微軟Xbox未戰先輸

????此舉對于Gamefly和RedBox等游戲出租公司來說絕對是好消息。他們可以為目前的PS3、Xbox 360、Wii和Wii U等提供下一代游戲。此外，它對于二手游戲市場同樣是個好消息。去年，二手游戲為著名專業游戲零售商GameStop帶來的收入超過10億美元。GameStop在一則聲明中稱：“這對于玩家而言是好消息，微軟能夠理解消費者以及二手市場的重要性，這一點值得稱贊。”

????資深游戲開發者、Oddworld Inhabitants游戲公司的創始人，曾開發PS4游戲《奇異世界：阿比逃亡記》（Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New N Tasty）的羅尼?蘭寧認為，如今的玩家將購買游戲視為一種日常消費，他們可以以此來抵消軟件的60美元價格點。蘭寧說：“個人在這個市場可以用他們的游戲庫存來交易更新的版本。如果和用戶的意見背道而馳，剝奪玩家對游戲的擁有權，它將損害公司品牌。”

????目前，微軟已經蒙受了損失。盡管隨著手機和免費游戲的發展，游戲人群的范圍正在不斷擴大，但微軟仍在努力修復與核心玩家的關系，他們對于游戲行業至關重要。獨立視頻游戲分析師比利?皮德根認為，對于微軟關于Xbox One上的軟件認證要求，玩家社區強烈的負面反應雖然不太可能對產品的上市銷量產生顯著影響，但忽視玩家的批評將導致這款產品在2014年的銷量放緩。

????皮德根說：“在E3大會上，微軟未能及時回應玩家的情緒，結果使PS4獲得了巨大的競爭優勢。索尼可以更有創造性地利用這些優勢。微軟的反應或許有些晚，但對Xbox One的數字版權管理與二手游戲政策作出顯著的調整能夠重新贏得部分玩家。但索尼獲得的優勢已成事實，2014年，PS4必將大賣。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????This move is good news for game rental companies like Gamefly and RedBox, which will be able to offer next-gen games alongside current PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Wii U titles. It's also a win for the used games market, which accounted for over $1 billion last year for top game specialty retailer GameStop (GME). In a statement, GameStop said, "This is great news for gamers, and we applaud Microsoft for understanding consumers and the importance of the pre-owned market."

????Veteran game developer Lorne Lanning, founder of Oddworld Inhabitants and creator of the PS4 game, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New N Tasty, said today's gamers view their game purchases as a commodity that they can use to offset the $60 price point of today's software. "It's a marketplace for individuals to trade their stockpile of games for newer titles," said Lanning. "Not listening to that audience today and trying to halt that ownership gamers feel for their games is damaging to one's own brand."

????The damage has been done for Microsoft. Now it's trying to rebuild its relationship with the core gamers who are vital to the industry, even as the gaming demographic broadens with mobile andfree-to-play games. Independent video game analyst Billy Pidgeon believes strong negative feedback from the gamer community directed toward Microsoft's statements regarding software authentication on Xbox One would not have significantly affected launch sales of either console, but ignoring gamer criticism could have slowed sales over 2014.

????"Microsoft's failure to respond to gamer sentiment at E3 opened up a competitive advantage for PS4 that Sony was able to creatively exploit," said Pidgeon. "Microsoft's response may be a little late, but making an apparent turnaround on Xbox One's DRM and used games policy will likely gain back much ground lost to gamer dissent. Still, Sony was able to gain an edge that should boost PS4 sales well into 2014."