Business Approach Comparison Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox

[Shortbread]

So, MS shouldn't care about their behavior towards developers "unless" the engine in question, is used in highly acclaimed game? Nevermind, need not answer that... I feel a ton of smart mouth comments anyhow.

Can someone please give me some legitimate reasons, other than the PR snips from MS on not being available in so many territories yet? MS with its billions of dollars, infinite amount of distribution channels and so on... It doesn't seem IMHO, willing to compete in these markets. It's almost like MS doesn't have any confidence in their product... hell, their current distribution channels have massive amounts of XB1 looking for shelves to fill. So what's the holdup?

The longer MS waits, the greater the worldwide sales ratio grows...

 

[-tkf-]

Dev on C4 Engine’s PS4 Exclusivity: Microsoft Never Responded With Slightest Bit of Professionalism

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are going to have a great 2014, but Sony is a clear number one in the continuing console "war."

So, how does MS start resolving these PR nightmares and stories of poor performance?

The wording on that C4 article doesn't really give the impression of a very objective writer. The C4 guy might be right but i don't really see any good examples, just a few select quotes, dismissed imho..

The Gamespot article is actually a bit tougher to ignore, i have no idea who he is, but if he carries weight and is a staff member on one of the big gaming sites, well then his words does have more value. Most gaming sites would attempt a more "neutral" approach. I agree on most of his points though.

 

[Shortbread]

The wording on that C4 article doesn't really give the impression of a very objective writer. The C4 guy might be right but i don't really see any good examples, just a few select quotes, dismissed...

The actual quote, is from the developer himself (his statement). Plus, we heard similar statements from previous developers on MS behavior...

But yes, the Gamespot article carries more weight towards gamers anyhow.

 

[-tkf-]

The actual quote, is from the developer himself (his statement). Plus, we heard similar statements from previous developers on MS behavior...

But yes, the Gamespot article carries more weight towards gamers anyhow.

Maybe it's just me, but the quote was what the article was based on nothing else. Did he just mail him and ask if Microsoft sucks? I think there is a missing link somewhere.

I checked gameasutra, I couldn't find anything, could you help?

 

[Sonic]

Shortbread, can you please provide links to other sources where developers are saying MS is acting unprofessional. One guy making that quote, whom appears to have a huge preference working with Sony directly, doesn't really support what you are expressing.

 

[Brad Grenz]

So I had to go the C4 engine wikipedia page to see why I would care:

And that answered that question.

(Just for the rest of you idiots like me who never heard of the C4 engine, who makes it, what games it was used in, etc..)

Turning their nose up at that list of games like you just did is probably exactly the kind of unprofessional behavior they were referencing.

 

[Rangers]

Turning their nose up at that list of games like you just did is probably exactly the kind of unprofessional behavior they were referencing.

I hope nobody buys a 1 teraflop plus console to play those type of junkware games.

Stuff like that has been available for years on Xbox Indy games.

 

[Eolirin]

You're going to be able to find all kinds of conflicting anecdotes about how Sony or MS treat people. As direct counterpoint: http://nogoblin.com/post/76230208596/xbox-go-to-roundabout

I don't think there's any evidence of anything that resembles a systemic problem.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I hope nobody buys a 1 teraflop plus console to play those type of junkware games. Stuff like that has been available for years on Xbox Indy games.

So people should need to own two generations of consoles to play the games they want?

I will be expecting to decommission my PS3 within 18 months of buying my PS4. It's necessary to accommodate an Xbox One. I'm out of space, outlets and HDMI slots. Something has to go. So I'd expect "junk ware" to be released on the One/PS4 going forward and not only on 360/PS3.

 

[Rangers]

So people should need to own two generations of consoles to play the games they want?

Too be clear I think those games have a valid place, I just dont think they're a primary driver of why people buy core consoles. Assassins Creed is. AKA, a huge game with huge production values.

Those actual games, I dont think I've heard of any of them. I would have no interest in any of them. I'm not the biggest on indie games (actually dont game that much at all, but if I do it's triple A)

I find middle ground, polished, XBLA type games, Like Strider recently, Limbo in that category whether it's supposed to be "indie" or not I dunno, $10-$15 high graphics titles, sort of mini-Triple A, to be pretty compelling though. But still not exactly the main course, just a good side dish.

But once you buy your console for AC, Halo, then if you find some fun smaller stuff, that's great and probably natural. Again, just not the main course. And seems a bit more natural home on Android, iOS, or Microsoft Windows.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Too be clear I think those games have a valid place, I just dont think they're a primary driver of why people buy core consoles. Assassins Creed is. AKA, a huge game with huge production values.

Fair enough and agreed. Though I think indie games themselves are getting ever more complicated, elaborate and deep and could potentially be a much bigger draw than last generation. No Man's Sky for example!

On an off-top but indie-related note, I heard in a podcast this morning (last week's Eurogamer, I think) that Empire Strikes Back was technically an indie film - Lucas funded it himself, with Fox just being the distributor. Indie doesn't mean low-budget or small. With Ken Levine and CliffyB walking away from the AAA titles, joining the likes of David Jaffe (PS2 God of War), the indie scene is accruing not just talent but industry veteran talent.

It's not why I bought a PS4 but I am excited by some of the indie stuff that's been shown.

 

[jonabbey]

Charlie throwing his two cents in:

http://semiaccurate.com/2014/03/11/will-microsofts-xbox-one-survive/

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Charlie throwing his two cents in:

http://semiaccurate.com/2014/03/11/will-microsofts-xbox-one-survive/

Even if Xbox One doesn't make Microsoft a lot of money, they'll just have to suck it up like Nintendo have for many of their consoles and Sony did for PS3.

Abandoning a platform that is owned by millions of customers isn't an option. You don't get to 'DO OVER' unless you're going to refund all those people - that's if you want them to have faith in your next product and buy it.

I honestly do not think Xbox One is in any danger, not unless it utterly crashes and burns in the next couple months and sales basically drop to Wii U levels. I just don't see it.

 

[London Geezer]

... Which with Titanfall coming out is quite unlikely to happen.

 

[tuna]

Even if Xbox One doesn't make Microsoft a lot of money, they'll just have to suck it up like Nintendo have for many of their consoles and Sony did for PS3.

If MS' management decides that the games market does not have any strategic value then they will drop XBox unless it is very profitable.

 

[Nesh]

If MS' management decides that the games market does not have any strategic value then they will drop XBox unless it is very profitable.

Its not that simple. Doing so will have a direct impact on the image of the company and hence their sales and their stock.Unless its way too costly to support it to the end

 

[London Geezer]

If MS' management decides that the games market does not have any strategic value then they will drop XBox unless it is very profitable.

No. They will just try to change the product and the brand until it works, or becomes an unviable business which will take a long time. The living room has too much potential to just drop. They - like everyone else would and has done, including Sony and Nintendo - will just work on it and try to improve until it works better. Only Sega 'dropped out' but that's because of serious financial issues which MS will never, ever have.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

If MS' management decides that the games market does not have any strategic value then they will drop XBox unless it is very profitable.

I think it's clear from Xbox One's feature set that Microsoft believe gaming is only one aspect of the ideal living room platform. I also don't think that Microsoft are so lacking in foresight to believe a perceived weak gaming offering in their current product would justify shelving what is arguably one of their most successful consumer platforms.

You can't bail if one product doesn't do a great as you'd like. And giving up without a fight isn't in Microsoft's DNA. Four years of Zune iterations should have demonstrated that.

 

[Rangers]

Four years of Zune iterations should have demonstrated that.

Which...got them nowhere

Proving if the market isn't there, you cant force it *cough* Kinect *cough*

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Which...got them nowhere

In business you don't always "win". But if you give up at every stumble, you will certainly lose.

Proving if the market isn't there, you cant force it *cough* Kinect *cough*

There is a market for living room game consoles. It's their composition and price that seem to be the stumbling block. Nobody was talking about Sony getting out of the console business when the PS3's first 3-4 years were pretty tough compared to the runaway success of the Wii and the 360.

And no, Kinect hasn't proved itself. I am Kinect-skeptic. And it's not because I don't value the technology, because it's very cool, it's because Microsoft haven't shown anything go value that makes that substantial investment worth it. I also didn't buy Move.

Microsoft's position is being made worse by the lack of faith from the fans. There were many Xbox fans here claiming they didn't care about the performance difference between PS4 and One, they were interested in Kinect, voice controls, using the TV and the other features. I've not heard anybody talk enthusiastically like that for about three months.