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[Tak3n]

Microsoft gambled, they gambled on peoples habits changing to a much more 'all in one' solution.as current form shows us, it seems that gamble has not paid off, though strangely speaking anecdotally if I look at my friends list it shows me how they are using it as MS envisaged

I see watching TV, Watching Netflix, Playing Destiny etc etc, so that could show that once users get the Xbox home they do use it as that 'all in one' device.

I digress.

whether you believe the race is over or not is subjective, but we can only go on the evidence we see Microsoft real strength as the one where they could easily out manoeuvre Sony is in their finances (there can be no argument here) They have the financial muscle to change things if they wanted to take a big hit ( I appreciate selling that to shareholders is a whole different story) you could offer a upgrade program to current owners. They could even release a 'updated version' with more powerful hardware but as many feel the Xbox One brand is toxic, so a fresh start would be better?

Nintendo wont mind I expect but Sony would be in trouble? their debt is all consuming and I remember listening to a financial 'expert' on a popular money program here in the UK and he was adamant that Sony as we know wont exist in 5 years time due to their debts. I suppose the obvious argument is to say MS can still be profitable in second place, but no business especially one as aggressive as MS should accept that, Amazon did not become the global powerhouse by accepting second place.

If I recall we were told a 10 year generation? if they crashed that to 4 years would that not be a good move

or is this pie in the sky nonsense?

 

[Zalman]

You don't put out a new console until the current install base is satisfied.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. And this seems pretty fucking early to be asking MS to just throw in the towel wtf.

And this generation won't last as long as the last one, I guarantee it. Probably looking at 6 or 7 years at most. Entirely speculation mind you.

 

[mocoworm]

OP. You can't mean that they should end it soon? 4 years? No way.

Unless you mean they should bring out the new box a year early, say in 6-7 years time or something then that's a pretty crazy thing to say. They are doing well, great console and great games.

I have no doubt they will beat SONY to the next-gen but this one has a LONG way to go yet.

 

[bGanci]

Uhh...XB1 hasn't even been out a year...XB1 is selling better than the 360....Even if they don't outsell PS4 this generation they will still make a massive profit...

 

[JimmyRustler]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. And this seems pretty fucking early to be asking MS to just throw in the towel wtf.

I honestly don't see how they can turn this thing around without a complete revamp of the hardware.

 

[Ragus]

Where would I play online games on consoles, if they did?

 

[ramparter]

They can do it, the thing is how to handle public reaction?

If they can offer a decent upgrade plan then it's fine,

 

[Gipsy Danger]

I honestly don't see how they can turn this thing around without a complete revamp of the hardware.

Turn what around? They don't have to win, they just have to do well and for all intents and purposes it seems they're doing fine.

 

[hwy_61]

OP. Don't be ridiculous.

.

 

[Tak3n]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. And this seems pretty fucking early to be asking MS to just throw in the towel wtf.

but these things take time, I don't mean they should come out next week and say 'fuck it' were off...

I meant start now so in 2 years time (4 year generation)

 

[scytherage]

The gap is what, 1 million units or something? Honestly it's not that big of a gap. We're not talking Dreamcast levels of failure with Xbox One. It's second place. It's not the most spectacular place to be but it isn't the bottom of the barrel either.

 

[sk3tch]

What's the "real" problem with the Xbox One? It's slightly less powerful than the PS4? If that's all that there is, there's no reason to release a new console to simply provide more graphics horsepower. All of the parity stuff will attest to that, and even if you look at recent history - PC games aren't that spectacularly better than console (if released on all systems) with the add'l horsepower that you seek (save outliers like Battlefield, Crysis, etc.).

 

[Log4Girlz]

They should put out the successor next month. Brilliant idea.

 

[Leflus]

Err... are you talking about the Xbox One? It haven't even been out for a year yet. Besides, there's no way they're going to announce such plans this early in its lifespan.

It could last as long as the Xbox 360. It could end earlier. We don't know yet. Hell, we don't even know if they're going to make a new console after the XBO.

Personally, I hope they end it earlier than the 360. A six year lifespan is enough imo.

 

[Delta Assault]

What happens when you try and start a new generation before the public's ready for it?

Oh yeah, I believe it's called "Pulling a Dreamcast."

 

[Zalman]

The gap is what, 1 million units or something? Honestly it's not that big of a gap. We're not talking Dreamcast levels of failure with Xbox One. It's second place. It's not the most spectacular place to be but it isn't the bottom of the barrel either.

The gap should be at least 4 million right now.

 

[King Tubby]

Microsoft has a lot of dollars, but they still don't have infinite dollars.

There are many reasons this would not make sense for them.

 

[L4DANathan]

I think it's pretty straightforward, really. Even if they can't really hope to beat the PS4, they'll hang onto the Xbone until they AT LEAST recoup their financial investments for the games/hardware/marketing/etc. I do think they'll be putting out the first console for the next generation though, they'll be in a good position to do that.

 

[Competa]

Investors doesn't make things personal between ps4 and xbox. It's not about who sells the most, but how much profit there is. Xbox makes money, the brand keeps living on.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

They should go third party already and make games for new 3ds.

 

[Dabanton]

Throwing in the towel this early is silly should Sony have canned the PS3 when it was getting pasted by the 360 early on in it's life?

The X1 as a games machine is going to have an interesting end to this year. imo it has the more interesting exclusive games lineup for my tastes.

And I love that Sony's success have forced MS to do two things it needed to do invest in first party properly and be more open to listening to it's userbase.

 

[MavFan619]

The gap is what, 1 million units or something? Honestly it's not that big of a gap. We're not talking Dreamcast levels of failure with Xbox One. It's second place. It's not the most spectacular place to be but it isn't the bottom of the barrel either.

Worldwide the gap is way more than just a million. Even so no, they are doing fine it's just PS4 is doing better, no need to call it a gen. Let things play out, support your consoles let's get these install bases grow more and more and play games. Not everything has to be so dire haha.

 

[AniHawk]

What happens when you try and start a new generation before the public's ready for it?

Oh yeah, I believe it's called "Pulling a Dreamcast."

they did the same thing with the 360 when they gave the xbox a 4 year lifespan. would not really mean a thing, to be honest. the dreamcast's problems extended far beyond starting early, if that even was a problem.

 

[scytherage]

Worldwide the gap is way more than just a million. Even so no, they are doing fine it's just PS4 is doing better, no need to call it a gen. Let things play out, support your consoles let's get these install bases grow more and more and play games. Not everything has to be so dire haha.

Ok, I had the US numbers in mind when I replied.

 

[MilkyJoe]

I imagine they are already planning what comes next, and i do hope that the top of the page says

NO Kinect

NO TV

MOAR POWERRRRrrrr

That's all the target audiance wants

 

[driver116]

I'd be worried if Sony was the Sony we know now in 5 years.

 

[Tak3n]

Microsoft has a lot of dollars, but they still don't have infinite dollars.

There are many reasons this would not make sense for them.

agree, but you attack your main competitor where they are weakest, and that is their debt, you force their hand...

but the longer you wait the more PS4's are in peoples home the harder it would be to do I feel..

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Uhh...XB1 hasn't even been out a year...XB1 is selling better than the 360....Even if they don't outsell PS4 this generation they will still make a massive profit...

Just because the X1 isn't THE fastest selling console in history doesn't mean that being the 2nd fastest selling console in history means its a failure. X1 is making MS billions. It just so happens Sony is making even more.

 

[BrokenIcarus]

You need some sort of incentive for people to upgrade! If MSFT put out a new console in 2017 it's either going to be
1. Bloody expensive
Or
2. Not a huge upgrade specs wise thanfrom the ps4.

Now the challenge really lies in getting people to believe it's worth the upgrade. And for that you need strong third party support who might not want to fully commit as they now have to support yet another platform.
You want developers to be as familiar as possible with these new consoles for them to have the easiest time optimising their games for your console. You would basically have to start giving out prototypes by 2015. It's not gonna happen.

 

[Bucket-o-roadkill]

What happens when you try and start a new generation before the public's ready for it?

Oh yeah, I believe it's called "Pulling a Dreamcast."

By making the greatest console ever produced. Nice! Do it MS! Can't wait for Powerstone 3.

 

[NHale]

That's a good way to piss off publishers, developers and Xbox One owners (your estabilished fanbase) at the same time.

 

[MavFan619]

agree, but you attack your main competitor where they are weakest, and that is their debt, you force their hand...

but the longer you wait the more PS4's are in peoples home the harder it would be to do I feel..

So you want MS to bankrupt Sony completely to win the gen?

 

[Majukun]

last gen ,at this point,ps3 was doomed and had "no games",in this end 360 and ps3 ended up on par worldwide and ps3 probably had the best line-up of games.

so I wouldn't be so hasty to call the game over.there's plenty of time to change things..of course they are not gonna change by themselves,it all depends on how good microsoft management really is.

 

[VSynk]

That would be a really big "thanks but fuck you" to the persons who already bought it, and i am guessing that hey wouldn't buy it again from Microsoft

 

[Empty]

releasing a console is very expensive upfront. in the business typically you make your money towards the back end of the generation when you have a big install base for software licences and much cheaper hardware costs. at this point making a profit - which they can still do selling worse than ps4, even if they'll be kicking themselves for the simple mistakes made - is more important than a very pricey holy war w/ sony over a shrinking, possibly irrelevant part of the technology business.

 

[Mohonky]

I suppose the obvious argument is to say MS can still be profitable in second place, but no business especially one as aggressive as MS should accept that, Amazon did not become the global powerhouse by accepting second place.

What?

"We're going to sell more consoles, whether we bankrupt ourselves in the process or not goddamn it we arent going to let our console warriors down on NPD day!"

The object is to make money. Thats how you get bigger, by making money and reinvesting it into the company. Not pissing it down the drain because "not selling as well as competiton"

Its all about the bigger picture, sometimes you take a short term loss for a longer term gain, or sometimes you ride out the current situation to survive to the next big chance. They arent going to drop something in the name of some irrelevent war being fought by fanboys on forums.

 

[grimmiq]

agree, but you attack your main competitor where they are weakest, and that is their debt, you force their hand...

but the longer you wait the more PS4's are in peoples home the harder it would be to do I feel..

Unless they bring out a more powerful console cheaper than what the PS4 will be going for (Say $250 by then?) it won't make a difference, 3-4 years is too soon for most consumers to justify paying for another console, that's made worse by all their friends/family having the competitors console.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Uhh...XB1 hasn't even been out a year...XB1 is selling better than the 360....Even if they don't outsell PS4 this generation they will still make a massive profit...

You're not taking stock issues the 360 had at the same time period of its release into account.

 

[Jburton]

The gap is what, 1 million units or something? Honestly it's not that big of a gap. We're not talking Dreamcast levels of failure with Xbox One. It's second place. It's not the most spectacular place to be but it isn't the bottom of the barrel either.

In the US the gap is around that, will proabably double by the end of the holiday period.

Worldwide Sony must be close to 12 million sold, X1 would be lucky to be close to 6.

They are being comprehensively beaten everywhere.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

The Xbone One isn't even a year old; they can't even be entertaining the idea of ending this generation early yet! And also, ending it too soon would almost certainly piss of a huge portion of their loyal fanbase, and given how much both Sony and MS stretched out last gen, I doubt either is keen to rush into next gen, with another steep hike in visual quality, larger studios and increased development cost as a result.

 

[Castef]

Does this thread even makes sense?

The console is not even out since a year and it is selling very well. What's the problem?

 

[ambar_hitman]

Nintendo tried it with Wii U.
Sega tried it with Dreamcast.

 

[netBuff]

Uhh...XB1 hasn't even been out a year...XB1 is selling better than the 360....Even if they don't outsell PS4 this generation they will still make a massive profit...

Is this actually true, on a worldwide scale? As far as I know, we don't have any numbers on this. Seems very unlikely to me.

Does this thread even makes sense?

The console is not even out since a year and it is selling very well. What's the problem?

Xbone is flopping. But I don't think MS is interested in releasing a successor, anyways. Seems likely this will be the last Xbox.

 

[Guymelef]

last gen ,at this point,ps3 was doomed and had "no games",in this end 360 and ps3 ended up on par worldwide and ps3 probably had the best line-up of games.

so I wouldn't be so hasty to call the game over.there's plenty of time to change things..of course they are not gonna change by themselves,it all depends on how good microsoft management really is.

PS3 had Europe, Xbox One doesn't.

 

[AbandonedTrolley]

I guess Sony and Microsoft should have just given up straight away last generation when the Wii pounded them in to the ground? Glad they didn't or maybe Sony should have when it was consistently being outsold by the 360? Again, Sony proved that with time it's possible to turn things around and they are now in the position you see right now with the PS4.

Writing Microsoft off already is just bonkers. they have plenty of years left in their current machine. In the same instance you could be asking Sony to pack up and give us more powerful hardware right now too as other than the DDR5 the rest is easily bettered by current PC's.

 

[Recall]

Microsoft existing isn't a personal attack.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Second place still makes multi-millions of dollars. And an early lead by Sony does not make an entire generation of titles to come mute from any other console maker.

 

[Tak3n]

So you want MS to bankrupt Sony completely to win the gen?

Some would argue they done that to themselves already....

but to your point, Sony rightly so at their E3 conference sold the PS4 almost as the Anti MS machine..

no always on, second hand games etc etc

They hit MS where they were weakest...their public image...

why would MS be bad at hitting Sony where they are weakest?

 

[Ataxia]

Why do you write like that? It makes it such a pain to read.

Regardless. They aren't even doing that bad... Just because they're not beating the PS4 in sales, doesn't mean that the thing is complete a failure. And let's not even mention the hit on consumer confidence that MS would take if they were to release another $400 console a year after their last one.