General Discussion

[ProjectVRD]

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Spotter5 wrote:

I feel this picture is relevant to this thread.

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Hit. Nail. Head.

That is what it is all about.

[CrustyJockStrap]

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ProjectVRD wrote:
Crusty, google it. Shareholders don't give a crap about what gamers think about where and when a console should start making a profit, they make the rules and those rules now say day one profit or bye bye.

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never known any type of hardware make a profit on day one,

i have googled it and came back with nothing about MS nextbox and share holders! thats why i asked but if you not going to link me oh well.

it is all about profit yes it is always about profit but gamer or not you know you have to spend money to make money,

[Pin-Pin-Ire]

Tbh I don't see why shareholders would want to sell the xbox division. I listen to Major Nelsons podcast and they did mention that there was discontent when xbox launched ten years ago but for the past four years, shareholders have highlighted the xbox division as an example for the rest of the company. I'm not sure which podcasts this was mentioned in, but it would have been one from late October onwards.

I remember this so vividly as one of the presenters mentioned that in the early days of xbox many of the people high up in the company didn't understand what they were doing and wanted to close it down.

[ProjectVRD]

'Microsoft Shareholders Break Up Xbox' instantly returns pages on what I am saying. Ballmer is against the idea and if it doesn't make profit day one they will sack him because they don't care about him. These shareholders are used to day one profit because that is what they are known for. XP, Vista, 7, Server, OffIce... These are instant return products that made those shareholders buy into the company and they don't care about how hardware might be different. Ballmer will lose his job at the AGM after the next Xbox is released and their hardware divisions will be sold.

[CrustyJockStrap]

intresting read.

I like the ending comments though

Despite the complaints, none of the grumbling shareholders are considering selling their Microsoft stakes.

"I'm a loyal Microsoft shareholder," said Athukorala, "I wouldn't be buying my first house if I didn't have Microsoft shares."

Parker, who says he has owned Microsoft shares from "day one" -- Microsoft went public in 1986 -- is not yet ready to sell his shares, which are in a college fund for his grandchildren.

"They keep sending me a dividend check," he said.

Can't see it effecting the NEXTBOX as these people are still getting a nice sum of cash.

[ProjectVRD]

As Warren Buffet once said, a loyal investor is delaying his bankruptcy. Not that microsoft will bankrupt them, but he was highlighting that there should be no loyality if you plan to get rich and stay richer.

The thing about these AGM meetings is that only a small amount of shareholders can attend for obvious reasons, you cannot exactly fit every microsoft investor in one building because there are tens of thousands of them. So those that do recieve an invitation get the opportunity to speak out about issues that affect a large proportion, so those that didn't get an invite approach those that do to raise concerns such as this one about some divisions being slow off the mark to make the profit. Behind that one person raising the issue are many who asked him to do it, I personally think the idea of selling the group would be a great idea because it would really help Windows to go software only. 

Selling XBox doesn't mean selling Live and that is pretty much one of the reasons to still buy the console, if moved over to the Windows only then the people who love that will consider buying a PC for their gaming to play new games online and to play those they already owned. The main issue they were bringing up was really Microsoft moving into hardware, which like you rightly pointed out doesn't give the quick returns like software would. The fact it is a gaming division is just circumstance because it is one of the only major hardware outlets it has, the trasnscript shows they ain't too happy about keyboards and mice etc as well... so yeah, it is not so much an anti-Xbox thing but more they don't want the company getting involved in hardware in general.

[PatC_PSN]

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ProjectVRD wrote:

The fact it is a gaming division is just circumstance because it is one of the only major hardware outlets it has, the trasnscript shows they ain't too happy about keyboards and mice etc as well... so yeah, it is not so much an anti-Xbox thing but more they don't want the company getting involved in hardware in general.

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Having seen Microsoft's attempts at keyboards and mice I'm not at all surprised

Almost as bad as their software

[ocelot07]

Lost Planet
ShadowRun
Universe At War

There is also games you can gain achievements for your Xbox gametag.

The 3 above,

Tinker (Free game)

Age Of Empires Online (Free game)

007 Quantum Of Solace

Dawn Of War 2

Viva Pinita

Red Faction Guerilla

Halo 2

Gears Of War

GTA IV

Batman AA

Batman AC

Dirt 2

Dead Rising 2

Dirt 3

Dark Void

Section 8

and many more.

[ProjectVRD]

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PatC_PSN wrote:

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ProjectVRD wrote:

The fact it is a gaming division is just circumstance because it is one of the only major hardware outlets it has, the trasnscript shows they ain't too happy about keyboards and mice etc as well... so yeah, it is not so much an anti-Xbox thing but more they don't want the company getting involved in hardware in general.

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Having seen Microsoft's attempts at keyboards and mice I'm not at all surprised

Almost as bad as their software

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Despite all my anti-microsoft rhetoric of past, I really really do like Windows 7. I have had no problems with it as yet. That is something I thought I would never say. I don't think I will even bother upgrading to Windows 8 no matter how good it may turn out to be because 7 does what I need it to.

As for the new Office suites, do not like them. I can never get used to the new menu layout on the top of the page, I miss the old style.

[PatC_PSN]

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ProjectVRD wrote:

Despite all my anti-microsoft rhetoric of past, I really really do like Windows 7. I have had no problems with it as yet. That is something I thought I would never say. I don't think I will even bother upgrading to Windows 8 no matter how good it may turn out to be because 7 does what I need it to.

As for the new Office suites, do not like them. I can never get used to the new menu layout on the top of the page, I miss the old style.

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I only use Windows at work, because I have no choice. The latest MS Office is an unmitigated disaster as far as the user interface is concerned. Whoever designed that mess should be taken out the back and shot.