5 Things Microsoft Must Do To Fight PS4's Market Dominance
- Thread starter m00se
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The thing is that the market already spoke on the Kinect: no one (figuratively speaking, of course) wants the damn thing. As such it's gotten the axe. It was an albatross around the XBox One's neck at launch. Had they gotten rid of it with all the other "features" they decided to axe and drop the price down by $100 then the XBox One could have actually been rather competitive at it's launch. Instead they doubled-down and insisted that the Kinect was an absolute must and it ended up playing a factor in sinking the XBox One's launch, not supporting it.
No, don't give KotOR to Bioware, their recent track record has been...mediocre.
Give it to Obsidian.
Give it to Obsidian.
Backwards compatibility is irrelevant to people who don't frequent game site message boards.
The PS3 had full BC and no one cared when the feature was cut allowing a price drop the PS3 went from a console 3rd party's where openly talking about abandoning to matching the sales of the 360 which had a year's head start.
The PS3 had full BC and no one cared when the feature was cut allowing a price drop the PS3 went from a console 3rd party's where openly talking about abandoning to matching the sales of the 360 which had a year's head start.
The underlying problem with Kinect isn't with the tech, but with fun ways to use the tech. It is the responsibility of game developers to create experiences that take advantage of the tools they have available. There are plenty of games in the Wii catalog that demonstrate how much fun motion controls can be (including shooters), but Xbox just doesn't have many fun Kinect games available yet.RJ 17 said:
As you said, they doubled down on supporting Kinect at launch, and took a big hit because of that decision. But the damage has been done. To listen to the public declaring their tech un-fun and just abandon it at this point is insane. This is the time where backpedaling isn't just pointless, it is damaging. Kinect can work if it is given a proper shot. Xbox backed down at the wrong time with Kinect.
I love Obsidian. I'd be happy with either dev making Kotor 3. But I would not trust an EA treatment one bit.The backward compatibility has caught my eye, I'll admit. I'm waiting for it to launch and then I want to hear how well it works, but if it truly is as simple as "Put the game in, download it, and start playing," I will pick it up right away. I want to play Halo 5 and Gears 4, but I'm not about to drop that much money just to play two games.
However, if I can play my old games too, without having to switch a bunch of cords around, then I will be a very happy consumer.
Really wish Sony would find some way to do this too, even if it is only PlayStation and PS2 games...
However, if I can play my old games too, without having to switch a bunch of cords around, then I will be a very happy consumer.
Really wish Sony would find some way to do this too, even if it is only PlayStation and PS2 games...
Having been on the testing ground for the 360 compatibility, it works quite well. It may even upscale the graphics a bit, but that might also be me not having played some of the games for a bit. I threw in Mass Effect and it ran smooth, the download time wasn't too long either. So as long as every game that gets the BC treatment works like the ones I tested, then its safe to say its a success.Sniper Team 4 said:
The problem is that everyone who wanted motion-control party games could just go out and get a Wii for a heck of a lot cheaper. Motion controls are a niche-gimmick, not enough of the market is interested in them for them to be a viable basis for your console. Wii got away with it because it was motion controlled from the start, the console was (relatively) cheap, and a lot of the games are focused around the "house party" demographic. The Kinect came along half-way through the 360's life cycle and people didn't want it then. It's the same story with the Playstation move: it turned out to be a big flop. The difference is that Sony got the message and didn't pursue it because Nintendo had already sealed away that market.m00se said:
Indeed, if motion controls truly were "the next big thing", then Nintendo would currently be far and away Top Dog in terms of the big three companies. But as I said: it's a niche-gimmick. Sure, there's a decent market there, but Nintendo already has control of it. Neither Microsoft nor Sony were going to be able to muscle in on that. So Sony dropped the Move and MS tied itself to the Kinect. Sony's been doing fine with the PS4 and the XBox One had to cut the Kinect in order to pick up its lagging sales.
It's true, the issue wasn't with the technology (though the whole "spy cam always on" part certainly wasn't popular), but no amount of fun party games was going to make the Kinect viable when people could - to this day - just go out and get a Wii which is built for such games at a much cheaper price.
Good point. However, there is the issue of Wii games looking more and more dated as time goes on. If XBox reignites the Kinect with a new library of diverse and enjoyable Kinect games they could make the motion control niche market (of which I am a member) very happy, and even recruit more players into the motion control camp.RJ 17 said:
As far as I see it, casual motion control games are a crucial component to the longevity of the form. Shooters, sword adventures and other non-exercise-intensive based offerings to get the laziest off the couch and standing up to play.
Personally, I enjoy the fitness benefits of motion control games, but I feel that Kinect has become a one-trick-pony in that regard. Motion controls do 2 things: engage activity and enhance immersion in games. So far, Kinect has focused on the activity side of things and forgot about the incredible immersive benefits available in the form.
There is a tremendous amount of potential there, and they built the console with Kinect in mind, so it seems like a squandered opportunity to me if Xbox just pulls the plug at this point. The Kinect will be remembered as the anchor that dragged down Xbox One until or unless actual good games are developed for the device. A well made Kinect game will look much better than any Wii title, and that alone makes the investment and effort to keep the device alive worth it.
Microsoft could do both of these in one fell swoop if they made a faithful reboot of Black & White.
Considering the only part of your God character you see, which you use to interact with everything in the world, is a disembodied hand, it's almost like that game was tailor made for the Kinect.
They wouldn't even need to make drastic changes to the original game, just add a bit of spit & polish (and more creature choices and possibly some kind of DNA splicing thing for more variety and customisation) and spend most of their efforts in making it work really well with Kinect.
It would be so much fun just reaching out with your hand to pick up little people and fling them into a lake, give your creature an encouraging slap, or trace out gestures and runes for spells in the air in front of you.
But going back to my original post: the market has already spoken and the Kinect is a failure because there's not enough interest in it. That lack of interest is why no studio wants to develop games for it. The only way to get games for it at this point would be for Microsoft to make them 1st party, and I don't even know if MS makes 1st party games anymore. Even if they did, it would be an incredibly up-hill battle to make the Kinect viable seeing as how it's already failed twice (once on the 360 and now again with the One).m00se said:
I'll give you that if they had originally had a number of fun and engaging games from the start, things could have been different and the Kinect might have been a success. But at this point the ship has already sailed, and I highly doubt there's anything that could be done to cause a resurrection for the Kinect.
Okay, explain to me why backwards compatability is this siren song to uncommitted last-gen owners. I have an Xbox 360. It plays ALL my Xbox 360 games. Why would an update that lets me play some Xbox 360 games--maybe not the ones I want--be a major draw? It's a nice bonus to get early adopters onboard, but this is the time where it should be losing relevance.
I hear Kinect 2 is improved, but still has a lot of problems that make it worse than a controller for general gaming. The problem with peripherals is there has to be not just a few good games, but a bunch to merit it. Otherwise, people don't develop. And the best Microsoft is going to do is a handful of mediocre games and then some features in AAA games which are better with controllers.
And hell, I would rather have a guncon/Zapper than Kinect.
Also this. It's amazing how cutting PC for price managed to basically turn the PS3 around.P-89 Scorpion said:
Yeah, this should be considered a good thing. They got rid of the thing almost nobody wanted.RJ 17 said:
I hear Kinect 2 is improved, but still has a lot of problems that make it worse than a controller for general gaming. The problem with peripherals is there has to be not just a few good games, but a bunch to merit it. Otherwise, people don't develop. And the best Microsoft is going to do is a handful of mediocre games and then some features in AAA games which are better with controllers.
And hell, I would rather have a guncon/Zapper than Kinect.
It doesn't in the least help that so far motion controls haven't been used in a way that a simple controller couldn't do just as well if not better. As a matter of fact, motion controls have been rather twitchy and inaccurate most of the time.RJ 17 said:
Why do they keep failing to bring up that PS4 is available in twice as many countries as Xbox One? In 2013 Xbox One was available in 13 countries, PS4 in 48. Which means in countries that people could buy an Xbox One that seemed to be the console of preference. The "PS4 Dominance" isn't about technical superiority, consumer friendliness or abundance/quality of games, it's just availability. I'd really like to see a comparison from a couple of countries that have both systems available instead of the current "big picture" view. Because even now with Xbox One available in 26 countries and I.. can't find figures on how many PS4 is available in, but if it is 52 or over, it makes the 2-1 sales figure much less impressive. Just sayin'
Not a console player, so I can't judge the technical or consumer qualities. But I do think you hit the nail on the head there.Nimzabaat said:
Even in central European countries like mine Xbox One basically receives no attention whatsoever, it didn't pre-release and it doesn't now. Of course it didn't help that several countries including mine got it only a year later for unclear reasons. It's like they didn't want to sell it and help it become popular in more countries.
As a result, very few people are talking about this console. Even fewer will buy it over a PS4, as Sony does put out a huge amount of advertising and managed to do a timely release in Europe.
Also, personally. If I were to buy a console, I would go for a PS4 because of games. There are absolutely zero interesting exclusives released or upcoming on Xbox One for me. The only exception being a timed exclusive: Tomb Raider. But I'd never buy a timed exclusive on consoles and they deserve a big "f you" for that in the first place.
Obviously that's a more personal reason though.