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WHY MICROSOFT'S XBOX ONE STRATEGY IS LESS CLEAR THAN EVER - by Mr Biffo

16/6/2016

20 Comments

 
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As E3 starts to creak to its foregone conclusion, and the ash settles on the major press conferences, the world is trying to get a clearer sense of Microsoft's strategy for its Xbox One. 

​And that strategy is this strategy: turning it into a PC, by stealth. Albeit the sort of stealth which involves breaking into a building via an open window, putting your foot in a metal bucket, walking face-first into a mop, and pulling down a bunch of shelves.

It makes a certain degree of sense, given Microsoft's history, and the fact that the Xbox One has the heart of a PC. Also, you can't blame them for retreating to their safe space, given that they've struggled to compete directly with the PlayStation 4.

However, whatever it is that they're up to, it isn't entirely clear what Microsoft is trying to achieve, and the message it's sending out seems confused, now that the fanfare has died down. The days since it unveiled the Xbox One S have only obscured that message further.
WOULD YOU PLEASE DO A RECAP?
I will do a recap: just as PC owners are confronted with a bewildering array of choice when it comes to hardware options, Microsoft will soon start offering the Xbox One in different power configurations, at different price points.

By the end of next year, there may be three available Xbox Ones: the thing we have now, the slimmed-down S, and the much more powerful Scorpio, with its amazing pixels. All the games will run on all the Xboxes. They'll just look better on some models than the other models. But only if you have a 4K TV.


Additionally, the new Xbox Play Anywhere function is going to bring most of Microsoft's major exclusives to the PC (and vice-versa). At least, it will going forwards - alas, this doesn't extend to its back catalogue, and so you won't be playing last year's Halo 5 on your PC. However, perhaps most significantly, PC and Xbox One gamers who play online will now be able to play against one another. 

So, "Xbox Exclusive" will now actually mean "Xbox and PC Exclusive".


And to ensure that PC owners won't have an advantage, a keyboard and mouse adaptor will be released for the Xbox One in "months".

Many seem to be seeing all of this as a revolution, but I remain sceptical that any of it is going to have a major impact on Microsoft's business. If it has any impact, it risks being a negative one.

And here is why.
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WHY IS WHY?
Here is why.

The keyboard and mouse - fair enough. It's not unwelcome as such, but consoles are primarily used in the living room or bedroom, rather than at a desk.

​I know that when I play on my Xbox One, I'm doing it laying down on a sofa. I'm not sure how I'd use a keyboard and a mouse with my Xbox One.

The multi-level entry thing. Well, alright. Lots of people I've spoken to online seem more excited about it than I expected them to be, but those people are serious gamers. Consoles appeal to a very different audience, traditionally, than the PC.

The biggest advantage consoles offer is simplicity - no bewildering array of choice. By the end of next year, potential Xbox One owners will be faced with potentially three types of Xbox. Admittedly, having more than one option of product doesn't seem to have damaged, say, Apple's business, but... right now, it's not entirely clear what the gaming advantages of these three options will be.

And the Play Anywhere initiative... it's not a bad idea, but I just don't know how attractive it's going to be. It might add some convenience for certain existing PC and Xbox One owners, but I honestly don't think it's a game changer in any shape or form.

Everyone playing online with one another, regardless of their chosen format, feels like something that should always have been there, rather than something that's a game-changer now.

And is there much cross-over, in terms of chums, between console gamers and PC owners? Is this really something people were clamouring for? I don't think so. I think I've only ever heard Microsoft prattling on about it.

PC INNARDS - "PINNARDS"
The Xbox One needs to do something to stand out from the PlayStation 4, and exploiting its own native PC-like innards is a sensible move. Making the Xbox One a bridge between the worlds of PC and console gaming is, on paper, a smart one. It is, essentially, a third option for punters.

However, as it stands, it feels as if everything announced this week is just a bit... meh. It feels like a first step, rather than a plunge into the deep end. It seems tentative, like joining the dots, but the whole picture hasn't yet been completed.

Imagine something like Steam on the Xbox One. Imagine if the Xbox One could run every PC game that had ever been released ever. Every indie game, every major release, dating back decades. With the convenience of a console. Imagine that. Imagine what it would do to sales of the Xbox One. 

Alright, what I'm describing there is kind of the thinking behind the Steam Machines - but they've hardly set the world alight, due to being a bit watered-down. PC gamers don't want them, because they're underpowered, and console gamers aren't buying them because... well... why would you when you could buy a console or a PC instead?
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THE FEELS
What all of this feels like to me is Microsoft taking a step back from its battle with Sony. They're too far behind now to win the race, so they're retreating to a place of comfort, somewhere familiar, somewhere they know and understand: the PC.

Unfortunately, it sends a strange message to Xbox One owners. I mean, it doesn't feel that long ago that I bought my Xbox One.

Typically in a console's lifespan, it's only around now that it would really start coming into its own, showing us what it can do. We'd be a few years away from the next generation.

But now I'm being told that the machine I spent hundreds of pounds on is, effectively, obsolete?

​Just as Microsoft - having rammed its Kinect down our throat - quietly dropped that controversial spy-cam, now they seem to almost be taking a low-key step back from the Xbox One itself. 

It doesn't help that in announcing the Xbox One S and the Scorpio in the same breath, Microsoft has confused not only its customer base, but the gaming press. Following up on the Microsoft presentation, journalists are asking for clarification, and getting obfuscation, as if Microsoft itself isn't entirely sure what it's doing.

CONFUSION.COM
All that has emerged is confusion: owners of the Scorpio - the most powerful console that has ever been conceived, apparently - will only see the benefit of that power if they own a 4K TV, and that there will be no Scorpio exclusives. And then for a while it seemed like there might be some Scorpio exclusives. But oh... no there won't be, Microsoft insists.

So what's the point of all that power, if developers can only use it to put more "pixels" on screen at once? What's the selling point, exactly? Why upgrade from Xbox One or Xbox One S to the Scorpio, if the games are only going to be better if you own a 4K telly? 

Frankly, what is going on? Microsoft's message - once again - is not clear. On any of it. What is the S for? What will the Scorpio be for? Why release the most powerful console ever, if it's only going to be playing the exact same games as its three year-old brethren? Is being a PC owner a better bet than being an Xbox One owner?

Gamers want good games, not new hardware - unless that hardware is going to result in better games. The best thing Microsoft could've done this week is assault us with games. Show people why they should be supporting the Xbox One. All they did was imply that the existing Xbox One somehow isn't up to snuff, but it's okay - because there'll be a new one along soon. And another new one next year. But don't worry, because there's actually no reason to buy one of those.

I don't swear much on this site, but honestly... Jesus. What a bunch of fucking idiots.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
WHY MICROSOFT LOST THE BATTLE OF E3 - BY MR BIFFO
WHY TV WON'T DO VIDEO GAMES - BY MR BIFFO
HOW WILL THE BREXIT AFFECT VIDEO GAMES?
20 Comments
DrDagless
16/6/2016 10:51:13 am

Wait; Scorpio WON'T have exclusives? So literally the only reason to fork out hundreds of pounds for this thing is for higher-res graphics?

Blimey.

Reply
RG
16/6/2016 11:09:49 am

The worry isn't that they're turning the Xbox into a PC - it's that they're turning PCs into Xboxs - ie walled gardens that they control and exclusively profit from.
Releasing Xbox games on PCs isn't a lovely gesture from MS to include us forgotten PC jockeys, but the first step in forcing their PC Xbox store on us and getting us to use their Windows 10 UWP standard rather than reliable old Win 32. The next step would be for Windows to stop supporting Win32...

Polygon has an interesting article about this: http://www.polygon.com/2016/6/14/11936766/xbox-one-windows-e3-microsoft

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RG
16/6/2016 11:21:06 am

Also - this is why Valve thought it prudent to make their own OS...

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favus
16/6/2016 12:41:34 pm

But Microsoft have said they will be releasing games on Steam this week, so the walled garden argument falls a bit flat, doesn't it? My main worry is that games that are "buy once play anywhere" will require Xbox live - and I won't stand for that!

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Mr Biffo
16/6/2016 12:48:20 pm

Surely, though, for it to have any real benefit, Steam games need to appear on Xbox One?

favus
16/6/2016 12:58:18 pm

Apparently as Xbox one gets more apps on the store, there are rumours that Steam could appear on the Xbone - It would be up to Valve if they wanted to push it out on it.

Kelvin Green link
16/6/2016 11:43:10 am

I've never really understood what Microsoft have been playing at with its consoles. The bizarre and unwieldy design of the original X-Box. The name "X-Box" itself, then the strange and illogical naming of the follow-ups. The weird approach to the 360's hardware faults. The Kinect. That strange presentation about Call of Duty and Microsoft TV. And now this.

It's all very, very odd, like the ramblings of a tramp, except this tramp has billions of dollars and a polo shirt.

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Paul Jon Million
17/6/2016 02:21:20 pm

Before the X-Box's release, my older brother was adamant the adverts for it would feature someone whispering "X marks the box".

Sadly, this was not to be.

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Chris
21/6/2016 01:36:01 pm

Ah.. I can explain the name. Apparently when Windows 95 was released, some people within Microsoft (Amiga fans) were questioning why the graphics capabilities of Win95 were so bad. They set out to write a decent API layer and drivers for games and thus was born DirectX.
The XBox came out of the arse-end of that same project. It was, to be precise, a "DirectX Box".
Hence, XBox.

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Kelvin Green link
21/6/2016 06:12:58 pm

That... almost makes sense!

Clive Peppard
16/6/2016 12:44:59 pm

Ive said it before and I'll say it again, PS4 FTW!!

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favu
16/6/2016 12:53:50 pm

I've never been a fan of consoles, Had a PS3 and a whole lot of Xboxes (all of which I have given away) I am a PC gamer first and foremost - I see them releasing everything on Windows 10 to be a positive move - And the fact they have said they would like to release more games on Steam is also a positive.

These days a lot of stream our stuff from our main powerful PC to a box under the tele, and it can be anything from a £30 raspberry Pi or an Alienware steam machine (ha! yeah, right!!) - Mine has all the old Amiga games on, Speccy games, a shitload of Mame stuff - it works with Xbox pads - and it streams my steam stuff - so I really don't need a console, so for people like me the fact we're going to get Crackdown 3 or other console games (Can't think of any I really want at the mo!) but you know, Halo maybe? no I really don't want that.. but maybe something... are there any Xbox games worth having if you have a PC??

All the new Consoles coming out when they seem to be pulling back from console gaming seems a bit silly though, but i guess if they developed a Console with the best pixels you ever have seen(TM) then you better go ahead and release that... a last hurrah! if you will...

I am rambling.. I will go away now...

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Wicked Eric
16/6/2016 01:21:10 pm

It's really bizarre. The Bone isn't even 3 years old and they've gone and Osbourned themselves.

The software situation is even more baffling when you think of all the cash MS has to throw around. They could seriously invest in developer talent but instead they have a small stable of studios each of which exclusively churns out entries for one of MS's main franchises - Halo, Forza and Gears of War. The only other notable house they have is the hollowed out, shambling corpse of what remains of Rare.

I can't even tell why MS are even interested in the console market anymore. I understood it when consoles were Microsoft's Trojan horse route into the living room. But now that Tablets, Smart TVs and Apple TV/Amazon Fire have swept the rug from under them in that respect, I just don't see why the console market, with it's low margins and enormous overhead would have any strategic appeal for Microsoft.

Maybe they're just in it to save face at this point? But if they are then they're not doing a very good job of that either.

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Panama Joe
16/6/2016 03:00:27 pm

I don't see the big deal with the Xbox One S and Scorpio. To me they seem like obvious attempts at capturing more of the PS4 vs Xbone market.

There are still large swathes of gamers who have yet to upgrade from their 360. And there is a general opinion that the PS4 is more powerful than the Xbox One. So it makes sense to try to address that by releasing new consoles to get those players onboard - a powerful console for the hardcore who want bleeding edge stuff, and a sexier version of the Xbox One for all the casuals. I agree that it feels like they are coming too soon and I personally don't like the idea of diluting the hardware like this, but I can see their logic in it.

Play Anywhere also seems like a good way to encourage players to buy games directly from Microsoft rather than Steam or physical media. I doubt the Xbone and PC will be running identical code, so it will just be the save game data and stats that are shared.

The mouse and keyboard announcement is the one that perplexes me the most. They will make a big impact on how you play games online. If it was something that was shipped with all consoles and everyone had the option, fine. But to divide players into groups, where some have them and some haven't, is not a good move.

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Antony
16/6/2016 04:09:35 pm

There is one good thing about the S...its got a 4k blu ray player in it. Hardly the ps3 blu ray trojan horse but I confess I'm tempted just for that.

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Kelvin Green link
16/6/2016 04:48:51 pm

I imagine the PS4K -- or whatever it's called -- will also have one. It's Sony tech after all.

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Kara Van Park
16/6/2016 08:00:39 pm

MS must have read our debate in the 'Why are gamers such snobs' article.

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Kara Van Park
16/6/2016 08:15:22 pm

MS exec: "I know what will entice people to the Xbox One - Forza, Dead Rising and the promise of a new Gears of War."

MS lackey: "Isn't that basically the carrot we dangled in 2013?"

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whywai88
17/6/2016 09:18:26 am

"the existing Xbox One somehow isn't up to snuff, but it's okay - because there'll be a new one along soon. And another new one next year. But don't worry, because there's actually no reason to buy one of those."

Perfectly sum up the confusing message by Microsoft this E3..

Reply
Ganapan
17/6/2016 03:48:53 pm

I "hope" that the xbox one S power will make it decent for running VR games. Those could be the Xbox1S "exclusives".

Reply



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