CS Console War Battle Plan: Microsoft
Posted by jaleelboone on August 8, 2006
The gloves are on and the stage is set. The consoles wars of two-thousand-and-six are underway. What’s that private? You say that they are just games and you shouldn’t care about which company does better? Stop all that hippie nonsense, soldier! You and I both know that you have your favorite company, and you wish for them to slaughter the competition. The fanboys have picked their sides, and they’ll be gloating by year two-thousand-and-ten if they have the supreme ruler of the consoles. Gloating is not an option if you’re a yellow-bellied fence rider, soldier. Yes, I do know that these companies will never give back to me. And I guess you’re right when you say that this is all pretty stupid to care about a big corporate company. So I- Wait. Stop your treason, private! This is war private, you can take all of your ideals someplace else. Now, back to war. We’ve constructed battle plans for each console company here at the Club Skill HQ. We’ve outlined what each company has done right, done wrong, and needs to do to win this round. First up we have the Xbox 360, since it was released first. The other two will be randomly picked to see who goes second and third. Read up soldier, the future of your thumbs is in the wake.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360
On November 22, 2005, the first fighter in the console wars came out headfirst, guns blazing. Unless you were playing Microsoft’s clever online riddle “Ourcolony” game, The Xbox 360 came out of nowhere. One day people were having fun playing Halo 2 on Live, and the next there was a MTV special unveiling a brand new console. A week later, E3 fed you all the 360 info you didn’t know already. Microsoft delivered a swift blow to the gut to their competitors by launching a legitimate next-gen console so early. If we didn’t see it coming, it’s not too hard to believe that Nintendo and Sony didn’t think they would have it looking that good so soon either. So for the few who could find them, the Xbox 360 was the hot item for the 2005 holiday season. The mad dash from consumers to get into the next-gen is over now though, so Microsoft is going to have to deliver to insure that interest stays in their direction with the Wii and PS3 heading to the shelves.
The Xbox 360 Zero Hour event.
What They’ve Done Right
The 360 has an image. Most people accuse the Xbox 360 of being the reincarnation of the Dreamcast because of the similarities between the two. But, the Dreamcast had two major downfalls that the Xbox has already been able to overcome. First of all, the Dreamcast came at a time when people were not ready to buy a new video game console. The success of the 360 so far defeats that problem. Secondly, Sega never gave the Dreamcast an image. It was a box that played games. Microsoft has given the 360 a “Remix/ New-Age generation” image. Even if you think it’s tacky, you can’t deny that it’s there. Think of the 360 and you’ll realize how much of an impact their marketing has. You don’t think of little kids playing an Xbox 360, you think of college students wearing indie clothes and being too sexy for themselves, laughing as they pass around a controller. They’ve been able to drill the thought into your head, “This is a cool, mature, gamer’s machine,” and that sells. Little Billy wants one so he can be cool, and Big John in college will buy one because he want to have a cool looking dorm.
Dead Rising, one of the 360 titles that contributes to the mature image.
Microsoft also has good relationships with third-party developers. They currently have the kind of relationship that Nintendo is trying to regain. They support and monitor projects done by outside developers, and this support brings a constant flow of games in for the 360. So far the console hasn’t had a drought when it comes to software. Even in the boring gaming days of summer, Dead Rising is about to be released in the US. A steady stream of games is what helped the success of the PS2 last round, so it’s important that Microsoft keeps this up. They’ve also proved why Xbox Live is worth that moolah you pay every year. Microsoft has established the Marketplace, the Xbox Live Arcade, the Gamercards, and the overall community. Now they’re working on Live Anywhere, which will let you take your stats with you. Gamers get the feeling that Microsoft cares, and that they are constantly trying to improve themselves. If gamers feel like you care, they have no problem dishing out more money for better improvements. Microsoft understands this, and so they are trying to keep the Live community as close-knit as possible.
What They’ve Done Wrong
Earlier I said that Microsoft has the kind of relationship with third-party developers that Nintendo is trying to get. Replace that “third-party” with “first-party” and the roles are reversed. In the age of expensive next-gen games, it’s going to be hard to convince developers to keep their games on one system when they know they can just as easily port it to the others and make double their money. In this case, a lot of 360 titles will be ported over to the PS3.
And as far as the games go, they need to widen the spectrum. Nearly every game announcement on the 360 is an FPS, Sports, or GTA-clone title. Yeah, the mature image is great for the hardware. After awhile though, I will have shot enough Nazis, aliens, police officers, and socc-er- footballs to not care anymore
The marketplace is great, but it helps when people know when the content is out. So far, every major release in the marketplace has been followed by two or more weeks of speculation and guesswork. People like to know when they’re going to spend money so they can plan ahead, don’t announce an add-on for a game and then not tell your consumers when it’s coming out.
For future reference keep Peter Moore in a nice padded room, preferably with duct tape on his mouth. He’s a nice a guy, and he has nice intentions, but when he talks it’s like a train wreck waiting to happen. “Next-generation games will combine unprecedented audio and visual experiences, create worlds that are beyond real, and they’ll deliver story lines and gameplay so compelling that it’ll feel like a lucid dream.” We’re still waiting on that lucid dream, buddy. I see your point, but it doesn’t make it any better.
Mr. Moore says, “Yaargh, blah smackitysmackity.”
What They Need To Do
Microsoft needs to establish some first-party juggernauts to take on your Metal Gear Solids and Super Smash Bros.’. They need more system sellers, and instead of banking on the Halo 3 hype machine they need to get started immediately. The multiplatform route worked for them in the last generation because the Xbox was arguably the most powerful system. If a game was released on the PS2 and the Xbox, you could justify getting the Xbox version because it looked better. This will apply for Sony in this round if the PS3 is all it’s cracked up to be. The 360, like the Wii, needs games that people will have to buy the system to play. They can only ride the Halo gravy train for so long.
Don’t announce Live Marketplace features unless you have a release date to go with them. Developers will argue that the speculation creates more hype, but you can get just as much hype by releasing it a month later then normally but at least giving a release date. Most consumers would rather have Street Fighter II announced on June 20 for a release on July 15, then have a June 30 release that everyone speculated about until three days prior.
Other then the wacky release dates, the Marketplace has been a success.
If see that your games are all starting to fall into the mainstream category, work on some other properties. Look for some RPG, Adventure, or Action games being developed and try to get a piece of the action. If all else fails, Microsoft needs to get started on their own. The 360 has a nice constant release of games year round, but it needs more in the constant release. People who would not buy a 360 because it doesn’t suit their taste may change their mind if Microsoft can find/create the next great gaming icon.
And let J.Allard do all the talking from now on.
Final Analysis
So far so good. Your problems are minimal, Microsoft. There was a slight slip-up with that Core vs. Premium fiasco, but now that that is over you seem to know where you are in the industry and you’re staying that way. Remember what got you there, don’t throw all of your chips on Halo, and keep the consumer first. You’ve got a good chance to win this thing. We can’t wait for that lucid dream.
Stay in shouting distance! Next Wednesday we’ll take a look at the house that Mario built, Nintendo and the Nintendo Wii. Awesomeness ensues.
gab00n said
Great article, i’m sure M$ will do just fine.