Xbox One, despite the bashing why Microsoft could really well have won the war.

People love bashing. There always have been companies who, for one reason or the other, have been a designated target for criticism.

Usually the larger the corporation, the bigger the bashing. 

Google used to be cool, now they just are the internet Big Brother we wish we could avoid. Even Apple, now that they are not anymore under the protection of a Steve Jobs, are not immune to critics.

Bashing is fun and social. Aiming at the same target as millions of others, we feel part of a superior community, looking down on others and being the only ones to have the holy grail answer to all questions.

Given that, Microsoft has, not surprisingly, been a favorite target for bashing since quite some time.

The recent announcements regarding Microsoft's Xbox One at E3 have given people a lot of ground for criticism. Video game journalists and internet forums all conclude that Sony has won the war and that Microsoft Xbox One is a stillborn product. 

Or is it?

I don't want to comment on Microsoft communication and I'm not going to speculate whether or not it was done on purpose.

Gamers mainly complained about three things: the always connected enforced policy, the new controls over pre-owned and the console price tag.

Microsoft stroke off the first two. 
Most should have been happy, but being the social haters that we are, we bashed them for not being consistent...

Now, I don't know if the Xbox One development followed Agile process but sounds very much like Agile to me.

Remember what the Agile Manifesto says? 

That there is more value in:

- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

- Responding to change over following a plan

Isn't that what Microsoft just did?

They don't suddenly believe that being connected do not offer extra value or that the pre-owned market shouldn't be controlled. 

But they realize it is better to cooperate with their audience rather than entering heated discussions. Better to adapt than to follow a plan nobody wants!

Granted, the price tag remains.

I'm not giving all that much importance to that for three reasons:

- Release is still a few month away and there's still plenty of room for a price adjustment if need be. I can't seem to find reliable figures, but with a war chest above 60 billions dollars, they certainly have the financial room to allow it.

- Most day-one buyers are hardcore gamers and price elasticity is traditionally quite high for early adopters. And yes, of course, price will decrease over time...

- When released, back in November 2006 (March 2007 for us lucky europeans!) the PS3 was 599€. That did not prevented it to meet its audience. 

At 499€, you could call the Xbox One a deal (even more when you take inflation into account).

Xbox One and PS4 actually have pretty similar hardware.

In fact most of the price difference can be pinpointed to the Xbox One motion recognition technology, Kinect 2.0, being included in the base pack.

Kinect 2.0 is Microsoft evolution of its motion sensor technology first introduced in November 2010 on Xbox 360. It will be precise enough to read lips, recognize emotions and even strength you exercise.

Now, has past history has shown (remember the Sega 32X?), no peripheral will get wide developers' support unless being part of the original bundle. Indeed, in times of increasing development costs (and stable RRP), why would you limit your audience, that is to say your potential market, to a fraction of the whole?

By removing the Playstation Eye from the PS4 bundle, Sony actually kills it as a mainstream development platform.

Gamers have always been attracted by impressive graphics and in this regard both consoles offer solid choices.

However gaming has much evolved over the past few years. Mobile gaming and freemium products have changed the way the larger audience consume entertainment.

Not all people are hardcore gamers, Kinect 2.0 promise of natural interactivity could really well be the right argument for the mainstream.

I don't know if Kinect 2.0 will be a success. It certainly has the potential. Its promises of natural interactivity is well in line with people demands for simplicity.

What's certain though is that from a developer's perspective, Microsoft made the right move by adding it to the bundle.

Credits: http://www.xbox.com