The Xbox Live Divide

With the recent downtime of Xbox Live on Monday in preparation of the long awaited Fall Dashboard Update many thoughts started going through my head leading to the ultimate question: Is the direction that Microsoft is taking one that will ultimately help or hurt the Xbox brand? With the classic conundrum of fixing something that isn’t broke Microsoft really has to be careful to not push away their bread and butter for a demographic that might not even be there. While I am not saying that the new dashboard enhancements and introduction of avatars won’t bring in people who previously held off on a purchase, Microsoft is running the chance of alienating the current user base.

The 360 is a console that is built with a significant focus on online gaming, and as such does not provide a very suitable environment for most casual players. With the average user seeming to be a pissed off 15 year old, Microsoft will have to be careful in it’s implementation of Live in the games that include Avatar support as to not push away gamers that are new to the denizens of the 360 online community. I have no problem with some of 99 percent of the socially backwards chatter that I often hear on Xbox Live, but I fear what will happen if and when Nancy Grace does a feature on impressionable youth being corrupted by things overheard while playing Go Fish with the newly released Avatars.

With a style that was skewed towards a younger audience, Viva Pinata fell flat on its face with gameplay that was anything but casual. While the experience and challenge was a welcome change from the monotony of first person shooters, the “kiddy” aesthetic made it go largely ignored by the Xbox base of hardcore gamers. While Sony is going to a more grown up approach, and Nintendo is securely stuck in the land of the prepubescent, it seems like Microsoft has found itself in somewhat of an uncanny valley. Stuck between these polar opposites it seems like Microsoft is going to make these drastic changes and have them largely ignored because of the odd middle ground they are taking. With this decision it may remain difficult for either the hardcore or casual crowd to take notice.

Just as no one could have predicted that Miis was such an integral to the casual experience on the Wii, no one is going to be able to predict what effect that the Avatars will have on the 360. Where many of the features being introduced in the Fall Update are focused at the hardcore (Streaming Netflix, Better Media Center Support) the new style and Avatar support has both the potential to add a whole new user base to the Xbox community, or anger the base that made them a success in the first place.

-Eric Wall