It's looking like MS is going to try to sell Office as a service to folks that need to use it on a lot of devices. They'll still have the regular software package but going forward the cloud is the way to go. People will be able to work on their stuff anywhere and on any device made by any manufacturer. I'm sure you can see the appeal of this?
But that isn't how Office is used by the majority of customers -- at least the people I work with. The "cloud" features are turned off by almost everyone I know, no one trusts that SkyDrive bullshit. If they're unwilling to trust their saves to the cloud, why would they trust the cloud with the software and computation itself? As if they need it for multiple devices...laptops aren't going anywhere. They're "work devices." If you need something on the go, you'll maybe turn to Google Docs, but it's not considered an Office replacement by any stretch.
I realize that MS sees advantages to moving to cloud-based everything, but it's not going to fly if it's just about doing it for MS's sake. They've got to tie it in to features that actually benefity users. You guys said it, Office is the money maker. They have to be careful when
ing with it: I work with people who are still pissed about the performance loss in going from Excel 2003 to Excel 2007. (Which MS fixed and then advertised in Excel 2010 by comparing 2010's performance to 2007, *not* 2003.)
Tying it to features kind of goes to my point: they need to make Windows an attractive platform for development, they need talent. Win 8 was a step back in that regard, they were actually *paying* developers to support it. That's crazy.
I seriously don't know why they don't make Mario Kart more like Smash Bros in regards to roster, getting some other franchise characters in there or even a couple third-party legends would be a hell of a lot more interesting. It worked really well for the Sonic racing games.
But that misses the point. It's a party title, now, so stuff like roster and vehicle variety are all that's left. In that regard, the Koopa Kids from SWM are a fun addition.
The reason Mario Kart doesn't satisfy isn't because there's too many characters, it's because as a gaming experience, the amount of skill that differentiates first from last place in any given race is effectively negligible. There's no skill acquisition, there's just "hold on for this cool trick!" or "here's more items, use them lots!" That's good for a party game, anyone can pick it up and feel competitive, but it's lousy for a genuine karting game, which is to say a genuine video game. Without a real need for skill acquistion, for learning the game mechanics and practicing at them, then what the hell am I doing here?
Again, it's a party title. It's getting more characters, more color, more items, more vehicles, more flashy events. They aren't the problem. It's the concept itself that's
ed.
