Xbox One vs. PS4 vs. Wii U: Microsoft Still Trailing Behind

[Emn1ty]

The vast majority of 3rd party games are released for PC in addition to consoles. Sure it takes more time and money but if PC sales didn't more than make up for that then 3rd parties wouldn't do it either. Your argument doesn't make sense.

 

It's not about money, it's about time and focus. Console exclusives are easier to produce and optimize. Regardless of whether or not it pays out in the end it's a whole other ball game to start optimizing for different architectures (and interfaces). Especially now when many developers are still learning the ins and outs of the consoles.

 

It may be easy to port a game, but when your entire experience is designed around the console it's not so simple as to just throw it at another piece of hardware, at least not logistically or goal wise.

[udvarhelyigabor520]

"I wasn't making a judgement of how MS is doing. I was just saying that I believe what MS needs to turn this around is killer first party titles."

No, they need to lower the price. Don't spend 2 billion on MC, no, just lower your price: X1 is $300, X1+Forza+Titanfall $350, X1+Halo $330 etc.

Everyone cried about the 'always online' feature/digital games but if you dig the forums what do they say? "I have no problem with always online, digital games only if the price is $20-$30 instead of $60-$70"

That's it (it is no rocket science): lower your price, then sales will go up.

[GotBored]

"I wasn't making a judgement of how MS is doing. I was just saying that I believe what MS needs to turn this around is killer first party titles."

No, they need to lower the price. Don't spend 2 billion on MC, no, just lower your price: X1 is $300, X1+Forza+Titanfall $350, X1+Halo $330 etc.

Everyone cried about the 'always online' feature/digital games but if you dig the forums what do they say? "I have no problem with always online, digital games only if the price is $20-$30 instead of $60-$70"

That's it (it is no rocket science): lower your price, then sales will go up.

Some people did have an issue with the always online feature. For some it was a real issue like people in the military or other jobs which require you to travel or move around a lot, for others it wasn't the always online issue but the fact you couldn't share disc based games, or others who lived in areas with no so stable internet connections.

Having cheaper digital store games would help push people to buy digital games and be more open to a always online console though, I still don't get why I can purchase a game, hard case and book which has probably passed through 20 countries during its shipment to get to Australia, get import taxes charged on it, GST and then the store I bought it from gets its middle-man cut and it's still $10-20 cheaper than buying the digital copy.. And this is for new releases, if I wait a month or two the price drops even more in comparison to the digital version.

[Emn1ty]

for others it wasn't the always online issue but the fact you couldn't share disc based games

 

I don't recall that ever being confirmed by Microsoft, but it has been a while. I personally see no reason that disc sharing wouldn't be possible, there could be a very simple verification system in place for discs with the same key being used on a different console (probably along the lines of you just needing to approve it on your own console, or simply requiring the disc be in the system while being played).

 

 

Having cheaper digital store games would help push people to buy digital games and be more open to a always online console though, I still don't get why I can purchase a game, hard case and book which has probably passed through 20 countries during its shipment to get to Australia, get import taxes charged on it, GST and then the store I bought it from gets its middle-man cut and it's still $10-20 cheaper than buying the digital copy.. And this is for new releases, if I wait a month or two the price drops even more in comparison to the digital version.

 

I agree with this, it's quite odd to me that the prices are often the same or higher for a much more convenient setup. Usually online stores explain away these extra charges as convenience fees. At the end of the day I think it's cheaper for them to sell digital copies since they merely have to buy a license. But, perhaps the infrastructure for providing those copies is expensive to maintain, I don't know.

 

Regardless, this is one thing I do agree with you on. However, the above is why you'll often see sales on content in digital stores. Because the profit margin is higher, bigger and better sales are more common (Steam and Origin for example)