I imagine that running a business like Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony, is often like trying to navigate a minefield. Any misstep can set off an explosion of critical reactions from the very consumers that they are trying to separate from their hard earned income. All three of the major video game console manufacturers have made missteps over the last 10 years, some more than others. And these missteps, or lack thereof, have placed each of the three on their current course.
Six weeks ago, Microsoft seemingly blundered into the next generation minefield with a blindfold on. There were warning signs everywhere but for some reason Microsoft chose to ignore them. They were, rightly or wrongly, setting a bold path for the industry and in particular their new box, the Xbox One. Their showing at E3 was exactly what it needed to be, a showcase of why you would want this new device even with its laundry list of potential detractions. But Sony came out and stole the show by basically saying it wasn’t going to innovate and what you already got would continue to be what you got. It was a bold move in the other direction and left Microsoft seemingly flustered.
Shortly after E3, Microsoft reversed course, flushing its potentially innovative policies down the toilet to join Sony on the status quo boat. The adjustment, which had more to do with pre-order numbers than actually caring about what consumers wanted, did much to quell the anger at the software behemoth and put the Xbox One back in the game that in reality hasn’t even started yet. Microsoft had ditched the blindfold and were back in business, allowing the focus to once again be on what gamers care about most, the games.
In fact, the games were a big focus as we neared July 1. Anecdotally, it seemed like people were ready to kick the summer off with a trio of old but high-powered offerings in conjunction with the Games with Gold program: Fable III, Halo 3 and Assassin’s Creed II. While not truly comparable to Sony’s Playstation Plus service, it seemed like Xbox Live Gold members were finally going to get a little bit of a kickback for supporting the still superior online platform. And then Defense Grid: The Awakening plopped out on the service, and I personally felt a bit slapped in the face.
After the Internet was once again afire because of a marketing snafu, Xbox’s own Major Nelson, commented on Reddit. “Sorry about the disappointment. Not sure how people started to assume that H3 and AC2 were coming in July. I thought it was pretty clear in the briefing, but I guess not that clear.” Really, Major? You’re not sure how people started to assume that Halo 3 and Assassin’s Creed II were coming this month? How about, for starters, that the Official Xbox Magazine reported it that way?
Is it fair to be angry at Microsoft over a “free” game? No, probably not. And it is probably even more absurd to get angry about not getting a pair of older blockbusters that everyone has already played. But given that Games with Gold seemed to be a direct response to Sony’s Playstation Plus program, someone at Microsoft had to know that Defense Grid wasn’t going to sit well with fans.
In the grand scheme of things, Games with Gold is just a bonus for those of us already paying for Xbox Live Gold. This snafu isn’t going to get me to drop my membership but it is troublesome that these small, seemingly inconsequential issues keep piling up and that no one on the team there seems to be aware that they are problems in the first place. As we get closer and closer to the release of new hardware, these missteps give me less and less confidence that more major ones won’t be committed in the near future. And when $500 and potential years of gaming are on the line, such uncertainty scares me.
I just can’t wrap my head around it all. How can you go from one public relations nightmare to another, seemingly right your ship by bowing to consumer pressure and then fart out this mess? Is Microsoft really attempting to navigate the minefield with a blindfold on?
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