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GamesIndustry.biz: The Phoney War
>> From gamesindustry.biz:
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Looking back over the last 12 months in the videogames industry, this has also been the year of a Phoney War. Plenty of sabres have been rattled; propoganda campaigns have been launched, and relaunched; some wild shots have gone over the bows, but as the year comes to a close, it's increasingly clear that the war we expected in 2006 has taken a rain-check. Instead, we've been left with a messy year, a year more beset by rumour and hyperbole than fact, and a year where the winners and losers in this industry are as indistinct as the accomplishments or failures which elevate them to that status.
During that period of time, Microsoft ramped up shipments of the Xbox 360 to the point where we're reportedy looking at 10 million units in the next couple of weeks. Some senior industry figures will tell you that that figure is a stunning accomplishment and an almost cast-iron guarantee of future success. Other, equally senior, industry figures will tell you that it's a worryingly low figure which Microsoft has struggled towards, suggesting that the company has still failed to break out of the hardcore niche which the original Xbox occupied. Fanboys will make up their own minds, of course, regarding which interpretation they prefer - informed observers really have no idea where the truth lies.
In a few years' time, if Microsoft has done well in this generation of consoles, 2006 will be seen as a pivotal year in that success, and we'll write things like "Microsoft's strategy of launching a year in advance of its rivals proved decisive, as it built up a significant head-start which convinced third-parties to weigh in behind the system." On the other hand, if Microsoft fails to build on its market share over the coming years, we'll regard 2006 as equally pivotal - except that in that case, we'll write things like "Despite giving itself a full year head-start, Microsoft failed to exploit this opportunity - and a dearth of AAA software for the Xbox 360 during 2006, including a period of over six months with no first-party releases and a Christmas with only one major title on the shelves, negated much of the company's effort in delivering its system to market early."
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