Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft is Just Copying and Playing Catch-up in Consoles

Photocopy machine



Summary: In gaming consoles -- just like in software -- Microsoft sells unreliable, faulty, and generally inferior products that merely copy the competition

IN RECENT posts about Xbox 360 we showed [1, 2, 3] that Microsoft resorted to bribing journalists who write about it, probably because it still has problems such a "Red Ring of Death" (RRoD) problem. We wrote about this three times before [1, 2, 3] and Microsoft claims that there is thermal monitoring [1, 2]. This is not actually working effectively (or at all) based on reports that we found last week:



Many video game users are eager to get their hands on the brand new Xbox 360 system and the upcoming Microsoft Kinect. However, it appears that the old Xbox 360 Red ring of death aka "RROD" has shown its ugly self already, and just days after some owners have plugged in their new consoles!


"Xbox 360 red rings of death replaced with red eye of doom," says this report (one among many [1, 2]) and tips are being given for people whose machines suffer "Red Ring of Death" (it's still there, just not visible). Some go as far as selling cooling fans for Xbox 360. Shouldn't ventilation be self-sufficient by now? Apparently not.

As we showed before, Microsoft dodges addressing the issue [1, 2] and the redesign of the unit sometimes does more harm than good. As for the new peripheral, it faces problems and one blogger's headline asks: "Is Microsoft Kinect Already A Failure?"

There is a serious problem with the price [1, 2, 3], but Microsoft has excuses (contradicted by the pre-selling at that exact cost). Microsoft is making expensive what Nintendo Wii buyers get bundled (for about the same price as the peripheral alone) and there are better things coming from Microsoft's competitors anyway [1, 2]. Microsoft is still behind:

Playing Catch-Up With Wii

The current generation of consoles were launched at the annual E3 show in 2005. And at this year’s E3, they didn’t showcase any completely new ideas. Instead, they designed new features and peripherals to extend the old model’s lives and broaden their appeal.


Microsoft is just copying others, as usual. It's safe to guess that next year it will copy 3-D from Sony and Nintendo (we wrote about this last week because it's still important enough to stay in the headlines [1, 2]).

Watch how Microsoft makes excuses for being behind the rest of the pack [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Microsoft pretends that the present adoption or lack thereof implies future adoption or lack thereof. Microsoft has always been reluctant to move forward, being the monopolist which it is (there is incentive to keep the status quo). Here is how Joystiq put it:

"We're going to take more of an attitude of seeing what the adoption looks like," Penello said.


That's just shameless spin and an excuse for being the only console without 3D. Last week (or around E3) the excuse was that it's too expensive, not that it's lacking "demand". They keep moving the goalposts. Inconsistencies are indicative of dishonesty.

People who are heavy gamers probably know that Microsoft is not at the forefront and it is even being snubbed by game makers [1, 2] because of its greed:

Wondering why Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV isn’t coming to Xbox 360, or why Cryptic canceled the release of their own MMO, Champions Online, for the Microsoft console? The answer might be as simple as money.


For the time being it seems like Nintendo is the big winner. Why does it matter to Techrights? Because Microsoft has lost literally billions of dollars in this area, which harms Microsoft more than it helps it. As long as Microsoft attacks the freedom of software, its failures are good news to the software industry.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

After Microsoft's Bankruptcy in Russia Android (Linux) Will Dominate Asia Completely
Windows probably peaked in "XP" or "2000"
India: Windows Falls to 50% in Desktops/Laptops and 8% Overall
laptops/desktops fell to 16% of the whole
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 4.7% "Market Share" This Month
30,000 Microsoft jobs may be eliminated by year's end
Microsoft is in Trouble and Microsofters Know It
"I've been happy on Win 3.11 for years."
Links 02/06/2025: Political Leftovers, DRM, and Patents
Links for the day
 
Last Article From Australia's Sam Varghese Was a Year Ago and It Covered the Release of Julian Assange, Who Will Apparently Come Back as 'Politician'
It'll soon be exactly 12 months
Hungary Seems Hungry for Linux
Windows down by a lot
Like in Europe, Bad News for Microsoft in US and Canada
If it loses those "regions", then what's left?
About 8 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 (in Less Than 5 Months), Now Vista 11 "Market Share" Decreases
Really bad news for shareholders of Microsoft
statCounter Sees Bing "Share" Falling Over 0.5% in One Month, Now Lower Than Before the ChatGPT/Bing Chat Hype
Bing has been part of the mass layoffs for quite some time
Microsoft's Demise is a Global Phenomenon
mass layoffs justified using mindless buzzwords
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux in EU and the UK, All-Time Lows for Microsoft
Combining ChromeOS and GNU/Linux, it adds up to and almost reaches 6%
[Video] New Introduction to Richard Stallman's Contributions Including GNU Emacs, GNU/Linux, and Software Freedom
from the channel previously bullied for supporting RMS
Links 02/06/2025: South Korea to Vote, Russia Blitzed From Within
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Microsoft Spins Layoffs as "Slop", Frontier Settles Lawsuit
Links for the day
When You Publicly Boast About Wanting to Violently Attack People (Even Colleagues) Finding a Job Will Prove Difficult
there's a lesson to be learned here
The Web We Lost, the Information Lost Due to Microsoft's Attacks on Companies Like Yahoo! (Before the LLM Slop Frenzy)
When it comes to news sites, what can we say?
Covering Corruption in Poland, Including a War on Science (Due to Bad Politicians)
What we're about to show is that skilled and experienced scientists in Poland are besieged by bureaucrats
Gemini Links 02/06/2025: "Star Wars Day" and "Security Day"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 01, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 01, 2025
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part II: Lying to the IRS is a Big Issue
The OSI of today pretends to be something that it is not
Bloodlust and Love of Blades (Fascination With Murder) Nothing New Among Microsofters
Violence is not a joke and no group is magically entitled to make such "jokes"
Links 01/06/2025: Bird Flu, Food Price Inflation, and Growing US-China Hostilities
Links for the day
Links 01/06/2025: "Vibe Coding" Turns Out to be a Fraud and Amazon Merits Boycott, Argue Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: "Stardust" and Ideal PC Setup
Links for the day
Links 01/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, "It's FOSS" Still Promoting Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: Simplification and Networks Everywhere
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 31, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 31, 2025
Google Bribes EFF. EFF Promotes LLM Slop as 'Fair Use'. To GAFAM It's a Low-Cost Lobby Hedge.
So the bribes pay off ("slush fund") and the word spreads
Slopwatch: Fake Text and Images, Financial Bubbles, and Scams in "Intelligent" Clothing
Sometimes what they mean by "AI" is just cheap labour somewhere else, as we discussed in IRC a few hours ago
Why Microsoft is Collapsing (Similar to What's Happening at IBM), As Insiders See It
IBM seems like one heck of a mess
Reliable Computing Means Free (Libre) Computing
Sites that want to promote security ought to deal with the biggest issues
Links 31/05/2025: US Court Orders Sides With RFE/RL, War Updates From Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/05/2025: ARM Server and power_supply Subsystem
Links for the day
Links 31/05/2025: Slop Stigmatised as Disinformation, Catalyst/Driver of "Death of Communication"
Links for the day
Common Sense 101: Do Not Write Blog Posts Saying You Want to Murder Colleagues (or Yourself)
Only crazy people would think stabbings are a joke
Microsoft Bankruptcy
"Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows"
Techrights Does Not Compete With LLM Slop, It Exposes the Bastards, Plagiarists and Scammers Who Do That
People like Scam Altman, still facing a lawsuit from his own sister for sexual abuse against her
Links 31/05/2025: Microsoft-Connected Builder.ai is a Fraud and US is Purging Students Based on Race/Nationality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Limmat, Doomscrollers, and Arguments Parsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 30, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 30, 2025