Hey Microsoft! Now is your chance to pounce

Mike Bantick
Monday, 16 April 2007 10:28

Opinion and Analysis

The next few months are crucial if Microsoft aims to garner an even bigger slice of the gaming market.  Sony PS3 is reeling somewhat, Nintendo Wii is still facing a supply crisis of both hardware, and to some degree software.

The time is ripe big M, the Xbox 360 is positioned to grab a large chunk of the gaming pie if you can seize the day. 

Sure the Wii is selling all that Nintendo can produce, and people are having fun all over the world with Wii Sports amongst others.  Currently the Wii is dominating the hearts of consumers, but for those looking for a broad range of gaming experience; it is difficult to recommend the Wii.

As more developers shift resources over to Nintendo’s little white box, this will change, I gauge the lag at being at least six months from now before we get true cross platform blockbusting titles.

Having said that, the PS3 and Xbox 360 will always have the edge in “power”.  That tickle at the back of a consumers brain, saying "I must get the most bang for buck in my purchase", may point them towards these consoles over the Wii’s  pure gameplay fun attributes.

Right now the PS3 is pricing itself out of that market, But with an expected price cut, the possibility of Blu-Ray dominating the next disc wars and games such as Lair, Ratchet & Clank, Warhawk, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII on this years horizon, Sony may be back in the game before long.  A guess on the lag here would be around eight months.

Finally the PS2 is eating a lot of the potential Xbox 360’s market, simply by being available at a no-brainer cost point.

Sure, the recent announcements of Windows Live Messenger integration and the 120GB HDD and HDMI enabled Xbox 360 Elite are intriguing steps.  Ones that personally do not appeal to me, I use my Xbox 360 for gaming and a bit of integration to my PC to show photos and stream film onto my big screen.

I don’t see the point of IM in my living room, even though it has spiffy integration into the Xbox Live feature, if I want to IM, I will use my PC.  Hands up those people that own an Xbox 360 but don’t have a PC? see, nobody.

Up coming titles for the Xbox 360 look tasty, lets rattle some off; 

Command & Conquer 3:Tiberium wars
Shadowrun
Call of Juarez 
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
Forza 2
The Crossing
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Bioshock
GTA IV 
Halo 3

Bit of a trend there, lots of FPS games.  And this is the other way the PS2 is eating the Microsoft potential dollar, game variety for all the family.  With Buzz, Eye-toy, SingStar to name a few.   Getting a Guitar Hero onto Xbox 360 was a great step as is the Xbox Live Marketplace future with board game translations such as Talisman, Caracassonne and Alhambra springing to mind.

But, lets face it, what the Xbox 360 needs right now (or at least within the next few months) is not the Elite, but a price drop.  At this moment consumers are coming to the market, looking at the gulf between PS2 an Xbox 360 and making a wallet call.

If the Xbox 360 was even 15% cheaper, this would be a harder decision for consumers, for a couple of hundred bucks more, they could be experiencing Next Generation gaming with a reasonable catalogue of titles to choose from.

Do it Microsoft marketers, and do it soon, PS3 and Wii, will have soon caught up on you in there respective deficient areas, and meanwhile the PS2 will continue to flourish.

Of course you can expect an article from me soon after Microsoft makes the price cut, asking both Sony and Nintendo to do the same thing.  I am nothing if not mercenary when it comes to outlaying gaming cash.