How to Improve the Xbox 360 in 2012?

While 2011 was a pretty good year for the Xbox 360 there are a few areas that Microsoft could do with expanding to improve their market share during 2012. We have previously outlined how the system drew some fantastic sales figures, including its best week in history this past Christmas but a lack of exclusive titles and a recently introduced problematic dashboard shows that there are areas for improvement. Microsoft needs a new strategy and they need it now especially if they are going to continue competing with Sony over the next 12 months.

 Fix the Dashboard

The end of 2011 marked the release of the new Xbox 360 dashboard to coincide with the Windows updates but also marked the point where we decided to not play with the features of our Xbox Live memberships anymore. Yes the dashboard update brought a lot of great possibilities for Xbox to be a household media centre but it also stopped us from using the things we loved best about the console to begin with. First and foremost this is a video games console with media applications and not the other way around. Now my Xbox is home to intrusive advertisements, clunky controls and a hiding place for the things I actually use. Finding the indie game section still eludes me when I’m not thinking right and I sometimes find myself using an alternative method for watching game updates then the console they will be played on. The visibility of games is the biggest problem now and this needs to be addressed quickly or we can expect the indie and XBLA titles to lose sales over the next 12 months – not because they won’t be good enough but because these are usually impulse purchases for the majority of people.

Lets not be too negative about the new dashboard; it’s actually sectioned quite well but the navigation itself is quite clunky. I mean how many times do I need to know I can download a Facebook app? I didn’t use it before why would I start now? Badgering me will only make me even less interested in the product.

More Exclusive Titles

While 2011 was a great year to own an Xbox 360 it was also the year where a lot of the exclusive franchises got a main release which unfortunately seems to have impacted 2012. The biggest franchises Microsoft have all released a major title over the course of the year in the form of Gears of War 3, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Forza 4.

It seems now that the only big exclusive for the Xbox next year is coming in the form of Halo 4. Yes Halo is sure to be a massive seller; but where are the other huge exclusives we all know and love. The Playstation 3 has a steady flow of exclusive title in the pipeline but Microsoft seems to have slowed down their processes for picking these sorts of titles up. More high-quality exclusives will be the key to competing over the next 12 months but these need to be confirmed as soon as possible to build up some momentum.

Microsoft has a budding relationship with a lot of XBLA developers but this is hard to show off to the public if they don’t already own a console. Their recent purchase of Twisted Pixel can only mean good things in this respect but we as consumers need to be shown why the Xbox is the biggest of the three main household consoles.

My best of 2012 article from earlier this week outlines this problem in its fullest; only Halo 4 is an Xbox exclusive.

Better use of Kinect

Kinect has struggled when it comes to delivering compelling experiences in favour of quick play or party titles. The hardware is actually very exciting but for the hardcore gamer in us there’s not a lot of reason to use the motion controlled system.

When Kinect was first announced (as project Natal) the public were excited about what this could offer and the demoed examples of these experiences did not come into fruition quite as we necessarily expected. Aside from Dance Central and The Gunslinger Kinect has suffered to deliver for the hardcore gamer.

While some of the main titles released over the last year did have Kinect functions (I’m looking at you Halo Anniversary) these still left a lot to be desired. The implementation of voice commands for functions and commands are only final add-ons for these major titles and it would be nice to see a fully functioning game in the future.

It’s also one of the main reasons why I haven’t purchased a Kinect myself and why my only experiences with the hardware are with party games or at showcasing events. Microsoft needs to offer better experiences for the device even if this doesn’t consist of fully dedicated games. Using Kinect to enhance experiences is definitely a step forward and should be used to supplement games without interrupting the flow of the gameplay. Using Kinect in ways that have eluded the Playstation Move and the Nintendo Wii will allow Microsoft the chance to market Kinect in a different way.

Xbox Live Improvements

The Xbox Live functions have been used fairly well up until now but with the digital age upon us Microsoft really need to push all their time into their online functions. The current system is not floored but it doesn’t offer anything revolutionary in a way that can be used as a competitive advantage.

The Games on Demand section seems to be the key area to improve over the next 12 months. I was always hoping that this system would make games available on demand as soon as they hit the shelves of our local Video Game dealers. It would be nice to see Mass Effect 3 released as an On Demand title the same day the boxes appear on the shelves. It would push sales, allow for advertising of the software and get people using this option rather then going to their local Game store (think ‘Green’ people). Personally I think this is a no-brainer and one that should have been implemented as soon as the option became available to the public. When we look into this section on our Xbox’s we should expect the New Releases to actually be New Releases and not a new way to purchase a specific title.

The XBLA has been such a success that it does surprise me that Microsoft haven’t utilised these options better. The platform has proven to be a capable method for getting retail games and even a few original experiences but with digital distribution becoming even more important in 2012 Microsoft should really improve their game and quickly.