Re: Asphalt 8 is NOT an Xbox Title: Let's Mobilize to Reverse the Trend. #SaveXboxWP
I don't own an Xbox so is there a reason I should care? In fact I never liked achievements in games.
Yes, there are a few reasons you should care (assuming you care about Windows Phone's growth):
1. Growth of Windows Phone
Xbox on Windows Phone is good for the growth of both Windows Phone (and Xbox, but more on that later). Right now Windows Phone is the 3rd most popular mobile OS in the world, but it is way behind the first (Android) and second (iOS). What this means is that Windows Phone needs every advantage it can get to help convince people to switch over. No one here is saying that Xbox on Windows Phone is going to convince the masses (who mostly don't care about games) to switch to Windows Phone, but there is certainly a sizable niche of consumers who do enjoy mobile gaming. Right now, iOS and Android have way more games and they get them way sooner. To help offset that, Windows Phone needs as many distinguishing features as it can get. One such feature is Xbox integration.
Here is why Xbox integration is cool.
1.
Exclusivity: your friend has Mirror's Edge on his iPhone and he thinks it's cool. You show him your version of Mirror's Edge with extra features that he doesn't have and can't get unless he makes the switch. Many gamers care about that kind of stuff, particularly those who are more likely to actually buy games and support developers
2.
Features:
(a) Achievements: You may not care about achievements now, but they are actually a brilliant innovation that Microsoft introduced to the gaming realm. They add replay value by encouraging you to play the game in different ways to fully complete it (it is really satisfying to 'complete'--i.e. get all the achievements--in some games; I'll never forget the first game I completed--Hexic Rush on Windows Phone--when I got that final, really challenging achievement). Even better is that it then records all of your progress for that game and ties it to your profile (gamertag), which allows you to compare your progress with friends, which makes gaming more social. Which leads us to...
(b) Social Gaming: Xbox gaming allows you to make friends (both random people you meet in games that have the same interest as you as well as your friends and family in real life) who you can then easily play games with online in games that have Xbox integration, compare high scores and game progress via leaderboards, send messages back and forth, and follow their game activity. For example, I set up gamertags for all of my immediate family, none of who have Xboxes but all of who have Windows Phone. Now we can all play against each other in Carcassonne, Alphajax, Wordament, Kingdoms & Lords, etc, and everyone really enjoys being able to easily play with and follow each other's progress. People that don't care at all about console gaming still like the social features that Xbox on Windows Phone bring.
2. Growth of Xbox
You don't own an Xbox, but I'm guessing you still care about the success of Microsoft, or at least Windows Phone. Well, their success is all intertwined in this contemporary world of 'ecosystems'. Guess what, I never owned an Xbox before either (or a PlayStation or a Nintendo). I also didn't care about Xbox achievements and found them kind of silly--a digression from the actual game. My friends all had Xbox 360s and always nagged me about buying one but I rebuffed them. Then I got a Windows Phone and tried out a few Xbox games. My friends, iOS and Android users, were suddenly intrigued when I added them as an Xbox friend and then saw I was playing Xbox games on my phone (this drew them to Windows Phone). I got a Surface too and started playing Xbox games on there too. Soon I began to appreciate the benefits of Xbox's achievements and social gaming features listed above. Shortly thereafter I decided to preorder an Xbox One and my friends did as well, and they also ditched their iPhones and Androids and picked up some Windows Phones too. Now, this is not to say that everyone who plays Xbox on WP is suddenly going to buy an Xbox One, or that everyone who owns an Xbox is suddenly going to buy a Windows Phone just to play Xbox on the go, but many people will, and even those who don't are still new customers in the ecosystem.
In short, you may not own an Xbox console now, and you may not even care about Xbox achievements now, but there is a non-trivial chance that if you really looked at the benefits if Xbox gaming on Windows Phone, that you may come to appreciate achievements, and you may even find that you're more enticed to buy an Xbox One or Xbox 360, etc. But, even if that never happens, surely you can see how the exclusive features of Xbox gaming on Windows Phone help distinguish it from iOS and Android, which is only a good thing. Xbox on WP --> Growth of WP --> Growth of Xbox --> Growth of WP --> etc.
So, even if you find this whole #SaveXboxWP uproad "silly", I encourage you to still help out your Windows Phone comrades by going to Twitter, searching for #SaveXboxWP posts and re-tweeting them.
he said more titles coming next year
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