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What's all the crap I hear about Microsoft trying to monopolise the gaming market. They're "buying all the other companies" and "using their money to get what they want"... aparantly. I beg to differ.
To begin with, let's have a look at the above quotes.
Contrary to popular belief, MS have not bought any big games companies. They bought Bungie- who are so small the MS relocated every single person in the company- and more recently Rare- the tiny midlands developer. No sign of any big publishers yet. And what have they done with these companies? Microsoft allowed Bungie so many resources that Halo has been nominated for "Game of the Year" awards numerous times. Is this a bad thing?
At the same time, MS are throwing money at other publishers for exclusives. Which is exactly what Sony did with the PS1. In both situations the companies gave wods of cash, development tools and premade libraries to third party developers to produce exclusive games. This is how Sony wooed Konami, Square and Namco away from Nintendo.
And this all adds up towards a great thing for gamers. If the Xbox's successor gets nearer to Sony's sales figures then we will once more find ourselves in a console wars where it is the games that determine the outcome, and not company branding. Let's face it, the PS2 had no competition when it came out, and the quality of games was nowhere near as paramount as it had been in, say, the SNES vs Mega Drive days.
So, to those who curse the Xbox, think before you speak. MS have not bought out many companies, made any more third party deals than any other manufacturer (including Sega!), and are certainly not dominating the market. Competition is good.
Sonic
To begin with, let's have a look at the above quotes.
Contrary to popular belief, MS have not bought any big games companies. They bought Bungie- who are so small the MS relocated every single person in the company- and more recently Rare- the tiny midlands developer. No sign of any big publishers yet. And what have they done with these companies? Microsoft allowed Bungie so many resources that Halo has been nominated for "Game of the Year" awards numerous times. Is this a bad thing?
At the same time, MS are throwing money at other publishers for exclusives. Which is exactly what Sony did with the PS1. In both situations the companies gave wods of cash, development tools and premade libraries to third party developers to produce exclusive games. This is how Sony wooed Konami, Square and Namco away from Nintendo.
And this all adds up towards a great thing for gamers. If the Xbox's successor gets nearer to Sony's sales figures then we will once more find ourselves in a console wars where it is the games that determine the outcome, and not company branding. Let's face it, the PS2 had no competition when it came out, and the quality of games was nowhere near as paramount as it had been in, say, the SNES vs Mega Drive days.
So, to those who curse the Xbox, think before you speak. MS have not bought out many companies, made any more third party deals than any other manufacturer (including Sega!), and are certainly not dominating the market. Competition is good.
Sonic
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Microsoft ruined gaming by stealing Shenmue. The fiends.
Hopefully Bill Gates will die soon of clogged ateries or the likes, or mabey a hernia, or possibly some overly painful piles, or amusingly getting scratched to death by an angry mob of mice. Oh the possibilities.
Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors. It will buy up the software houses,
> but in the immediate future, the games will remain on their existing
> platforms. But when the game comes round for an upgrade, it will
> almost certainly go XBox only. Eventually, this will happen to so many
> games you would have no option but to buy an XBox.
Of course... but then again, so does Nintendo, Sony, and probably even SEGA :)
> Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for
> innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving
> home computer market - with different formats and lots of different
> software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say
> anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped
> this market, there was no turning back. Everything for
> "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows
> combo.
Thats got nothing to do with Microsoft... IBM PC's have been avalible since 1982, that they took over 10 years to become a standard consumer platform doesnt really display any attempt to stifle the home entertainment market.
Home computers died because of bad business on the side of Commorode and Atari, and because of the popularity of consoles. PC's became the standard by default, not by intent.
> But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the
> latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony
> shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with
> just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the
> strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the
> market out.
Its no more trying to buy the market out than Nintendo and Sony are.
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors. It will buy up the software houses,
> but in the immediate future, the games will remain on their existing
> platforms. But when the game comes round for an upgrade, it will
> almost certainly go XBox only. Eventually, this will happen to so many
> games you would have no option but to buy an XBox.
Of course... but then again, so does Nintendo, Sony, and probably even SEGA :)
> Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for
> innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving
> home computer market - with different formats and lots of different
> software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say
> anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped
> this market, there was no turning back. Everything for
> "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows
> combo.
Thats got nothing to do with Microsoft... IBM PC's have been avalible since 1982, that they took over 10 years to become a standard consumer platform doesnt really display any attempt to stifle the home entertainment market.
Home computers died because of bad business on the side of Commorode and Atari, and because of the popularity of consoles. PC's became the standard by default, not by intent.
> But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the
> latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony
> shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with
> just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the
> strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the
> market out.
Its no more trying to buy the market out than Nintendo and Sony are.
Update2.01 wrote:
> So, Sony are guilty. So does that make it a good reason for Microsoft
> to be the dominant force in the console market?
No, it means that unless we have competition in the market, one of the companies will be the dominant force. I'm just saying that all companies wish to be the dominant force, but gamers shouldn't want any one company dominating the market. Competition is good. But you can't say that MicroSoft/Sony/Nintendo don't want to be the market leader, all do, so all are just as guilty as MS...
> So, Sony are guilty. So does that make it a good reason for Microsoft
> to be the dominant force in the console market?
No, it means that unless we have competition in the market, one of the companies will be the dominant force. I'm just saying that all companies wish to be the dominant force, but gamers shouldn't want any one company dominating the market. Competition is good. But you can't say that MicroSoft/Sony/Nintendo don't want to be the market leader, all do, so all are just as guilty as MS...
Sibs wrote:
> Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors.
>
> And Sony doesn't? What about the time period when the N64 had died off
> due to no more (or very little anyway...) new software coming out, and
> the PS2 had eliminated the DC? Were Sony sitting there going, "Oh
> no, there's no competition. That means the quality of games may
> suffer, because no-one else is pushing us."
>
> No. They were thinking "Excellent, every gamer out there is
> buying a PS2, and PS2 games."
>
> And Nintendo wouldn't say no to being the market leaders again. Look
> at the handheld market. Game Boy, then Game Boy Pocket, and now Game
> Boy Advance were all the market leaders, and all pretty much had a
> monopoly on the handheld market as each version of the GB eliminated
> almost all competition in no time.
So, Sony are guilty. So does that make it a good reason for Microsoft to be the dominant force in the console market?
> Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors.
>
> And Sony doesn't? What about the time period when the N64 had died off
> due to no more (or very little anyway...) new software coming out, and
> the PS2 had eliminated the DC? Were Sony sitting there going, "Oh
> no, there's no competition. That means the quality of games may
> suffer, because no-one else is pushing us."
>
> No. They were thinking "Excellent, every gamer out there is
> buying a PS2, and PS2 games."
>
> And Nintendo wouldn't say no to being the market leaders again. Look
> at the handheld market. Game Boy, then Game Boy Pocket, and now Game
> Boy Advance were all the market leaders, and all pretty much had a
> monopoly on the handheld market as each version of the GB eliminated
> almost all competition in no time.
So, Sony are guilty. So does that make it a good reason for Microsoft to be the dominant force in the console market?
Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors.
And Sony doesn't? What about the time period when the N64 had died off due to no more (or very little anyway...) new software coming out, and the PS2 had eliminated the DC? Were Sony sitting there going, "Oh no, there's no competition. That means the quality of games may suffer, because no-one else is pushing us."
No. They were thinking "Excellent, every gamer out there is buying a PS2, and PS2 games."
And Nintendo wouldn't say no to being the market leaders again. Look at the handheld market. Game Boy, then Game Boy Pocket, and now Game Boy Advance were all the market leaders, and all pretty much had a monopoly on the handheld market as each version of the GB eliminated almost all competition in no time.
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors.
And Sony doesn't? What about the time period when the N64 had died off due to no more (or very little anyway...) new software coming out, and the PS2 had eliminated the DC? Were Sony sitting there going, "Oh no, there's no competition. That means the quality of games may suffer, because no-one else is pushing us."
No. They were thinking "Excellent, every gamer out there is buying a PS2, and PS2 games."
And Nintendo wouldn't say no to being the market leaders again. Look at the handheld market. Game Boy, then Game Boy Pocket, and now Game Boy Advance were all the market leaders, and all pretty much had a monopoly on the handheld market as each version of the GB eliminated almost all competition in no time.
Neutrino wrote:
> look, microsoft will never own the entire market, they are simply
> investing in companies that make high quality games. For them to own
> the market they would have to buy out loads and loads of companies.
Look whats happened to the OS market. Sure you have Apple and Linux, but Microsoft has almost the entire market, and things won’t change, because everyone has come to accept PC/Windows as the "only" format. A few users do cross over from PC/Windows to Apple or Linux, but they are then forced into buying all new applications, since Windows Applications can't run directly on Apple or Linux. You have to buy all your software again, but in the other format. Then again, even people who stick with one format usually find themselves effectively forced into a software upgrade at some point.
> look, microsoft will never own the entire market, they are simply
> investing in companies that make high quality games. For them to own
> the market they would have to buy out loads and loads of companies.
Look whats happened to the OS market. Sure you have Apple and Linux, but Microsoft has almost the entire market, and things won’t change, because everyone has come to accept PC/Windows as the "only" format. A few users do cross over from PC/Windows to Apple or Linux, but they are then forced into buying all new applications, since Windows Applications can't run directly on Apple or Linux. You have to buy all your software again, but in the other format. Then again, even people who stick with one format usually find themselves effectively forced into a software upgrade at some point.
Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market dominance, with no competitors. It will buy up the software houses, but in the immediate future, the games will remain on their existing platforms. But when the game comes round for an upgrade, it will almost certainly go XBox only. Eventually, this will happen to so many games you would have no option but to buy an XBox.
Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving home computer market - with different formats and lots of different software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped this market, there was no turning back. Everything for "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows combo.
But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the market out.
Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving home computer market - with different formats and lots of different software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped this market, there was no turning back. Everything for "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows combo.
But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the market out.
*writes memo*
'Never leave Sonic and er-no in an argument before going to bed'
'Never leave Sonic and er-no in an argument before going to bed'
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