The Big Bad Console Thread - Sway your Station with an Xboner !

I just don't understand it Microsoft have the money and the resources to launch worldwide. Does anyone knows the reasons why they do not? Do they have some bullshit legislations that some governments don't agree with or..?

DMK_sl said:

I just don't understand it Microsoft have the money and the resources to launch worldwide. Does anyone knows the reasons why they do not? Do they have some bullshit legislations that some governments don't agree with or..?

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Well, they actually mightnothave the resources to launch worldwide depending on how bad their hardware yields are. It's been confirmed that they are bad and that there is a problem, so supply could be a real issue. It's possible that they have decided to focus first on markets that they think they can sell the most in with the supply that they will have and that it would be better to have as much as possible of a base built up in those countries. NA will likely get the vast majority of their shipments.

There's also the fact that they were caught with their pants down by Sony and that their tech isn't mature at all. They were said to be possibly 6+ months behind in development and that could have a major impact on their OS and Kinect stuff. With how integrated it is with the system it's possible that it's just not done yet for Asian language stuff, etc.

Legal stuff: They are barred from selling Xbox stuff in China, but there's no problems with the other major Asian markets (afaik).

Lastly, all the money in the world can't help you if you're too incompetent to use it. This entire thing has been a gigantic train-wreck of terrible management on every level, at every turn.

Thanks for the explanation.

I still can't understand how they fucked this up so bad. Honestly a bunch of xbro's play COD could have come up with a better launch strategy. Literally.

DMK_sl said:

I just don't understand it Microsoft have the money and the resources to launch worldwide. Does anyone knows the reasons why they do not? Do they have some bullshit legislations that some governments don't agree with or..?

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It might have something to do with that. Considering it is fairly obvious that the Xbox One is an entertainment console first and foremost and not just a gaming console, I do think that delaying it in some countries might be related to the tons of features they are advertising that will not work outside the US.

Immediately when you deal with music/movies you subject yourself to the redicilous copyright laws that are associated with those media. Youtube for instance is now filled with "Not viable in your country" videos. Even old music videos are sometimes blocked on youtube even though I remember seeing those videos on TV here in the 90s.

Xbox Live for instance was great in the US I heard, but for the better part of 3-4 years, hardly any of the features worked. Had to pay gold to play multiplayer, but with hardly a single feature besides that was functional here. Logging in to a US account on either PSN or LIVE had a HUGE difference in terms of available items compared to the EU accounts. A Netflix account when I log in from my Norwegian IP gives me a good, but limited selection of movies. Use mediahint and log in to the US one, and .... it is not even comparible. The Music genre for instance does not exsist for on the Norwegian account, because the rights to view those are limited to the US.

As far as I know, only the games will work outside the US for the Xbox one. With all the hassle they have gotten with the DRM, it might not be the smartest idea to launch a console that is unable to do most of the things it claimed it can do. However, I have no idea how they will get past these problems considering all the different technologies to display TVs in various countries + their individual laws + the insane copyrightlaws that originate in the US.

PS: If they had not changed their DRM policies, it would have been against Norwegian law, and they might even have been barred for selling the actual console here. Granted we do not matter in a sales capacity because of a low population, but launching an "entertainment" console seems like a nightmare considering all the different laws out there.

Sony also has a Movie/Music thing coming, but at least they only showed that for a little bit at the E3 conference, and made sure to specify US only availability. As far as I remember, the first Microsoft reveal conference (the TV, TV, TV, TV!!!! one) did not specify the limitations to US only at all. That came later in small statements once people started asking questions.

So, more fuel to the fire: Microsoft's special 300,000 cloud server that costs $700m that they announced for XBL stuff won't be finished until at least 2015:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06...ter_expansion/

I guess they figure that their current Azure data centers will be enough to cover the "lol Cloud" nonsense that's built. I guess they probably can, given their pre-order numbers.

I still preciously keep a yellow rubber duck that has written on it: Playstation 3 17.11.2006 because the PS3 was supposed to be released in Europe for that date and ended up being released more than four months later...

That said, I understand how Japan might not be a high priority market for Microsoft because in the light of Xbox's failure they made huge efforts with the X360 that yielded very little results. Also, as much as it pains me to say this, the video game market in Japan is now small potatoes for home consoles. Consider this: SNES + Genesis = 21 millions in Japan, 17 millions in Europe, 40 millions in North America. PS3+X360+Wii = 24 millions in Japan, 85 millions in Europe, 115 millions in North America. So in 20 years Japan went from a quarter to a tenth of the global market (with X360 making for less than a tenth of this tenth).

It would require a lot more work to measure the change in global video game market share of japanese development, but I suspect that only Nintendo prevents the picture from being bleak (so just grim).

I think it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to sell for shit in Japan, but that doesn't make their wording any less of a really terrible PR decision. Calling everyone not on this map a "Tier 2 country" is setting yourself up for some unnecessary negative press. This wasn't even a bad translation thing, they flat out said Tier in English. That's fine for internal marketing, horrible for PR. If they guy had to say anything at all he should have used something like "Waves" or "Phases."




This more than likely will have an impact on third-party Japanese development as well. This thing isn't even releasing in Asia at all until late 2014 at the earliest and that could very well lead to some companies heavily prioritizing the PS4 version of games. Not to mention lead to more potential exclusive development. Game development is a business, sure, but Japan also has a heavy history of Xenophobia and this doesnothelp.

It would not be surprising to see Japanese developers pushing the PS4 as their primary SKU and outsourcing Xbone ports to other teams. This actually happened a lot on the other side of the coin in the early years of this generation with people prioritizing X360 version and outsourcing the PS3 version (which is a leading cause of the initial bad port stigma). Hell, it wouldn't be surprising to see a developer from any region do it as it mirrors the start of this generation quite well.

PS4/X360 = more powerful GPU, better RAM, easier to code for, less expensive, larger initial install base* . Xbone/PS3 = less powerful GPU, worse RAM, harder to code for, more expensive, smaller initial install base*. This made the X360 the primary SKU on the vast majority of titles with developers often outsourcing PS3 ports or not putting as much effort into getting them up to snuff.

*Going by pre-order numbers + manufacturing problems.

I find also pretty crazy that there are eurozone countries that are 'Tier 2'.

Well the Japanese are a dying race. I'd but them tier 3 honestly.

With the model MS is going for it absolutely makes sense to not launch in those markets. As said before, its an entertainment box for content delivery and im sure their pushing apps and services through XBL is their plan to monetize the system. If you cant connect to XBL, they don't want you and would probably end up losing money. I think their major issue is they have completely underestimated how difficult it is going to be to get past the copyright laws and to get their content into these countries.

100 ppl paying 10 bucks a month plus a percentage of all digital content sold >>> 1000 people's licensing fee's from game sales.

I think it's a horrible idea and it is not going to work out well for them, but i can understand what they are trying to do.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony launches in USA + EU before Japan this time, the Japanese home console market is a fraction of what it was.

Sean_sl said:

Lastly, all the money in the world can't help you if you're too incompetent to use it. This entire thing has been a gigantic train-wreck of terrible management on every level, at every turn.

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Imagine if Microsoft decided that the product was a flop before it even was released and they decided to delay the release indefinitely until they were able to come up with a better idea. Maybe do another release in a year or two. Let Sony take the market for the time being, but then release a truly great product later on (sure, it can still be the Xbox One, but completely redesigned internally). That would cut the current "next gen" market in half because some people would continue with PS4, but some would jump to the 'newer' XBone. Just an idea, but theoretically I think it would work. It would make it so they aren't behind, but actually ahead.

Xarpolis_sl said:

Imagine if Microsoft decided that the product was a flop before it even was released and they decided to delay the release indefinitely until they were able to come up with a better idea. Maybe do another release in a year or two. Let Sony take the market for the time being, but then release a truly great product later on (sure, it can still be the Xbox One, but completely redesigned internally). That would cut the current "next gen" market in half because some people would continue with PS4, but some would jump to the 'newer' XBone. Just an idea, but theoretically I think it would work. It would make it so they aren't behind, but actually ahead.

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You mean imagine if it were run by intelligent people? Blasphemy! At least Mr. Numbnuts "I have 12-ish Ferrari's" Dingleberry is gone:http://www.fastcompany.com/3013767/don-mattrick

Sean has gone full fan boy the last couple of pages. Take his last few posts worth a grain of salt.

Mazim_sl said:

Sean has gone full fan boy the last couple of pages. Take his last few posts worth a grain of salt.

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Posting stuff that's been confirmed as fact is fanboy?

Okay then.

Get a PS4 or an XBone?

#firsttierproblems

http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/d...nization-20187

Mattrick jumped ship lol.

Hey, if I post something that's incorrect, please feel free to correct me. Looking back though, I don't think I posted anything inaccurate. I'm a passionate person and I love to get excited about things that I enjoy and I immensely enjoy video games. Sony is hitting all the right cords with me and I'm very enthusiastic about it. The future is looking fantastic and I can't wait for it to get here.

Microsoft, on the other hand, tried to fuck me in the ass and didn't even offer to take me to dinner first. Since then they've done nothing but commit blunder after blunder and the entire thing is one bad, extremely disappointing joke. They deserve every last bit of bullshit and every piss poor decision that they've made pointed out. Not even a single shred of benefit of the doubt should be given to them. They've clearly fucked up and they keep fucking up.