Two Fedoras

I’m guessing you have all heard the news. Microsoft recently announced their new mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 7, and has integrated into this new platform an extension of its Xbox Live ecosystem. Also mentioned was that this would be an exclusive feature to Windows 7 devices. Similarly the Sony PSN will have an exclusive styled relationship with Sony handsets. It is the nature of this exclusive relationship that has caught the ire of some in the industry.

In a post by Luke Plunkett on Kotaku titled “Xbox Live & PSN On Mobile Phones: No, No, No” he discusses at length the various reasons that both of these companies are making huge mistakes by making their respective ecosystems exclusive. Plunkett goes on to list all of the things he should be able to do on any device that Microsoft or Sony can make an app for. In all fairness he is exactly right, he should be able to see his friends list, send messages, view gamer scores, check leader boards, and schedule downloads to his consoles. The part I take issue with in his post is his lack of foresight and understanding of these two companies probable endgame objectives.

The real issue is Microsoft wants to bring their Xbox Live ecosystem as a whole to the mobile platform. That doesn’t just mean the dashboard crap that a web browser could serve up. That means creating a standardized set of compatible hardware and a fully walled garden for the purpose of distributing content. They are going to want developers to make games to be sold from within the Xbox Live ecosystem and be capable of contributing to Gamer Scores, multiplayer gaming, and probably even party chat. This kind of ecosystem can’t go anywhere but on a Windows 7 device, because there is no way in hell anyone else would let them set up a nice pretty little walled garden within their existing walled garden. For example Apple would shoot this bad boy down in a heartbeat for “duplicating already existing features.”

If Microsoft could make this type of ecosystem as an app for the App Store, you got to know they would, I mean who would say no to a user base like that? But from Apple’s perspective there is no benefit. For starters the MS app would probably be free, so no slice of the pie there. Then all of the content sold from inside such an app would go straight to Microsoft because the App Store wasn’t involved in the transaction. You may say “well then sell the games in the app store and then tie them into  XBL.” That creates so many opportunities for tampering with Gamer Scores and other things that you couldn’t even call it a walled garden and thats just ignoring the issue of figuring out a way to split proceeds between Microsoft, Apple, and the Developer that doesn’t make them all broke.

So to wrap this wordy bastard of a post up, I agree with what Luke Plunkett wants from a universally available App. The problem is, his vision of what is being built here seems short sighted and not in line with what I think the actual end game objectives for these platforms really are. MS and Sony want to be able to control their entire distribution channel to ensure the quality of the user experience and build a serious cash cow by leveraging their existing user bases in the process. So, suck it up, exclusive was the only option available to them and they made the right call.