Business Approach Comparison Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox

MS should release a new console as soon as they can stack 16 GB of HBM on a 5 TF GPU @$499. So, basically next year. Since everything is a VM forward compatibility shouldn't be an issue.

 

Kinect is a bit like the videophone. You have to be dressed up, clean, shaved, hair nicely put AND on top of that you need to clean the room thoroughly, change or move your furniture and rethink the decoration maybe.

People not all want to look at themselves and their run down shack constantly , nor broadcast it to other people or the world.

 

Interesting interview with Yusuf Mehdi at Forbes...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertc...i-explains-the-xbox-ones-split-with-kinect-2/

Tommy McClain

 

Is this a facetious post?

In total, or just the chip and memory?
I'm skeptical of either being the case next year. Mass-manufacturing and likely prices aside, the stack density for HBM is not going to allow for 16GB for what would be considered a bleeding edge implementation. The necessary bus width to support that many stacks would actually be enough to exceed a 5 TF GCN GPU's ability to use it.

 

Well we've seen them take some seriously big decisions lately about the very nature of the business, but all hell will freeze over before MS leaves a market they did so well in in the last few years. Everyone has hiccups along the way and X1 is a little hiccup. I don't see them leaving this market, whatever it takes. Spinning off the Xbox is an option, of course and could be considered as MS leaving the market. I think the Xbox brand will be around for a long time, in whatever shape or form it will need to be.

 

I remember ppl saying a while ago, all they need to do is release a kinectless version and theyve basically done a reversal on all their major choices with the xbone

I guess we now know why it was called the xbox one (eighty)
Henceforth it shall be officially know as the xb180

remarkable! WTF only 80% of ppl with the xb180 are using kinect at all, surely that cant be right. If anything this is the most remarkable bit of info theyve let slip. Fully 1 in 5 ppl have paid an extra $100 for something that they dont use

wagglewand wii usage = > 99%
pc keyboard usage = > 99%
etc
80% just shows how indispensable it was

 

Oh, I agree, that can't possibly be correct. 20% of the people don't use Kinect at all? AT ALL? That brings a whole new meaning to word worthless if 20% of the people don't even bother hooking it up and using it to turn on and off or pause.

But I liked his "four main areas" of differentiation now that they are at the same price as the PS4:

1) Games! And MS has the best games line-up! Really? First, that's clearly subjective in terms of exclusives but secondly - no, actually the majority of games this generation will be multi-platform and for all of those the PS4 has the best.

So, strike one.

2) Friends! Through Live Gold. A service that is worse than it was on the 360, while the PS4 has a service that is much better than it was on the PS3. The quality and capability gaps have closed between the two services so this is pretty much down to - If we've already roped you in last generation, you're likely going to stay.

So, ehhh.. Is it a differentiator? Sure, but why not just paint the damn thing green and say that is different as well?

3) The Original Vision! Yes, that original vision that caused us to do all these things we've had to backtrack on and sell what is now a gimped console? It can still do some of that. Like, HDMI-IN is still there! Hurray!

Strike two.

4) You can still buy the Kinect for an extra premium to get those sub-par experiences that only the Kinect can offer without the foolish expectation there would be games or support for it by including it with every console!

Safety!

Forget strike three, we went from baseball to football because striking out isn't enough, you have to actually lose points for this to be your planned answer.

 

Mehdi played the it's in less territories card. I guess they're just playing rope-a-dope

 

Well I did find it funny for a while it was like "PS4 will surely crush Xbox, it's in XXX territories vs 13!". And I was all "uhh, those additional territories dont actually matter too much". And now, oddly, everybody has come around to agreeing with my position all along

 

That's not the worst spin:

Yeah, totally. That would make sense if people switching from 360 last gen to PS4 this gen wasn't your biggest problem, Mehdi.

 

Yes, it's spin but my anecdotal evidence shows there might be a little truth to it. I'm pretty happy with my 360 right now that I don't feel the need to upgrade just yet. Whether or not there are more happy 360 owners than PS3 there's no way of knowing. So I was kind of surprised to see him say that. However, I could see how a PS3 owner would be happy to upgrade now, smaller slick looking box with the best hardware of this gen, showing off better multiplatform games all for something that's only at most $100 more than what they paid for their PS3. Remember there are only about 10-12 million next-gen console sales so far. A small fraction of the total 360/PS3 userbase. That's a lot of 360/PS3 owners that haven't upgraded.

Tommy McClain

 

And you know this is the case, how?

We're at 7/4 million sold out vs 84/84. Even if it is the case, it really doesn't matter. It only matters how many are sold, not at all where they come from. It's likely the case 499 caused a lot more 360ers to blanch at upgrading than PS3'ers.

 

A lot of last gen owners bought at much lower prices so they'll probably wait until this generation drops to comparable prices at which they bought in.

 

Lenovo Thinkpad (or Mac).

I dunno about that, I basically got a PS3 because it was a cheap Bluray player and I'm sure a significant proportion of early PS3 sales would have been made to non-gamers looking for a cheap Bluray player.

Exactly my thoughts; Xbox leadership just seems so completely reactionary it's embarrassing.

You also have to wonder: if Sony managed to catch up with the 360, despite the PS3 launching a year later and costing significantly more for a large portion of its life, can the Xbox brand really compete with PS at the same price, with weaker hardware and (in all likelihood) weaker exclusives?

Especially given the clear negative sentiment that MS has managed to engender in core gamer circles during the last year.

 

Just a lot of self reporting by people online, plus it's the statistically obvious conclusion based on how the sales are going right now. I believe there was even a consumer survey recently that showed as much. Of course, why should I show my math is Mehdi doesn't have to show his? His was the extraordinary (and preposterous and self-serving) claim. People are just so satisfied with the way MS gave up on making games for the 360 over the last two years they just can't bear to upgrade!

 

Price drops and essentially free 360s when you bought laptops had to help MS's overall number.

IMO the move to 399 certainly makes the prospect of a XB1 for 99 dollars when buying a >$699.00 laptop in the US a possibility though. If they do drop the pay wall for streaming services and do an incentive program we'll own one sooner than I thought.

@Rangers - do you recall how many months MS typically ran the free 360 program for college students buying computers? And did those numbers show up on NPD? I know they did it back to back summers a couple years in a row but can't remember when it started.....

 

Sonnyyyy loses a bunch more money, including in game which was a surprise

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-05-14-sonys-game-division-reports-full-year-loss

Once again they're predicting Game to have a (small) profit next FY, which I think they've done for about 5 years running as far as I remember. Like Nintendo their forecasts sometimes show a comical pattern.

 

I don't think loosing money in a gaming division during console launch year is surprise to anyone, especially since PS4 is selling at a slight loss.

 

I don't think those territories are as enthusiastic for MS as Sony, and so launching in them likely won't yield great sales. Going by chat here anyway, and peeps from those countries reporting on availability and disinterest.

 

I quit following news for a while and boom, a kinect less sku.

It is a good move, they have price parity now, they lose in games quality though they definitely have better services and it will only get better. It is tough match but it is playable whereas being 100$ more expensive was not. Fighting momentum and inertia is hard, reacting quickly is a good start.

I think MSFT needed to remove kinect to launch in more territories, voice recognition simply does not work great at all outside of a couple of languages.

The One is going to cost 349$ by next Christmas, that is how I read Medhi's interview. Not a price cut a temporary rebate in NA and EU.
Sony won't match that, it should help too.

Now they need to announce a bunch of games at E3.