...and that's what Microsoft wants.
The old adage: "No publicity is bad publicity" rings true for Microsoft as a result of the latest round of rumours regarding the next Xbox requiring an internet connection in order to play.
Microsoft, without having spent a dime on a flashy presentation (or actual technology), have gotten the entire gaming world talking about the successor to the Xbox 360. Someone in Microsoft's marketing department is going to be getting a big raise real soon... The recent bad press stems from rumours of the next Xbox being "always online". In the aftermath of Sims 3, it's no wonder Microsoft have caused a s***storm over this recent rumour.
Evidence of this s***storm can be seen on the main page of N4G and the N4G forums. At the time of writing, all 5 hottest stories are regarding the next Xbox. On the forums, it's the same situation. All this talk and we don't even know if another Xbox even exists. Obviously, after the huge pre-announcement backlash, Microsoft will not be fully committing to "always online". I see two potential scenarios:
1) They reveal the Xbox as NOT requiring online connectivity.
2) They reveal that the next Xbox will have some modified form of "always online", but it will be different than what rumours suggest.
In both option 1 and 2, Microsoft is the good guy for not requiring online connectivity, when compared to the rumours. They are the heroes for not following the what appears to be new industry standard. Additionally and more importantly, they can build on this momentum with an Xbox reveal which will drive the Xbox hype to levels definitely not seen so far with the PS4.
And that's what it is all about. Microsoft want the limelight for themselves. By letting these rumours go without confirming or denying, the hype continues to center around the Xbox and moves away from the PS4. N4G, though a small sample, proves this. Remember that ZERO is actually known about the next Xbox since NOTHING is known about it. All of this is rumour.
When Microsoft does announce the next Xbox (if they do?), N4G will explode. This is what they want. We on N4G are sheeps of marketing. Because of this, I cannot wait for an announcement so the end of the "rumours" and "leaks" can finally stop.
The friendly folks over at Razer recently sent us their full size Kishi Ultra mobile gaming controller, and this thing didn't disappoint.
VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "Upon finally finishing Devil May Cry 5 recently - after it spent several years on my “I’ll play that soon” list - I considered giving it a fittingly-named Late Look article. However, considering that this was indeed the final piece I was missing in the DMC puzzle, I decided to instead take this opportunity to take a look back at the entirety of this genre-defining series and rank the entries. What also made this a particularly tempting notion was that while most high-profile series have developed fairly evenly over time, with a few bumps on the road, the history of Devil May Cry has, at least in my eyes, been an absolute roller coaster, with everything from total disasters to action game gold."
Me leaving it out should be telling of my thoughts on it. Better than 2 as a DMC game.
Still a good game though.
3,1,4,5 to me, never played 2. 5 gameplay is amazing but level design was really disappointing to me, just a bunch of plain arenas, the story felt like a worse written rehash of the 3rd and the charater models looked weird ( specially the ladies ). Another problem with 5 was that there was not enough content for 3 charaters so I could never really familiarize with any of them
2.
Dmc.
4.
5.
1.
3.
God DMC2 was an awful game.
And in case this isn't obvious it goes worst to best
TSA go hands on with the beta for Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, but how is the game transitioning to the post-stylus era?
I already pointed out this possibility a while ago because it does seem like something Microsoft would do. They are a marketing company, not a software company nor a hardware company. Neither their software nor hardware have ever been top of the line, but their marketing has always been top-notch.
And it is for that very reason why I'll be ignoring the NextBox. Heck, I made that decision years ago. Microsoft has never been in this industry to advance gaming or expand gaming or to evolve the medium. They've always been in it so that they can capture marketshare, expand their brand, and rake in the profits from any angle they can.
Nope. They're looking like the bad ones, while PS4 and Wii U (somewhat) soak up the positivity. This MS guy f***ed up. Bad.
One of two things are going to come of this current mess:
- Either: MS refutes on always online and everyone moves on. Those interested in the Xbox3 go back to being interested in the console. No actual harm done.
- Or: MS confirms it. Those currently pissed and threatening to jump ship might actually jump ship.
Beyond that there's a slight chance the industry will observe the likely coming blunder. Not do DRM themselves.
There is no overall benefit from what's happening. There is no Machiavellian plot going on here, there is only either potential damage control, or an iceberg.
Brilliant strategy. Lower expectations so that we can all be impressed when it's revealed that it's actually on par with what we expect from any game console.
I think Burger King tried that strategy once. They had their employees get on Twitter to talk up the great taste of dog meat, only to impress and amaze us all when they revealed their newest burger would contain 100% grade A beef.
I bought 19 burgers. Because, hey, it ain't dog meat!
Flawless strategy.