johng Blog

Why did Microsoft go and shoot themselves in the foot? Everything was going swimmingly for the launch of their new console and now they have gone and botched it by announcing two different models. The main limiting and game affecting difference between the two is, one has a hard drive and the other doesn’t.

I can think of so many reasons why this is wrong for publishers, developers and most importantly of all, us, the consumers.

This is a step back. Every single Xbox out there has a hard drive built in, the next generation should seek to build on that not climb down from it. It leaves developers in a state of limbo over whether to use the hard drive knowing the majority of their users (I will explain this later) probablly won’t have one. The publishers certainly won’t push for features that only a section of their market can access and will never give the go ahead to unique, interesting and diverse uses of the hard drive.

I think the majority of people will go for the cheaper model after my experience working at GAME for many years. I can see it now, mother walks in to buy her kid a console, sees two models, asks the assistant what the difference is and realises there is no tangible difference so she goes for the cheap one.

And that’s the key here. It isn’t a tangible difference because average Joe Schmoe on the street doesn’t think he needs a hard drive, even if he does, he doesn’t know any better, and why should he? So if no one buys them then the developers will not develop for them.

This isn’t PC land, this is consoles, where multi teared requirements don’t work and instead create a visicious circle of consumers not buying and developers not developing.

I have had the ‘Hot Coffee’ conversation with pretty much everyone I know over the last few weeks but have yet to blog about it. Part was me not wanting to get into the mindset of the stupid people on both sides of the argument and the other part was I had read and talked so much about it I was pretty burned out by the whole situation. Now that the heat has died down (slightly) Kieron Gillen presents the best piece I have read since this story came to light and I agree with much of what he says. I would add that the spin and hyperbole the politicians have concocted from a bit of code that escaped the censor’s probe is far more damaging to our culture than anything featured in San Andreas.