Tips for Microsoft and the 360

Microsoft hasn’t started out 2008 so hot. Their console sales are falling and the PS3 outsold them in the month of January. But that doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end for Microsoft’s gaming division. They still have a chance to repair things, but they have to start fast.

Rebuild the First Party

Even Microsoft, who is amazing in their third party relations, needs some sort of a first party. As more and more developers are making games for all consoles, as the cost of developing games is on the rise, Microsoft can do two things. They could either continue to buy exclusive agreements with third parties or they could rebuild their crumbling first party. My personal suggestion is (as you can see from the title) to build the first party. Exclusivity money will only get you so far when you are competing against the powerhouses that are Sony and Nintendo’s first party. Microsoft needs to buy another developer or two (Capcom or Epic, anyone). Just use some of that money that you were willing to use to buy Yahoo.

Make Live Flawless, or Free (or both)

The argument for paying for Xbox Live has always been “you get what you pay for”. Well this holiday season, and a few times after that we haven’t got what we’ve payed for. The service has been sketchy and all we got was an arcade game(albeit, a fairly good one). Microsoft needs to increase the quality of the service or make it free, which should be done either way. I think if Sony gets their online act together, then Microsoft will be forced to make Live free. Hopefully, the service will still be great.

Cut the Price already

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think a $50 price cut is a very substantial one. Especially since the PS3 has been cut $100 and it came out just a year ago. This is the perfect time for a price cut because GTA is about to come out and it will help swing the momentum back to Microsoft. If Sony sell a PS3 at $399 and still make a profit, Microsoft should easily be able to cut the price.

Decrease the Failure Rate

You know I had to mention those red rings sometime in this article. Those damn things are costing Microsoft more than $1 billion. That shouldn’t be happening anymore. I don’t know what they are doing at Microsoft’s technical center but they need to fix this problem now. Unfortunately, I have a feeling they are just letting this problem ride out this generation of consoles and just make sure the next generation of Xbox’s are perfect. At least they extended the warranty to three years.

Get a Secondary Feature

Microsoft needs to sell their systems to more than just hardcore gamers. Nintendo has been doing this and so has, surprisingly, Sony. Sony’s plan to install a Blu-ray drive in their console has payed off for them, as many movie lovers are buying the PS3 just to watch movies on. That doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft should release a Blu-ray drive. I don’t think the 360 will ever be a great movie player for the simple fact that I’m scared it will either red ring or the DVD drive will break or that it’s too loud etc. It just isn’t built to be a movie player. I think they had something good going with IPTV and they should continue pursuing that goal. If that doesn’t work out, they need some type of appeal to non-gamers to keep up with Nintendo and Sony.

Even though Sony surprised everyone with their January numbers higher than Microsoft, hopefully Microsoft can pull back from that defeat. Hopefully that battle will be like the Halo 3 vs. Call of Duty 4 Live battle, with both sides doing well.