@stevejcrow I should have qualified that to say they dominated with enterprise consumers with Windows mobile prior to 7. Basically before the iPhone the mobile smartphone market was used primarily by business users and Windows CE had 56% of the market. Blackberry OS was second with 19%. At that time you were probably still using a sidekick or Motorola Razr at the time. The iPhone, as well as 3G technology, is what brought smartphones to the masses.
@rjejr In order to get the Play Anywhere benefit you have to buy from the Windows marketplace, not Steam. This is allabout growing that marketplace as well so it can compete with Steam as a software provider. They are still making an Xbox because they want to appeal to console gamers. They don't manufacture PCs because they don't have to. There are plenty of 3rd party manufacturers to assume that cost. Besides most PC gamers make their own custom rigs so it doesn't make sense for MS to try and sell hardware to them. They absolutely get a cut of every game sold on Xbox marketplace--I believe it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 30%--and I would assume they get nothing from Steam sales on 3rd party titles. And I wasn't saying they'll make more money on games for PC. It will all be the same coming from the Xbox marketplace. They're just expanding who they can sell to by roping in PC gamers.
The fact that you point out that everyone has a PC is the exact reason they are doing this. They're unifying gaming on all devices running Windows 10. They're broadening where Xbox games can be played. Another commenter pointed out that this will allow them to incrementally upgrade hardware and not making the games in your library obsolete. This is the current backward compatibility on the XBOne.
Look, I understand what points you're making, and if we were talking about only consoles I'd agree with you 100%. But you're missing the bigger picture from MS as a whole. It's part of the same plan that made MS shift gears and release mobile Office on iOS and Android. If people are using your software and paying to do so let them do it on whatever device they choose. It's why Windows Mobile failed recently, because people were invested in the apps and ecosystem of iOS and Android so they weren't changing hardware. App developers weren't developing for Windows Phone because of the small install base. Ballmer tried to buy their way into relevance and as you have pointed out that failed. Nadalla is taking the opposite approach. Meeting the customer base where they are. Giving them the software for whatever device they are using. This move with Unified Windows is pulling gaming into that bigger picture.
Sony is fighting tooth and nail to keep their dominance in the console gaming market that they have enjoyed for going on two decades now. MS is trying to change how the game is played. We will see how it plays out.
@rjejr And by the way, MS dominated the mobile phone OS market until the iPhone. They reacted too slowly and didn't recognize the seismic shift happening in the mobile market. The Nokia purchase was the last blunder Ballmer would make in attempting to buy their way into relevance again in mobile. Sometimes leaders don't see the future coming and they pay for it. If you want a relevant example, just look at Xbox Live, implemented with the first Xbox. Sony didn't recognize how broadband console gaming would change the way games are played, and it cost them a generation with the PS3.
@rjejr Ballmer was an idiot. He is also no longer in charge. Nadalla has changed the focus of MS to become a software and services company (again) because that's where the true money is. Every generation of Xbox and PlayStation console lost money on the hardware for the first few years. They needed an installed base of users and the software made up the losses. That's what MS is doing now. You're staying too focused on the console hardware. In enabling Play Anywhere across Windows devices MS has effectively made every Windows 10 device an Xbox. They don't care if you play on Xbox, PC, Surface tablet, laptops running Windows 10--it's all software sales. Not only that, but to enable Play Anywhere you have to buy a digital copy on the Xbox marketplace--you know, the thing they wanted at launch and Sony capitalized on to get the "For The Gamer" moniker to begin with. So they really don't care if people are now saying "I won't buy an Xbox, I'll play on PC" because at the end of the day you're still buying the high margin digital software from them.
@rjejr I think what you're missing is that MS isn't confused about being a PC or Xbox company; they're transitioning to a service based company. This strategy for them is bigger than Xbox and PC. It's the same reason why fully blown Office Suite is available on iOS and Android for phones and tablets. With XBONE transitioning to run on Windows 10 based OS they are truly becoming one platform with PC and Xbox. It's simply a matter of which platform the gamer wants to play on. MS is getting to the point where they don't care what hardware you're using as long as you're playing in the Windows environment. So Sony's problem--if you think this is a problem for them--is they are supporting cross platform on PC but not Xbox, but those two are running the same software. So if they continue to not allow cross play with Xbox then there isn't any way to put a positive PR spin on it. They just don't want to allow PS4s to play with XBONEs. And if they don't then they do legitimately lose the ability to say they are for the gamer the way they positioned themselves brilliantly at the PS4 launch at E3 when they attacked the MS used game policy. The question is does that even matter to gamers at this point in the generation cycle?
Comments 5
Re: Sony Really Needs to Address This PS4, Xbox One Cross-Play Thing
@stevejcrow I should have qualified that to say they dominated with enterprise consumers with Windows mobile prior to 7. Basically before the iPhone the mobile smartphone market was used primarily by business users and Windows CE had 56% of the market. Blackberry OS was second with 19%. At that time you were probably still using a sidekick or Motorola Razr at the time. The iPhone, as well as 3G technology, is what brought smartphones to the masses.
Re: Sony Really Needs to Address This PS4, Xbox One Cross-Play Thing
@rjejr In order to get the Play Anywhere benefit you have to buy from the Windows marketplace, not Steam. This is allabout growing that marketplace as well so it can compete with Steam as a software provider. They are still making an Xbox because they want to appeal to console gamers. They don't manufacture PCs because they don't have to. There are plenty of 3rd party manufacturers to assume that cost. Besides most PC gamers make their own custom rigs so it doesn't make sense for MS to try and sell hardware to them. They absolutely get a cut of every game sold on Xbox marketplace--I believe it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 30%--and I would assume they get nothing from Steam sales on 3rd party titles. And I wasn't saying they'll make more money on games for PC. It will all be the same coming from the Xbox marketplace. They're just expanding who they can sell to by roping in PC gamers.
The fact that you point out that everyone has a PC is the exact reason they are doing this. They're unifying gaming on all devices running Windows 10. They're broadening where Xbox games can be played. Another commenter pointed out that this will allow them to incrementally upgrade hardware and not making the games in your library obsolete. This is the current backward compatibility on the XBOne.
Look, I understand what points you're making, and if we were talking about only consoles I'd agree with you 100%. But you're missing the bigger picture from MS as a whole. It's part of the same plan that made MS shift gears and release mobile Office on iOS and Android. If people are using your software and paying to do so let them do it on whatever device they choose. It's why Windows Mobile failed recently, because people were invested in the apps and ecosystem of iOS and Android so they weren't changing hardware. App developers weren't developing for Windows Phone because of the small install base. Ballmer tried to buy their way into relevance and as you have pointed out that failed. Nadalla is taking the opposite approach. Meeting the customer base where they are. Giving them the software for whatever device they are using. This move with Unified Windows is pulling gaming into that bigger picture.
Sony is fighting tooth and nail to keep their dominance in the console gaming market that they have enjoyed for going on two decades now. MS is trying to change how the game is played. We will see how it plays out.
Re: Sony Really Needs to Address This PS4, Xbox One Cross-Play Thing
@rjejr And by the way, MS dominated the mobile phone OS market until the iPhone. They reacted too slowly and didn't recognize the seismic shift happening in the mobile market. The Nokia purchase was the last blunder Ballmer would make in attempting to buy their way into relevance again in mobile. Sometimes leaders don't see the future coming and they pay for it. If you want a relevant example, just look at Xbox Live, implemented with the first Xbox. Sony didn't recognize how broadband console gaming would change the way games are played, and it cost them a generation with the PS3.
Re: Sony Really Needs to Address This PS4, Xbox One Cross-Play Thing
@rjejr Ballmer was an idiot. He is also no longer in charge. Nadalla has changed the focus of MS to become a software and services company (again) because that's where the true money is. Every generation of Xbox and PlayStation console lost money on the hardware for the first few years. They needed an installed base of users and the software made up the losses. That's what MS is doing now. You're staying too focused on the console hardware. In enabling Play Anywhere across Windows devices MS has effectively made every Windows 10 device an Xbox. They don't care if you play on Xbox, PC, Surface tablet, laptops running Windows 10--it's all software sales. Not only that, but to enable Play Anywhere you have to buy a digital copy on the Xbox marketplace--you know, the thing they wanted at launch and Sony capitalized on to get the "For The Gamer" moniker to begin with. So they really don't care if people are now saying "I won't buy an Xbox, I'll play on PC" because at the end of the day you're still buying the high margin digital software from them.
Re: Sony Really Needs to Address This PS4, Xbox One Cross-Play Thing
@rjejr I think what you're missing is that MS isn't confused about being a PC or Xbox company; they're transitioning to a service based company. This strategy for them is bigger than Xbox and PC. It's the same reason why fully blown Office Suite is available on iOS and Android for phones and tablets. With XBONE transitioning to run on Windows 10 based OS they are truly becoming one platform with PC and Xbox. It's simply a matter of which platform the gamer wants to play on. MS is getting to the point where they don't care what hardware you're using as long as you're playing in the Windows environment. So Sony's problem--if you think this is a problem for them--is they are supporting cross platform on PC but not Xbox, but those two are running the same software. So if they continue to not allow cross play with Xbox then there isn't any way to put a positive PR spin on it. They just don't want to allow PS4s to play with XBONEs. And if they don't then they do legitimately lose the ability to say they are for the gamer the way they positioned themselves brilliantly at the PS4 launch at E3 when they attacked the MS used game policy. The question is does that even matter to gamers at this point in the generation cycle?