First and foremost we all know that Microsoft is a software
company. For the past few years, its
primary bread and butter, Windows has lagged.
The world began to shift towards mobile devices and began to leave the
PC behind. They can bank on corporate
solutions but even that isn't enough to keep them relevant in the minds of
regular consumers. What is relevant now
to regular folks (not really the MIS team in your office) are Google and Apple. Microsoft is beginning to be a thing of the
past...
The truth of that matter was that the fault lay squarely on
Microsoft's shoulders. Before Google or
Apple, MS had already dabbled into mobile and consumer devices. While Redmond had a vision for the future,
it is unfortunate that the rest of Microsoft (it's regional offices and
whatnot) resisted the consumer centric platform and focus more on corporate
sales.
No demand, they say.
Too small of the market, they say.
Not worth the effort to talk to an individual and get a $300
sale as opposed to a multimillion corporate deal.
Yes, Microsoft the fault is with you guys. So much of the vision lost in the endless
rounds of redtape.
But now the rest of Microsoft has to find a way to boost its
flagging reputation. And the powers that
be in Redmond feel that one way to get the Windows brand get its groove back is
to introduce it as an entertainment hub and not just the thing you turn on to
write your office reports.
So the leper of the Microsoft brand finally comes to play
--- the XBOX. For years, people within
Microsoft hated the XBOX. They consider
it a money pit, draining the revenues of Windows and corporate solutions to
fund a product that consecutively lagged behind its Japanese rival, Sony
Playstation. Now the XBOX is the only
'cool' toy that Microsoft has left. It's
probably the only consumer centric device that survived through the years and it is the key for Windows try to find a
way to reinvent and make itself relevant again.
Microsoft's overall strategy is to promote the Windows infrastructure
as a single thing. XBOX, PC, phone,
watch, tablet --- those are all known as part of the Windows experience.
But in doing so, is
Microsoft negating the XBOX as a game console?
Microsoft has an announcement to make in a few weeks
regarding XBOX and Windows. But gamers
who follow the industry already know that Microsoft is sending its 1st and 2nd
party exclusive titles to the PC.
What does that mean?
The default reaction of many XBOX owners is negativity. Gaming consoles are defined by the games you can only play on
that platform. Microsoft's competitors
Sony and Nintendo both have exclusive games that require their hardware to
run. Now Microsoft is giving people a CHOICE
on where to buy their 'exclusive' titles, XBOX or PC. And many feel that allowing that option will
eventually make the XBOX less appealing as a platform. Why should you buy an XBOX to play a
Microsoft exclusive game when you can just upgrade your PC? And if you have a decent enough PC and don't
care about maxing out game graphic settings then use the money you get to from
buying an XBOX to just get a Playstation or a Nintendo platform to get even
more exclusive stuff.
Yes, I know its expensive to have a decent gaming PC and its
more convenient to have a console that you can just plug and play (after a ton
of patches) without worrying about custom settings. I'm
not a PC gamer because I don' t have the money to buy a gaming machine that can
guarantee that I have the option to play 80% of the games in the market and I
don't have the patience to actually figure out how tweak a PC to make these
games run properly.
But Microsoft seems to forget that the whole console thing
is like an exclusive membership.
You get a console because of exclusive games that can only
work on that console. Once you remove
this exclusivity the perceived value of that product lessens. And no, please don't try to sell the XBOX as
an entertainment hub for movies and whatnot because these days smart devices
are everywhere that can do those things.
The primary benefit of the gaming console are its exclusive games.
The announcement of XBOX games migrating to the PC might
make PC gamers happy...for years they felt neglected when Microsoft just made
games for the XBOX. But what about
those who stood by the XBOX as a console for exclusive gaming?
Microsoft has to be careful now because this can backfire at
their faces in the same way that E3 2013 destroyed a huge chunk of the headway
created by the XBOX 360 platform.
It's the same
question as before...with all these changes what are the SPECIFIC BENEFITS to a
console only owner.
With all these talk of the Windows family, what value add
does it offer to the person who just wants to play games on his XBOX?
Because right now, all the benefits are in favor of the PC.
Yes, I don't have to shell out so much money for the hardware --- but is that the only
benefit of the XBOX console now? Apart
from the cost, is the XBOX now indistinguishable from the PC?
Games for the PC are cheaper than XBOX games. PC gamers do not have to pay for XBOX Live
in order to play online for their current crop of games --- although I can
imagine that Microsoft is probably going to require XBOX Live PC subscription
to play multiplayer for their exclusive XBOX games.
Sure MS can entice us with cross buy but is that
necessary? Sure if you want to play your
game on the XBOX console at home and continue your game on your PC at the
office (if you even can...) But for more
folks, cross buy is a neat checkmark feature not necessarily something that
will be used all the time.
Right now, there is a lot of apprehension on the side of the
gamers who supported the XBOX platform through the rough couple of years. And if Microsoft fails to send its message
across and give XBOX gamers exclusive reason to keep their XBOX then Microsoft
has to go back to the drawing board.
TLDR:
The only benefit of having an XBOX is not to spend a ton of
money in getting a decent gaming PC.
Microsoft, please tell us what other benefits there are for
owning an XBOX if the primary reasons of getting one (THE EXCLUSIVE GAMES) are
all going to the PC. I will still game on my XBOX but really Microsoft, what are console gamers getting out of the Windows integration?