What has happened at microsoft?

[Quellist]

I think they are trying to replicate the success Bill Gates had back in the day when he did stuff like breaking WordStar vs Wordperfect by bringing out Word, that was compatible with both.

Essentially they want everyone to migrate over to the Microsoft version of whatever, that's why this console is trying to do everything; Sad to say Microsoft isn't what it was, and Stever Balmer is no Bill Gates.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

It's penis envy...

Someone at Microsoft saw how much hate EA and Activision have caused and decided that they want a slice of that hostility pie for themselves...yum yum, tuck in!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I think most of their departments are out of touch with reality. Look at Office 2013, it looks like it was designed by a minimalist hipster.

 

[BeeGeenie]

They are jealous of Apple. They've been trying to be more like them for years. It's a stupid thing to do, but what are you gonna do about it. You can't talk sense into these people. They've been so out of touch with reality since Bill Gates left the building.

^So much this. When I got my new laptop, that was my first reaction: Windows 8 is a desperate attempt to turn my laptop into an i-pad.

Adam Jensen has won this thread, we can all go home.

 

[Atmos Duality]

What happened is that they've been pressured into adopting the Walled Garden methodology, in part because it works for crApple, and in part because Microsoft's major business partners in gaming wanted them to.

Well, that and the Kinect. But the Kinect was aimed at roping in the Wii crowd...or at least, what remained of the new Wii crowd after the Wii died in late 2011.

The intention of the Xbox ONE is right there in its name: ONE.
It's supposed to be the ONE major media device you need. You hook it up to your TV and now it's a Smart TV, DVD+Blu Ray player, and gaming system all in one.

Almost as if they want to monopolize your living room with ONE catch-all device (except the TV, it can't be a TV even if was the size of an Xbox /horribly outdated joke).

Hey...anyone else wanna spike up their hair and take a trip with me to the Microsoft HQ? For no specific reason? Preferably a healer? Also a tank...(I'm more a rouge personally)

You're red?

 

[kypsilon]

They got bought out by a secretly funded Homeland Security agency and have gone "dark". They are now building the Xbox One as a means to infiltrate the homes of hapless Americans bent on watching social media exchanges and television through their game consoles. When our alien overlords appear over the skies of the Earth, the aliens will on have to screech on their loudspeakers, "Xbox: kittens!" and take over the world while everybody goes 'D'awww' at the fluffy murder machines being streamed live.

 

[Faraja]

The board chose the Dear Leader Kim Jong-un as the CEO. He's simply doing what is best to insure that all of Microsoft's costumers stay loyal to Microsoft and the ideal of the revolution. We should all be thankful.

 

[RJ 17]

My theory is that Microsoft outsourced the development of the XBone to (or at least relied heavily on the consultation of) EA's "How To Piss Off Your Consumer Base" department.

 

[theevilgenius60]

Ya know how in some fantasy games and movies there will be a malevolent cult who are Hell-bent on bringing about the end times? You know the ones, they sacrifice virgins and gather the sacred stones or, realign the sacred statues because it was prophesied that a time will come when the signs show that the end will finally come? I can't help but think that Microsoft has made themselves the gaming equivalent of this kind of Doom Cult. Back in 1982 (was it 82 or 83?) the home video game industry crashed. Nintendo saved the world of home gaming and ever since the emergence of that shining grey box, mystics and scholars all the world over have said that another fall would happen again. Microsoft have taken it upon themselves to hasten the next Armageddon.

...

Hey...anyone else wanna spike up their hair and take a trip with me to the Microsoft HQ? For no specific reason? Preferably a healer? Also a tank...(I'm more a rouge personally)

Paladin here. Specifically my sword, buffs and minor healing are yours to command if this noble quest takes shape. This corruption must be purged with holy fire.

 

[II2]

Want an actual speculation based in reality?

I think it has to do with the fiction within the corporate culture of Microsoft that is leading to a lot of bad decision making. There is a Dragon Lady, not naming names, who was brought in as an HR head (or similar position) to tighten things up. She has been responsible for a lot of layoffs and good people leaving the company due to the toxic measures she's taken to try and optimize executive processes. She is proud of this fact, feeling that her accomplishments have cut the wheat from the chaff. Many good people disagree.

Under her direction, people have been laid off in manners reflecting the structure of reality television eliminations. During decision meetings, she would have employees submit ideas and vote, in a quasi democratic fashion on which ideas would succeed and who, if repeatedly submitting bottom ranked ideas, would be let go, in the name of performance management and incentiveising career driven atmosphere.

Forbes and a couple other publications took a look inside at recent procedure and illuminated these issues.

It's a problem because it turns the workplace competitive, instead of collaborative and ideas that can be best sold on their popularity within an insulated system for the benefit of individual workers. It's obvious how this sort of system could harm feelings of trust, security and good will in the Microsoft corporate ecosystem.

In the spirit of 'tightening things up' and encouraging internal competition, they've added nothing but noise and friction to important decision making processes. It hurts the company, consumer and it's employees. It leads to bad decision and a bad work environment. It has cost people friends and jobs and will cost Microsoft profit and share value.



Hope this changes.

EDIT: This post is based on my understanding of somewhat dated information, so I could well be wrong, but I think it's still going on and would explain a lot of the high-popularity democractically stupid ideas Microsoft employing.

 

[Naeras]

The guys who are running the show at MS now are either really stupid or perpetually drunk. It's possible that the stupidity also stems from the brain damage you could get off of excessive alcohol.

In all seriousness, this is another example of the fact that a lot of the people who run the video game industry are completely clueless about video games. This is bad both for themselves, for the consumers, and for the industry as a whole.
I'm really, really looking forward to the point 10-20 years into the future where all those clueless fucktards have been replaced with people who at the very least know what a control pad is.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Nothing happened. We've been seeing the Xbox mutate away from its initial form for the last two years, now. Games are costing a fuckton to make, costs keep rising, and MS is realizing that they're sitting on the untapped gold mine of cable box users and PVR owners. Or, well, so they think.

The thing is, my cable box has a remote. My PVR has a remote. I don't have a Smart TV, but my Blu-Ray player turns it into one. I've never had the space or the physical aptitude to find Kinect even vaguely interesting. I've got something like forty-seven different ways to watch Netflix already. I don't need another one.

All they're trying to do is pull the wool over the eyes of a certain subset of consumers. They aren't fooling us, we're serious. We know our lousy game company pitches when we hear them. We can recognize bad ideas when we see them. The folks to whom this glorified TiVo is marketed, though? Nope.

It's a slap in the face of the hardcore community, yeah, but it's also smart marketing. Who's most likely to ignore how pointlessly gimmicky the whole thing is? Someone who feels the need to have another means to reach ESPN. Who's the most likely to pick up the console even if its hardware pales a few months from now? The sports game clique and the CoD guys. Period.

It sucks, it's rage-inducing if you've got two brain cells to spare - but it's smart marketing.

 

[SomethingWorse]

I can't help but agree with the general sentiment of 'Microsoft is a business, not a studio.'

They really do not know their base very well anymore.

 

[Me55enger]

So am I right in thinking Sony has lost a competetor and Sky has gained one?

 

[MrMrAwesom]

Nothing. Its exactly the same way it was when I left, which is to say, mostly marketing employees and with the actual tech people bailing out by the truckload to write iPhone apps instead.

Yeah pretty much this.
But the point of this thread is more of a wacky fun middle finger at (P)MS.
Anyway, I think they surveyed a bunch of spoiled rotten kids with iPhones "What, are you kidding? Of course I want it to be online all the time! That way I can play games online everywhere!" ect.

 

[Mr. Q]

There are a lot of valid points being brought up (the lack of leadership after Bill Gate's departure, misguided concepts to make money, rising costs, etc.) but some of these issues are plaguing the games industry as well. None companies want to admit their mistakes so they continue to stumble over themselves trying to remain relevant as their customer base becomes more hostile and less inclined to keep funding a hobby that is becoming more of a hassle. They have been living on top of the world for so long, no one wants to admit that something is wrong within the kingdom. All empires crumble over time, especially if they're not maintained properly, and Microsoft is just another victim of its own self delusion and inability to correct itself. What we've seen with the unveiling of the Xbone is a company desperately trying to stay afloat as the ship sinks deeper into the ocean.

Unless the industry can pull a massive 180 to get back on track, we may be staring down the barrel of the next video game crash. And if that is the case, that crash is coming soon or is upon us already.

 

[Trek1701a]

I actually like the Zune, Zune HD in particular. The hardware is good but the software is pretty bad. That's neither here nor there though.

Back on topic, when MS got into the console business way back when they stated their purpose to eventually be the center of the livingroom. So did Sony, so I'm not singling out them for that. At that time, it was looking like there would be some sort of computer in everybody's house that controls the TV, cable, etc. MS felt that video games were the easiest way to get to that goal, especially after the failure of WebTV. However, as time went by, the one computer box fits all system has fallen by the wayside, or at least most of it has been integrated into the TV itself. So while Sony seems to have adapted to that reality, MS still has the idea that we need the all in one box regardless that other things can do the same thing, some even doing them better and more likely cheaper. So ultimately I don't think anything happened to MS except that they followed their idea to fruition, but the idea isn't valid anymore and they didn't adapt in the meantime.