Xbox: A brief history part 2

Since the launch of the Xbox console, Microsoft started working on it to keep it up to date so it can keep up with its competitors such as Playstation, Sega and Nintendo etc.

To keep Xbox on race with its rivals, Microsoft had to strike deals with all the big publishers in the game to get publicity from all publishers and they wanted to get as many support as they can and get as many publishers on board as possible. By the end of 2000, they struck major deals with all the big hitters in the gaming industry like Activision, Konami, THQ, EIDOS and Capcom. By the end of 2000, Microsoft Xbox still didn’t strike any deals with EA and Sega. The announcement from other publishers gave Microsoft Xbox a big boost of momentum and Xbox strike fear into the hearts of its enemies. Microsoft was trying to muscle in the territory of Sega and Nintendo but they both ignored that.

Sega’s dreamcast was facing competition from Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox and its market was going down so it decided to strike a deal with Microsoft Xbox. The collaboration was looking good for Microsoft Xbox as that will give Xbox a huge boost because of the attachment of Japanese market when it was going to launch in Europe.

Sega was offering assets of Dreamcast to Xbox which could create a path for dreamcast customers to migrate to Xbox but dreamcast wanted an internet connection for dreamcast titles. Microsoft didn’t want that so the negotiations fell apart and Sega’s dreamcast didn’t keep up with the competition and it died.

Bill gates said: "We want Xbox to be the platform of choice for the best and most creative game developers in the world".

Catching the biggest fish in the industry meant everything to Microsoft and it tried everything to strike a deal with EA. EA refusing Xbox proposals was not looking good for Xbox. But Microsoft finally struck a deal with EA and EA decided to publish at least 10 games a year on the console. Without EA backing Xbox up, they console might not have grown as fast as they game the console titles like Madden, NFL and FIFA etc.

By the launch of Xbox, publishers working on Xbox games started making exclusive Xbox games like “NBA inside drive 2002” and “RalliSport challenge” from Microsoft game studios, “WRECKLESS: the yakuza missions” from Activision, “WWF raw” from THQ and “007: agent under fire” from EA.

REFERENCES:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/131066/hardware/the-complete-history-of-xbox/ (accessed at 18/05/2013)

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/ten-years-of-xbox-a-brief-history-1040866#null  (accessed at 18/05/2013)

http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/history-of-the-xbox#image=1 (date accessed: 18/05/2013)