ram said:
just some examples - look at your beloved NPD - the only good selling console is the WII at the moment.
Just because the Wii is dominating doesn't mean that any imaginary rationale for the 360's mediocrity in sales or brand value should be wholesale accepted as reasonable.
I was about to quote your argument myelf, because it's ridiculous to think that Moore's departure and X07 are going to affect sales at all.
If investors happened to be particularly enamored with Moore (they aren't), his leaving might affect share price, but H&E is so convoluted in the Microsoft structure that even if consumers cared about MS's financial health (they don't), they'd buy the thing at the same rate they otherwise would if the price fell.
Even if game journalists were really determined to find the cash/time to make it out ot X07 immediately after the most obnoxious E3 on record (they aren't), virtually nothing they can say or do can stop the sales of GTA IV and Halo 3 this holiday.
And the extension of the warranty to 3 years was a net wash from an image point of view, given that it was a peace offering; people it doesn't apply to will forget about it, people it does already own the console and (from the look of SW sales) supporting it anyway.
Your reasons were worse-than-Pachter-drunk bad. Don't bother defending it.
Real reasons for sales/brand problems are almost all tied to a lack of diversity in its appeal:
(1) Developers really committed to the 360 are committed to it because they're resistant to the casual market represented by the Wii, therefore the existing problem of the Xbox brand's pandering to the hardcoriest is only going to be exacerbated as only the most 'hardcore' developers are going to keep making expensive 360 projects in the face of publishers who want buckets full of Wii games.
(2) The cultural diversity is limited since the lion's share of projects for the 360 are either straight out of America or with a very stereotypical Western gamer in mind. Americans that favor Eastern/simpler games are left in the cold, not just the rest of the world.
(3) Marketing for the console has been absurdly narrow, hitting all the usual 18-24 suburban male hotspots. The only improvement this time around is that the 360 picked up what was once the PS2's gangsta-rap appeal.
