Microsoft´s silence at CES could be the start of a tough year for Xbox
A gaming journalist believes that Microsoft´s silence at CES 2008 could be the start of a tough year for Xbox. He indicates that the 2008 software line-up for the 360 is a pale shadow of what it was in 2007 and that in order to at least maintain its momentum MS needs to sort this issue out. While the Wii is trouncing the Xbox 360 in the casual market, the PS3 is keeping up the pace with good week to week sales which require MS to have some good responses in mind for the challenges that 2008 brings.
On the other hand, perhaps an even more daunting challenge is keeping the faithful satisfied in 2008. Going into 2007, the Xbox 360 release list looked absolutely stunning - whereas the 2008 schedule at this point in time looks comparatively barren. If Microsoft wants to maintain its momentum, let alone building new momentum, it needs to repeat the software success of 2007 - and it needs to do it without Bioware and Bizarre, both of which developed key Xbox 360 exclusives in the past but now belong to multi-platform publishers. It also needs to do it without Bungie; not only now an independent studio (albeit still likely to work on 360 exclusives), but also highly unlikely to have another game ready until 2009.
None of this is insurmountable, but it´s certainly not going to be an easy ride either. Microsoft has done an absolutely amazing job in some regards - its hardware, despite launching a year earlier than the PS3, has held its own extremely well in terms of technical prowess, and its online service continues to be the benchmark for the whole industry. In terms of software, the late 2007 line-up is arguably one of the best the market has ever seen, fuelling an incredibly strong quarter for the industry as a whole.
Continuing that success, however, won´t happen just through sitting on a sack full of laurels. In 2008, Microsoft´s challenges will be greater than ever before. The Wii is trouncing the Xbox 360 in the casual market; the PS3 is keeping pace with it in week to week sales, despite acres of negative press, and at present has a more appealing 2008 line-up. Reliability problems just won´t go away, the mass-market remains just as elusive as it´s ever been, and key developers have been lost to third-party publishers. Nobody could describe a division that´s just had such a brilliant couple of quarters as being in crisis - but when Microsoft finally breaks the silence that we witnessed at CES, it had better have some great responses to the challenges 2008 brings.
XO7 annulé
Pas d´apparition au CES même nintendo y était présent !
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