First Byte: Microsoft's Power Play

Ever since Microsoft announced the Xbox One to the public about a year ago, the system has been on a roller coaster of twists and turns.  Never seeming to be on solid footing, Microsoft has tirelessly been rebuilding their damaged reputation after alienating most of their audience at E3 2013.  Changing their policies one week after E3 was the first step, but there is a lot more that still needs to be done.  This past week Microsoft made the next significant steps in changing their tainted image for the better with two big announcements.

The first of Microsoft's two announcements concerns a brand new version of the Xbox One hitting store shelves in a few weeks.  This new Xbox One will run for 399 dollars and come without the Kinect sensor.  With this announcement, Microsoft looks to compete more directly with the PlayStation 4 instead of having one hundred dollar difference between the prices of the two systems.  Sadly if you live in Canada, the roles have now been reversed as the PS4 is now 50 dollars more than the Xbox One due to the poor projection of the Canadian dollar this year.  Microsoft's first real jab at taking some of Sony's profits lands on Monday, June 9th which is the first day of E3 2014.  It is not hard to imagine as a result that Microsoft's conference will be directed towards convincing potential customers to pick up this cheaper Xbox One that very day.

The second announcement from Microsoft involves some changes to Xbox Live.  In particular, it involves new free services being added to the free Xbox Live membership.  No longer will streaming apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Twitch and ESPN be behind the Xbox Live Gold pay wall.  This change cuts out the need for consumers to buy a Xbox Live subscription on top of their other subscriptions just to enjoy the same apps which are free to use on other consoles.  To make amends to current Gold subscribers which only use the service for streaming apps, Microsoft is offering refunds to these subscribers up until the end of August.

It has been well documented that yours truly is a critic of Microsoft especially the direction their game division has taken in the past five to six years.  When they do something right, this writer still has to give credit where credit is due.  While I personally have some reservations, Microsoft made two good moves this past week in removing the Kinect to drop the price of the Xbox One and moving streaming apps from the Gold pay wall.  Lowering the barrier of entry to the Xbox One and Xbox Live opens Microsoft's newest piece of hardware up to a broader audience that may have been scared away by the need to own Kinect and subscribe to Xbox Live Gold to get the most out of the system.  Coupling these changes with a plethora of quality exclusives that play to a variety of genres and differentiate themselves from Sony's offerings could help move a lot more Xbox Ones.  The announcement of Halo 5: Guardians this past week and releasing the first gameplay footage of Sunset Overdrive two weeks ago should get some more hype building around Microsoft and the Xbox One.  Now Microsoft needs to capitalize on this wave of good press with a great showing at E3 to continue building momentum for the Xbox One going into the last half of 2014.

As good as these announcements are, there are a few key details Microsoft has not touched which could sour this good news.  First and foremost, Microsoft has not mentioned anything about selling the Kinect separately from the Xbox One as of yet.  Considering Microsoft designed the entire system to run at its full potential when paired with Kinect, it would be silly not to give those people who purchase the Xbox One for 399 the option to buy a Kinect later.  With the Kinect, the next question is the price of the unit on its own.  The smart decision would be to release the unit at or under 100 dollars in order to avoid alienating the customers who purchase the cheaper Xbox One, but it would not surprise this writer to see Microsoft try to make a profit off of these people by pricing the Kinect between 120 to 150 dollars.  The other detail Microsoft has not mentioned yet are the exclusives coming to Xbox One in the near future.  Halo 5 is coming in Fall 2015, the next Gears of War game is in the earliest stages of development and Fable Legends has not seen the light of day since it was announced back at Gamescom 2013.  The only title confirmed for this coming Fall is Sunset Overdrive.  Hopefully at E3 Microsoft will shed some light on what is coming for 2014, but it needs to be something really big or something completely new to get the attention of the masses.  Microsoft cannot keep expecting to push their new system to the heights of the Xbox 360 with two shooter franchises people are quickly growing tired of, a fantasy RPG series that has never lived up to its true potential and a racing series that has overstayed its welcome.  Microsoft needs to show more initiative in being a first-party force on the Xbox One rather than a passive hardware creator that gets third-party exclusive items or DLC every once and awhile as it is the only way to convince the audience they lost to consider buying their system.

With these announcements, Microsoft is inching towards reestablishing a connection with their lost fan base and moving away from the negative connotations currently associated with the brand.  The more good will they can generate towards the Microsoft and Xbox brand, the closer Microsoft gets to cutting Sony's considerable lead in this new generation.  E3 2014 will be very significant event for all console developers including Microsoft as we get see if the promises made of power and new experiences brought on by the next generation come to fruition.  The need to deliver at this year's E3 is huge.  It could be the difference between ending Microsoft's current woes or making them even worse.