A crumbling tower: Sony lays siege to the 360's weak spots

News Type: Event — Seeded on Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:07 AM EDT

Article Source: Ars Technica

entertainment, microsoft, video-games, sony, xbox, ps3, xbox-360, playstation, playstation-4

It wouldn't be accurate to say that the sky is falling for Microsoft's one and only gaming console, the 360, but it may be time to look at what the company is doing right... and where it's going wrong. The Sony PlayStation 3 is beginning to chip away at the 360's lead in both software and hardware sales in the US, and that system only seems to be picking up steam. In contrast, the 360 doesn't seem to have much real momentum these days.

While it's hard to find ways for Microsoft to get its mojo back, we can easily identify a few problem areas that are becoming clear as the 360 ages. These are the weaknesses in Microsoft's strategy that have to be addressed before the system can hope to get its groove back. Let's take a look.

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3.1

{"commentId":2486939,"authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

Steve Watts

I think he makes a lot of good points, but I don't really agree with him on this one about the 360's reliability:

Microsoft has to start getting the word out that it has fixed the reliability problems; pretending like this issue never happened is not the solution.

They offered a 3-year warranty and very openly recognized that there were hardware failures. I'm not sure where he gets the idea that they pretend it never happened. Does he want them to mention it constantly or something?

{"commentId":2486939,"threadId":"333973","contentId":"1758323","authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

3 votes

#1 - Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:50 AM EDT

{"commentId":2494507,"authorDomain":"supernaught360"}

Supernaught

3 Words: Gears Of War. Okay, 4: Two.

{"commentId":2494507,"threadId":"333973","contentId":"1758323","authorDomain":"supernaught360"}

2 votes

#2 - Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:05 PM EDT

{"commentId":2699123,"authorDomain":"rascal2pt0"}

Rascal 2.0

3 Words: Gears Of War. Okay, 4: Two.

That above all else will keep the 360 up. I have a Wii, a 360, and a PS3. I beat the one game that came with the PS3, but other than that it mostly collects dust, and now that the new Final Fantasy will be released on the XBOX it may just be set for Blu-Ray and PS2/1 games from now on.

{"commentId":2699123,"threadId":"333973","contentId":"1758323","authorDomain":"rascal2pt0"}

2 votes

#2.1 - Tue Sep 2, 2008 2:31 PM EDT

{"commentId":2565098,"authorDomain":"jfrank"}

jfrank

My 360 broke three times. And the last two times, they fixed it for free and sent it back within a week.

While the Halo Series is not enough to keep Microsoft Gaming afloat. 360 also has exclusive titles like Gears of War, Too Human, Viva Pinata, Crackdown. And still gets Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, sports games and a load of other stuff. Outside of Halo Wars, I think we've seen the last of Halo.

At least until we need Master Chief again, a.k.a. Microsoft's next system. haha.

{"commentId":2565098,"threadId":"333973","contentId":"1758323","authorDomain":"jfrank"}

2 votes

#3 - Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:34 AM EDT

{"commentId":2699487,"authorDomain":"JimmyJames75"}

Jimmy James

I think the author sounds like a Sony fanboy

{"commentId":2699487,"threadId":"333973","contentId":"1758323","authorDomain":"JimmyJames75"}

#4 - Tue Sep 2, 2008 2:44 PM EDT

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MICHAEL SAUTTER

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A crumbling tower: Sony lays siege to the 360's weak spots

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