If you are looking at it from an investor's perspective I could understand being annoyed that they hinted at next generation already. It is common knowledge that sales can suffer when the next iteration is close, which is why so many companies hold off on announcements until the last minute like Apple seems to do. I would still disagree with you if I held MS stock though, because accepting reality and positioning yourself for the future is a reasonable business strategy that I think makes sense with their recent moves.
From a gaming perspective I strongly disagree with you with respect to the claim they are sacrificing the here and now. I just don't see it and actually see the opposite. I could have the wrong impression, but my current impression is they intend to support backwards compatibility for current purchases on Xbox, and that they are moving closer to an Apple system where the next machine does not render the last completely obsolete.
If you are exclusively referring to games I can understand. They have not done a good job at all with respect to 1st party games IMO. Their franchises are stale to me by and large, and I dare say I am not really excited by anything I know they are putting out in the near term. I kind of expect most games to flop other than the franchises I find a bit stale, such as Forza. All that said, this gripe would apply 1, 2 and 3 years ago, and first party games are more sweetener to me than a significant console purchase decision. So its not a case of abandoning the Xbox One, its more a case of having a shitty first party lineup yet again.
Microsoft hasn't given me confidence that they're going to support backwards compatibility for current purchases on Xbox One, and if that was their plan they could just come out and say it. Xbox -> 360 compatibility is less than 50%, although there are significant technical reasons for that and so I won't hold it against them too much.
Still, to believe this narrative that Microsoft is the champion of BC when their own history says otherwise is wishful thinking. Microsoft is not a company that should be
believed. They are a company that should be
evaluated. If you
evaluate what they offer and you like it? Sweet! Enjoy their products, spend your money, support them, wear the merchandise, whatever. I have no issue with that. I am also a fanboy for certain games and as such I totally understand the feeling of loyalty and passion.
But
believing what they say wholesale? No. My answer to that is an uncompromising "no" and I have history to back up that answer. Pointing a finger at history might ruffle feathers (it clearly has in some threads) but that's not my problem.
Because they have realized they fucked up and are doing what they can to not repeat their mistake? Because they have been, ever since that botched launch, doing quite a bit to bring the Xbox One up to the place it now sits, which is not so bad considering. They could have just given up and cut their losses, or moved in a whole other direction. Instead they are making all the moves a company should make to give consumers what they ultimately want. Sure you can just say, too little too late, or crap on them because you hate them as a company, but honestly, what more can they do at this point? What could they do to prove to you that they are trying to right the ship? My guess is nothing.
For some context, I've used Microsoft products for a loooong time. I learned how to boot a .exe from command line before I owned a console or handheld. MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 were my
jam. I am very, very familiar with Microsoft's behavior during the 90s and 00s regarding PC gaming.
Ultimately, you have me pegged. I do have a lingering sense of "too little, too late" when it comes to Microsoft. And I also don't have an explicit roadmap as to how they could win me back or prove to me that they're trying to right the ship because I'm not really interested in their products. I have a 360 for a handful of exclusives and shmups and that's about it.
However, considering my long history with the company as their customer, I don't see how that reflects poorly on me. I am a disenfranchised former customer. "What can Microsoft do?" I dunno. Less than a decade ago, they were cramming Kinect down everyone's throats, and 5 years before that they were charging for online multiplayer. They seem to be doing exactly what they always do and so my crime is having a decent memory.
If anything, my opinion as a disenfranchised customer should hold more weight since they "are making all the moves a company should make to give consumers what they ultimately want" in your words. Well... no, they aren't. That's why I mentioned what I did.
I have a sizeable NES library. That should tell you how I view gaming. I want my games to
last. I'm willing to take gambles and give second chances and see if a company has turned itself around, but absolutely none of the excuses currently being used to defend Microsoft are new. None of them. Not a single one -- whether you want to cite their litany of PR statements, their recent purchase of developers, their "partnerships", their stance towards backwards compatibility -- is new. If someone is dazzled by any of these not-new promises, cool. That's your problem. Don't make me out to be a bad guy just because I don't take PR at face value. How're you enjoying Scalebound and Crackdown and the Fable series?
