By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - We all know Microsoft screwed up.

 

What was Microsoft's bigger mistake?

The DRM fiasco 253 30.01%
 
Forced Kinect and $100 price difference 305 36.18%
 
It wouldn't have mattere... 152 18.03%
 
I like turtles 128 15.18%
 
Total:838
rolltide101x on 11 May 2014
Burek said:
I was a faithful X360 owner. It was my first console ever, and in 5 years amassed over 150.000 Gamerscore.
When they announced DRM policies, I was upset like most, but I would have accepted that deal in the end. (Because I've already decided to go digital download full-on.
But when they've announced a mandatory Kinect, that was the dealbreaker I could not swallow. I am one of those 24 million Kinect buyers, it was fun for a short time, but ended up in storage quickly, as I had no practical use for it. Even my young daughters got bored with it in a month or so.
That's why there was no chance I would have paid extra just to have half my purchase remain boxed in. And it's not even the price for me, it's the principle of things.
So as soon as E3 was over, I've preordered PS4 and never looked back. I've abandoned my gamerscore, sold off my X360 and over 100 games for chump change, and now I'm enjoying my new console, I am very pleased, and believe that very soon Microsoft console will just be a distant memory.
I even sold my Nokia WP which I bought while achievement whoring, and purchased an Android phone (also Sony, but that is a coincidence, it was simply a best-buy at the time).
Now I'm completely Microsoft-free, and I've never been happier. I will probably never buy another Microsoft product, and actually I won't be missing out on much.

Say what you want about Xbox. But Windows phones are amazing. Dollar for dollar nothing else compares

Console-Playstation

Computer OS-Ubuntu

Phone OS-Windows Phones



Around the Network
rolltide101x on 11 May 2014
Ka-pi96 said:
shadow_satey said:
Right now the big black box is huge, and ugly, and doesn't fit nicely with other console spaces, like it doesn't want to share or something. It's $100 more than the smaller, more compact box that is more powerful. And it's forced Kinect on everyone when there is no substantial reason to use it, ever. After the novelty of swiping the air and talking to your box, do you really think $100 extra was justified?

For its specs, bulkiness, and if they excluded Kinect, this box should be $349, as it is less powerful than the PS4.

Maybe for you, I think it is one of the best looking consoles ever.

lol the One is incredibly ugly.

I am torn between which looks better between the Wii U and PS4



Squeezol on 11 May 2014

I think people lost it when Microsoft announced the DRM problems but I don't really think people have a lot against paying more for Kinect.



Madword on 11 May 2014

They got their original messaging so wrong in so many ways.

Ironically it did feel like a terrible period of miscommunication and poor judgement.. i thought the wii-u had bad messaging but the XBO - just terrible to be honest.

  • Price. They got well and truly thumped by Sony. If MS had gone in at £349 (no Kinect bundled) then Sony would not have been to be able to go lower due to be financially strapped. MS had a chance of potentially damaging Sony big time and missed it. I don't think it matters when they are now the same price because of this mistake... i.e it's all too late to fight on the same price.
  • DRM: Absolute mess, it;s like they didn't know what the product they were selling was. Poor decisions and communication all over the place. A digital box that you cannot upgrade the hard disk....wow.
  • Hardware design: Massive box, batteries still required for controller, non replaceable hard disk. People want more from their hardware, and those things just seem like poor design, it puts people off.
  • Power+Price: Let's be honest the gaming world has changed, massive recession etc... people want the cheapest price with the best power. Their decision to work with kinect and lower performance stung them big time.
  • TV.TV.TV: What a mess. Seriously who in their right mind would think leading with that would have been a good idea. That just dropped confidence in MS that they knew what they were doing. But it was so USA focussed, when last gen they knew Sony beat them good in Europe.... so lets just focus on the USA again... weird.
  • XB360: There is a feeling that they just dropped the 360 with two years left, while Sony carried on. This did focus gamers on what console they might have wanted next.
  • Sony Marketting: Really Sony did a fantastic job of marketting the PS4.... add this to the fact that MS did so bad, just made the whole situation worse.
  • Titanfall: Ok not the game, but the idea that buying exclusivity still works... I think unless the game is AAAA... then people just get pissed that company A/B is paying to stop content going on another console. There are also a lot of one console buyers out there who have no care about buying one console and ignoring exclusives on another. So i just think there is less advantage of doing this type of thing and MS hadnt caught up with this fact.
  • Consumer Loyalty: To be fair i thought this would have some bearing, but it's had little. I thought gamer points and achievements would mean people wouldnt want to move consoles, but the opposite is true. I believe MS might have thought people would be loyal because it was the case before.
  • PS+/Gold: MS have lost sight of what a good service means. They created things that Sony on the PS3 couldnt do (because of the memory issues with the PS3).. but they threw all the good work away and let Sony basically thump them where it hurts. Provide a service just as good as Gold in terms of features but with additional benefits on top, and no paywall. Very good of Sony financially, and it hurts MS's bottom line.. double win.

There are many areas where they made mistakes..just listed a few. Some are fixable in the future, but I suspect MS will learn a lot from this (you would hope). They are starting to pull it back together now, but they are going to have to work hard and the hardware is one area they cannot really fix.



Making an indie game : Dead of Day!

rolltide101x on 11 May 2014
Madword said:

They got their original messaging so wrong in so many ways.

Ironically it did feel like a terrible period of miscommunication and poor judgement.. i thought the wii-u had bad messaging but the XBO - just terrible to be honest.

 

  • Price. They got well and truly thumped by Sony. If MS had gone in at £349 (no Kinect bundled) then Sony would not have been to be able to go lower due to be financially strapped. MS had a chance of potentially damaging Sony big time and missed it. I don't think it matters when they are now the same price because of this mistake... i.e it's all too late to fight on the same price.
  • DRM: Absolute mess, it;s like they didn't know what the product they were selling was. Poor decisions and communication all over the place. A digital box that you cannot upgrade the hard disk....wow.
  • Hardware design: Massive box, batteries still required for controller, non replaceable hard disk. People want more from their hardware, and those things just seem like poor design, it puts people off.
  • Power+Price: Let's be honest the gaming world has changed, massive recession etc... people want the cheapest price with the best power. Their decision to work with kinect and lower performance stung them big time.
  • TV.TV.TV: What a mess. Seriously who in their right mind would think leading with that would have been a good idea. That just dropped confidence in MS that they knew what they were doing. But it was so USA focussed, when last gen they knew Sony beat them good in Europe.... so lets just focus on the USA again... weird.
  • XB360: There is a feeling that they just dropped the 360 with two years left, while Sony carried on. This did focus gamers on what console they might have wanted next.
  • Sony Marketting: Really Sony did a fantastic job of marketting the PS4.... add this to the fact that MS did so bad, just made the whole situation worse.
  • Titanfall: Ok not the game, but the idea that buying exclusivity still works... I think unless the game is AAAA... then people just get pissed that company A/B is paying to stop content going on another console. There are also a lot of one console buyers out there who have no care about buying one console and ignoring exclusives on another. So i just think there is less advantage of doing this type of thing and MS hadnt caught up with this fact.
  • Consumer Loyalty: To be fair i thought this would have some bearing, but it's had little. I thought gamer points and achievements would mean people wouldnt want to move consoles, but the opposite is true. I believe MS might have thought people would be loyal because it was the case before.
  • PS+/Gold: MS have lost sight of what a good service means. They created things that Sony on the PS3 couldnt do (because of the memory issues with the PS3).. but they threw all the good work away and let Sony basically thump them where it hurts. Provide a service just as good as Gold in terms of features but with additional benefits on top, and no paywall. Very good of Sony financially, and it hurts MS's bottom line.. double win.

 

There are many areas where they made mistakes..just listed a few. Some are fixable in the future, but I suspect MS will learn a lot from this (you would hope). They are starting to pull it back together now, but they are going to have to work hard and the hardware is one area they cannot really fix.

Congrats. It truly is a combination of all these things.

I personally blame Kinect and TV, TV, TV, TV. The sad thing is there really is nothing they can do to turn it around (to take the lead anyway) as Playstation simply has more loyal fans and will always have the price advantage



Around the Network
Burek on 11 May 2014
rolltide101x said:
Burek said:
I was a faithful X360 owner. It was my first console ever, and in 5 years amassed over 150.000 Gamerscore.
When they announced DRM policies, I was upset like most, but I would have accepted that deal in the end. (Because I've already decided to go digital download full-on.
But when they've announced a mandatory Kinect, that was the dealbreaker I could not swallow. I am one of those 24 million Kinect buyers, it was fun for a short time, but ended up in storage quickly, as I had no practical use for it. Even my young daughters got bored with it in a month or so.
That's why there was no chance I would have paid extra just to have half my purchase remain boxed in. And it's not even the price for me, it's the principle of things.
So as soon as E3 was over, I've preordered PS4 and never looked back. I've abandoned my gamerscore, sold off my X360 and over 100 games for chump change, and now I'm enjoying my new console, I am very pleased, and believe that very soon Microsoft console will just be a distant memory.
I even sold my Nokia WP which I bought while achievement whoring, and purchased an Android phone (also Sony, but that is a coincidence, it was simply a best-buy at the time).
Now I'm completely Microsoft-free, and I've never been happier. I will probably never buy another Microsoft product, and actually I won't be missing out on much.

Say what you want about Xbox. But Windows phones are amazing. Dollar for dollar nothing else compares

Console-Playstation

Computer OS-Ubuntu

Phone OS-Windows Phones


My problem with WP was very poor app support. I am a casual user, I don't know much about technical side and specs, but most of the stuff I use had no support on WP (m-banking, sports, betting etc.) So basically I had a smartphone that was just a phone with internet. That was the reason to switch. Maybe in the US it gets better support, but here it's mostly an enigma. 

And it didn't help that they cancelled almost all support for WP7 once they started pushing WP8 (seems their M.O. across the board). So it was either spend €500 on a new Nokia, or get an Android for €75, along with all the apps I need. 



AnthonyW86 on 11 May 2014

To be honest i really don't think the DRM nonsense really did that much harm. Sure as an informed gamer you will know about it, but most potential customers probably don't or hardly know what DRM is. And besides the plans were reversed so it really doesn't matter.

Price is important however, and can easily make someone who is in doubt and does not care for Kinect choose PS4.

Their are two more important things though. First is worth of mouth. Many people have an informed gamer in their friend group or family. And so when looking for a new console they will ask that person. And since that person knows that the PS4 is probably more bang for the buck if you don't care for Kinect or any certain games, he/she will recommend a PS4.

Then comes the most important argument however: The Playstation brand has always remained stronger than Xbox to begin with. Sony simply messed up last gen with a price that was to high, and releasing later.

So really it isn't what Microsoft did wrong, it's what Sony didn't do wrong.



rolltide101x on 11 May 2014
Burek said:


My problem with WP was very poor app support. I am a casual user, I don't know much about technical side and specs, but most of the stuff I use had no support on WP (m-banking, sports, betting etc.) So basically I had a smartphone that was just a phone with internet. That was the reason to switch. Maybe in the US it gets better support, but here it's mostly an enigma. 

And it didn't help that they cancelled almost all support for WP7 once they started pushing WP8 (seems their M.O. across the board). So it was either spend €500 on a new Nokia, or get an Android for €75, along with all the apps I need. 

You do not need dedicated apps for everything. Banking works fine on the web browser. Pin the mobile website to the homepage and honestly what is the difference?

Yes, WP7 support is pretty bad now. But this is the best deal in all of smart phones

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-520-GoPhone-AT/dp/B00E45043A



Burek on 11 May 2014
rolltide101x said:
Burek said:


My problem with WP was very poor app support. I am a casual user, I don't know much about technical side and specs, but most of the stuff I use had no support on WP (m-banking, sports, betting etc.) So basically I had a smartphone that was just a phone with internet. That was the reason to switch. Maybe in the US it gets better support, but here it's mostly an enigma. 

And it didn't help that they cancelled almost all support for WP7 once they started pushing WP8 (seems their M.O. across the board). So it was either spend €500 on a new Nokia, or get an Android for €75, along with all the apps I need. 

You do not need dedicated apps for everything. Banking works fine on the web browser. Pin the mobile website to the homepage and honestly what is the difference?

Yes, WP7 support is pretty bad now. But this is the best deal in all of smart phones

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-520-GoPhone-AT/dp/B00E45043A

No offense, but you might not know how m-banking really works. It has nothing to do with websites, you can't actually just use the website even on PC (e-banking). 

Usually all I need to do is scan the item with my phone and take it home from the store, or if I have a grocery cart I just use my phone to pay at the register.

Same with the bills I get in the mail. I just take a photo of them and they are paid. Website cannot do this.



fps_d0minat0r on 11 May 2014
AnthonyW86 said:
To be honest i really don't think the DRM nonsense really did that much harm. Sure as an informed gamer you will know about it, but most potential customers probably don't or hardly know what DRM is. And besides the plans were reversed so it really doesn't matter.

Price is important however, and can easily make someone who is in doubt and dors not care for


yeah but now we know that they are happy to fuck us in the arse if they ever become dominant in the console market and thats why they will never get a penny from me. While they did a 180 on their plans as far as X1 is concerned, they made their long term intentions clear and many people will remember that for a long time.

The DRM thing got plenty of coverage in mainstream media too, so even a large chunk of people who were not gamers must have read about it. Even if they forgot, the truth is that they wont be buying as many games and bringing in as much money as the 'informed gamer' will anyway. Building a product around the loyalty of the informed gamer will always be a more successful strategy than relying on the ignorance of the casuals.