Alright
Banned
THIS IS NOT A CONSOLE WAR THREAD. THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL OF HOW ULTRA-RICH COMPANIES COULD USE THEIR WAR CHEST TO BUY SUCCESS
In the thread discussing Amazon's struggles with the LOTR MMO, some posters suggested that Amazon could 'buy their way in to the market'. This wouldn't be an easy task, as Amazon would have to have hardware in the living room, would need to offer a unique draw that isn't offered by Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft and would need to build infrastructure for online gaming (Nintendo and EGS struggled here) and good 3rd party support (am I right, Sega?)
This would cost a lot of resources to pull this off and a timeline of 3-5 years if they hit they broke ground, today.
What if, Amazon or Microsoft used their huge war chest to force their products in to the living room? Imagine if Amazon made a Console for free, or if Microsoft let the XSS go, for free? What would the cost be? $50 billion? $100 billion? Still relative peanuts for the pay out.
Who wouldn't go and pick up a free XSS/XSX (or amazon equivalent)? Who wouldn't sign up to a month free gamepass with their free console? If 200 million people picked up a free console, that console company would own the living room.
How would they recoup their money? Simple; once that brand is in every house hold, you offer your first round of upgrades for cheap <£49, then slowly but surely ramp up the price. Yes, this may take three generations, but how much money have Nintendo (wii u), Sony (ps3) and Microsoft (Xbox/Xbox 360) lost in pursuit of dominance?
It may sound like some communist/hippy dream, but in reality, it would be an extremely successful - not to mention aggressive tactic of living room dominance. Both Amazon and Microsoft have the funds to do this, without negatively impacting the longevity of their companies.
The question is, Why haven't either company done it?
In the thread discussing Amazon's struggles with the LOTR MMO, some posters suggested that Amazon could 'buy their way in to the market'. This wouldn't be an easy task, as Amazon would have to have hardware in the living room, would need to offer a unique draw that isn't offered by Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft and would need to build infrastructure for online gaming (Nintendo and EGS struggled here) and good 3rd party support (am I right, Sega?)
This would cost a lot of resources to pull this off and a timeline of 3-5 years if they hit they broke ground, today.
What if, Amazon or Microsoft used their huge war chest to force their products in to the living room? Imagine if Amazon made a Console for free, or if Microsoft let the XSS go, for free? What would the cost be? $50 billion? $100 billion? Still relative peanuts for the pay out.
Who wouldn't go and pick up a free XSS/XSX (or amazon equivalent)? Who wouldn't sign up to a month free gamepass with their free console? If 200 million people picked up a free console, that console company would own the living room.
How would they recoup their money? Simple; once that brand is in every house hold, you offer your first round of upgrades for cheap <£49, then slowly but surely ramp up the price. Yes, this may take three generations, but how much money have Nintendo (wii u), Sony (ps3) and Microsoft (Xbox/Xbox 360) lost in pursuit of dominance?
It may sound like some communist/hippy dream, but in reality, it would be an extremely successful - not to mention aggressive tactic of living room dominance. Both Amazon and Microsoft have the funds to do this, without negatively impacting the longevity of their companies.
The question is, Why haven't either company done it?