Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Yesterday, I had an article that talked about five ways to improve PS3 sales, and just to be fair, I have five things that will stimulate and improve sales of the 360.

While the 360 came out of the gate with decent success, the console has stumbled as of late and sales are somewhat stagnant after almost two years on the market. While some have talked about the Halo 3 effect on sales, I believe it will be a short term impact. Looking beyond that, I feel there are a few steps that would increase the demand and sales for the 360, while giving long term users reason to invest in their purchase.

Hard Drive Issue 1:

While many have mentioned it, it is still the biggest issue facing 360 developers and that is the lack of a standard hard drive on every console. At first, the Core system sounded like a good way to hit the low end market with a product that was sub-$300. But at the same time, we have heard time and time again how developers would like to have a hard drive on every system. Yes they work around it, but they should not have to take the time to build in workarounds. Memory cards help, but with games getting bigger, the hard drive would just help the overall gaming experience from loading the game to memory management.

Microsoft has been on and off the fence about a hard drive, but I feel that it is time to give the developers the right to make their games with a hard drive required. There has been speculation and rumor that this will be coming. There has even been a sticker that made its way around the web in regards to Call of Duty 4, but it needs to be more widespread. It will cut out some of the Core users, but they can opt in for the hard drive at some point. And yes, I know Final Fantasy XI requires a hard drive, but it is an MMO and a little different from a Mass Effect or GTA IV. Any way Microsoft goes about it, they are going to take heat, but at least this way, they will have promoted growth in the game development arena.

Hard Drive Issue 2:

Microsoft should take a page from Sony and allow the use of any standard SATA hard drive with the Xbox 360. I for one was happy about the 120GB Hard Drive attachment, but not at the cost of $179.00. That is just highway robbery. I can get a 320GB SATA drive at Fry’s off the shelf for that price. So I feel that Microsoft would be in such a better place if they would allow the use of any SATA drive in their enclosure.

Yes, this loosens the control that Microsoft has on the platform, but if you take the route that Sony has and warn people that if they add their own hard drive, they void the warranty, they would weed out those that might not be willing to take the risk. It also becomes a boon to Live, because all that content that a lot of people just don’t have room for unless they bought the Elite or the overpriced hard drive upgrade. There are a lot of HD movies that I would be willing to spend points on, but I don’t have the room and I don’t feel like deleting and re-downloading when I want the program again.

Better Backwards Compatibility Schedule:

While backwards compatibility has gotten better in recent months, it is still a hit and miss affair. And it is a mysterious one at that. Updates come out of the blue and pick games with a sense of randomness. I think it would be wise for Microsoft to set up a schedule that would give the process a little better sense of transparency. They could add fewer games at a time, but if consumers knew that updates would be released on a more regular basis, it would help stimulate demand. And it would make early adopters like me happy knowing they could see that progress was being made instead of the whole process feeling like a giant secret. There is no reason that two years into 360 ownership, I should have to keep an original Xbox around for some of my games, because they won’t work on the 360.

Market the Connectivity of the Device:

Surprisingly, there are a fair amount of people that don’t know that you can connect the 360 to your computer via your network. That’s right, your music, video and pictures can all be streamed to your PC, and you don’t even need Media Center to be installed on your computer. Ever since the release of Media Player 11, it is as easy as checking the Media Sharing box in the options and selecting the 360 as an allowed device.

I know they talk about the media extender capabilities, but they need to focus on the fact that any version of Windows running Media Player 11 can do this, regardless of having a Media Center OS installed. I think that casual buyer would love to know that all their pictures could be streamed to the 360 without any real hassle. And the gamers out there might love to know that they can stream their own soundtrack via their media collection. I never really hear Microsoft or anyone else really talk this point up. It is a practical footnote on the 360 packaging.

Allow for Game Development on the HD-DVD Drive:

While the most controversial step of them all, I feel at some point this will need to happen. It just seems like a natural progression and at some point; I still feel that Microsoft will add another SKU that will have the HD-DVD attachment built into the device. While space is not a dire concern, several developers have gone as far as to make some public noise about working around the DVD-9 limitations. And while they could still use both sides of the disc or even multiple discs, it just seems like a no-brainer to allow development on the external device at some point. Developers have to salivating at the possible thought of developing on a higher capacity device. Especially when it exists, but it not allowed to be used. There would be some hurdles to cross in regards to performance, but it would be a great bridge product till a HD-DVD 360 comes out at some point.

While there are some other choices that could of made this list, like discontinuing the Core system, I feel these would be enough of a shake up to cause a lot of stimulus in the 360 market for potential buyers and current owners of the system. I know for a fact I would be at the store tonight buying a new hard drive if I could add one of any size or brand. A lot of this is based on Microsoft being more open with the system which is a hard sell in itself, but I feel it would be to their best advantage.