Perception of the keynote seems to be extremely clouded by disappointment in a lack of 'surprise announcements', despite the fact that MS offered two very large ones.
I would have thought that the discussion on this forum would be more aligned to analysis of the strategy of MS.
Such as the fact that their entire focus has been on being the first console to a 10m installed base (accomplished) and owning the 2007 holiday season.
MS made a very good case in their keynote that they offer an experience available this holiday season that consumers can't get anywhere else.
Furthermore, the lack of discussion on the two main parts of the MS keynote: the agreement with Disney and expanding Live Marketplace globally, confuses me.
MS entered the console market almost for the sole purpose of establishing Live Marketplace and becoming the distributor for digital content to the living room.
This keynote established that they are well on their way to accomplishing that task, and Sony really needs to step up if they want to compete with MS for ownership of the living room.
I also still don't understand the belief that MS would respond to Sony's reshuffling of their inventory with a price drop.
Maybe if Sony announces a price drop, MS might feel obliged to follow suit. But as the case stands, the PS3 launched at $499 and $599 and is currently $499 and $599.
As far as being critical of the keynote:
The Rock Band thing was the most horrible thing I've witnessed. I had to change the channel, I couldn't stand it. I would have preferred to listen to fingernails on a chalk board. Assassin's Creed look nifty in parts, and extremely buggy in others. This might be a case of the game simply being too ambitious, but I'm not sure.
Reggie Bush was paid too much. A bit of rehearsal might have helped. And they couldn't figure out a better way to demonstrate the newest version of Madden than the ten year old 'money play' of running a weakside toss when the defense overloads and blitzes to the strong side? Practice some plays that will show new animations or something.
Who thought the Halo3 addition Xbox was a good idea? I'll take Simpsons one instead, thank you. And it doesn't even come with Halo3?
But overall, MS demonstrated they have the biggest installed base, their installed base spends the most money on games, their installed base spends a great deal of money in the Live Marketplace, they have the best lineup for the holiday season, they are expanding the Marketplace globally, and you can now stream Disney movies into your living room for your children whenever you want.
How the keynote could be considered any worse than 'solid' is beyond me.
They also raised the bar very high in the non-gaming aspects of the console, which of course is their entire business plan.
