It was the same kind of thing when the PS2 was launched. But you could argue the original Xbox, which strangely or not probably is closer to the current XB1 than the 360 is, was launched to late to do anything and MS dropped it like it has never existed.
I still think they got extremely lucky with the 360. Only because Sony messed up big time did they get a years lead and opposition that was over priced and under powered due to complexity.
Plus we were coming off the back of the PS2 dominance which, quite frankly, had just got boring by that point. So MS got lucky again because they did something different.
Now we are in this gen and the roles have reversed. No one, sadly discounting Nintendo, has a year long head start - in North America and the UK at al. The rest of the world has been given to Sony with a huge gap between launches. MS have the overpriced and underpowered console on the market. And it launched with the wrong message. People seem to want pure gaming again - a priori. The media stuff just comes with the package.
MS were riding a wave of luck thinking it was all down to careful planning etc. When in fact it was Sony screwing up big style. They've entered this gen thinking it all needs to change again because that worked with the 360 when it seems people want it to stay the same. We're in a PS2 cycle again. All games - no change.
It was the same kind of thing when the PS2 was launched. But you could argue the original Xbox, which strangely or not probably is closer to the current XB1 than the 360 is, was launched to late to do anything and MS dropped it like it has never existed.
I still think they got extremely lucky with the 360. Only because Sony messed up big time did they get a years lead and opposition that was over priced and under powered due to complexity.
Plus we were coming off the back of the PS2 dominance which, quite frankly, had just got boring by that point. So MS got lucky again because they did something different.
Now we are in this gen and the roles have reversed. No one, sadly discounting Nintendo, has a year long head start - in North America and the UK at al. The rest of the world has been given to Sony with a huge gap between launches. MS have the overpriced and underpowered console on the market. And it launched with the wrong message. People seem to want pure gaming again - a priori. The media stuff just comes with the package.
MS were riding a wave of luck thinking it was all down to careful planning etc. When in fact it was Sony screwing up big style. They've entered this gen thinking it all needs to change again because that worked with the 360 when it seems people want it to stay the same. We're in a PS2 cycle again. All games - no change.
I think it was a give and take.
More than luck at first, it was a job well done and sheer talent, imho. Innovative hardware and innovative features -Gamerscores, gamertags, achievements- (standards now). Focus on social features like parties, indie support, getting the bigwigs on board like Capcom, etc etc.
You try to look at the two sides of the coin, and now that you did... think about the fact that Sony have also had a lot of luck. A lot!
Despite the PS3 being complex to work with, slightly underpowered GPU wise and having poor tools, despite the hacking of PSN and some other security issues, the did relatively well.
It was a huge crisis for them, but you have to make mistakes sometimes. So things get cleaned and refreshed. The attitude of the people leading Sony have changed for the better -except some deja vu moments like the new KZ controversy.
Sony became a dormant giant. They didn't advance much, they were usually on tow, going along with Nintendo or Microsoft. Okay, you have Wii nunchaku, we will have Move. You have Kinect, let's promote PS Eye, now we remember that we had a camera.
Look at the PS4, it's powerful, it has got lots of good press. There is no denying that. But imho, it is even more uninspiring and boring than the Xbox One, design wise. And that says a lot.
Does it have anything you can learn from -save the PS+ deals-? Does it offer anything that other consoles can't offer save a bit of extra grunt?
In my humble opinion, not much. It is as dull as you can get. Heck, the PS4 is more similar to the X360 than the Xbox One.
Still, it is understandable, make a supercharged PC and make it easy to program for is a good philosophy after what happened to the PS3.
The biggest flaw of the console to me is that it is meant to please the core who live like 15 years in the past, something I respect because maybe, just maybe it was a better time for games, and they have a point in some matters but they also usually fear and criticise anything out of the ordinary and have a latent fear of change.
If you think MS were lucky, take into account how lucky were Sony too that the RRoD existed, it was a game changer, in a bad way, for MS.
Weren't for that I can't even begin to fathom how many more units the X360 would sell. Not to mention the huge costs in term of repairs Microsoft had to deal with.
But they managed to be quite consistent throughout the last gen at the very least.
That's why I think that the Xbox One situation might not be so bad after all. This slump just got rid of some of the people that were in charge and didn't know how to create the most compelling console nor they knew how to sell it. --still it managed to sell quite a few units.
Could they actually see anything?
This little debacle should bring much needed fresh blood to the Xbox division. Either that or they hire Moore, Allard... once again with Bill Gates helping too. Adding John Carmack into the mix now that he might be hire-able
Carmack is a hero for me and many people. :smile: Sure, he's someone that the core loves, but he is always a step ahead of the times, and that's why he is so valuable. He has the core values plus a vision of future, whether he is wrong or not.
What saddens me the most about the Xbox One is not the internet hate or the bad press, etc etc, is that some very talented people left the company unhappy with the philosophy of the console --and I don't mean Kinect, which is great.
I can't say many names, if any, maybe just one at least, someone who participates in this forum.
