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[Anticitizen One]

"Not leading" and "doing poorly" are separate things. Sony is definitely leading and that's not what MS wants but if you think they are doing poorly then I don't think anybody will convince you otherwise.

They are doing very poorly which is why every time I walk into a store I see dozens of Xbox One's collecting dust and retailers offering incentives from price drops (costco) to giving away a free game with purchase (walmart) or $50 gift card (Target)

I've also seen several Xbox One's that were bought at launch being returned post-Christmas. The system is too expensive, has weaker specs than competitors and lacks the user base that Playstation has.

 

[lastflowers]

I'd love to see them put out more quirky titles like powerstar golf and Max, and what Quantum Break seems to look like.

 

[Dragonborn]

By actually looking at sales numbers.

3.6 million units in 3 months is not what the word "struggling" means. I'm sorry. If you want to have a conversation about how they plan to attempt to outpace Sony, then that's a valid conversation. To say that they're struggling isn't even close.

3.6? No, 3.3 at best

MS will never catch up to the PS4 unless they start doimg 2 to 1 in NA again which isn't going to happen. Titanfall will boost it a bit for March but it'll drop right back down after. They've already lost it

 

[vg260]

MS had two other generations of not being in first place as practice. They'll be fine. Really this is the best thing that could have happened to an Xbox fan. It sucks now but the next console will probably go back to the power before all mantra. It should hopefully inspire them to make more new IPs as well since Xbox exclusives can't look better on PS4. As happy as we all are with the PS4, it wouldn't exist as it does without the PS3 setting a bad example early on.

No way. I wanted a more powerful console then what they made, not one that was clearly lacking in performance at an inflated price due to a peripheral. The best thing would have been hardware parity with a software and services battle.

 

[harSon]

Only console warriors care about the "console war." All the platform holders care about is profit and capitalizing on their foothold within the industry. For Microsoft, the latter would be something like establishing a legitimate television presence ala Netflix. Or a joint marriage between Windows Apps and Xbox Apps. Or turning the Xbox into a living room hub through which all entertainment is experienced through. First, second and third place are meaningless tags pushed on forums.

 

[Steverulez]

A price drop and more exclusives would be the smart move.

Microsoft already quite a few exclusives out, and have quite a lot announced too.

I don't think Xbox One has a content problem (or based on what they have announced right now will have a content problem), I think the price is the problem

 

[old]

This is a very pointed question.

 

[Adam182]

Microsoft could turn the Xbone around with a three pronged approach, though they would have to be pretty desperate.

1. Ditch Kinect from the SKU. No one wants it, it drives up price, devs aren't using it.

2. Drop the price. $150, not $100. It would position them below the ps4. This would give them an advantage or force Sony to react.

3. Redo the OS. Anecdotally, everyone I know hates it. I've read a lot of people saying it's confusing.

These three things would effecitvely relaunch the system, provided the games are there.

Just curious. Have u used the x1? Not bashing, just I find many of my friends felt the same way about the OS and kinect until they tried it. I think lower the price WITH kinect or bring it to $400 with kinect and a game.

Either way though I don't think the x1 is a failure. It's outselling what the 360 was selling at this time

 

[BotoxAgent]

MS needs to turn things around fast, but I don't know if anything short of a miracle will do it though. They are not going to when the graphical arms race this gen. So they need to really start showing how Kinect adds to the gaming and living room experience.

 

[yankeehater]

Xbox 360 sold 3.2m consoles by March 31st 2006, the XB1 is going to destroy that number. How anyone could think a $500 console selling that much better then a $400 console is beyond be. By this holiday MS should get the production costs down so that they can drop the price and continue to make a profit.

 

[RayMaker]

What business would give out negative publicity out of choice?

none I tell ya.

 

[Marceles]

No console wins until Kingdom Hearts 3 goes exclusive

Spoiler

Kappa

 

[rokkerkory]

The chances are winning this gen are probably slim, but it doesn't mean the console can't be successful. It's too early to tell but yes, MS needs to make some actions in 2014 or it will be left behind.

 

[watership]

MS needs to turn things around fast, but I don't know if anything short of a miracle will do it though. They are not going to when the graphical arms race this gen. So they need to really start showing how Kinect adds to the gaming and living room experience.

Considering where they were in June, to where they are now, they're moving faster than SONY did all last gen. They're only real hope to "win" in the eyes of gaf is to get unique, exclusive games and services.

 

[twobear]

LOL wut? It's still selling well regardless of how Sony is doing, but make whatever predictions you want if it keeps you happy.

Well unless you think Xbone will sell better than 360 over its lifetime (no way), these early high sales figures will have to drop lower than 360 later on. I think they will track much lower as the PS4 builds momentum. Once 60% of your console owning friends own PS4s, it's more enticing for new console buyers to buy a PS4. And as the market shifts towards PS4, game developers will start cutting Xbone out of the picture and developing exclusively for PS4, that will increase PS4's value without Sony even having to do anything.

 

[Shaanyboi]

These consoles haven't even had 6 months on shelves yet and you're already declaring a winner. Way to go OP.

This is a ridiculous question to ask at this point.

 

[Delicious Waffles]

Haven't these systems been out five or so months? How did they already lose? How does one even determine such a thing?

Not for nothing, I don't know why people care so much about who wins or loses.

 

[daninthemix]

It's a marathon not a sprint, and they're only seconds off the starting line.

 

[boingball]

It will be business as usual until early April. If then the numbers for March show that PS4 still outsold the xbone in the US then MS will re-evaluate their strategy (if the xbone manages to sell more in the US then of course nothing needs to be re-evaluated (forget other markets, those are lost, but MS management is also not interested in other markets anyway (see the design of the xbone))).

Difficult to tell what MS will do though. The 3DS showed that lowering the price can lead to success, so this might be a viable way forward. Buying exclusives would be difficult and if Titanfall didn't succeed could be easily argumented against. I am not sure MS is ready to remove Kinect. That would be a desperate measure. If the numbers fall to Wii U levels this might happen, but I don't think they fall that low.

I wonder what the current state of the bundle xbone with cable contract play is. That could be something MS could put their hopes on.

 

[Bsigg12]

Eh, they don't really need to until sales reach Wii U levels of bad for a month. If ntkrnl is to be continued to be believed, we should be hearing about Halo 2 Anniversary in the next week or 2 which people will probably see as Microsoft scrambling.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

When Sony has a 10 million+ lead.

 

[Sylvrfonic]

The numbers that Microsoft are putting up so far are really good. With the line up they have shown already they have little reason to fear. I doubt they believe they will remain behind for long.

 

[dcx4610]

The moment a Kinectless SKU becomes available is the moment Microsoft has reached desperation mode.

Xbone was built with Kinect in mind. The goal was to data mine millions of users and sell that information or use it to make better products. Without Kinect, the Xbone is back to just being a a video game console. They've admitted defeat when they drop it.

If they do drop Kinect I think you'll see a fairly short console cycle and they'll come out with a power house of a system within 5 years.

 

[Bsigg12]

The moment a Kinectless SKU becomes available is the moment Microsoft has reached desperation mode.

Xbone was built with Kinect in mind. The goal was to data mine millions of users and sell that information or use it to make better products. Without Kinect, the Xbone is back to just being a a video game console. They've admitted defeat when they drop it.

If they do drop Kinect I think you'll see a fairly short console cycle and they'll come out with a power house of a system within 5 years.

Holy tinfoil hat batman!

 

[Cimeas]

The chance of them giving up is miniscule.

Windows Phone launched in 2009, and was practically in the shitter for 4 years until it started growing significantly in 2013. Bing lost billions upon billions, and they stuck with it. I find it hard to believe they will outright bail.

Kinectless SKU, Halo 5 bundle, buy some more exclusives, successful advertising campaign (which they tend to be good at), maybe drop the price a bit (they could easily drop to $349 without the Kinect if it really adds like $120 to the price) and they'll do fine. Probably won't 'win' per se, but they can make a healthy profit nonetheless.

Who knows, maybe they'll even soak up a small portion of the casual gamers who have left Nintendo. Perhaps.

And as long as they aren't losing lots of money on each box, which given the production cost is unlikely (as opposed to the original Xbox for example), they probably only need to sell 30m+ units to make the business (ie earning money from each game on the platform) worthwhile, and I think they can manage that over 4 or 5 years at the very least.

 

[Finster]

Microsoft will react by selling off Xbox and Bing.

BUT THEN

Sega will purchase the Xbox division for US$10 billion and take over manufacturing of the Xbox One. They will tease a new hardware release with the tagline "It's Thinking" and leverage Kinect and Oculus Rift to create the greatest in-home VR experience mankind has ever seen built on the Xbox One software and hardware.

Coming 2016:

Spoiler

Dreamcast One

 

[stonesak]

Holy tinfoil hat batman!

You haven't done your research have you? Start by googling NuAd.

 

[weeeeezy]

Well unless you think Xbone will sell better than 360 over its lifetime (no way), these early high sales figures will have to drop lower than 360 later on. I think they will track much lower as the PS4 builds momentum. Once 60% of your console owning friends own PS4s, it's more enticing for new console buyers to buy a PS4. And as the market shifts towards PS4, game developers will start cutting Xbone out of the picture and developing exclusively for PS4, that will increase PS4's value without Sony even having to do anything.

I'm sorry but anyone who thinks Xbox one won't sell over 22 million units in its lifetime really isn't thinking clearly.

 

[Finster]

You haven't done your research have you? Start by googling NuAd.

What does Thai massage have to do with anything?

 

[Sulik2]

They are 2 million behind to a cheaper more powerful console that has no system selling games at the moment. Microsoft has to know they have already lost. Their goal now is how to make enough revenue, ie. tv shows, to make up what they spent on R & D and marketing for the console.

 

[chubigans]

Only console warriors care about the "console war." All the platform holders care about is profit and capitalizing on their foothold within the industry. For Microsoft, the latter would be something like establishing a legitimate television presence ala Netflix. Or a joint marriage between Windows Apps and Xbox Apps. Or turning the Xbox into a living room hub through which all entertainment is experienced through. First, second and third place are meaningless tags pushed on forums.

-What good would establishing a television presence be if it's only available on Xbox? The reason it has worked so well for Netflix is because Netflix is everywhere. Literally EVERYWHERE. MS would need to publish some kind of Xbox Entertainment app across all platforms including mobile, Smart TVs and even PS4/PS3, which I don't see them doing.

-Windows App store is a wasteland of apps, and even worse sales performance. I don't see how merging Xbox into that is benefiting anyone.

-Turning XB1 into a living room hub? That's what they're trying to do now. It's clearly not driving a whole lot of traction.

 

[Bsigg12]

You haven't done your research have you? Start by googling NuAd.

Of course I know about NuAD. It's no different from interactive ads they've had on the 360 and that Comcast has on certain things in that they're looking for user interaction which you don't have to participate in.

 

[TheFurizzlyBear]

They are doing very poorly which is why every time I walk into a store I see dozens of Xbox One's collecting dust and retailers offering incentives from price drops (costco) to giving away a free game with purchase (walmart) or $50 gift card (Target)

I've also seen several Xbox One's that were bought at launch being returned post-Christmas. The system is too expensive, has weaker specs than competitors and lacks the user base that Playstation has.

I can't speak for other areas but my GameStop and the other in my district have received way more X1s then we have PS4s. We get about 10 X1s for every 6 PS4s in shipment and that's if we get any PS4s at all. We have also had a huge uptick in X1 sales because of tax season. PS4 is clearly selling better but "I see xbones on the shelf getting dusty" is not evidence of it selling poorly overall. Just evidence that it is not selling in your area.

 

[ElTorro]

Holy tinfoil hat batman!

It's not that far-fetched.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/21/microsoft-nuads-will-change-television-as-we-know-it—forever/

Tracking your reaction and selecting ads appropriately, or gathering aggregated data on how people react to to certain ads would be a natural next step.

 

[stonesak]

What does Thai massage have to do with anything?

It would sell Xboxes better than Kinect does.

Of course I know about NuAD. It's no different from interactive ads they've had on the 360 and that Comcast has on certain things in that they're looking for user interaction which you don't have to participate in.

Then why are you thinking data collection is some huge conspiracy?

 

[Bgamer90]

They "lost" every gen battle. So I guess they are just going to react the same way that they did for the past two gens?

 

[LCfiner]

They won't make a new box after the One. I think they'll have the cheaper, kinect-less xbone by the summer.

but the money they make from this box in a shrinking home console space is not going to be enough for them to keep putting money in it.

They'l be out of the home console hardware space in 6 years or less.

 

[RayMaker]

Its all about the games.

This E3 will be telling.

 

[Bgamer90]

And as the market shifts towards PS4, game developers will start cutting Xbone out of the picture and developing exclusively for PS4, that will increase PS4's value without Sony even having to do anything.

No major 3rd party company is going to do this. The Xbox One isn't the Wii U. People with Xbox Ones actually buy 3rd party games.

 

[silver.tongue]

They "lost" every gen battle. So I guess they are just going to react the same way that they did for the past two gens?

Last gen didn't feel like they lost. They were able to get a lot of midshare and market share from Sony.

I don't know what people expect. If they want a price drop, I say it will heppen this year. But aside from that, I don't know what people expect.

They are not making the next GTA exclusive, nor are they buying 3 great studios to make exclusives etc.

 

[silver.tongue]

No major 3rd party company is going to do this. The Xbox One isn't the Wii U. People with Xbox Ones actually buy 3rd party games.

That is correct.
Only way this would happen is if Sony gained a 80% market share over Xbox, like the PS2 days, and that is not going to happen.

 

[pompidu]

i think the real winner is the nfl getting 500million dollars from Microsoft. They really wwant one to be the center of the living room.

 

[Veive257]

coke & pepsi both make tons of money and will continue to do so for years to come

 

[Omotesando]

MS should pray to God three times, so God might act upon it according to His will:

1) God should make people buy the more expensive console, which does exactly the same as the King, ''Behold the King'', albeit lacking in the service to the people with lesser fps and lacking the truthfull gift of resolution.

2) God should make the cowardly and the faithless Europeans/Japanese idolate the One true console, or else they shall burn in fire and sulfur.

3) God should make people love Kinect.


God bless Xbox One, and whoever does the will of the moneybag.

 

[jiminycracken]

That is correct.
Only way this would happen is if Sony gained a 80% market share over Xbox, like the PS2 days, and that is not going to happen.

And even then most third parties would still release on Xbox. Dev costs are going up and even the original Xbox saw good sales of titles that fit the 18-32 niche despite having very little marketshare.

 

[Rolf NB]

Its all about the games.

This E3 will be telling.

I can tell right now. They will fall ever further behind in games. They can't match Sony's first party, never will, and the money hat options are getting fewer as well.

 

[jimbobsmells]

They've been reacting since Sony's E3 conference.

And we're done.

 

[KlytusImBored]

They "lost" every gen battle. So I guess they are just going to react the same way that they did for the past two gens?

This.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

No major 3rd party company is going to do this. The Xbox One isn't the Wii U. People with Xbox Ones actually buy 3rd party games.

Yep. Plus the PS4 and X1 are pretty similar architecture so there's not much cost involved in making an X1 port. Unlike Wii U which is different architecture and much more underpowered, and thus a pain to port for on top of poor 3rd party port sales on Nintendo platforms.

 

[Bgamer90]

Last gen didn't feel like they lost. They were able to get a lot of midshare and market share from Sony.

They did do that vs. Sony but they obviously lost to Nintendo last gen if this "war" is only decided by console sales and the Wii had a large gap vs. the sales of the other two consoles very early thanks to the mainstream attention + the system's cheaper price. Things greatly slowed down later on in the gen though.

I don't know what people expect. If they want a price drop, I say it will heppen this year. But aside from that, I don't know what people expect.

They are not making the next GTA exclusive, nor are they buying 3 great studios to make exclusives etc.

Agreed. Price drop is coming this year. Almost guarantee it. Devs will still support Xbox One. The situation it's in isn't completely dire or "failure" (at least not yet).

MS has never won a gen. They have been in second place each gen while continuing to increase their marketshare each gen. I think it's safe to say they will be second again this gen.