Microsoft has lost its way in recent years, misled by a board of lame ducks, focusing on the wrong areas of its business, and generally relying far too much on the Xbox 720. Or, at least, that's what Joachim Kempin thinks, the man who enjoyed a long and successful career at a senior level in the company.

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“ Compared with the graphic systems you can have on the PC, [consoles are] awful, they’re just awful!

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“ They’re abandoning the partnership model which has worked for the last 20, 30 years and whoever the partners are they are not happy about it.

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“ When one comes out, the next one is out six months later, or earlier, whatever, because they all spy on each other!

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Starting at Microsoft in 1983, Joachim spent 20 years with the company, eventually rising to the role of senior vice president of Windows Sales before leaving in 2003. In that time he saw the PC and software-focused company he joined diversify into one with arms in numerous different facets of entertainment.But when it comes down to it, it appears that Kempin is somewhat sceptical about the company's current trajectory and focus, and believes that the upcoming generation of consoles may very well be the last. He feels that the strongest arm of Microsoft's business has always been its PC division (though perhaps this is unsurprising coming from the man who was once responsible for Windows.) Aside from the huge financial losses associated with in-house hardware manufacturing , he also cites the fact that consoles can never hope to rival PCs in terms of graphical fidelity as a clear reason why Microsoft should reassess its priorities."Yes, maybe it attracted the younger generation who want a game console, but look at the graphical quality on all these games consoles today," he explained. "Compared with the graphic systems you can have on the PC, they’re awful, they’re just awful! They’re always a generation or two behind for the simple reason that they need to sell these boxes for 250 bucks.""I really think PC gaming should be the focus, okay? I mean, what’s the future of PC gaming? Is it going to be on these specialised boxes, or is it going to go into a more standard PC model? If the prices on PCs come down further, these boxes might be squeezed out."In fact, Kempin goes so far as to suggest that not only has Microsoft neglected its PC business, it's actually made a series of increasingly bad decisions that look set to have dire ramifications. Building on comments made previously about Steve Ballmer being bad for the company , Kempin once again lays the blame for these problems at the feet of the CEO, asserting that it's been his choice to work less and less with partners to develop products.One of the most prominent of the upset parties is reportedly Valve chief Gabe Newell, who Kempin claims is seriously upset with some of the features in Windows 8 that prevent Steam from working as it should. He explains, "I know he is not the happiest guy with Microsoft, I know that from some people who are closer to him than I am. Microsoft with Windows 8 somehow shut some of these game guys out and he ain’t happy about it, that’s the only thing I can say."If he's to be believed about this pattern of bridge-burning, it suggests that Microsoft really needs the Xbox 720 to be a big hit. It's a pretty precarious stance the company's adopting; as the sun sets on this generation of consoles, Microsoft may be comfortably ahead as the number one console supplier in America, but the same doesn't hold true in the rest of the world . The PlayStation remains king in Europe, with Sony and Nintendo sharing regency over Japan. Sony will announce the PS4 in under a fortnight , setting the bar for a next-gen reveal that Microsoft needs to match. What's interesting about this is the fact that it flies in the face of Sony's CEO's recent assertions that the company would let Microsoft go first so the next PlayStation wouldn't be copied in any way. According to Kempin, though, there aren't any more secrets in the console manufacturing game, and haven't been for quite some time."You know, they copycat each other all the time. So when one comes out, the next one is out six months later, or earlier, whatever, because they all spy on each other. I have a friend of mine who works a lot in China on some of these design things and it’s amazing how these manufacturers talk to each other and reveal what Microsoft or Nintendo are doing next, it’s quite amazing. They all know everything and, so the market knows it, and so there is no secret there."The unveil of Microsoft's next home console is currently expected at E3 this year.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter