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What is Microsoft smoking?

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Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#191

Post by potatolicious »

falcolas wrote: post #187

I don't think that Sony "won" E3, or that Microsoft lost. Instead, Sony called Microsoft's bluff. Stay with me here. All of the restrictions that Microsoft has put forth are enforced by software - they can all be pretty easily reverted. I'm willing to bet that Microsoft was really hoping that Sony would see this as the future of console gaming, and would follow their lead at E3. This way consumers would have been giv…

> "they can all be pretty easily reverted"

Can they though? Sure, it's pretty trivial to remove the code that enforces these restrictions, but I don't think it's Microsoft enforcing it.

Think about it - used games (mostly) go through authorized retailers, can only be sold once, where said retailers collect a cut, and Microsoft collects none. This isn't about Microsoft's bottom line, this is about the bottom line of GameStop, EA, Activision, etc.

There's no way MS would enforce this kind of DRM scheme on their own - they don't stand to benefit at all. If this was promised to retailers/publishers, they cannot just unilaterally walk away from it. Knowing no secret information, it strikes me that they may have legally painted themselves into a corner.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#192

Post by uptown »

What would you rather have? Ownership over the living-room / home entertainment center, or ownership of the waning console game market that's being swallowed up by mobile games? I think Microsoft is making a calculated choice that they'd rather widen their audience to market themselves to users looking to control their TV/movie experience more-so than they're hoping to sell their console just to gamers. It's why their console (and Playstation's for that matter) look like they'll blend in with more-traditional home-entertainment components.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#193

Post by kyllo »

astrodust wrote: post #177
jemeshsu wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They tried to emulate apple while forgetting that people that bought into apple ideology already had apple. Agreed. Their enterprise offering is strong. And one day they will realize it is IBM that is their destiny, and drop out of consumer market.

Microsoft has no hope of becoming an IBM. IBM manufactures lots of hardware, produces new technology it licenses, and has an enormous software consulting division. Microsoft does none of these things. If anything, Microsoft will become like Computer Associates (CA Technologies), a company that milks products enterprise is hooked on and can't quit, squeezing money out of these things for decades to come.

Consulting, not so much, but they have an integrated, whole-enterprise stack that includes:

Office (especially Word / Excel / Outlook trifecta which practically everyone uses at work for documents, scheduling, e-mail)

Lync (text, voice, video chat that is integrated w/ Outlook contacts)

Sharepoint for intranet portals, content management, collaborative documents with version control

Dynamics ERP & CRM for accounting and sales

SQL Server, which has a sophisticated BI stack for reporting & analytics

Visual Studio for developing custom applications that can interface with the APIs of all above products

Now they have or are working on cloud versions of basically all of these products so you don't even need any hardware if you want to go that route.

Personally I am not a huge fan of Microsoft for a lot of reasons, but no other company, including IBM, comes even close to offering such a comprehensive enterprise stack. They're the only company that has a product for everything (except hardware).

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#194

Post by jimmar »

falcolas wrote: post #187

I don't think that Sony "won" E3, or that Microsoft lost. Instead, Sony called Microsoft's bluff. Stay with me here. All of the restrictions that Microsoft has put forth are enforced by software - they can all be pretty easily reverted. I'm willing to bet that Microsoft was really hoping that Sony would see this as the future of console gaming, and would follow their lead at E3. This way consumers would have been giv…

This is "signaling." Companies are not allowed to meet and align their strategies. E.g. car rental companies can't get together and agree to raise their rates 10% next year. (A few years back I think Budget got in trouble for basically proposing that other car rental companies follow their lead in raising rates in a conference call). However, companies can send each other signals in various ways. Microsoft may have been trying to send Sony a signal. If Sony agreed, consumers would have had to suck it up and deal with it, or refuse to buy the products.

So, Sony doesn't want to play along. It's probably a bid for market share more than a bid for consumer happiness, in my opinion.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#195

Post by rbanffy »

_pmf_ wrote: post #130
venomsnake wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft had all the cards to win the device war. But they forgot what made them win the PC war. They tried to emulate apple while forgetting that people that bought into apple ideology already had apple. If the W8 arm was unlocked it would have been a big winner. WP7 just needed fast moving instead of stagnation and they almost got everything right with the original xbox and X360 in the beginning. But I am moving a…

The reasons why Microsoft fail seem so petty. They are technologically probably the most advanced company, but ruin it by dubious politics.

> They are technologically probably the most advanced company

I disagree. Their technology is mostly OK, and, surely, they seem managed by idiots, but I wouldn't dare to call them "the most advanced company" when compared to even most software companies.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#196

Post by hackinthebochs »

kryten wrote: post #25
mattchamb wrote: post #18

Im probably going to lose what little karma I have for saying this, but the XBox One's licensing model is more attractive to me than the PS4's model. I'm getting all of my information from here: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license These are the points I find interesting: - Access your entire games library from any Xbox One ... while you are logged in at your friend’s house, you can play your games. From this, i can…

I think that idea probably works well... ...until you have to drag an entire BluRay disc over the Internet before Halo 14 will start.

In one of their presentations they mentioned "instant start", i.e. it downloads just enough to get you started then downloads the rest in the background.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#197

Post by jimmar »

If I get anything, it'd probably be an XBOX One. I have little kids who suck at using a controller to do anything. But they had a blast at a friend's house jumping around doing the little Kinect games (e.g. popping bubbles). The new Kinect is supposed to be even better. That's pretty much the selling point for me. The PS4 has a similar device, but you have to buy it separately, which puts the price on part with the XBOX One.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#198

Post by hackinthebochs »

Alphasite_ wrote: post #59
tehwalrus wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds interesting, and a lot like Steam (which, like you, I've spent a fair bit of money on over the years now.)

Ah, but PC game retail prices are much lower than on consoles, which is why most people tolerate the insanely restrictive Steam licensing conditions. Frankly, if they took licensing condition form anyone, i wish they'd stolen it form one of the app stores (which is closer to what they've done than steam), where you can have 10 simultaneous installs and users per purchase.

Who's to say console game prices won't go down in the era of all digital? If publishers make more money on their games there will be downward price pressure.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#199

Post by hackinthebochs »

AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #23

Microsoft Is Spread Too Thin. That's it. That is the reason most of their products are half-assed. They have database systems. Server, desktop, and tablet/phone operating systems. Web, desktop, mobile development environments, all in multiple languages. They have their IaaS and PaaS offerings. They have end user services like Skydrive and Outlook. Then there is everything Office. And games, both PC and Xbox. Also, Bi…

So Xbox is half-assed because you don't like their all digital model? Come now. You may not agree with the model, but nothing I've seen from this generation xbox can be honestly called half-assed.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#200

Post by kryten »

hackinthebochs wrote: post #196
kryten wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that idea probably works well... ...until you have to drag an entire BluRay disc over the Internet before Halo 14 will start.

In one of their presentations they mentioned "instant start", i.e. it downloads just enough to get you started then downloads the rest in the background.

Its probably the same streaming tech office 2010 home and student uses. It basically makes it unusable. Every time you click something it lags for 30-40 seconds while it caches dlls. Horrible tech.
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