Xbox One Games Could Keep Console Around For A Decade, Microsoft Thinks
Xbox One games could keep the console around for a decade or more, according to Microsoft. This could be a very premature prediction, of course.
It did take Microsoft over half a year to finally decide to take the Kinect out of the box and sell the console for $100 less. This finally boosted the sales of the Xbone to a point that even Titanfall couldn’t. More gamers can afford it now, and the June sales have proven positive.
Can the momentum last, or is Microsoft just getting cocky?
As every new generation in the past has shown us, the first batch of games are always a little sub-par. This is because developers haven’t had time to learn the console before they make those games. As the years pass, we end up getting better quality titles, and it isn’t until the end of the console’s lifespan that we finally see what the console can handle.
Compare Marvel Ultimate Alliance with Grand Theft Auto V and you’ll see a world of improvement. The former could probably fit comfortably inside the latter, and it’s on the same console.
Xbox One games will likely follow the same path, with Call of Duty: Ghosts looking like it was designed by six year olds during recess in comparison with what we’ll likely see when the console’s lifespan is drawing to a close.
The problem with Microsoft’s prediction is that they’re assuming developers will be able to repeat the success they had with the Xbox 360, which lasted for seven years before it faced a next level upgrade. Can Microsoft hold out that long before releasing the next Xbox, or will Sony force their hand in five years? We’ll need to see some impressive Xbox One games if they plan to repeat their Xbox 360 success.
Xbox One will live as long as the 360, says UK marketing chief http://t.co/lsRq2Ja8r9
— NeoGAF New Threads (@NeoGAFNewThread) July 17, 2014
U.K. marketing director Harvey Eagle countered the claims from doubters looking to the current history of Xbox One games:
“You can’t change things, and we understand the feedback.
“In one sense we’re quite lucky that we have bunch of people that care and want to tell us how we can make it better. I’ve been around the business for 14 or 15 years and we didn’t have the benefit of that insight in the past.
“You [didn’t] get that real time feedback and I think we’re quite lucky and I’m really proud that we listen and act and we’ve done that quickly.”
The Xbox 360 launch was a success mostly because the PlayStation 3 was selling for around 50 percent more per unit. Otherwise, the Blu Ray technology and lower tendency to overheat and die would have given PlayStation 3 the win right away.
Now the Xbox One has suffered from bad PR and a similar price problem, earning it the nickname “Xbone.” Even though it appears Microsoft is working on winning its audience back, the promise of a return to their despised “vision of the future” could still drive a lot of us to admit an Xbox One fail and buy a PlayStation 4 anyway.
Microsoft might not be able to maintain sales long enough to bring us Xbox One games for another decade. It’s just too early to be that cocky.
[image via YouTube]
