The Microsoft Conundrum
The
setting is May 2013. E3 is on the horizon and as the seventh generation of
consoles is preparing to come to a close, all eyes are on Sony and Microsoft to
see what they’ll pull out next. Then, out of nowhere, Microsoft announces that
they’re doing an early announcement to show off the console before their
competitors. Everyone tunes in to get their first look at the Xbox One,
and…they completely blew it.
The
firestorm that followed was something I’ve never seen before in gaming history.
Everyone was in unanimous agreement that the always-online DRM and the
restrictions on used games were little more than an attempt by Phil Spencer and
his crew to have more control over the consumers than they already did. E3
arrived, with Sony basically being handed the easiest console announcement of
all time as they showboated the console’s support of used games as well as the
ability to use the PS4 offline. Microsoft, on the other hand, was booed at
their conference and was forced to go back to the drawing board and rebuild the
One from the ground up.
Fast-forward
to today, and Microsoft seems to have more or less redeemed themselves, but
right now they’re still in pretty hot water when it comes to sales. While the
Xbox 360 got an early lead that the PS3 could never catch up to thanks to its
earlier release and far cheaper price initially, this generation the balance
has shifted. Because the One completely bombed in its first impressions, this
left the door wide open for Sony to swoop in and steal the throne.
Since
then, Microsoft has been kind of stuck. I feel that the humiliation of the
One’s reveal really got to them, because since then they’ve been much more
careful with how they market themselves and their games. Hell, they’ve actually
been extremely accommodating to even those who never bought a One because of
their mistakes, releasing most of their exclusives on the Windows 10 Store. But
this doesn’t excuse the fact that games like Halo 5, Gears of War 4, ReCore and Halo Wars 2 met with middling response from consumers and that they
seem to be scrambling to introduce their next console, codenamed Scorpio,
before too long. So why is Murphy’s Law taking out all its frustration on a
company that so desperately tried to dig itself out of its own potential grave?
I
actually think part of it comes from the wider appeal Microsoft’s been trying
to get themselves recently. One of their biggest selling points at E3 2016 was
that all their forthcoming exclusives would be available on both Xbox One and
Windows 10. That’s how I was able to play ReCore
without owning a One myself. While it’s fantastic that this allows more
people to check out their games, and it’s true that all the money goes back to
Microsoft, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the Xbox division. Why go
out and buy a new Xbox One S when I can play the exclusives I want from the
comfort of my laptop?
Speaking
of the One S, it brought a lot of problems itself, especially when it was first
announced. Bizarrely enough Microsoft decided to pull an EA Battlefield 1/Titanfall 2 situation when revealing the One S, announcing it in
the same conference as the Scorpio. Yeah, 4K gaming is cool and all, but why
should I buy a One S when I can just wait a year for a console that can do
everything it can do but better? Again, I’m not missing on exclusives because I
can get them from the Windows 10 Store. The One S to me feels like a rushed
console Microsoft shoved out the door to compete with the PS4 Pro in the 2016
holiday season while the real follow-up to the One is still brewing in R&D.
The
Scorpio’s specs have been announced, and while I’ve never personally been one
to get excited for graphical prowess over gameplay I’m really interested in
seeing just what this thing can do. It’s true that competition breeds success,
and if Microsoft can finally pull out something that really challenges Sony and
makes them up their game, we as consumers will be in for a heck of a ride. As
annoying as fanboy wars are to deal with, I like it when we see two companies
competing for the top branch of the tree if only because both will do whatever
it takes to outdo the other, giving us more Horizon:
Zero Dawns and less No Man’s Skys.
While
I haven’t bought a Microsoft console since the 360 all those years ago, I still
honestly like them as a company. I love that they decided to take the high road
and do everything in their power to redeem themselves after the One fiasco
instead of going the easy route and becoming another Ubisoft. And, as I said
before, competition from Microsoft ends with everybody happy, including the
Sony fans, since if one of the two ups their game somehow, the other has to
follow suit or risk being left behind. Since it’s basically a guarantee we’ll
be getting our first look at Scorpio come E3, I think this could be the start
of Microsoft’s return to glory.
Song of the Week
Four
Brave Champions – Castle Crashers
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