sales2099 said:
Hopefully when you are unbanned we can continue this discussion. MS changed their policies before the console launched. When their consumer makes enough noise and sales go to the competitor, things can and will change. Don Mattrick is gone. That said, the winner is always the laziest. Sony doesn't have to try as hard as they did last gen. PS Now rental prices.....if those prices are any indication, being 1st has its drawbacks. I at least feel good to know MS HAS to go right by their fans this gen or otherwise suffer even more. In the end, I am marvelled at your ability to see Sony as perfect angels. |
Unfortunately, the problems with the Xbox One can't be fixed with the firing of a few executives, no matter how obnoxious they were. The problems started 3 years ago, when they created the "vision" for what the XB1 was supposed to be. Encouraged by how people were using the 360 as a media player, they envisioned "taking over the living room" with the XB1...making it the portal for ALL of your living room entertainment. They envisioned (and patented) using the Kinect to charge you for movies based on the number of viewers. They also patented having the Kinect scan logos present in it's field of view and marketing targeted ads to you based on those logos. They envisioned mining all of your viewing habits and selling that data to advertisers as well. They wanted complete control over everything you did in the living room, from games to TV, to streaming video. They also had a "vision" for restricting the sales of used games, making it only possible to "resell" them at "authorized" resellers, like Gamestop...of course, they would take a chunk of THAT money too.
Fortunately for all of us, the majority outright REJECTED that vision. Many of us wouldn't buy a console that forced Kinect upon us...and they "listened" by removing the requirement to have it connected. They also (wisely) backed down on the onerous DRM and their used game restrictions.
Now, they backed down on Kinect COMPLETELY, unbundling it from the console....which will eventually lead to it's death...and also the death of their vision. Without Kinect, the XB1 is "just" a game console...which is what most of us really wanted in the first place. Problem is, the hardware is set now...and if it's competiting as "just" a game console, it's underpowered and overpriced. Oh, it also has less games (as of this writing, XB1 has 43 games available to play RIGHT NOW, and PS4 has 88!).
They can talk about GAMES GAMES GAMES (ghosts of Ballmer!) all they want...but the fact is, a "AAA" title takes about 3 years to complete once development starts. So they have what they have right now...don't expect them to magically pull out a system selling exclusive out of nowhere. Yes, they will be looking to add to their exclusive game library...but that is YEARS away.
In the meantime, they are being outsold almost 3:1 globally, and up to 2:1 in their strongest regions, the US and the UK. Without SYSTEM SELLING games, this won't change. In 2014 we will see Sunset Overhype and Halo 1-4 remastered be released. THAT'S IT. Neither will move hardware. Want proof of that? Look at the Amazon best sellers...pre orders for Halo are high, but the systems themselves are still stuck in the low 40s.
By the time Microsoft DOES have something (like, say Halo 5) that will move consoles...it will be entirely too late. Microsoft AT BEST can shoot for 2nd place over the WiiU this gen, but even that is not guaranteed.
One last thing: The prices listed on the PS Now BETA are not final. You don't get to criticize betas or their pricing until official release. If it does launch with these prices, THEN you can complain...until then, you can sit and wait with the rest of us to see how this will play out.
