230°

Microsoft: Is Their Silence Hurting Them?

Graham from Gamers Association wrote "With Sony holding a live global event back in February that announced the PS4 and their plans for it, consumers and developers alike got a chance to get excited and build hype before May’s mega-event E3. Not only announcing it, but showing the controller and several games that are currently in the works, Sony managed to come out of the gate swinging and build momentum in their favor. Now almost a month, and two tradeshows (GDC and PAX East) later, no one has heard anything from Microsoft in regards to the next generation of consoles. Is Microsoft doing itself any favors by being quiet?"

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gamers-association.com
Hellsvacancy4034d ago (Edited 4034d ago )

No, the 720 has had loads of free advertising, I bet theres people in the world, on a remote island somewhere that dont even have computers etc, just sticks and stones and know about the 720

"hubba hubba jug jug, jiggy iggy mo-higgy" *translated* Do you think itll be always on?

Nitrowolf24034d ago

hahaha Fu XD

I guess it really depends on how they see it, but if they stay silent for to long people will begin to believe. And it doesn't help that someone from there just blurted out stuff on Twitter.

Microsoft can easily turn this around with a small statement. I mean we know the next console is gonna be announced, thyey could easily come out and say "the next box won't be always online". Still I guess it's that full reveal they want.

LOGICWINS4034d ago

"but if they stay silent for to long people will begin to believe."

It doesn't matter what people believe now. What matters is what they believe this fall when the console is out.

Did it matter a few months ago when we heard that the PS4 wasn't going to be THAT much more powerful than the PS3? No, because we now know that this isn't true.

One way or another, we're going to learn the truth. Whether we learn that truth now or a few months from now is irrelevant.

zebramocha4034d ago

@logic and you honestly believe the ps4 wouldn't be better than the ps3

LOGICWINS4034d ago

I've always believed that the PS4 was going to be better than the PS3...the question was to what degree.

Axe994034d ago

@ Logic - the issue is that the strength and consistency of these rumours (multiple sources hinting that they're true, and generally being consistent with each other) generates a poor emotional association with gamers. Humans are emotional beings, and MS is letting this rumour set them back before they've even started. It's downright odd behaviour.

NewMonday4034d ago

staying in a negative light will make previously xbox only gamers warm up to the idea of a different console.

to get the trust back the Durango must:

* not be overpowered by the PS4
* be playable off-line at any time for non online MP games
* Kinect not mandatory, few are comfortable with a camera watching them all the time.
* show new hardcore games

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4034d ago
4034d ago
Riderz13374034d ago

Yeah but most of it has been bad advertising lol. It's benefiting Sony a lot though so keep the bad publicity coming Microsoft!

BX814034d ago

I don't see how Sony is benefiting from any thing yet. Did they recieve a huge wave of pre orders for the ps4?

Riderz13374034d ago

BX81 - Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. No one knows but it's clearly benefiting Sony when their competition is getting bad publicity.

LOGICWINS4034d ago (Edited 4034d ago )

"No one knows but it's clearly benefiting Sony when their competition is getting bad publicity."

You don't know that. Your assuming that bad publicity for the 720 means that gamers will jump into Sony's arms with the PS4.

How do you know this news won't make people simply stick with the consoles they already own?

How do you know this news won't make people abandon next-gen consoles all together and adopt PC gaming?

How do you know that people aren't saving their money for the eventual Wii U price drop that will likely happen this year?

You don't know.

Anyone who is already dismissing the 720 was never planning to get one in the first place.

grayfoxx8814034d ago

@logicwins

"Your assuming that bad publicity for the 720 means that gamers will jump into Sony's arms with the PS4."

Well, from the many articles and comments that I've been reading the last several days it certainly looks that way.

Out of all the possibilities out there, the PS4 may likely be the only console that shares similar qualities with the next Xbox, when also taking the WiiU and PC into consideration as well. There is a reason why Sony is competing directly with Microsoft, they are competing over the same gamer.

Gamers may flock to the PS4, the WiiU, or decide to finally build a gaming rig. Overall, though, I believe that if Microsoft follows through with these ill-advised decisions, the majority of their lost business will end up in Sony's pocket, because the PS4 will most likely be the closest experience to the 720....Durango...Infinity?

Anyway, that's just how I see it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4034d ago
aviator1894034d ago (Edited 4034d ago )

The console, if released this year, is potentially still over 7-8 months from launch.
I never take the idea of buying a piece of hardware lightly, more especially if it's going to dig a hold in my wallet. Honestly, I have never let rumors, no matter how ridiculous or sound they may be or have been, convince me, particularly this early prior to a product launch, to either support or abandon it prior to release.

I don't know why so many individuals are such in a quick hurry to cast something aside before even given any official or concrete details on it. It hasn't even been announced yet...

LOGICWINS4034d ago

"I don't know why so many individuals are such in a quick hurry to cast something aside before even having any official or concrete details about."

Welcome to N4G.

Nitrowolf24034d ago

It's not just N4G though Logic.
I honestly it's better to say something now rather than have all this a secret until reveal. Say if this rumor wasn't leaked and say MS did go with always online and announced it. That in fact would have a terrible effect on them.

I like to think in a way this rumor is good overall. If proves to be false at least console companies will get the message that no one wants it. And if MS was planning on doing it, hopefully the reactions change their minds.

LOGICWINS4034d ago (Edited 4034d ago )

"I like to think in a way this rumor is good overall. If proves to be false at least console companies will get the message that no one wants it. And if MS was planning on doing it, hopefully the reactions change their minds."

I get what your saying, but MS has a lot of fans and many of them aren't as informed as we are. IF Microsoft launches an always online console(the rumored $300 subscription based console would imply that they will since MS would obviously want the ability to brick a 360 via the Internet if someone misses a monthly payment), I wouldn't be surprised if they were successful with it.

360 owners have proven in the past that they are okay with a console thats more expensive in the long term(XBL Gold sub) as long as it is less expensive in the short term.

rainslacker4034d ago

That's sound reasoning to get all the facts before making a big purchase. More people should do so.

The day after Sony announced the PS4, I told a guy at work who is a big Sony fan that they announced it(he hadn't heard ahead of time), and the first thing he asked was when it was coming out, then said he was going to buy it. Knew nothing about it, didn't care, just knew he wanted it.

This will be true for MS as well come the release of their console. There will be people that will buy it no matter what, regardless of if this rumor is true or not. If the worst case scenario to this is true, many will still buy it because they haven't informed themselves on it(See SimCity for reference).

Another fun work anecdote...today this same Sony fan asked if MS was going to be always online. He obviously doesn't keep up with news, but he knows what always-on could mean for playing games. The whole thing is reaching out beyond the gaming community, because I've never known him to be terribly informed on anything that isn't COD or BF related, and even then it's usually post-release he becomes informed.

Anyways, to me, this whole debate isn't whether it would be good or bad for MS in the long run. It isn't about whether the rumor is true or not. It's about what potential something like this could mean for gaming and what the community feels about the actual topic at hand. People are focusing too narrowly on the subject in my opinion.

Godmars2904034d ago

I think not talking to indie devs while Sony presents an opens arms policy is going hurt them more than anything. Especially considering by all accounts they don't have good relations with indies they've worked with.

LOGICWINS4034d ago

Not necessarily. Are people buying $400-$500 next-gen consoles to play $0-$15 bite sized experiences, or are they buying next-gen consoles to play AAA first and third party titles?

Indie games are just icing on a delicious cake. The icing makes the cake a tad better, but the cake would still be delicious without that icing.

Godmars2904034d ago

And I'm saying MS as of yet has no cake much less frosting. They have yet to officially announce a system, and their track record for delivering AAA or a diverse assortment of major, 1st through 3rd party, titles could be as best described as limited.

Sony really hasn't shown any PS4 titles yet but they have history. Are establishing early relations for next gen whereas MS is coming off either as following, or off into their own thing.

Hell. For that matter should Sony offer something at $0 it can be said that that's what they ask for it. With MS if something "free" isn't through the veil of a paid subscription it'll be powered by Mountain Dew.

clintos594034d ago

LOGICWINS

U can say the same thing for BC. Do u really want to buy these upgraded systems only to play last gen games? Id rather have new indie games bringing new experience's to the table then just use my new system to play old games that can ruin my disc drive.

Hicken4034d ago

You're forever playing Devil's Advocate, but you're not very good at it, honestly.

The_Troll_Whisperer4034d ago

I think that they want to build momentum for the successor to the Xbox 360. That is good, but it isn't turning out as good as it should be, theoretically. Momentum is building alright... in a negative way. Always-Online, No BC Xbox 360 games, etc. etc. etc. I never trust rumors so I don't think this is true or fake. I'll wait until E3 or May 21st or whenever it's revealed before judging the console.

Octo14034d ago

No. News or no news, there are already gamers that were planning on buying the next XBox barring any really stupid decisions that MS makes. It exists that we know and I am sure that MS is keeping quiet for a reason and I can't see why this will hurt MS.
Knowing MS they will dump millions on marketing the damn thing. I'm surprised myself that Sony did not wait to announce the PS4 until E3 2013 but I am sure that it's all part of their strategy. There's a method to everyones madness XD

Jaqen_Hghar4034d ago

A man isn't sure you should have such confidence in these companies. They've made some pretty monumental mistakes in the past and they're not the first billion dollar corporations to do so.

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250°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere11h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN8h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos5h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

peppeaccardo48m ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

PassNextquestion10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger8h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Profchaos10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto10h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos9h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long6h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel9h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator8h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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120°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg11h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos11h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola6h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10111d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref10d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde10d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197210d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville10d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218310d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos10d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
isarai11d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref10d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan10d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00710d ago (Edited 10d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197211d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

11d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197211d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

11d ago
11d ago
Zeref10d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde10d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197210d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197210d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier10d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto10d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218310d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto10d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
Hofstaderman11d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts10d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts9d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic10d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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