EDGE:The long silence. Why Microsoft needs to reveal its next Xbox, and quickly

Amid a torrent of damaging rumour and speculation around its next console, someone, somewhere at Microsoft is calm. They insist that they won’t be rushed into revealing their plans for 360’s successor; that it’s all under control. We’ll show it off when we’re ready, they say. Having their hand forced by Sony’s PS4 event would be a sign of weakness. It’s good to keep people waiting. It builds anticipation.

[givemeshelter]

They don't have to reveal anything until they are ready. By them being silent they are getting so much free publicity.
Good or bad...it's still publicity and when they announce the reveal, everyone will be watching and listening...
PR tactic used many times before

[stage88]

Yeah... bad publicity isn't good for them. Look at all the gaming forums that you visit. There's tons of gamers wanting to jump ship as soon as physically possible.

[theWB27]

The posters on forums don't account for even 1/3 of system sales. That goes for the big three. There are a TON of gamers who never post on forums so that means nothing at all.

[X-Alchemist]

yes but they haven't *seen* anything yet, and it would be silly to make a decision based on rumors alone. So I agree with the initial comment any publicity is good publicity all those people on the gaming forums will tune in for the announcement guaranteed.

[givemeshelter]

Gaming forums do not make the balance of the consumers buying consoles. The majority of consumers do not visit forums or sites like this.
I will get a million disagrees because this is N4G.COM but the majority of console sales are not from hardcore gamers who visit game sites like these or its forums.
The mistake Microsoft is making is not CONTROLLING the publicity in a way that will benefit them. One this is for sure, the reveal will be watched by many because of their silence.
@theWB27
Exactly. You ask the average gamer and most wont even know what this site is let alone other gaming sites, let alone going on them for news and posting on forums.
Hardcore gamers that follow game news like us DO NOT make up the vast majority of console and game sales. We simply don't. I know saying the truth on this site will get me slaughtered ad @theWB27 be prepared to lose bubbles stating what you did as I am prepared to lose the rest of mine. You cannot speak truth on this site or you get slaughtered LOL

[jimbobwahey]

Actually, not all publicity is good, especially when you're going to try to sell a product. Bad publicity can in fact have very damaging consequences on sales once it hits the market.

Ever since the announcement of the PS4, gamers and the media alike have been talking about it constantly as the device snowballs in popularity. Meanwhile all Microsoft has is the occasional news story painting increasingly damning pictures of their new console.

This isn't something you can spin positively for Microsoft I'm afraid. They're in a very tough spot right now and will really have to pull off something special to recover. Merely doing okay/alright won't be enough at this point.

[fermcr]

Not necessarily. Simcity had very bad publicity at launch... and sold like crack, and it's still selling.

Only time will tell if this publicity the next Xbox is getting, is going to be good or bad.

[BrianC6234]

In this case bad publicity is going to kill them. That whole nonsense about any publicity being good publicity is just that, nonsense.

[MasterCornholio]

Microsoft will announce the 720 when they feel that it is the right time to announce it.

Deal with it.

[T2]

Ms can still put out a great console but they have a ton of work to do. As of now I put them as playing catch up. And yes there is such a thing as bad publicity ... Rumours can be very damaging to a business,

[BrianC6234]

I agree. They can't talk about their new console because they had to go back to the drawing board and make major changes. You can't make changes like that in a week. The rumors were they were using GDDR3 RAM but now that Sony is using GDDR5 RAM Microsoft probably has to use it too. That's a major change.

[TheBrit]

How are they playing catch up??? Catch up to some 'Specs' and application features that Sony has spoken about????

Crap in that case how about I just rattle off something that's far more powerful than the PS4, will that then mean Sony is playing catch up to my non-existent non-physical non-playable high specked console that I am building and that WILL release with all of the already announced features?? (DIG: Don't forget every smoke and mirrors event that Sony put on and only deliver on half of the stuff for the first year or so) - nothing that they have shown so far has been IN a console it's all been in high end p.c's - I wouldn't be surprised if the specs change somewhat by the time the system launches either.

Why doesn't everyone just wait and see instead of acting like complete knuckleheads thinking that Sony has suddenly taken over the world and especially before you rush over to your old consoles and act like a total dumb a.. and smash it based on things that are not proven yet.

[T2]

It has nothing to do with physical specs and your comment about simply making up specs is ridiculous considering Sony already confirmed their specs and xbox would get zero benefit from making shit up... You are saying that Sony lied about " half their stuff as in the past " which is ridiculous ....
they are playing catch up in the pr game. Developers love the ps4 , people are excited, the specs look good, they are ahead of the game entirely. You missed my entire point , ms is catching up because they have literally DONE NOTHING. If you think that doesnt require catching up, your crazy ...and thats without dispelling all the nasty rumours.
MS has shown great marketing in the past so we see if they can pull it together ...

[BattleReach]

They just need to announce the god damn thing this month, otherwise they're doomed.

[Blaze929]

"otherwise they're doomed. "

wut -.-?

[BattleReach]

whats the problem? I'm not very good in English but that was correct when it comes to grammar.

[KaBaW]

I highly doubt he is referring to your spelling; it looks good to me.
I believe he is saying "wut -.-" to what you said, cause it's nonsense.
They aren't doomed. They will be fine by staying quiet until reveal.

However, afterwards, that will still be to be determined.

[My_Name_BTW_Is_Dante]

They don't need to reveal anything quickly. The last time they did that the 360 was full of problems.

[BrianC6234]

That wasn't caused by releasing details too soon. Back then processors were using old technology and switching to better systems to make them smaller and run cooler. Sony had heat problems early too. Now both use smaller dies and don't have heat problems. All that heat inside the consoles just made parts fall off or come loose.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

May 21 is pretty dumb date. Might as well go with E3 instead of waiting until late next month to announce it, then announce it again in 2 weeks time at E3 is ridiculous.

It should of been this month. MS had all this time why not this month?

Whatever, I'll catch up on some games that I missed last year and play them until then.

[theWB27]

They dont NEED to do anything until theyre ready to announce it. There are PLENTY of people who are waiting on what Xbox does before they make a decision. Poeple who go with the Xbox brand no matter what...there hasn't been a SINGLE NEXT GEN SALE. So Microsoft isn't behind in anything other than gamers wanting to hear what they announce. The first time Sony announces something ahead of schedule and all of a sudden Xbox is doomed. Doubt it...

[TotalSynthesisX]

I just hope the rumors are wrong. Then again, dozens of different sources all saying the same thing (always online, used games blocked, Kinect 2.0 required, etc.) isn't a good sign.

[Minato-Namikaze]

Where there is smoek there is fire. If it was one or 2 site that were making these claims then you could label it as not true. But with the amount of rumored info getting leaked and MS raiding that guy's house for leaking information you'd have to believe at least some parts of this information is true. The harder part is determining which parts are true, which are, and what can be changed.

[Jek_Porkins]

You realize the guy who's house was raided was a totally different set of rumors right? No always online was mentioned, just some of the power, and he stated it was actually more powerful than the PS4.

The funny thing is that it isn't a ton of different rumors, it's all of these places running the same damn rumor over and over again. There has been a total of 2 separate rumors, and we don't know any facts whatsoever, some of these leaks could have been smokescreens, intentional or just old ideas that MS threw out, the point is that we just don't know any facts right now.

[dcbronco]

Poor naive Minato-Namikaze,

Gamers are the new street walker online. When someone whats easy advertising hits, they post a ridiculous gaming article and wait for a format war argument. Gamers are seemingly gullible enough to go for it over and over. That's why you get 300 always online articles. Some will read each one.

Prime example. Michael Pachter. Made a few outlandish comments. Now he's practically a celebrity. A paper pushing desk jockey has become a major player in gaming by making crazy comments. It the Crazy Larry car salesman TV ads from the seventies all over again.

[Jek_Porkins]

I'd rather them do the reveal when they originally planned to, not forced to because of rumors. I want to be blown away, and surprised by it in a good way.

The thing is, you cant even pre-order a PS4 yet, and nobody is going to commit to buying one of those without a release date, price and actually seeing the console, so Microsoft has time to get everything how they want, there is no doubt they will have the entire gaming community watching, because everyone will want to see if the rumors were true, and if not, they will want to see what it can do, price, looks ect...

Microsoft is in a good spot right now, gamer's are in a holding pattern anyway.

[Minato-Namikaze]

I will, how the console "looks" is of little benefit to me. Been gaming with sony since the ps1 and they have never failed to deliver me quality games, so the burden is on the other gaming companies to show me why they should be my secondary system.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I agree about the holding pattern thought but having some negative buzz going into your launch makes your job to wow consumers just that much harder.

[Jek_Porkins]

Their launch would be in November? If the rumors turn out to be untrue, who cares about what someone thought in April?

The regular gaming populous doesn't even know about these rumors, I mean I run a gaming clan and nobodies even heard of them, I was talking about it over XBL and they were all like "What now?". So I don't think it's a bad thing at all.

Microsoft will have the stage to themselves and everyone will be watching, that is one thing everyone will agree on yes?

Microsoft has the ability to get a great audience and show them what the next Xbox can do, then all of these rumors will have been for nothing, and we would have suffered through pointless article after pointless article..

[dcbronco]

@Dlacy13g

It's only harder to convince sheep. Facts don't matter with them. All the facts in the world won't make a difference. Only when the magic force in the world that controls sheep gives the order will they move. If MS releases a machine this fall with 5 launch exclusives(all HC) a system with 5 times the power of the PS4 and a cheaper price some will still complain. Same thing the other way around.

[Hicken]

Actually, you can pre-order the PS4 from a few places now. And people WILL- and already have- committed to buying one without ANY of the things you mention, just as there are people on this site claiming they'll buy the Nextbox day 1 though Microsoft hasn't even acknowledged its existence yet.

Here's the thing: since Sony announced the PS4, they've got ALL YEAR to fill in the details. They can reveal games and features at all the trade shows, as well as holding their own shows to go further in-depth. The hype can continue to build throughout the year on this until the console releases.

And because they'll be spreading the details out over multiple events throughout the year, that also gives them the space to give ample attention to the PS3 and Vita, neither of which are being abandoned in the slightest.

Microsoft, on the other hand, seem to be waiting until E3. Which means whatever they have planned for the 360- which doesn't appear to be much- will have to share space with their next console. Surface will also eat into that time.

As for the rumors, I find it interesting- actually, I find it an annoying display of people's willingness to be ignorant- that you and others keep saying they shouldn't respond, or that they can't without giving away details about their next console.

"Microsoft is against the concept of an always-online console/blocking used games/etc."

It's just that simple. They don't have to say any more than that, which keeps the console under wraps, but debunks the rumors. Is that such a difficult thing to grasp?

Honestly, these rumors are a bad thing, and it would take almost nothing for Microsoft to make them go away. Are they really willing to let their public image suffer- and it is- just to stick to their policy of "not responding to rumors?" And if their policy was so important, why speak out against the rumor of Halo coming to PC?

Between all these negative rumors and the overall impression that Microsoft is making gaming a secondary focus of their gaming division, I can't see how they're in anything resembling a good spot.

[BDSE]

I pre-ordered my PS4 in February.

[sandman224]

because I want to see another fat guy get pissed off and put an axe through the top of his 360 while out of breath. If only he bought a kinect and dance central he wouldnt be so out of shape... (If you seen the video you would know what I was talking about)

[oof46]

While it's true that people who go on forums constitute a small percentage of the fanbase of a product, these are the most fervent, most hardcore of consumers. These are the people who buy and download more games than the general public. These are also the people who will give positive or negative word of mouth to their less informed friends.

In regards to the 720, Microsoft does need to assuage a lot of fears and concerns.

[EffectO]

Poor journalists.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Edge is wrong, about most things.

Print is dead.

[Grimhammer00]

Many people check their pre-purchase of anything costly online first. And if your buying a gaming console....it's likely you have Internet. Hence MS a$$ idea for DRMing us. But...Internet quality isn't universal. And some of us have friends outside. We like to bring games over to their house to play. This may still be possible. But not if MS are axing used games or DRM games.

[Npugz7]

Because Sony has already convinced me to buy the PS4 without seeing the next Xbox!

[4logpc]

The closer they reveal it to E3 the better. PS4 was talked about in February, and here we are with almost 0 news since then. We got a few things on the controller but thats it. I am still pumped for the PS4, but the shock and awe feelings that you get from a reveal that big, those feelings are already gone.

If Microsoft waits till May like the rumors have been stating, thats less than a month til E3. So while people are still talking they will get even more info just a few short weeks later.

if you ask me that is a better strategy.

[BuffMordecai]

I rather buy the Ouya over the next casual box at this point.

[DJ]

The bad press surrounding Xbox 720 isn't guaranteed to hurt initial sales of the console. But as sales of the Wii U prove, it doesn't take much to make a console unpopular. If the hardware and services are as impressive as the PS4, all will be forgiven. But if the system comes off mainly as a DRM machine then gamers will spread negative word of mouth. Selling a game you bought for $60 should not be prevented. Instead, there should be a focus on replay value and DLC.

[jmac53]

Yes Microsoft, hurry up and announce your console so Edge can get their hits. So rude of you to make them wait.