14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has announced that it is bringing down the price of the Xbox One home console to 349 dollars (279 Euro) for the holiday period, with the device set to return to normal at the start of January of 2015.
The move is clearly designed to make the gaming platform more attractive to gamers during a two-month period during which a lot of hardware is being sold, as customers are either picking up a console for themselves or as a gift.
Microsoft is also bringing down the price of some popular bundles, including one featuring Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which will probably increase the profile of the Xbox One even more.
This comes after the company reported that it had only shipped 2.4 million units to retailers during the last three months and did not say exactly how many of them were actually sold.
The Xbox One division might be one of the bright spots for Microsoft at the moment, but it does need to move fast in order to catch up to the PlayStation 4, which is over the 10 million units sold worldwide milestone, and a price cut, the second in one year, is a sign that desperation is creeping in.
Only one year has passed since the current generation was launched and Microsoft still has plenty of time to regain lost ground, but it needs to act smarter.
Xbox One is not behind because of the price
Gamers do look at price when they purchase a new home console, but I suspect that for both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, the most important element is the info coming from the friends network and the line-up of available games.
Up to this moment, Microsoft has simply been unable to associate its own brand with major releases and Sony has done very well in capturing the audience that is currently making Destiny, the new title from Bungie and Activision, a success.
The situation might change with the delivery of Sunset Overdrive, which is an Xbox One exclusive, and with the arrival of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which will get DLC first on the Microsoft home console.
Of course, Sony might counter this with its own marketing efforts and by delivering special bundles and offers that emphasize its own exclusives.
More features are the key to long-term success
The most important good policy that Microsoft is implementing for the Xbox One is the delivery of monthly new firmware updates, all of them designed to introduce new features based on the feedback from the community and tested by a number of preview program users.
This effort needs to be expanded and the company might be able to sell more consoles as long as it persuades potential customers that its device is delivering more functionality than its rival.
It would also be interesting to see Microsoft revive the policies that were initially announced for the Xbox One when it comes to membership and sharing.
The player community reacted negatively to them at first, but they do offer a new approach which embraces our digital feature and could prove a great unique selling point for the hardware.