What Microsoft Did Right This Generation

With Microsoft recently touting its sale numbers and rumors continuing to swirl about the Xbox 720 (or whatever it will be called), we thought we’d take a short retrospective look at the key moments and decisions that have made the Xbox 360 a household name in this 7th generation of consoles.

[RedDead]

Xbox live quality, the interface's ease of use(click one button for messages etc). Party chat and private chat. The controller is my favorite one too. Sufficient RAM. That's all.

RRoD/E74/etc, Price of Live, much less games than Ps3 and PC(due to lack of exclusives), ugly machine(until slim one came out) although I could hardly count that I suppose

[Persistantthug]

Even a PS3 fan such as myself can admit that.

[CHARLIEBROWNE]

Absolutely nothing im sorry but they accomplished fuck all albeit copious prime.

[xPhearR3dx]

@CHARLIEBROWNE

lol riiiiiight. I'd say Achievements are probably the biggest thing. Everyone is supporting them in their own way; PS3, Steam, Mobile Games, Facebook Games etc. Achievements alone turned some gamers into a completely different gamer. They'll play games they never originally would have touched due to Achievements.

[FriedGoat]

What Microsoft got right was the original "blades" dashboard for the 360. I enjoyed it when I could easily browse for content and know exactly where to look. They also got right the best way to piss me off by adding intrusive adverts to a service I pay for. They also have just got right getting dedicated servers for gears, because when I was playing the horrible multiplayer shambles
That was gears 2 I really did wonder where my money was going. I then found out my money was going towards services like Zune and netflix and all the other services I don't use. I have a PC for that. Screw you Microsoft.

[Knightofelemia]

You forgot about the price of add ons like the old WiFi adaptor for the older xbox 360's lol But Microsoft has pushed the envelope for XBL which is great to play. And they did introduce a new technology such a Kinnect.

[hellzsupernova]

advertising thats what they got right

[Bigpappy]

The way everything is integrated (Xbox Live, Party Chat, arcade, achievements, ...); The controller and including head sets; Making 360 easy to develope on; Keeping the price advantage; Winning over casuals with Kinect.

Those are the big deffrentiators and selling points for 360.

[ZippyZapper]

You guys are missing a lot of things the 360 did first

first HD console
Achievements
custom soundtracks in any game (only on 360)
movie/tv marketplace
indie games
arcade
dlc marketplace
music marketplace
streaming video apps like Netflix
wireless controller standard
cross game voice chat (only on 360)
text/pic/video messaging
media streaming from PC, phone, MP3 player, flash drive, external HDD, and home network
Halo started theater mode

[Ducky]

Halo didn't exactly start theater mode. It merely popularized the idea of demo recording...
Then again, the UI of theater mode does deserve some credit I suppose.

[Somebody]

Microsoft doesn't even want to talk about about DX11. or try to push it for further game enhancements.

[chriski333]

Not alot

[SockeyBoy]

Really Dude?

[zeal0us]

Make the xbl silver look less appealing just to get others & me to buy xbl gold to get any decent features on our 360s.

[peowpeow]

Glass half-empty.

You could also say they made XBL Gold much more appealing. Main thing silver lacks is online multiplayer

[kewlkat007]

Marketing/Advertisements efforts coupled with XBL Updates & Deals with new content distributors...which have had an effect on SALES.

Much better than the Original.

I'll stay off the negatives..The article asks about Positives.

[giovonni]

I haven't read the article, but I can tell you their controller by far is a huge improvement much more comfi. Also, Microsoft's price point was spot on, Xbox live no need to go into detail about that.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

Despite trailing 1st-party games, Xbox Live improved a lot in the past 2 years. I love the new look with Netflix better on my Xbox vs my Galaxy Tab and Samusung Blu-Ray player.

[CHARLIEBROWNE]

Another moucher who wanks over dashboard updates.
Is it worth it.?

[BitbyDeath]

Controlling the media by stopping them from releasing negative articles seems to be the biggest win that i can see.

[h311rais3r]

Go fry some eggs on your George foreman grill

[BitbyDeath]

LOL, cmon everyone knows it is true.

[BitbyDeath]

It should be common knowledge that Sony gets slandered for the tiniest things while Microsoft gets off without any troubles.

Even with the recent hacks you can see how Sony got attacked from almost every media outlet even with giving out free games and yet when Microsoft gets hacked they barely even get a mention let alone discriminated against as Sony had.

[kaveti6616]

If only you educated yourself on what it means to get hacked and what it mean to get phished.

[IHateYouFanboys]

@BitbyDeath: " yet when Microsoft gets hacked they barely even get a mention let alone discriminated against as Sony had."

Xbox Live wasnt hacked though, whereas the PSN was. some hackers brute forcing a few individual EMAIL account passwords compared to some hackers literally getting into the Playstation Network databases - completely different things.

do you even remember the PSN hack? the PSN was 100% offline for over a month lol. Xbox Live has not been hacked.

go wear your foil hat somewhere else.

[lelo2play]

I disagree with you.

The media had many negative articles about X360 during the RROD era. Practically every single day there were articles about it. There have been negative articles about X360's lack of exclusives in the last 2 years and the Zune's and Windows Mobile unsuccessful sales... and many other articles.

[jdktech2010]

Geeze, if I'm not mistaken they're on top of Sony so they must have done something right.....they've had less exclusives than PS3 but IN MY OPINION, MS exclusives were just more fun to me in Halo3, Reach, Gears of War series, Mass Effect (yep I'm talking about one but the whole series).

I liked Uncharted and Infamous for Sony and can't wait for the Last of Us (please make a good zombie type game Naughty Dog).

Just my take but they have done a lot right to go from nothing with the xbox to where they are today.

[GribbleGrunger]

if two runners (1 and 2) start a race and runner 1 gets an 8 lap lead but runner 2 reduces that 8 lap lead to 3 laps, then which runner is the best and which runner is getting it wrong?

now i've dealt with your first sentence, onto the subject of what MS got right this gen:

1/advertising
2/LIVE
3/bought exclusive DLC (sometimes timed)

[baodeus]

Have u actually seen anyone in a race that would give his opponet 8 laps lead? He must be very arrogant, getting high on his own ego and underestimating his opponent to do such a stupid thing like that. And what happen, he did exactly just that so now he is still trailing behind while the race is about to end.

Who do u think make better business decision this gen, MS or Sony?

With that said, what MS did right this gen?
1. 1st one to the race
2. Live
3. gain 3rd party support
4. advertisement
5. kinect

[jthamind]

XBL, the interface, and the controller are huge deals for me. i don't play my 360 much because i'm not a fan of its library and i can play mulitplats on PC, but when i do play my 360 i really appreciate those three features. the speed, ease of use and features of XBL are great, and the controller is hands down the most comfortable i've ever held.

[Fylus]

For me, the plastic of the Xbox controller makes my hands sweat and it gets uncomfortable with extensive use. Otherwise I agree with you in everything else.

I'd really like Sony to use a bigger controller design next gen; Xbox controllers are more comfortable (layout) but PlayStation controllers are made of a much more breathable plastic.

I actually bought a really nice Xbox styled controller for my PS3 that is a total combination of both system's standard controllers. I'd like more of that with the PS4/Nextbox.

[nigelp520]

Xbox Live social features
More exclusive Jrpgs
Controller
Juggernaut exclusives

[D3mons0ul]

The controller feels okay.

That's really all I got.

[GezForce]

1. introduce pay to play multiplayer.
2. manufacture a disposable console so customers are forced to repurchase multiple times.
3.Get timed exclusives on over priced dlc.

those three points alone have made microsoft a tonne of money. :) so i guess they got that right!

[ZippyZapper]

4.Get a horde of angry sore losing PS3 fanboys to hate and troll daily.

[DigitalRaptor]

You aren't denying any of those things. In fact you are one of the worst people on this site for brushing legitimate issues under the carpet to help stroke your fanboy ego.

[senorwakko]

Well thought out, and nicely written article.