Was part of Xbone a premtpive strike on Steam?

[mizzou]

Curious if some of the negative features of Xbone are as a result of threats of competitive devices, like Steambox...or even PS3


Microsoft seems to be posturing to try and take a larger share of everything, but is failing.

Windows 8 is unpopular...but Windows is still strong vs. competitors
Windows Phone is gaining ground

Maybe they thought if they push a more "involved" XBOX, they can tie together the markets...and start to get the TV viewing market cornered. If more people use their device to watch TV, they have your computer screen, phone screen, and TV screen taken care of.

------------

I don't think "Steambox" isn't a threat...but Steam certainly is. If Microsoft wants to control online game transactions, what if Steam starts partnering with PS4 to sell OpenGL/PSGL games that are compatible with the system and big screen mode? Seems plausible to me.

The more we look at this, the more it is starting to make sense why Xbone is Xboning itself.

Microsoft may have been going for a knockout punch on this one, but it doesn't look like it's going over well right now. Time will tell.

 

[Net Prowler]

i think so... will definitely change the way people entertain themselves. notwithstanding some of the unknowns gaming side, the snap feature, watching movies, and skype looks pretty cool for a console. its almost a high end htpc

 

[Arkaign]

So far the only knockout punch I see the Xbone throwing is at Microsoft's own face by accident, arrogance, or both.

Windows phone is sort of growing, but growing from 2% to 3.5% or whatever is still fail. They'll be single-digit players forever in that market.

As a living-room device, Xbone (not to mention PS4/etc), is never going to sell with non-gamers. It just won't. PS3 only gained some non-gamers in the beginning SOLELY because it was the cheapest/best BluRay player. That's no longer remotely the case, and 4K TVs are so god-awful expensive that 4K won't sell PS4s.

Apple has the best chance by far of taking over the living room, but more likely people will just get more/better smart TVs along with the little boxes in the future. People don't want to wave and yell at their TVs. They just want stuff to work, and bringing a massive box and camera into their rooms for $400-$500 when they don't play games is a ludicrously stupid concept.

 

[dagamer34]

Anyone who says smart TVs are the future has never used a smart TV. And the Apple TV isn't any more likely to "win the living room" than Microsoft, Sony or Google simply because TV studios are not going to hand over the keys to the kingdom to one company.

As for Steam, there is no "threat" there. All you need to do is look at console sales vs. PC sales within the first month when most games are sold. The split heavily favors consoles. Not that Steam isn't a good service, but it's not where most of publishers money comes from.

 

[mizzou]

Anyone who says smart TVs are the future has never used a smart TV. And the Apple TV isn't any more likely to "win the living room" than Microsoft, Sony or Google simply because TV studios are not going to hand over the keys to the kingdom to one company.

Speaking of handing the keys over...I am always amused at how companies treat high speed internet like it's some overflowing free resource.

If Comcast/Charter/Turner don't like the fact that Microsoft is boning in on their set-top boxes...they can just dial down the tap to dry everyone out. I'm sure they won't get caught blinking at the prospect of millions of systems staying connected 24/7, wasting bandwidth.

Oh you want to just deal with Microsoft to make them the center of your universe? Enjoy your 2GB monthly bandwidth cap or throttle down service. I'm sure that won't affect your always online activity.

Not saying that xbone will "impact" bandwidth, but they will certainly try and use it as a reason to fight back or raise revenue.

 

[KaOTiK]

Anyone who says smart TVs are the future has never used a smart TV. And the Apple TV isn't any more likely to "win the living room" than Microsoft, Sony or Google simply because TV studios are not going to hand over the keys to the kingdom to one company.

As for Steam, there is no "threat" there. All you need to do is look at console sales vs. PC sales within the first month when most games are sold. The split heavily favors consoles. Not that Steam isn't a good service, but it's not where most of publishers money comes from.

Actually you would be surprised how much revenue PC games pull in for publishers. When you lump all consoles together they beat the PC, but individually they are pretty damn close. Sure a console game may sell more, but they publisher is making more off of each PC sale still.

 

[sourceninja]

I love my 360, but with steam big picture, my xbox 360 controller, steam sales, my roku box, and my 55 inch TV I can't see myself buying another console. Especially with the direction MS is going.

 

[American Gunner]

I love my 360, but with steam big picture, my xbox 360 controller, steam sales, my roku box, and my 55 inch TV I can't see myself buying another console. Especially with the direction MS is going.

I have actually started to think this way. With the Xbone, we get all the bad things like DRM, but we won't get the awesome steam sales. I never thought I'd say this, but now I am ready for valve to hurry up and get the steam box out or at least talk about it so I know what I want to do in the future. As of right now, I am leaning heavily towards building a gaming rig. I can do a pretty good one for about $700, which when you consider the cost of live, means I would be breaking out about even when compared to what the xbox will most likely cost.

 

[Arkaign]

Anyone who says smart TVs are the future has never used a smart TV. And the Apple TV isn't any more likely to "win the living room" than Microsoft, Sony or Google simply because TV studios are not going to hand over the keys to the kingdom to one company.

Basically every new TV is a smart TV these days.

Are they better than an HTPC? No. But non-gamer/tech types don't buy HTPCs.
Are they better than a Roku/WDLive/etc? No. But those are more 'techy' devices anyway that sell to a more tech-oriented demographic.
Are they better than using an Xbox/Wii/PS for the purpose? Sort of, one less box you need to have, and they're dead simple to use.

The point of the comparison initially was SPECIFICALLY : getting streaming media into the homes of people.

Now for non-gamers, what do YOU think is more likely? That they :

(A)- Use the built-in Netflix app, which works fine (both of my TV's even support wireless kb/mice out of the box, and the LG Remote has a little keyboard on it)

(B)- Buy a $50-$100 streaming box a la Roku/etc.

(C)- Use the streaming apps built-in to their BluRay players.

or

(D)- Spend $400-$500 for an Xbone, spend another $XX/mo for Live, just to get to watch the TV they ALREADY pay for in combination with Netflix, that they ALREADY pay for.

A, B, and C, are EXPONENTIALLY more likely. Xbone is not a sell for non gamers in any way, shape, or fashion. And honestly, neither will PS4 in that way. The ONLY reason PS3 got any traction in non-gamer households is due to it being the cheapest BluRay player. Nobody who isn't a gamer is going to see an Xbone, and think : "Well GEE, that's a fantastic way to spend $400 to watch TV/Netflix, and LOOK, I get a huge extra box with a bunch of cables and gadgets to pollute my living room with! WHAT A DEAL!!!!1111oneone"

Now add option (E)- Apple brings out an actual line of flat-screen TVs with built-in iOS optimized for home entertainment. Obviously it will be expensive, obviously it will be a bit daft like all Apple products, but the Apple emokids and turtleneck hipster crowd will be ALL over it. For the non-gamer customer, they will probably outsell Xbones by 50,000:1.

Now for gamers, the Xbone may well be a big hit, it really depends on marketing and showing people the games. I am merely showing the preposterous insanity of how idiotic Microsoft is if they think they're going to sell a SINGLE non-gamer on this expensive, money-grubbing, bulky thing.

 

[exdeath]

It was a preemptive strike on consumers.

 

[Bateluer]

Windows 8 is unpopular...but Windows is still strong vs. competitors
Windows Phone is gaining ground

Hardly, they lost ~.8% market share on the most recent Compscore numbers. They've been stagnant in the 3% range for almost 18 months, despite pumping billions into Nokia and advertising. People just aren't buying WP8 devices, and its easy to see why when you hold a Lumia 92x and an HTC One or GS4 in each hand.

 

[Arkaign]

Hardly, they lost ~.8% market share on the most recent Compscore numbers. They've been stagnant in the 3% range for almost 18 months, despite pumping billions into Nokia and advertising. People just aren't buying WP8 devices, and its easy to see why when you hold a Lumia 92x and an HTC One or GS4 in each hand.

Yep, and it makes me happy. They're facing failure on every front, and I won't be happy until Ballmer is shown the door. Microsoft has never been a super-consumer-friendly group, but they have really fallen over themselves with poor products and bad policies for a while now. They need the hard reality shown to them with their bottom line getting blown to bits so they can focus on making better products at competitive prices.

Microsoft Zune? Fail, even though I personally liked it.
Windows 8? Failure.
Hosted Exchange? Overpriced, and many of our clients have had ongoing service issues with it. Fail.
Office 2013? Fail.
Windows Phones? Fail.
Windows Tablets? Fail.
Xbone? .... Hyperfail? We can only hope so, if they don't change their policies.

IF they backed off all of their garbage DRM/Internet requirement/used games draconian BS, I'd say fine, go Microsoft! That's not likely though.

 

[sushiwarrior]

(D)- Spend $400-$500 for an Xbone, spend another $XX/mo for Live, just to get to watch the TV they ALREADY pay for in combination with Netflix, that they ALREADY pay for.

I don't think Microsoft is expecting to get people to buy an Xbone or a 360 JUST for netflix. It's an incidental bonus - you buy it to play games, it also happens to play netflix and work with your TV, as long as you have the online service. Their business model isn't "OMG PPL LIEK NETFLIX LETS MAKE A $500 NETFLIX BOX". It's a $500 (well, presumably less) box that plays games and movies and TV and web content, and if you play said games online, it also plays Netflix too.

 

[Arkaign]

I don't think Microsoft is expecting to get people to buy an Xbone or a 360 JUST for netflix. It's an incidental bonus - you buy it to play games, it also happens to play netflix and work with your TV, as long as you have the online service. Their business model isn't "OMG PPL LIEK NETFLIX LETS MAKE A $500 NETFLIX BOX". It's a $500 (well, presumably less) box that plays games and movies and TV and web content, and if you play said games online, it also plays Netflix too.

Yep, that's true. Just like WiiU, PS4, my BluRay player, etc, etc. It does some extra stuff like streaming content.

The point is that it's not special. It's not going to sell to non-gamers. In fact, having to pay for XBL just to access streaming services you already pay for is completely asinine, and is a net negative.

 

[BladeVenom]

MS had 12% of the smartphone market 3 years ago, now they have ~3%. I would not say they are gaining ground. If Apple actually releases a budget iPhone, Windows Phone is completely dead.

 

[Kneedragger]

I don't think "Steambox" isn't a threat...but Steam certainly is. If Microsoft wants to control online game transactions, what if Steam starts partnering with PS4 to sell OpenGL/PSGL games that are compatible with the system and big screen mode? Seems plausible to me.

This would really be awesome, but what are the possibilities of this actually happening?

 

[American Gunner]

Aren't we supposed to start hearing more about the steam box in the summer? I hope they give us details soon and it will be on par with the performance abilities on these new consoles. We me a console with steam sales, and I am in.

 

[bguile]

Curious if some of the negative features of Xbone are as a result of threats of competitive devices, like Steambox...or even PS3


Microsoft seems to be posturing to try and take a larger share of everything, but is failing.

Windows 8 is unpopular...but Windows is still strong vs. competitors
Windows Phone is gaining ground

Maybe they thought if they push a more "involved" XBOX, they can tie together the markets...and start to get the TV viewing market cornered. If more people use their device to watch TV, they have your computer screen, phone screen, and TV screen taken care of.

------------

I don't think "Steambox" isn't a threat...but Steam certainly is. If Microsoft wants to control online game transactions, what if Steam starts partnering with PS4 to sell OpenGL/PSGL games that are compatible with the system and big screen mode? Seems plausible to me.

The more we look at this, the more it is starting to make sense why Xbone is Xboning itself.

Microsoft may have been going for a knockout punch on this one, but it doesn't look like it's going over well right now. Time will tell.

I think this was the plan all along. Both Microsoft and Sony have always wanted to position their consoles as more than just devices to play games on.

 

[BladeVenom]

Both Microsoft and Sony have always wanted to position their consoles as more than just devices to play games on.

True, MS has wanted to control the living room for a long time. MSN TV and XP Media Edition were previous failed attempts.

Of course now people are consuming their media on tablets and smartphones, so controlling the living room seems like an obsolete notion.

 

[gus6464]

All I know is XBone sounds a lot cooler than the lame name of Xbox One they are going with.

 

[cmdrdredd]

True, MS has wanted to control the living room for a long time. MSN TV and XP Media Edition were previous failed attempts.

Of course now people are consuming their media on tablets and smartphones, so controlling the living room seems like an obsolete notion.

Not when you can force windows8/RT usage with integrating it into the Xbox ecosystem. Then people will want a tablet that can work seemlessly with the Xbox One. Whether it works or not, but I don't doubt this is on their minds too.

 

[colonelciller]

Not when you can force windows8/RT usage with integrating it into the Xbox ecosystem. Then people will want a tablet that can work seemlessly with the Xbox One. Whether it works or not, but I don't doubt this is on their minds too.

so the logic is that people will buy the Xbone DRM nightmare with the always-on livingroom spy camera and monthly microsoft taxinorder to access services which you aleady are paying for in order to be convenienced by the wonderment of the Xbone interface...

and that this mystical allure of Xbone-ness will trigger these people to then purchase an expensive windows RT device to replace their perfectly fine iPad... because people want their tablet to talk to the DRM-infested spy-oriented Xbone.

... and then these people will be so overwhelmed by the interface coolness of Xbone and windows RT that people will then downgrad the best OS microsoft ever made (windows 7) to the failfest knows as Metro because their Lust for Xbone compatibility drove them to do so.

ROFL

 

[cmdrdredd]

so the logic is that people will buy the Xbone DRM nightmare with the always-on livingroom spy camera and monthly microsoft taxinorder to access services which you aleady are paying for in order to be convenienced by the wonderment of the Xbone interface...

and that this mystical allure of Xbone-ness will trigger these people to then purchase an expensive windows RT device to replace their perfectly fine iPad... because people want their tablet to talk to the DRM-infested spy-oriented Xbone.

... and then these people will be so overwhelmed by the interface coolness of Xbone and windows RT that people will then downgrad the best OS microsoft ever made (windows 7) to the failfest knows as Metro because their Lust for Xbone compatibility drove them to do so.

ROFL

yep that's their logic. They truly believe the current subscriber base for XBL will carry over to the xbox one. They also think they can sell Halo on a new engine without Bungie (maybe itll work out).

The thing that I thnk MS is doing is simple. They expect that everyone with a 360 will buy an Xbox One and they will all buy into Windows RT or Windows 8 tablets, phones, or desktop/laptops to integrate into the Xbox ecosystem. Maybe stream their DVR anywhere but only to Windows devices. That may be a reason some people with too much money will buy into it. I think it's a joke myself, but I don't doubt for a second that this is the goal of MS at this point. They have been losing marketshare with the 360 to the PS3, it is possible based on early hype and impressions that the PS4 is the more favorable console at this point, Windows 8 has been only a mild success and there are many vocal complaints about it. I believe that they are going to attempt to prop up the Windows 8/RT division with Xbox integration and by extension prop up the Xbox division with Windows8/RT integration.

I think it's a gamble that does not have odds in their favor though. It's just my feeling that this is the goal.

 

[Skel]

True, MS has wanted to control the living room for a long time. MSN TV and XP Media Edition were previous failed attempts.

Of course now people are consuming their media on tablets and smartphones, so controlling the living room seems like an obsolete notion.

If that was the case then Samsung wouldn't be able to sell people like me 60' TVs. The living room is still the central place to the house.

 

[zephyrprime]

Even without steam, I think MS would have moved towards online distribution of EVERYTHING. The direction is very clear. It was pioneered by Apple's itunes and later app store. However, even going back into the 80's, there were many computer pundits who saw that all software would be sold online in the future (there was already compuserve providing a crude early distribution platform). Online ONLY distribution games, software, and movies is coming soon and MS is trying to be position themselves to be the distributor.