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Game Studio Flight From Microsoft A Sign of Troubles?
Newsweek's LevelUp blog continues to produce some highly interesting material. Today they have up a look at the 'flight' of game studios from Microsoft's corporate umbrella. BioWare's purchase by EA distances it a bit from their cosy relationship with Microsoft, as does Bizarre's purchase by Activision. Bungie's departure from the company itself goes without saying. So what does all this mean? Is this a sign of troubles in Redmond, or just more fallout from the huge undertaking required to get the Xbox 360 to the position it has today? "For us, the flight of the Killer B's is a clear indication that Microsoft as a whole is still shell shocked not only by the massive losses in the Xbox division, but also more importantly by the poor showing of Rare, which has to rank as not only one of the Microsoft's least successful purchases, but as quite possibly the worst acquisition in the history of gaming. Microsoft paid $375 million in cash for Rare, and based on the modest revenues from its ensuing titles--a Conker's Bad Fur Day remake, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero and Viva Pinata--all they've got to show for it is that proverbial lousy T-shirt, completely stained with red ink."
When Microsoft bought rare, all they really bought was the name and some semi-popular franchses. Honestly the games they've made for the DS have probably made MS more money than the Xbox branded stuff they're put out. I'd be impressed if they've even as much as made half of the original investment back at this point.
Collector's Edition
Troll that you may be, I will respond anyway.
First, my non-fanboy credentials. I own an Atari 2600, Jaguar, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, GBA, DS Lite, Genesis, Game Gear, Dreamcast, PS1/PS2/PS3/PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, and a fairly up-to-date gaming PC.
That being said, my 360 BY FAR has provided me with the most enjoyment and gaming time this generation. I myself haven't experienced a RRoD, however two of my friends have...and you know what? They got them replaced and continue to buy games for the system. Why? Because it's a fun fun FUN system.
The controller feels great and controls tightly (aside from the horrendous d-pad...but no system really has a decent d-pad anymore), the first party/exclusive games are fun and replayable , the graphics are fantastic on an HDTV (and still look damn good on an SDTV), and the interface is fluid and easy to use.
The hardware itself has it's obvious issues for some people, but overall it is a damn fun console and if mine ever went belly up, I would replace it in a second.
Living With a Nerd
Sure, the system gets the most play from you, but if it doesn't make the company boatloads of money like EVERY system Nintendo has ever made (outside of the Virtual Boy, which I think they broke even on). Investors tend to get a little pissy. They don't care if you personally like the system. They want MS to make them as much money as possible in as short a time as possible. MS, and Sony both keep fucking up, and I wonder just how much longer both will keep this game up. The crazy thing is the top competitor both companies want to beat is winning, by not competing with them!
I'm no fanboy either, hell I love the 360, but the gaming division at MS is taking on a ton of watter. Gota face reality that the 360 may just be the last console MS puts out.