Salnax on 18 January 2026
They absolutely could have won the 7th generation; they were already over 80% of the way there. Exactly how they could have pulled it off is arguable, but here are a few thoughts:
- The 360's technical problems were probably the biggest obstacle to its success. The biggest offender was the RRoD, which was largely caused by overheating. This possibly could have been remedied by simply making the launch model larger, letting it cool more easily. The 360 was designed to be slimmer to appeal to the Japanese market, but we know in retrospect that this was a lost cause.
- Alternatively, Microsoft could have simply delayed the 360 a few months until they fixed the console's design issues. Xbox 360 sales were pretty limited before Q4 2006 (thanks to starting production late), so releasing it in Q1 or Q2 2006 would likely not have been disastrous, provided they were able to fix the overheating issue by then.
- How the heck did Microsoft let go of Bungie immediately after Halo 3 became their biggest game ever? Even if Destiny were their main focus, at least keep Bungie around to help ensure the transition to the 343 era went smoothly. And then, you get to keep Destiny off of PlayStation!
- Later in its life, the Xbox 360 shifted focus to the Kinect. This was not necessarily a bad thing, but the emphasis on selling Kinect came at the cost of cheaper skus for the base hardware. Barring one time they were getting rid of remaining stock, the 360's base price never dropped below $199.99. Contrast this to the PS2, Wii, DS, etc. The Xbox 360, priced at $149 and later $99, could have been an entry level console you got your kid for Christmas from 2012 to 2014, possibly bundled with Minecraft.
