Smarthouse gets knickers in a twist over Microsoft Xbox response

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 08 April 2008 13:21

Opinion and Analysis

Smarthouse then notes that Sony’s online gaming network is free, while Microsoft’s costs AUD $80 per year, with the pricing, from memory, set at $50 per year in the US. Microsoft say they have 10 million online members, with half subscribed to the premium service. That means Microsoft is making 5 million times US $50 per year.

I’ll bet Microsoft are happy about that, although naturally it is of benefit to PS3 owners that they don’t need to pay to play, online at least, besides needing to actually buy whichever game it is they’ll play online.

Then we get onto the topic of Blu-ray. Yes, Microsoft keeps saying it won’t make a Blu-ray add-on, and will instead look to downloads. Of course this is bad news for those on limited download broadband plans, where caps are tiny and excess usage fees are high.

But who knows what deals Microsoft will do with ISPs, and companies are forever saying they won’t do something, only to announce it later anyway. So the question of the Xbox 360 ever getting Blu-ray is still very, very open.

Smarthouse quoted a Microsoft executive saying ‘we gave consumers choice’ etc, etc... but Smarthouse themselves have had articles stating Blu-ray will come to the Xbox 360. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Smarthouse said: “At the end of the day Microsoft were on the losing end of the HD DVD Vs Blu ray (sic) war and their arses (sic) are being kicked in the console war by the like (sic) of Sony and Nintendo. They were also forced to allocate over $1.3 Billion dollars last year for faulty Xbox 360 consoles that simply stopped dues (sic) to shoddy parts and a "Red Ring Of Death" problem.”

That’s clearly true, but at least Microsoft had the decency – for once in its corporate life – to stand behind their product and fully back it up. If only they’d do the same for Windows, eh?

Smarthouse notes that they “still get on average four emails a week from dissatisfied Xbox 360 customers and we stand by our story that some retailers are not happy with the sales success or lack of it for the Microsoft Xbox 360 which has not only been dropped in price around the world in an effort to stimulate sales but bundled with controllers and software in an effort to get traction.”

Bundles and deals are a fact of life. Declining prices are a fact of life. A growing user base is hopefully a fact of life if you have enough games and satisfied customers.

Microsoft has a tough challenge ahead of it, but when hasn’t it? The Xbox 360 has been a massive success for Microsoft, and has shown the company can seriously challenge Sony at the gaming game.

No doubt all three console manufacturers have some awesome surprises in store for us this year, as each tries to outdo the other. It’s called competition, and I’m sure glad it exists.

After all, if the Xbox 360 wasn’t around, the PS3 would likely be a lot more expensive – just like Blu-ray players have reportedly gone up in price since the death of HD DVD.

But the Xbox 360’s purpose in life isn’t to keep PS3 prices low. It’s Microsoft’s entry into the world of home entertainment, computing and hardware, dovetailing their software businesses of Windows, Office and more.

Microsoft are doing what they can to push the entertainment envelope. They’ve done a great job so far.

They’ll have plenty of challenges, whether from retailers or journalists who are always disgruntled about something or other, or from the market itself, whom they need to convince to buy their product. Read a few of my recent Vista SP1 articles and you’ll see I haven’t been Microsoft’s BFF (best friend forever) of late, either.

Life wasn’t meant to be easy. Neither was being on top of the console gaming heap. It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. All I can suggest is that you get out your controllers... and play!