>> |
No. 186078
>>186077
I actually agree with you on that, and that's why I think Mocrosoft is just straight up screwed this generation. But they better hope that Titanfall is the exception to the rule that blows everyone's socks off and makes them buy Xbox Ones, because if it isn't they're in for a hard time. I mean, what else do they have to push the system? After Titanfall there's fucking nothing until 2015, and 2015 is too late.
I know one might be tempted to point to the PS3's resurgence near the end of it's life cycle as proof that a console can come from behind, and it's true, but the comparison to the Xbone's situation isn't really one-to-one:
1. The PS3's online service was free. That meant that people who owned an Xbox could just pick one up without having to sign up for a second subscription service. This made it easier for the PS3 to enjoy a resurgence in sales once the price had dropped. This generation, both consoles have pay-to-online services, and people don't like to double up on subscription services. Hell, a lot of people don't like to double up on services even when they're free; look how people reacted to Origin.
What's more, people want to play with their friends, and so are more likely to go for the service that offers them that. If the Xbone falls much further behind, it'll be a lot harder to motivate people to purchase it in the future.
2. Although the PS3 was basically a wet fart in the North American market, it was more successful elsewhere - especially in Japan, where the 360's install base might as well have not existed.
Not only did this keep the lights on for Sony during the PS3's dark times, it meant there were Japanese developers from whom Sony could get cheap exclusitivity deals. Those titles could then be localized to other regions in order to provide buy value and paving the way towards the PS3's renaissance.
Today, the PS4 continues to enjoy that global brand recognition and support, while the Xbone is actually losing it's home North American market. If these trends continue - and it seems likely that they will - Microsoft is going to find it harder and harder to nail down exclusitivity deals that aren't prohibitively expensive.
3. Like the Xbone, the PS3 suffered from a ridiculously high price point. Unlike the Xbone, however, that price point was set because the PS3 was engineered with a lot of new and more expensive tech. That hurt then in the short term, but as manufacturing capability caught up, the price of the hardware dropped, allowing them to price competitively.
Meanwhile, aside from the Kinect, the Xbone is full of tech that was outdated before it even left the box. The manufacturing capacity for these parts isn't going to undergo the same sort of increase that allowed for the ps3's precipitous price drops; hell, for some of the parts, manufacturing capacity might actually decrease. So, while the system will eventually drop in price for sure, they're not in any kind of position for a sustained pricing war. It's likely that they'll remain the more expensive - or comparably priced, if they unbundle the Kinect - yet weaker console.
|