This has been a common complaint since the Xbox 360 launched and I’m sure there will be many Xbox apologists who will dismiss this article with now-standard “QQ” argument. However, I’m going to take the hits and write this post anyway. Microsoft has set so many bad precedents with the Xbox 360 that I shudder to think what repercussions will occur for console generations to come. So without further ado:

Article starts after the jump…

1. Multiple SKUs

When did the word SKU (pronounced: Skew) become an acceptable Internet buzz-word of choice for every 16 year-old, game blogger and industry ‘expert’ out there? Something about this word ignites the kill instinct buried deep within me that has been repressed by generations of sociological demasculation. Unless you work in the warehouse that stores crates of Xbox 360’s you have no business using the word SKU in casual conversation. I’m convinced that Microsoft wants to make the Xbox into the iPod of game consoles. Two was bad enough, removing the hard drive divided the potential users (even though everyone probably got one anyway eventually) for developers. They either had to alienate some players with “HDD Required” stickers or dumb down aspects of their game so that all players get the lowest common denominator experience.

2. Wait longer, better hardware

If I have learned one important lesson with the Xbox 360 it is this: I will never buy another Microsoft console in the first 2 years ever again. If I were a more ambitious man, I’d be scouring Google for that quote from Microsoft PR about how HDMI is not important for next-gen gaming. However, I’m not that eager to dig through all the crap I’d find. Now, this is where someone inevitably says “But every console has hardware revisions! What about the PS2!? Huh!? Cry more!!”. It’s true, consoles receive hardware revisions over their lifespan… but it’s not usually an upgrade. The more substantial ones also came about 4-5 years into the console’s life cycle, not 18 months. The fact of the matter is this: early adopters contribute to the success of a console… they can make or break it. You don’t want to piss off your core audience by showing them that people who wait will pay less for better hardware. You on your 4th or 5th 360? You should have held out for that sweet 65mm chip that’s coming Fall 2007 (more about that later). Want the latest, greatest audio/video connection? Wait a year we’ll put HDMI in all our consoles. 12GB (20GB minus reserved space) Hard Drive big enough for you? Don’t worry, in a year or so you’ll be getting a 120GB HDD standard in our $450 model. If that doesn’t work for you, buy a new HDD for$180 dollars. Which brings me to the next point…

3. Overpriced Proprietary Accessories

I’d like to take a moment and extend a personal ‘Thank You’ to everyone that ran out and plopped down $180 (plus tax) on that 120GB laptop hard drive in a shiny piece of plastic. You’ve sent Microsoft a clear message that it’s okay to mark up hardware 200% because people will buy anything if theres no alternative. Some people (me, for instance) were hoping that is this thing sold badly enough that we’d see a reasonable price drop by the end of the year. I wouldn’t count on that now, Microsoft knows the score and they’ll be milking this one as long as possible. For all the things Sony did wrong with the PS3, I give them a huge heap of credit for giving users the ability to upgrade their HDD with any 5400 RPM laptop drive they want. The first thing I did upon getting my PS3 was to upgrade the drive to 120GB for roughly $75.

Microsoft has also leveraged their closed wireless protocol to keep any 3rd party manufacturers from making wireless accessories for the 360. I’m sure there’s some standard PR answer documented somewhere about ‘quality control standards’, but lets call a spade a spade. For all their championing about giving their users ‘choices’, it’s really about limiting them to buying 1st party hardware solutions at the prices they want to charge for them. Period.

4. It’s okay to rush sub-par hardware onto the market and apologize later

This one goes back to what I was saying about early adopters; what’s that saying about it being better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission? I’m not sure if that is 100% applicable in this case, but for some reason it’s stuck in my head today. Microsoft wanted to be first to market this generation, it was their #1 goal. That is an indisputable fact that has been quoted in several interviews with Microsoft executives. They attributed most of the first Xbox’s failures against the PS2 to the fact that it came out first, which may have been true. However, in order to do this they pushed a product out into stores that obviously had not been tested thoroughly and created one of the biggest hardware crap-outs in video game console history. We’ll never know the true percentage of 360’s died. I know I had one go on me. I personally know plenty of people that are on their 2nd, 3rd, or 6th unit. I’m sure there are vast numbers of people who have never had an issue with their 360 and I’m very happy for them. However, it does not negate the fact that record numbers of people have had 360’s die on them.

5. People are willing to pay too much money for digital downloads

Fact: Every game that comes out on the Xbox 360 should have free gamer pics and themes on the disc. Charging someone an additional $2-5 dollars for this crap after they just spent $60 on the game should be punishable by testicular-electrocution. Micro-transactions (a word i hate almost as much as Sku) are a snowball rolling down a mountain, they’re almost unstoppable.

I don’t mind the concept of paying for additional maps and single-player campaigns, as it seems better than having a full priced add-on pack masquerading as a true sequel (GRAW 2, I’m looking in your general direction). I do mind paying for stuff that other people get for free. So when Ubisoft puts out 4 new Rainbow Six: Vegas maps and lets PC users download them for free, it kind of pisses me off that I have to spend $10-ish dollars for them. The Guitar Hero 2 fiasco is particularly disheartening. Charging $5 for a pack of 3 songs that were directly ripped from the original PS2 game just left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth, but Activision still managed to sell a crap-ton of them. So what’s the lesson they learn as a company? People will lap shit up when you put it out there.

Now based on what I wrote above, the blame seems to rest with the publishers. However, it’s been widely reported that many of the fees charged by publishers have been imposed by Microsoft. Who knows what the truth is, it seems like it keeps flip-flopping back and forth. Regardless, the concept of micro-transactions are here to stay and it’s going to take some resistance by the consumers to regulate how out-of-control the pricing gets.

Closing Statements

So, to wrap this whole thing up… I’m not implying that the Xbox 360 is the only system to set bad precedents this generation. I may write up a similar article for the Wii and PS3 as well because they’ve both had their share of crap. Most of these are common knowledge to anyone who frequents the game blogs and message boards, but I wanted to try and put them together in a cohesive way. I’m sure the hardcore Xbox defenders will hate this, I understand. I’ve spent plenty of time defending the 360 to my friends, but lets wade through the bullshit and face the truth: Microsoft took a lot of shortcuts to be the first next-gen console on the shelves and as a result we’ve been paying for their mistakes.