I was certainly perplexed by his agreement with my post. I'm not saying MS can't find a happy medium, a good (heh) balance point, for their system. But they are not in a good place WW at all, and in the US, they need some serious efforts. I said it once before, if MS wins the March NPDs by anything less than 200k, then the PS4 is still going to be leading in the US. And a 200k gap in that month just is not feasible. It's hilariously not possible.
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Will MS go for Sony's throat at E3 and undercut their PS4 MSRP ?
- Thread starter Apophis2036
- Start date
I was certainly perplexed by his agreement with my post. I'm not saying MS can't find a happy medium, a good (heh) balance point, for their system. But they are not in a good place WW at all, and in the US, they need some serious efforts. I said it once before, if MS wins the March NPDs by anything less than 200k, then the PS4 is still going to be leading in the US. And a 200k gap in that month just is not feasible. It's hilariously not possible.
Manmademan
Member
No, Microsoft absolutely CANNOT do this. MS is a big company, but they're fighting off fierce competition in just about all sectors right now.
Bing is still struggling against Google.
Windows phone is nearly irrelevant in the smartphone space.
Windows 8 doesn't have the marketshare of 7, as consumers move to tablets.
Surface, their tablet offering is joke tier next to the iPad and galaxy devices.
Even office is fighting off competition from Google's free offerings.
Microsoft makes nearly no revenue at all from the Xbox in the BEST of times, and is under pressure to sell off or kill divisions that arent profitable. Losing hundreds of dollars per unit to "win" a space that's not that important to their bottom line isn't happening, and they need their cash reserves to stay flexible in the spaces that ACTUALLY matter.
thewhitehawk
Member
At most I'd expect a price cut, not a large one, and perhaps some service changes to make it more enticing to new users. Perhaps removing some apps from behind the paywall. But I don't expect them to change their SKU before at least a year passes.
Has any Kinect software paid off for them yet? We had Zumba Fitness, Fighter Within and Kinect Sports Rivals-- I'm going to assume all three bombed. They were trying to reach a casual crowd and failed. Kinect will be out of the box by this Q3, with an announcement at e3 (my prediction).
Mmm...I like the sound of Dirty Kylie.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
(Protip: He was being sarcastic, lol)
Principate
Saint Titanfall
The hell you talking Willis the PS4 is bombing in Japan it's below Wii U right now by a fair bit.
Right. But it's not like Xbox One will do better than PS4 in Japan. If PS4 is doing this bad. Will Xbox One be in the double digits?
Louis Cyphre
Banned
Not saying they will buy Sega but that's something that would shake things up enough to perhaps get consumers interested over and above the PS4. We all know Sony has better marketshare around the globe that Microsoft. So unless Kinect becomes a mainstream product like the Wii did I just don't see anything happening for the XBox brand outside of their strong territories like the UK and USA.
No, they cannot win the price war much like how Nintendo cannot with the Wii U against the XBox 360 and PS3. Both systems decided to bundle a rather expensive peripheral. The PS3 also had bluray which added to costs above its competitors at the time but consumers decided it was something worth paying extra for. If Sony bundled Project Morpheus with every PS4 then they too would be facing other challenges much like Nintendo and Microsoft face now. On the flip side that is why it will likely become a niche product just like their camera will as did the Move controller. So you either risk a lower adoption rate of hardware due to additional costs or you risk those devices becoming very niche because you've split your userbase. It's a risky endeavor.
If Sony really wants to go for the jugular they would announce a price drop or game included to keep pressure on its competitors even though the system is selling so well.
Does that mean we can stop reading your fear-mongering about how the company you despise, Microsoft, will be selling off the XBox brand?
Depends on the responses from retailers. I have a feeling Microsoft overshipped to get large numbers out there but are struggling to move those units off the shelves. They did this years ago on the XBox 360 and it took a few months to shift those extra units. Titanfall was such promoted as a XBox One killer title and if sales are mediocre (500,000 - 1 million) then that just adds fuel the XBox One isn't selling as well as Microsoft is hoping. What's next for the XBox One that could really shift numbers in a big way other than an official price cut? The PS4 can simply float with no big software and still sell and Sony knows this. They announced 20 exclusives for the first year but now Sony has the luxury of delaying those titles.
Pretty simple E3 announcements
Xbox One 500GB console
£349
$399
399
Ambassador program or whatever they call it for early buyers. Pick two from the following.
Xbox Live Gold 12 Months
Xbox One Controller
Xbox Live Credit
Choices from list of games.
Announce the removal of the pay wall for apps.
Halo TV series and others free to Gold members.
Custom server renting, community hubs, custom games listing, events and competitions.
Halo 2 Anniversary Xbox One Console, 1TB hard drive.
Halo 5 Beta with Halo 2 Anniversary.
Show off loads of games.
The future.
Phase out 500GB Xbox One.
Introduce new model.
Xbox One Slim 1TB
£279
$299
299
Easy.
Xbox One 500GB console
£349
$399
399
Ambassador program or whatever they call it for early buyers. Pick two from the following.
Xbox Live Gold 12 Months
Xbox One Controller
Xbox Live Credit
Choices from list of games.
Announce the removal of the pay wall for apps.
Halo TV series and others free to Gold members.
Custom server renting, community hubs, custom games listing, events and competitions.
Halo 2 Anniversary Xbox One Console, 1TB hard drive.
Halo 5 Beta with Halo 2 Anniversary.
Show off loads of games.
The future.
Phase out 500GB Xbox One.
Introduce new model.
Xbox One Slim 1TB
£279
$299
299
Easy.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
Selling slightly more than another terrible number doesn't make said terrible number matter much. Japan shouldn't even be mentioned in PS4 "dominance" unless it turns itself around.
I think you are wrong. The gaming division is only a small part and not profitable. The division is nice to have but no must-have.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
Then you'll love Lady Gaga!
SONY IS DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED
Ambassador program isn't happening. They haven't compensated the people who bought an Xbox One for 50 dollars more and without a free game after they cut the price 3 months in. Why would they start compensating people after an acceptable amount of time has passed where a price cut would be expected?
And as far as the space increase predictions go. It's not really something people outside of the very hardcore want. I think (maybe I'm wrong), that the vast majority of people are okay with 500 gigs.
And also I think they'll announce that Kinect will be taken out. The new sku will be $399 msrp with a free game. We might see retailers selling it for even cheaper.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
I'll laugh my pants off if Phil Spencer actually goes to open Microsoft's massive war chest and it turns out to be a Mimic.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
Lol I'm talking about launch aligned. that's how bad it is. You must be really unaware just how badly the PS4 is currently doing there.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
See you havent changed much from your N4G days.
I find the bolded highly, to ridiculously unlikely.
I must be unaware because you are not very good at making a point?
I'm waiting for my PlayStation Battle-Royale Mosou game before I jump in on the PS4.
I think that the situation has been clear since before launch.
Xbox One is at such a competitive disadvantage being the weaker console with the worst multiplatforms and the higher price that it can't be successful in the current conditions.
Titanfall was an experiment to see if big games could justify the price for a while. But the game clearly underperformed relatively to the lofty goals, so now we have retailers getting nervous and trying to get rid of extra stock with deals, so the price has been effectively cut and as others have said it's impossible to turn back even if the new price continues to be ''unofficial''.
Imo it's pretty obvious that MS will offer a 399$ SKU later this year, could be as early as E3, as late as September (the fact that the console is launching in September in other markets is not random.....it's when they are planning to be able to offer it directly at a lower entry price). Lower than 399$ makes absolutely no sense, the gaming division isn't in the game to be a major money loser for Microsoft. Investors are already disappointed with the current margins.
As for Sony, although there will be probably be a hardware internal revision which will lead to a lower manufacturing cost, I expect no price cut this year considering that they wouldn't even be able to satisfy the demand that a price cut would spur. But they'll make bundles with first party games at 399€ starting from September/October. Next year it will be time for 299$.
Xbox One is at such a competitive disadvantage being the weaker console with the worst multiplatforms and the higher price that it can't be successful in the current conditions.
Titanfall was an experiment to see if big games could justify the price for a while. But the game clearly underperformed relatively to the lofty goals, so now we have retailers getting nervous and trying to get rid of extra stock with deals, so the price has been effectively cut and as others have said it's impossible to turn back even if the new price continues to be ''unofficial''.
Imo it's pretty obvious that MS will offer a 399$ SKU later this year, could be as early as E3, as late as September (the fact that the console is launching in September in other markets is not random.....it's when they are planning to be able to offer it directly at a lower entry price). Lower than 399$ makes absolutely no sense, the gaming division isn't in the game to be a major money loser for Microsoft. Investors are already disappointed with the current margins.
As for Sony, although there will be probably be a hardware internal revision which will lead to a lower manufacturing cost, I expect no price cut this year considering that they wouldn't even be able to satisfy the demand that a price cut would spur. But they'll make bundles with first party games at 399€ starting from September/October. Next year it will be time for 299$.
Badlucktroll
Member
$99 fire sale, then microsoft selling the xbox brand to EA
Principate
Saint Titanfall
Pretty much entirely due to the first xbox. That gigantic money sink.
Let's make long term a bet. I say that by the end of 2015 PS4 is well be selling much Mich better than any other home console in Japan. There is zero PS4 exclusive that Japanese gamer can get behind right now. Yakuza and Metal Gear are also on PS3. When the games will come, the system will sell.
We are at also getting way off topic.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Are you being obtuse on purpose?
PS3 launch aligned sold less than the WiiU and yet will it have more than twice the userbase WiiU will ever have.
Whats more the post was talking about XB1.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
What!? Are you serious?
myharlequin
Member
hahaha, Dont get me wrong, I don't care about MS or Sony or NIntendo. I love games. this is my passion, and I would like to buy all the consoles, but now between PS4 and ONE, the xbone is the most solid, and with better games (13th APRIL 2014)
My advice to Microsoft is that they need to focus on games, games and games. And let the haters fight for pixels and frames
Principate
Saint Titanfall
The wii u's first 6 weeks sold more than the PS4 first 6 weeks a lot more. Understand comprende.
It's not rocket science man.
PS3 was severly supply constrained and a lot more expensive are you purposefuly being obtuse?
No... I see that I have both consoles sitting in front of me and it's easy to compare what's available especially since my PC is also hooked up to my TV. Aside from Second Son (which I loved) there really isn't anything interesting outside of the upcoming The Show that isn't on other devices. That's just my opinion of course and I'll probably log more hours in The Show then most of the games I own... possibly all of them combined at least for the first few months.
This post is pretty accurate. Last gen Microsoft had every single advantage, played every card right, and Sony did every single thing possible wrong for like 4 years. The generation still ended in a near tie for consoles sold. Now Sony has almost all the advantages whereas Microsoft's only big gun so far was money hatting Titanfall. I'm expecting a pretty sobering end to 2014 for them.
It's definitely not a fair comparison. But in the case of the PS3, it was also a lot more expensive than the PS4 is.
What's with the hostility?
MisterXDTV
Member
If PS4 is doing badly in Japan then the Bone shouldn't even come out there. They should save money for other territories where it can sell double digits...
geordiemp
Member
Funny - at least as a console it has HD graphics capability.
Seriously, I can afford any PC I would like, but
1. I cant stand mouse and keyboard
2. I want to play others on a level playing field with controllers (does not mix).
3. PC is too easy to mod or change things (easy example in COD with fire rate linked to frame rate and FOV modifiers). and there are the cheats which are always PC first...
So although I would enjoy bragging about a PC with a super GFX card, I would not enjoy the online.
So, the only choice I have is Ps4. If Xbox had a decent to strong GPU, would of bought that as well, but it is not what I would consider acceptable in 2014.
It's all the Titanfall. IT'S GOT MURDER ON HIS MIND. COMPRENDE?
Principate
Saint Titanfall
What hostility you said I was bad at making a point.
I find it funny you were the one asking me that question it should be the other way around.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
But you just said MS were winning, wouldn't your gaming utopia be better if Sony and Nintendo were all about 'games, games and games' as well?
He's angry with you because you have no idea what's happening in Japan. No idea!
rocketskates
Member
So much (blind) hope in this thread.
I think people are forgetting that MS put a LOT of money into Kinect. They built the system mainly for Kinect. Yes, everyone hates it. Yes, everyone wants it gone. But the truth is, they've invested far too much into this aspect of the the all-in-one entertainment system to simply say, eh, well let's get rid of it.
I also think people are forgetting MS has made it clear they wouldn't mind having a system without a disc drive. In all honesty, you're probably going to get a system without a disc drive before you get a system without Kinect.
I think people are forgetting that MS put a LOT of money into Kinect. They built the system mainly for Kinect. Yes, everyone hates it. Yes, everyone wants it gone. But the truth is, they've invested far too much into this aspect of the the all-in-one entertainment system to simply say, eh, well let's get rid of it.
I also think people are forgetting MS has made it clear they wouldn't mind having a system without a disc drive. In all honesty, you're probably going to get a system without a disc drive before you get a system without Kinect.
I think everyone that saw that ninja edit knows who is actually about to blow a gasket and who isn't.
And my flight is delayed, so I'm assuming I would be the annoyed party in this conversation.
But I guess you can't account for shooty-shooty bang bang's impact on the mind.
But I have this game where I can rub on lolis on the Vita, I know all about Japan!
:-D
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
Oh wow really? I thought they were for realz o.0
It's interesting you bought up Morpheus because that could complicate things for Sony. However, since it isn't coming out until next year (unfortunately, I was hoping this year) and not until Summer at the earliest (need that GDC/CES/E3 demo time!), that gives the PS4 a lot of time to price cut to $349, at the earliest.
IMHO I think Sony will cut the price to $299 before Morpheus comes out (probably in November), especially if Morpheus is in the $200-$300 range; they could essentially tie a subsidized subscription model of Morpheus to PS+; instead of $5 a month you'd pay, say, $8 or $10 a month (your choice) to pay off for Morpheus. They'll profit from the sale of games and apps for it anyway. Once you pay it off you return back to the normal pricing structure or maybe get a discount.
Depending on how heavy they push VR out of the gate, it could work very well for them and I think people would pay for that kind of value. By comparison Kinect and the Wii U controller don't seem to justify their added costs, like you've said. But at least w/ Sony, they are selling fast enough to likely be able to eat cut revenue sooner (certainly by early-mid 2015) and have something in Morpheus that will attract core and maybe even casual gamers too, depending on the games, apps and subsidized subscription costs (if any) they have for it.
100% agreed. Discless XBO reveal at E3 is pretty much guaranteed, and they can cut the price to $420, maybe even $399 and profit that way. Less blu-ray, less fees to pay to the association.
Principate
Saint Titanfall
I think everyone that saw that ninja edit knows who is actually about to blow a gasket and who isn't.
And my flight is delayed, so I'm assuming I would be the annoyed party in this conversation.
But I guess you can't account for shooty-shooty bang bang's impact on the mind.
Lol that doesn't even make any sense. how about less ad hominems more actual arguments.
Why are you so hostile?
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
I don't know why they don't just give Kinect a little slot-mouth to put discs in and give him his own little GPU if they love it so much
Leave it mate, he's already ejected from his Titan.
Foreezy!
Naw. If you caught it, my bad, but there's so many people posting in here misreading posts. Apparently, myself included T_T
I love this world we live in. People get told their opinions can be fact and they believe it.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
He's right though, xbone is solid compared to blownie's wobble box.
I agree with your reasoning, but I think the Xbox is important to Microsofts identity. Kind of like the Corvette is important to GM. Not for direct sales but for image.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Way to miss a point.
Any rational person knows that judging a systems sales on its first 6 weeks is complete idiocy.
PS3 showed that despite an appalling first year a system can pick up in sales and have a longer life cycle if the games come.
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