Gameware Stops Selling Xbox Systems in Reaction to Recent Game Pass Announcement

[VideoGameAccountant]

Mr Puggsly said:

VideoGameAccountant said:

You are right about Microsoft (momentum is what makes a success vs a failure), but what I'm getting at is that Microsoft hasn't maintained Microsoft fans. Sony has this and Nintendo has this, but Microsoft doesn't. You can see this. Discussion about XBox is either negative or nonexistent. It's pretty much dried up with the XBox One, and that's the problem. It speaks more that the 360 existed moreso as a substitute to the PS3. The reverse could be said about the PS4 and XBox One, but Sony also buckled down and gave consumers a reason to stick with Playstation. Microsoft really hasn't as they've been canceling projects, delaying games, and focusing more on services and other experiments. 

What you are missing is I'm talking about future generations, not the current one. Sony was able to bounce back from the PS3. Nintendo bounced back from the Wii U. But I don't see Microsoft bouncing back. It also doesn't help that Microsoft has only had one success in the video game industry where Sony and Nintendo have had several. Even during the tail-end of the PS3 and Wii U, consumers were still talking about those games and the companies supported them to the best of their abilities. Microsoft doesn't have that. Discussion of XBox is slim and there aren't many titles keeping people around. Sure, it's done better than the Wii U, but is Microsoft positioned for a strong Gen 9. My answer is no.

Lastly, the Wii U was an issue of games. Nintendo Land didn't set the world on fire like Wii Sports. New Super Mario Bros U helped to push systems, but there was clear franchise fatigue. Games like Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario didn't really help despite taking months to come out (by the by, ever wonder why you haven't seen another WarioWare and why Pikmin 4 is basically vaporware, this is why). You probably also don't remember that there was a Wii Fit U or a Wii Party U. The Wii U's line-up was lackluster in 2013 and although it improved later on, there wasn't enough in 2014 or 2015. But Nintendo kept their loyalist which kept Nintendo in the public discussion and made people interested in Nintendo Switch.  The same could be said for PS3 with Uncharted and the Last of Us. The base doesn't make the system a success but it can help when launching a new one.

Again, you praise the Wii U for its loyal fans while ignoring X1 crushed it and continues too grow. You also speak as if X1 is a dead platform with no notable content, your perception is different than reality. Sony also has delayed many games and are experimenting with services, they spent a fortune on PS Now. Again, MS is doing a lot to grow the userbase but you ignore it.

X1 is not the failure you believe. Its not a flop like Wii U which ultimately killed the Nintendo home console, X1 isnt losing money like OG Xbox and PS3, it certainly didnt flop like the Vita either. X1 is a viable platform and maybe the 9th gen for Xbox is futher closing the gap with Windows. I'd argue 360 and X1 are both successful if theyre profitable. Again, your perception is wrong.

You conveniently ignore the notable content Wii U did have, some of which is on or coming to Switch. Again, I argue price and the cumbersome, uninteresting, rarely utilized tablet gamepad killed Wii U. On a side note if the Wii U sold 35 million we might consider it a success, or atleast not a complete disaster.

Again, the problem is you are looking at the CURRENT generation. I'm looking at the FUTURE generation.

We are in year 5 of PS4 and XBox One's life. The new systems will probably be out next year. In the normal lifecycle for a console, the last year or two is about gearing up for the next generation. If you look at Microsoft, would you say they are building momentum or losing it? Does Microsoft look better now then they did a year or two ago and the answer is no. 2017 was a year full of canceled projects and delays. 2018 doesn't look much better. Microsoft has a good holiday, but a lot of that was due to the improving economy, not necessarily good business sense on the part of Microsoft. At the end of the Wii U's life, Nintendo made it very clear what their intention was and still pushed out projects for the system as they geared up for the Switch. Microsoft is stalling out, not gearing up.

What you are focused on is current sales, not what Microsoft is going to look like in Gen 9 if they will even be around then? 35 million is not a great number, to be honest. It's pretty weak coming off Microsoft's most successful system. That means they need to be improving. The late stages of a generation are a good measure of the next. Nintendo and Sony both showed this with their failed systems. Microsoft is showing they are weakening, not strengthening. 

Moreover, you don't understand the business of Nintendo and Microsoft. Nintendo always has a large reserve of cash on hand which allows them to reposition when the market doesn't go their way. Microsoft is a massive corporation who's bottom line is not video games but Operating System and Application. Does Microsoft want to put in the billions to design, market, manufacture and supply a new system if they are only going to sell 35 million? Moreover, XBox is not profitable and never has been. Microsoft hides XBox with Skype to mask that the money it makes is low and isn't enough to cover fixed cost. This article does a good job of explaining: (https://learnbonds.com/122889/microsoft-corporation-msft-loses-money-on-xbox-one-sales/). Here is a tech journalist saying something similar. (https://www.petri.com/paul-thurrotts-short-takes-microsoft-earnings-special-edition-7). And, of course, this has been a long-term issue with XBox losing 3 billion over 10 years. (https://www.neowin.net/news/report-microsofts-xbox-division-has-lost-nearly-3-billion-in-10-years). So how is Microsoft going to turn XBox around if 2017 was bad, they are less than 50 percent of their chief competitor and the division loses billions. 

That said, my argument has been primarily about consumer retention. From what I'm seeing, Microsoft doesn't have that. You mention sales a lot, but the next XBox needs to do BETTER than that, not the same. If there is little interest in XBox now, will there be any in the future. Nintendo can at least hold on to their diehard fans and have always had a successful handheld line. Microsoft doesn't even have that. This company can't even get a game out.  My expectation is they wont or they'll leave. 

You can disagree with me on the Wii U if you like, but games make or break a console. The Switch would not have done well if Zelda wasn't such a hit. It's the software that makes or breaks a system. It's also why I'm critical of Nintendo's early 2018 which is full of games that didn't help the Wii U.