruit for a couple of years. But a couple of years of getting outsold by Sony at the rate it's been doing so far could be devastating to its long-term ability to compete for marketshare, so simply battening down the hatches and riding out the storm isn't an option.
So the free game deals, etc, etc, I believe, are more a stopgap measure to gain, or at least hold, marketshare until more meaty solutions can be put into play. Anything other than 'Here, Take More Stuff For The Same Monies' will take time to organize and implement, and as mentioned, the more time passes with things as they currently are, the more difficult it becomes to claw one's way to sales parity. Not a coincidence that the free game week included Destiny as an option, and occurred on Destiny launch. =P
Zanten, Doer Of The Things
Unless He Forgets In Which Case Zanten, Forgetter Of The Things
Or He Procrascinates, In Which Case Zanten, Doer Of The Things Later
Or It Involves Moving Furniture, in Which Case Zanten, F*** You.
