14 DAY TRIAL // Well-known analyst Michael Pachter sheds light on why he believes the Xbox 360 would never have a browser in his most recent show on GameTrailers. According to Pachter, Microsoft wishes to own the Internet, that is, to control all traffic on its home console. This means that it will never allow any browser or any other way the users can explore the Internet without it over-watching or charging extra money.
“Microsoft [said], ‘You are not getting out of this box unless we control your access.’ So when you replicate Facebook, Twitter, Netflix on the 360 it’s not the same. You aren’t actually going to those sites; you are going to a Microsoft-controlled site where they know exactly what you are touching. Eventually you will be able to visit Amazon on the Xbox and you’re going to be paying them a piece of whatever purchase you conclude – well you won’t be paying them, the company you purchase from will,” Pachter answered to one of the questions he was asked in the show.
This, of course, implies that, in the end, services on the consoles will cost the consumer more money, as it's already the case with console games. PC titles are usually ten dollars cheaper than their console counterparts because of a licensing fee Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo charge third-party publishers. Pachter points out that Microsoft might be aiming for the same kind of strategy when it comes to whatever Internet services might become available on its home box.
This interesting analysis comes just as Olivier Comte, Namco Bandai Partners' vice-president, commented that games and game-related services were too expensive and that the whole industry would lose a lot of revenue if the business model did not change. One of the measures proposed by Comte was a lowering of the licensing fee the platform owners demanded from third parties.