Xbox started as the underdog, and while it didn’t hold a candle to PS2’s price and library… they at least brought some competition to the stagnating market after Sega’s departure. The Wii/360/PS3 era would have been so much worse without the 360.
and then when Microsoft stopped trying to compete and instead tried tying the brand to TV/Media/Windows, Sony and Nintendo seemed to collectively think that competition is pointless and the consumers must be wrung dry of any spare cash and ownership they could have.
If they really wanted the brand to turn around in an instant: Make Xbox Live service free. Offer a week-long game rental per month from a curated rotating list for every console owner. Get developers on their side by limiting predatory practices publishers are using. Start printing physical media with benefits like an included strategy guide, a poster, a map, or heck a sticker pack. Anything. Just get Xbox brand back in eyesight. It has to be tangible so that people can actually notice it while shopping instead of scrolling through a list on a storefront where it’d be missed.
But no- instead we have to talk about how there is a failure to monetize the brand. Boohoo, they can’t get even more money.
Xbox started as the underdog, and while it didn’t hold a candle to PS2’s price and library… they at least brought some competition to the stagnating market after Sega’s departure. The Wii/360/PS3 era would have been so much worse without the 360.
and then when Microsoft stopped trying to compete and instead tried tying the brand to TV/Media/Windows, Sony and Nintendo seemed to collectively think that competition is pointless and the consumers must be wrung dry of any spare cash and ownership they could have.
If they really wanted the brand to turn around in an instant: Make Xbox Live service free. Offer a week-long game rental per month from a curated rotating list for every console owner. Get developers on their side by limiting predatory practices publishers are using. Start printing physical media with benefits like an included strategy guide, a poster, a map, or heck a sticker pack. Anything. Just get Xbox brand back in eyesight. It has to be tangible so that people can actually notice it while shopping instead of scrolling through a list on a storefront where it’d be missed.
But no- instead we have to talk about how there is a failure to monetize the brand. Boohoo, they can’t get even more money.