Lightknight said:
Well, you've seen the console "war" this past generation. A lot of people have burned bridges in their arguments against the company they don't own a console for. Perhaps Microsoft is relying on a dedicated fanbase to carry the system while their removal of second hand games and expansion into the media arena will compensate for those that left. The media market is what helped the PS3 initially because they went with Blu-Ray and were several hundred dollars cheaper than simple blu-ray players at the time. I think the Xbone wants that market more than it wants its gamers. That's unexpected because gamers are the ones that buy the valuable software and gamers are the ones that are willing to pay for the online service that Sony has traditionally given away for free (I don't know that they'll continue to offer it for free anymore).
TV and media viewers already have a cable box, most likely, and the box doesn't charge them an annual fee just to access what they're already paying their cable company for.
So you're right. Who do they really think their customer is? That being said, maybe they didn't think of this launch as for gamers? Maybe they thought of this as a general system launch and are considering E3 to be their launch of it as a game console. Maybe?
Yeah I'd agree their betting on fan loyalty to be so absolute that they'd accept anything to get the next exclusive game, not to mention ignorance of what the other console is really about. Sony got away with using the media centre to keep themselves afloat because Bluray was new and they made it, now that you can get players for $100 Microsoft is betting on a horse that's long gone and they wont win. A funny fact, since it uses bluray every XBone will also boost Sony as they have to pay them royalties for the bluray format, so either way Sony wins.
Sony won't be charging for the online service, they'll keep the free with PS+ as an option, it's the smart way of doing it really and has proven profitable to Sony, they won't want to risk mucking a working formula up.
Others have said a similar thing, that it was a launch for the general public/investors, however if that's the case then it still failed miserably on both fronts plus putting themselves on a bad footing for E3. The all in one pitch is fundamentally flawed, people who buy a console want a gaming console, yes being able to watch movies is a nice side feature but it's a console regardless. For an all in one system to do everything Microsoft is saying then most people will just use their computer/laptop, weather hooked up to the TV or not. By going that route their not only damaging their real target audience relationship but their fighting an uphill battle with a system that is literally better at the multi tasking/all in one ability (and ironically is often a Microsoft product anyway).