Xbox 360 Doesn't Want To Be Hardcore

An anonymous reader writes "CNET.com.au has just posted an interview with Microsoft Game Studio head Shane Kim. The head games exec for the Xbox 360 admits he wants the console to be more family friendly (read: more like Nintendo and Sony). From the article: 'The positioning of the platform is very different now. We were so paranoid that people knew the Xbox was a hardcore gaming machine in the first generation that we really alienated, or closed off, a lot of our opportunity.'"

Comments

Re:Wierd

[gEvil (beta)]

You seem to be forgetting that we're living in the golden age of doublespeak. This is very much a situation of "listen to our words and pay no attention to our actions."

Open Letter to Microsoft

[DorkusMasterus]

Dear Microsoft,
In my opinion, and the opinion of many other gamers out there, the reason we came to the Xbox instead of the Playstation 2 was due to the fact that we were sick of children's consoles. We wanted something with more meat, something with more substance and that tracked with us as a growing gamer generation. Xbox did that superbly. And when the Xbox Live service came out, we were overjoyed! This is the type of thing that will separate the consoles and ensure that Microsoft has a legacy.

This is why you have a significant market share. This is why you have a fanbase and loyal consumers. You create high-end hardware that caters to the needs and desires of hardcore gamers, as well as lifelong gamers, in a way that Playstation (even the new one) will have to catch up to for a long time. You've made significant strides. Stop with the crap now. Stop saying you want to appeal to everyone. If you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

I'll repeat that for you, so you can send this in a memo to everyone on the dev teams... If you appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

So, from one gamer who would like to stay loyal to the Xbox side of gaming (you know, when I can actually buy a 360...), stick to what you do best: Making quality hardware, consistently delivering a perspective in gaming that is not middlin-ground, but instead for the lifelong gamer, and most importantly, don't compare your product to other consoles. One is there because it was original first. Sony. Another is there because it caters to kids. Nintendo. You must find another niche. You build it, and we will come. People will come aboard when they see something they can't get anywhere else.
But if you get into a war of competing consoles all doing the same things, from the same perspective of "we develop for all ages, and all levels of gaming dedication" then you lose the hardcore. The hardcore are who do anything to get a console on launch day. The hardcore are who protect your bottom line when you produce crappy launch titles. The hardcore are those who will buy the system, knowing that something better will come down the pipe, once developers get used to the architecture of the system. Don't screw them or they'll screw you.

Thank you,
Dorkmaster

Missed the point, and even the barn

[TheSkepticalOptimist]

Microsoft deciding to be more family friendly now means they completely missed their mark. By selling a hugely expensive game console, and targeting its audience with the same sort of FPS and sports games that make the original Xbox somewhat of a hit with hardcore gamers, they have no chance in heck of claiming the console a success for family markets.

Lets face the facts that Microsoft has missed:

1) With games like GTA being highly scrutinized for its adult content and inappropriate rating, there has been a large focus as of late for games that are excessively violent or mature rated. These are the games that hard core gamers want to buy, but legislation or litigation will eventually put an end to them one way or another. Microsoft will need to change focus, rather then being a platform where some GTA game could flourish, they want to avoid these games and put G rated titles on the shelves.

2) Wall-Mart apparently has some say in how games are designed, and their emphasis is on family oriented fair. While I don't believe that an individual game developer would be affected by Wall-Mart not selling their games, a game console maker wants to have ALL possible games sold at Wall-Mart to make their system sell well at Wall-Mart. Microsoft wants to suck up to Wall-Mart now.

3) Nintendo has long since banked on family/children titles for their success. While it may not make them the number one console maker, it still gives them strong sales to say in business. With the upcoming Revolution, Microsoft wants to ensure they are in a position to compete with Nintendo for family titles, which could put the Revolution into the number one position for a while (until the PS3 is released). Nintendo will gain a huge immediate market in Japan, where the Xbox is always done poorly, and even in North America and Europe, Xbox360 hasn't sold that well either, certainly within margins that Nintendo could approach.

That aside, Microsoft is playing catch up in the next generation console market they had hoped to define. With the poor roll out of the Xbox360, and still no real buying trend for them, even without ANY major competitor, Microsoft is still doing poorly. If they see that family titles are helping to define a console and increase sales, then they are going to have to figure out how to cater to that market.

But Nintendo already has a leg up by keeping the cost of their console and games lower. Microsoft will have to heavily discount the Xbox360 if they want to compete in the family market, and force game developers to sell their software for cheaper. This will mean a longer then expected loss of profit on the Xbox360 and possibly developer backlash that might force developers to abandon support for the platform.

If this is Microsoft's goal, to make the Xbox360 a successful family oriented game console, they have failed on ALL accounts. I think the Xbox360 is another Dreamcast, can't wait for it to hit $99 at Wall-mart, then again, who even wants it at $99.