Is Microsot's arrogance blinding them like Sony was with $599?

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Is Microsoft's big jump in market share from Xbox to Xbox 360 and increase in profitability and momentum the cause for their recent seemingly "arrogant" and anti-consumer behavior and will it humble them like the $599 launch price did with Sony last generation?

Always online, DRM, kinect, entertainment focus, etc. and possibly price are all signs that perhaps they are overestimating them Xbox brand and the market like Sony did with the PS3? Now, I don't think the end result will be quite as negative and anti-consumer as everything seems right now, but it is still disappointing to see Microsoft going the other direction after what they built with the 360 (online fees and dlc, aside).

Thoughts?
 
Id say the arrogance has gone far past E3 2006 era Sony at this point. Sony was damn arrogant and stupid but MS hasn't stopped with the ridiculous PR babble since the reveal.
 
agreed, best to wait. If the worst case scenario plays out, then Microsoft will have an uphill battle like Sony had with the PS3. Not the position you want to be in when investing billions and betting so much on this launch.
 
Microsoft just feel like they've been caught on the hop at the moment.
They don't seem to know their arse from their elbow.

I'm not sure it's arrogance.
 
You guys realize that the PS4 will fall victim to the same DRM schemes?

Sony has clearly stated that it's up to Publishers and we all know publishers will choose to have online activations.
 
I am on a big MS trip right now. They came out and said "hardcore" gamers will buy anything. So that should tell you all you need to know right there.
 
I think we all really need to wait to see what they do at E3. Everyone is raising their pitchforks far to early. All we have to go off of right now is rumors.
 
Only thing is that Microsoft really only has not even half the reason why they should be arrogant compared to Sony and the PS2 in 2005/2006.
I guess they do if you take into consideration the original Xbox sales vs the 360 sales, it is a HUGE success for them.
 
I'm not even sure that's it. their recent track record is just horrible. Zune, Windows phone 7, windows8, surface...the 360 was the only thing they we'rent screwing up.
 
No. The price makes sense for an all in one box. They aren't even branding it as a gaming console.


They are trying to be the one box everyone has in their living room. And the ease of use with Kinect is very appealing to many people that never play games.
 
I still find the whole $599 thing kind of ridiculous. It was priced too high and it was a huge mistake, definitely, but I wouldn't call it "arrogance" when at $599 and $499 they were taking a $240-$300 loss on every unit. Arrogant pricing, to me, would be the other way around, like trying to sell a $300 box for $600.
 
i didn't really see that buy anything comment as bad. Most people that really love gaming end up buying multiple systems. I bought a wii, ps3 and xbox last generation and also played games on the pc.
 
Can we stop anthropomorphizing companies? Yes humans like to imagine things this way but it's a great way to obscure and oversimplify actual issues.
 
I guess they do if you take into consideration the original Xbox sales vs the 360 sales, it is a HUGE success for them.

But it still didn't dominate an entire market for years like the PS2 did. Just compare the 360 hardware sales to that of the PS2, the PS2 approximately doubles it.
 
I think it's two very different situations.

Sony was arrogant, yes, but they never set out to make a $599 console. It ballooned up to that point by a series of engineering mistakes and production issues; they were over ambitious and by the time it blew up in their faces it was too late to do much of anything.

The Xbox One is not surprising at all if you've been following Microsoft for the past 3-4 years. The focus on an all-in-one box is what they've been doing there since Kinect was revealed. At the end of the day it will be a box with a lot of non-gaming options, paid services, and third party exclusives, just like the Xbox 360 is now.

The only surprising part for me with Xbox One is how they're turning retail games into glorified digital codes when they are so inept at managing digital even today. I was also expecting them to try harder for Europe, not ignore it completely.
 
First Windows 2000, then Windows Vista, then Windows 8, and now the X1.
All complete failures, doomed from the get go.

Their sales will show them just how arrogant, and snooty they are, trying to take their fanbase for granted.

Google should swoop-in and take their place.
 
Microsoft just feel like they've been caught on the hop at the moment.

They don't seem to know their arse from their elbow.

I'm not sure it's arrogance.

Agree totally with this. I'm not seeing this "arrogance", just incoherence and terrible PR caused by multiple execs contradicting each other. That and terrible reveal planning.
 
The parallels are massive:

-Misguided hardware
-Dripping arrogance
-Meandering presentation
-Forced console components (Blu Ray/Kinect)
-Focus on non-games (remember demo of Afrika that showed zero gameplay?)
-Appalling Communication/contradictory messaging
-Phil Harrison

Microsoft have become Sony circa 2006. Nintendo have become Sega circa 1998. Sony have become - well - I'm still figuring that one out. Something good though.
 
I'm not even sure that's it. their recent track record is just horrible. Zune, Windows phone 7, windows8, surface...the 360 was the only thing they we'rent screwing up.

The zune was awesome. It just fell victim to not being called "ipod".
 
The parallels are massive:

-Misguided hardware
-Dripping arrogance
-Meandering presentation
-Forced hardware (Blu Ray/Kinect)
-Focus on non-games (remember Afrika?)
-Appalling Communication/contradictory messaging
-Phil Harrison

Microsoft have become Sony circa 2006. Nintendo have become Sega circa 1998. Sony have become - well - I'm still figuring that one out. Something good though.

Sony has become a former version of themselves, circa 1999.
 
The reversed roles between last gen, this gen, and next gen are shockingly similar.

I'm sad to see they didn't learn from Sony
 
What did one of Sony suits say, you need 2 jobs to pay for the ps3?

Then-SCEE CEO David Reeves: "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games."
 
Then-SCEE CEO David Reeves: "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games."

I said cot damn....
 
I dont think its arrogance, I think its more of misguided gamble that its just not paying off and they are doing their best to pull through. Kinda like WiiU in a sense.
 
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