Why hasn't Microsoft...
Microsoft is in a curious position at the moment. Not a terrible position by any means. In fact they have every reason to be smug with more than 31 million units sold, already 10 million more than its predecessor. However the Xbox 360 is now four years old and that is as long as the original Xbox lasted, but for a while at least we are unlikely to see a successor. Developers don’t want to have to move onto new technology and they have hit a sweet spot of being able to provide their console for a low cost whilst still turning a profit. And yet despite all the good news Nintendo is still steam rolling onwards to world domination and Sony has actually began to sell some of its supercomputers, so what do Microsoft need to do in order to provide the 360 with fresh impetus? A Halo game every year seems to be their strategy and they are counting on bringing in Joe Six Pack with Project Natal, but perhaps before they do so they should correct a few glaring issues.
Get rid of the Arcade Unit
Why should they?
Despite being only 200 dollars, the Arcade Unit manages to be a rip-off. It is almost an act of deception for Microsoft to continue to sell this product. Due to the fact that it lacks a hard drive, the Arcade Unit has significantly less functionality than the Xbox experience promises. Want to download XBLA games? I hope you have plenty of those 256MB memory cards. Want to download Xbox classics? I’m afraid you can’t. Want to download Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix? You are out of luck sunshine. Install your games for faster loading? You must be joking. Got Rock Band? I hope you like the set song list because you certainly won’t be able to get many additional tracks.
So what does Joe Six Pack (hey, it’s been a while since the election, I’m bringing him back into the spotlight) do when he realizes that he can’t do any of the above things? Don’t worry buddy. Microsoft will allow you to buy a clip on Hard Drive for… wait how much?
Why don’t they?
Because they can continue to make a lot of money off people like Joe Six Pack, or his mother Mary-Anne bottle of Jack Daniels. The least informed consumers are the ones that suffer the most in this situation which according to my dictionary is a form of exploitation. And not the good kind like in Tarantino movies.
But having a 200 dollar price tag is just too good a marketing angle in the war against Sony, so don’t expect them to drop the arcade unit until the can find a way to get the Elite down to 200 dollars. Do your bit to save the ignorant masses; stand in electronics stores screaming dire threats at people trying to buy an Arcade Unit*.
*Due to legal reasons thedogbarks does not endorse insulting, exhibiting threatening behavior or maiming the general public.
Make Live free
Why should they?
Xbox Live is an excellent package and millions of people enjoy using the service. For 50 bucks a year. No big deal, I hear you cry, I’m swimming in cash and 50 bones is no big deal. Well both the Wii and PS3 allow you to game online for free. And whilst playing anything apart from Mario Kart online on the Wii is about as enjoyable an experience as having Edward Scissor hands perform open heart surgery on you, it is at least free. PSN is catching up with Microsoft’s service pretty quickly, and with cross game voice chat apparently soon to be available, there is little left that it doesn’t do. Bearing this in mind, they should make Gold membership free for all and tear down the wall of segregation they themselves had put up.
Why don’t they?
Microsoft charges 50 bucks per person per year for Gold membership. There are currently a gazillion Gold members (figure may not be accurate). 50 X a gazillion is… a lot of money. To stop charging people for Gold membership would be akin to a man throwing money off a cliff without stopping for the rest of his life.
And everyone’s favorite analyst, Michael ‘Mad Dog’ Pachter thinks Microsoft may go even further, predicting that Microsoft will raise the price of Gold membership to 100 dollars a year in the future. As a note of caution, Michael Pachter has also predicted that next week in an unprecedented move, Tuesday will be before Monday, so take his opinion with a hefty grain of salt.
Make more games
Why should they?
I’ll admit this is a somewhat strange qualm I have, but Microsoft doesn’t seem to be, well, they don’t seem to be making games. Sure, there are plenty of great games coming up, but the majority of them are multiplatform (including the PC) and made by 3rd parties. Seeing as Microsoft went out of their way to buy up so many studios, it would be nice to see them encourage their studios to make some games. As opposed to shutting them down as they did with Ensemble studios, whose only crime seemed to be that they made a successful 360 RTS game utilizing the Halo franchise. As they had been asked to do.
Why don’t they?
I guess they are content with promoting the content that other companies develop for them. Although they are unlikely to launch a new console in the near future, I’m sure that they are putting a lot of money into R and D (perhaps in order to ensure that their new console doesn’t spontaneously combust when touched). Oh, and Natal. I always forget about Natal.
So, Sony and Microsoft are done and dusted leaving Nintendo to go under the spotlight next.
Get rid of the Arcade Unit
Why should they?
Despite being only 200 dollars, the Arcade Unit manages to be a rip-off. It is almost an act of deception for Microsoft to continue to sell this product. Due to the fact that it lacks a hard drive, the Arcade Unit has significantly less functionality than the Xbox experience promises. Want to download XBLA games? I hope you have plenty of those 256MB memory cards. Want to download Xbox classics? I’m afraid you can’t. Want to download Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix? You are out of luck sunshine. Install your games for faster loading? You must be joking. Got Rock Band? I hope you like the set song list because you certainly won’t be able to get many additional tracks.
So what does Joe Six Pack (hey, it’s been a while since the election, I’m bringing him back into the spotlight) do when he realizes that he can’t do any of the above things? Don’t worry buddy. Microsoft will allow you to buy a clip on Hard Drive for… wait how much?
Why don’t they?
Because they can continue to make a lot of money off people like Joe Six Pack, or his mother Mary-Anne bottle of Jack Daniels. The least informed consumers are the ones that suffer the most in this situation which according to my dictionary is a form of exploitation. And not the good kind like in Tarantino movies.
But having a 200 dollar price tag is just too good a marketing angle in the war against Sony, so don’t expect them to drop the arcade unit until the can find a way to get the Elite down to 200 dollars. Do your bit to save the ignorant masses; stand in electronics stores screaming dire threats at people trying to buy an Arcade Unit*.
*Due to legal reasons thedogbarks does not endorse insulting, exhibiting threatening behavior or maiming the general public.
Make Live free
Why should they?
Xbox Live is an excellent package and millions of people enjoy using the service. For 50 bucks a year. No big deal, I hear you cry, I’m swimming in cash and 50 bones is no big deal. Well both the Wii and PS3 allow you to game online for free. And whilst playing anything apart from Mario Kart online on the Wii is about as enjoyable an experience as having Edward Scissor hands perform open heart surgery on you, it is at least free. PSN is catching up with Microsoft’s service pretty quickly, and with cross game voice chat apparently soon to be available, there is little left that it doesn’t do. Bearing this in mind, they should make Gold membership free for all and tear down the wall of segregation they themselves had put up.
Why don’t they?
Microsoft charges 50 bucks per person per year for Gold membership. There are currently a gazillion Gold members (figure may not be accurate). 50 X a gazillion is… a lot of money. To stop charging people for Gold membership would be akin to a man throwing money off a cliff without stopping for the rest of his life.
And everyone’s favorite analyst, Michael ‘Mad Dog’ Pachter thinks Microsoft may go even further, predicting that Microsoft will raise the price of Gold membership to 100 dollars a year in the future. As a note of caution, Michael Pachter has also predicted that next week in an unprecedented move, Tuesday will be before Monday, so take his opinion with a hefty grain of salt.
Make more games
Why should they?
I’ll admit this is a somewhat strange qualm I have, but Microsoft doesn’t seem to be, well, they don’t seem to be making games. Sure, there are plenty of great games coming up, but the majority of them are multiplatform (including the PC) and made by 3rd parties. Seeing as Microsoft went out of their way to buy up so many studios, it would be nice to see them encourage their studios to make some games. As opposed to shutting them down as they did with Ensemble studios, whose only crime seemed to be that they made a successful 360 RTS game utilizing the Halo franchise. As they had been asked to do.
Why don’t they?
I guess they are content with promoting the content that other companies develop for them. Although they are unlikely to launch a new console in the near future, I’m sure that they are putting a lot of money into R and D (perhaps in order to ensure that their new console doesn’t spontaneously combust when touched). Oh, and Natal. I always forget about Natal.
So, Sony and Microsoft are done and dusted leaving Nintendo to go under the spotlight next.
