Chapter 2: Strategic planning for competitive advantage

Microsoft's strategic plan for the Xbox 360 is to maximize the players online experience through unique and innovative methods. The Xbox 360 has held dominance in the gaming market. This is due to some of the many unique and one of a kind implementations that the Xbox 360 was able to introduce with it's release in the summer of 2005. Some of the competitive advantages that the Xbox 360 has had over it's competitors (The Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii) are the following:
-The Xbox Live service: The best online service and experience across all consoles. Xbox Live offers the fastest and most reliable connections on all consoles. This surely gives an edge over the competitors. Xbox Live offers live chat, messaging, along with an impressive dashboard layout and minimal lag to maximize players online experience.
-Netflix on the Xbox 360: The Xbox 360 was the first gaming system to have Netflix as a part of their online experience. With the addition of Netflix an extra layer was added to the entertainment of the already packed Xbox live experience. This set the Xbox 360 ahead of it's competitors in the race to the top.
-Xbox 360 exclusives: The Xbox 360 held the exclusive rights to two of the highest grossing game series of all time. Halo and Gears of War are two of many Xbox 360 exclusives that have helped put the Xbox 360 over the top and has helped to bring in massive amounts of revenue by setting the bar high in terms of maximizing entertainment and value for a quality experience.
All of these factors have helped put the 360 on top of the competition in terms of quality game play and online experience.    

Xbox Live

Gears of War and Halo 3

Netflix on the Xbox 360