玩家争夺战：微软正面对撼索尼

    视频游戏界正在酝酿一场战争。在上周一年一度的电子游戏盛会电子娱乐展（E3）上，微软（Microsoft）和索尼（Sony）分别确认年内将推出新的游戏机产品，两大厂商争夺消费者客厅的战线已经基本形成。

    微软本周的参展以软件为主。上个月微软公司正式发布了Xbox One，这是微软的第三款游戏机，也是八年来的第一款全新的游戏机。在一场简单利落的媒体发布会上，微软向我们展示了今年将发布的13款游戏，同时宣布，Xbox One将于11月21日以499美元的价格正式发售。

    随着微软上周一在洛杉矶召开的发布会顺利闭幕，似乎微软已经先下一城。但是索尼随后迅速发力，发布了一系列可以说是“必玩”的游戏。更重要的是，索尼公司宣布它的PlayStation4游戏机也将在今年圣诞假期期间发布，而售价将比微软的新游戏机便宜100美元。因此索尼也很可能在双方的对战中拿下第一城。国际数据公司（IDC）的研究经理路易斯•沃德说：“对于目前骑墙观望的消费者来说，100美元差价的影响力是非常大的。过去的经验表明，一般的游戏机玩家并不想花太多的钱买游戏机，哪怕他们认为一款游戏机真的很好。这两台游戏机的差价基本上可以买两款游戏了。”

    虽然从现在到11月还很远，中间还可能发生很多事，但是这场硬件仗的独特之处就在于，虽然这是索尼发布的第四款游戏，微软发布的第三款，但是这两家公司还从来没有在同一个假日季里为争夺新消费者展开过正面交锋。

    索尼在2000年发布了它的Play Station 2游戏机，整整一年后，微软才发布了第一款Xbox，索尼在那一轮的竞争中获胜。微软对Xbox进行了一番大修大改，于2005年推出了Xbox 360，索尼直到一年后才推出定价更高的Play Station 3。但是这一回，双方在同一年里推出了新产品，只是微软Xbox One的价格要更高，但是这对微软可能是个不小的负担。韦德布什证券公司（Wedbush Securities）私募集团研究主任迈克尔•帕切指出：“100美元不是个小数目，微软必须让消费者明白，他们的游戏机为什么比索尼的多值100美元。这个价格带来的优势短期内不会马上显现出来，因为消费者可能不会认为，为了一个Skype功能就该多付100多美元。”

    按照双方宣布的这个价格，我们几乎可以肯定，两家公司每卖出一台游戏机差不多都是在赔钱。因为这两家公司都采用的是“赔钱卖剃须刀，赚钱卖刀片”的模式，也就是说，游戏机稍微赔点钱卖出去，而利润主要来自卖软件的钱。这也是为什么两家公司都分别推出了枪型附件和许多独特的第一人称视角游戏，而且还各自从主要的游戏合作伙伴那里引入了独家的第三方游戏。BP研究公司游戏行业分析师比尔•皮吉昂说：“独家游戏绝对是非常重要的。这些独家游戏，包括第三方公司提供的独家游戏，可以在竞争中起举足轻重的作用。”

    尽管这两家公司都想尽可能多地推出独特的硬件配件，但是最重要的还是要看各自的安装基数和软件销量。帕切说：“两家公司都展示了优秀的软件，不过游戏机的销量最终还是取决于软件。对于两家公司来说，重要的是要构建一个巨大的用户群来促进他们的品牌，所以早期的销量至关重要。这就是为什么定价很重要，除非微软可以让用户相信，Xbox One的定价更高是有道理的，否则他们可能会失去一些市场份额。”

    上周的电子娱乐展上，索尼在媒体发布会上宣布了新游戏机的售价后，双方的第一轮较量已见高下——至少是在口头上。同时索尼北美电子娱乐公司总裁兼CEO杰克•特雷顿也宣布，将继续支持旧游戏的销售。这与微软的营销方式形成了鲜明的对比，因为微软需要游戏机一直联网，而这可能会限制游戏的购买方式，使索尼在早期占据一定的优势。国际数据公司的沃德说：“微软的旧游戏政策和需要联网的限制可能导致索尼的最初销量十分抢眼。但是这只是一场十年鏖战的第一轮交锋，所以即便索尼今年第四季度的销量真的十分强势，而且它真的采取了有利于玩家的旧游戏政策，未来依然存在很大变数。”（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    A big battle is brewing in the world of video games. The battlelines for the living room were drawn this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the annual trade show for all things video games, as Microsoft and Sony solidified their plans to introduce new consoles this year.

    Microsoft's (MSFT) presentation this week was all about software. Last month the company officially unveiled the Xbox One, its third console and the first all-new one in eight years. In a rapid-fire press conference, Microsoft offered a glimpse of 13 upcoming titles for the season and announced that the Xbox One will arrive on November 21 for $499.

    Following its Monday morning press conference in Los Angeles, it looked like it was score one for Microsoft, but then Sony (SNE) made quite the power play and introduced its own lineup of what could be "must play" games, and more importantly announced that the PlayStation 4 would also arrive this holiday season and for $100 less. That could be enough that Sony actually wins the first round. "For those sitting on the fence, $100 goes really far," says Lewis Ward, research manager for gaming at IDC. "Historical precedence suggests that the average console fan isn't willing to shell out a lot more money for a product, even one they think is great. That amount of money is essentially two games for free."

    While there is still a lot that can happen between now and November, what makes this particular hardware cycle unique is that, while this is the fourth system from Sony and third from Microsoft, the two companies have never tussled over new consumers during the same holiday season.

    Sony introduced its PlayStation 2 in 2000, a full year before the original Xbox came out, and in the end Sony won that round. Microsoft went for a "do-over" with the Xbox 360, which it introduced in 2005, in that case a full year before Sony released its pricier PlayStation 3. This time the two battle it out in the same year, and Microsoft has the more expensive system. That could be a serious cross to bear for the company this time. "$100 is a big deal, and Microsoft has to educate consumers about why their console is worth it," says Michael Pachter, head of research for the Private Shares Group at Wedbush Securities. "That value proposition isn't immediately apparent, as gamers don't appear convinced that having Skype is important enough to justify forking over $100 for the privilege."

    Even with the announced prices, it is all but a foregone conclusion that at launch both companies will actually lose money on every video game machine sold. With new systems, both companies will take the "razor and blade" model, where the system is sold at a slight loss and the profits come from selling the software. This could be why both companies also took out the big guns to show a slew of unique first-party titles (published respectively by Microsoft or Sony) and exclusive third-party games from key publishing parties. "The exclusive titles are absolutely important," says video game industry analyst Billy Pidgeon of BP Research. "Getting those exclusive titles, including third-part exclusives, can make the difference."

    While each company wants to move as many units of hardware as it can, the real key is getting an installed base and seeing software sales. In turn it is the software that also helps sell the system. "Both companies showed great software, (and) console sales ultimately depend on software," Pachter adds. "It is important for each to build a large community to promote their brands, so early sales are crucial. This is where pricing comes in, and unless Microsoft can sell the value proposition of the higher priced Xbox One, they may lose some share."

    At this week's E3, the gaming press declared a winner -- at least vocally -- at Sony's press conference when the price was announced, but also when Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, announced that Sony would continue to support the sale of used games. This is in stark contrast to Microsoft's announced approach, which could require an always-on connection to the Internet and which would limit how games could be traded in. That could also give Sony an early edge. "The used games and requiring the web connection could lead to Sony having a strong initial sales cycle," says IDC's Ward. "However, this is the first salvo in a 10-year war, so even if Sony has strong sales in the fourth quarter and a gamer friendly approach to used games, there is so much more that is going to happen."