That Xbox One Reveal Sure Was A Disaster, Huh?

Kotaku - Well, I bet this isn't how Microsoft thought its big day would end.

What could/should have been a triumphant exclamation point, the day the next-gen console wars began in earnest, instead turned into a disaster I don't think any of us saw coming.

No matter where you turned today, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, forums or even people in *gasp* the real world, chances are if you wanted to talk about Xbox One, you ran into emotions that ranged from indifference right on down to hostility.

[iGAM3R-VIII]

They still have E3!!!!

But I doubt that's gonna change anything. Look at this man though, he seems to sum up the conference...

[DragonKnight]

Pretty much. I mean, when you see the highlights, you can't blame him.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[seanpitt23]

Look whats happening at sonys branch,

http://i1126.photobucket.co...

PARTY!!!!

[aCasualGamer]

@iGamer-viii

Lol, Priceless!

Hahahhahahaha!

Only thing that might be interesting is Quantum Break, as long as it has zero Kinect features. RYSE from Crytek is not on my interest list as it is based upon full Kinect integration.

Now, what you gotta respect is that 8,20% rise for Sony stock. They didn't even lift a finger and they got that boost. Holy crap, that's f------n respect you can't buy, it's earned through the trust of hardcore gamers.

[DragonKnight]

Looks like someone already has an XboxOne.

[Masta_fro]

The reaction...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Hilarious...

[Gazondaily]

They can still recover at E3 but they really need to blow us away if they want to regain our confidence in the system. And I mean REALLY blow us away.

The most disturbing part of the reveal wasn't the console itself however; it was Microsoft's focus and I think you would be very hard-pressed to say at this stage that it was on gaming.

[MasterCornholio]

Im still trying to get the words Sports, TV and television out of my ears after the conference.

[DragonKnight]

One: They could, but when in recent memory has MS had a good E3 showing?

Two: Did you all know that the cheering in the audience was from people MS paid to cheer?

[andibandit]

I Think that COD Dog, really saved their conference

[Boody-Bandit]

Uh no it didn't.
Infinity showed no actual gameplay footage. In actuality no dev or publisher showed ANY "actual" in-game footage and they "barely" showed any games at all. Their primary focus was the XBOX ONE being an entertainment hub 1st and a games console 2nd.

All I kept waiting for was just ONE game shown in real time with actual gameplay footage. Their conference yesterday was a disaster and has even the most diehard MS fans are nervous and for good reason. There is still so many unanswered questions about always on, used games and rentals, the actual graphics performance, how will Kinect be implemented (optional or required for core games), pricing on XBL and their new services (same, less or more expensive), etc and so on.

MS last few E3 appearances were lackluster and I'm being polite. Their reveal yesterday was nearly an abandonment to the core gamer. They need to have the best show at E3 or they will be behind the 8 ball come Fall regardless of their dominance in North America with the 360. They will be going head to head this time with a company that is primarily focused on the gamer and everything else is an after thought. Where as MS appears to be focus on being an entertainment hub and gaming is an after thought.

Nintendo went this route. They were successful with the Wii (expanding towards a different demographic than the audience of core gamers that brought them to the dance) but how are they doing now?

MS is setting themselves up to go down that same path. Even if the ONE sells well how many of them will be to their once mainstream audience? I am a core 360 gamer and right now I'm so frustrated the XBOX ONE is not a must buy for me. They have to wow me at E3 or for the first time in any console generation I will take a wait and see approach with a new console.

[DragonKnight]

@Brutallyhonest: Uh, you just got trolled.

[Boody-Bandit]

I didn't think he was anything but. I was just unspinning his wishful thinking misguided post with a dose of reality.

[HexxedAvenger]

was that sarcasm.... i hope it was sarcasm lol...

[kenshiro100]

A multiplatform game saved their conference?

[CaptainPunch]

It was obviously sarcasm.

[kenshiro100]

He has that 'what the ****' look on his face. xD

I really don't think Microsoft can turn things around at E3. This was a disaster. If they announce games people are interested in, then maybe. Other than that, the ball is in Sony's court.

[Wizziokid]

very disappointing and they tried to attack sony for not showing the console... least the showed us games with gameplay footage MS

[HammadTheBeast]

Lol, Xbox One looks terrible as well.

[Wizziokid]

I don't get it, did the call it the xbox one because it looks around the same size as the original xbox??

[lsujester]

If it had an LCD screen on the front, it would look almost exactly like my cable box.

[AKS]

It looks a lot like a VCR from the 80s.

http://www.popularmechanics...

[plut0nash]

The pre-owned issue was what put me off personally.

[Blank]

Exactly my sentiments as well, but aside there is the kinect issue but that needs further clarification to me and sure the design is a miss for me personally but im about the games

[plut0nash]

Also about the games personally. PS4 looks more appealing that way.

[ApolloTheBoss]

Name, Design, all around everything is pure trash, and it's only gonna get worse.

[Irishguy95]

@ Article pic...well...it really doesn't

[Droid Control]

No TV outside US (Not interested anyway)
No Backwards Compatibiliy
Trade in issues
Internet connection daily

No buy!

[kaozgamer]

Exactly. They made that TV thingy as one of the main features of the new xbox. What's the point in saying that and then make it unavailable to the rest of the world?

[_-EDMIX-_]

AGREED! I love the whole "wait til E3" til what? At this point I don't care if they had everyone of there studios making a new IP, I wouldn't buy that crap!

Unless they are going to come on stage and say "we're sorry...we take it back" They will fail in my eyes. At this point when they show any game, in my mind will be "can't play used games....." "have to install on my HDD" "....can't switch out HDD" "have to connect online once every 24 hours...OR ELSE" "can't share my game with friends" I'm sorry but its just TOO MUCH.

If they know whats good for them, they would come on stage and start repairing the MESS that happened yesterday. It was pretty much like 9/11 for the gaming industry (well for MS anyway) R.I.P! LOL!

[NateCole]

I am not a xbox fan but i still think we should wait a bit more. With the backlash i am confinent they will revise their plans before e3

[Brazz]

yeah, they need a revision, because right now Xbox 1 sucks hard.

[ArchangelMike]

They saw the Sony PS4 reveal in Febuaury, and revised their plans according... this was the revised plan. It was a total epic fail.

I wouldn't hold my breath for E3.

[HexxedAvenger]

They had plenty of time to blow our minds.

[C0MPUT3R]

The 15 exclusives is going to really be the bigger disappointment, MS shouldn't have mentioned that. (It now has put even more pressure on them.)
.
People forget a couple years ago MS announced they were going to have 10 exclusives at E3. Yeah, they ended up being Kinect Games.
.
So based on their track record it is a padded list.
.
I do believe the Black Tusk game will be pretty good, and a couple more 3rd party surprises will happen, but 15 megatons no way in hell.

[kaozgamer]

Yeah half of those 15 exclusives will probably be casual kinect games

[Why o why]

Thats why they were purposefully vague. Its probably a mix of full price, kinect and xbl games. The ratio of each will be telling. Ms seemed very unprepared. Shorter conference and a smaller ratio of gaming content. E3 cant come soon enough

[Brazz]

My call:
5 - kinetic games.
5 - Xbox live games. (like Deadlight)
5 - Big games, like Forza, Halo, Gears...

[KillaManiac]

Atleast 5+ have to be kinect because they aren't going to release their Kinect 2.0 with no games for it.

[The_KELRaTH]

Bit like their Windows Phone will be the top mobile seller... and everybody should start putting fingerprints all over their PC monitors!

[fardan85]

After watching the reveal, I regret the one hour I lost and never gonna get it back.
I think the Xbox reveal is part of Sony marketing plan. Almost everything I saw screamed at me "GO PRE-ORDER PS4".
Thanks MS for helping in deciding which console to get first.

[vitullo31]

thats what i was thinking i already know i want a ps4 but watching that made me want a ps4 now

[josephayal]

im just dissapointed by Microsoft at the moment

[Rip-Ridah]

I honestly can't say that I blame you josephayal. I know that you have mostly been a Xbox supporter, but this direction and strategy must leave you perplexed and bewildered. I heard all of the rumors, listened to all the dev/publisher leaks about "watermarked..." this, "different direction than Sony" that, but I still wanted to wait for official remarks and actions from Microsoft. All I can really do is shake my head.

Regardless of how you may feel about Sony Playstation products and the fans, I highly suggest that you listen to all the dev/publisher talk about "great to work with" this, "focus on gaming" that, and truly make an unbiased decision about your next gen platform that you plan on supporting.

[NateCole]

Also must say i am glad the majority of xbox fans are not taking this lying down. If it was the other way round and Sony was doing this i would do and sAy the exact same thing.

MS is going down the wrong path and as real fans xbox fans should tell them so instead of letting them continue down this path to their doom.

So kudos to xbox fans. I am sure MS have gotten the message loud and clear. They would be absolutely insane to not change their plans after this backlash.

[Fil101]

Agreed i'm not a xbox fan myself but I can't help but feel microsoft have let there fans down which is a real shame.

[Why o why]

Agreed. Ill banter and argue with them but we're all gamers. None of these corporations care about our lives to the point we should act the way we do, sony included.

Ms has been slowly shifting this way and its easier to notice from the outside, even though the vocal are labelled trolls, loyalists, droids, what have you, but now some from the inside are starting to notice ms's misgivings and asking questions they'd never asked before.. I commend them.

[Captain Qwark 9]

i personally thought it looks great. i use my 360 for games and video about equally so its exactly what i needed. they fixed the d-pad, showed off a few neat features, told me whats inside, said it would be out by the fall. they did pretty much everything i expected them too and that includes not showing much games. they said they were waiting for E3 to show the games off so ill be waiting for E3 because apparently im the only person on the internet with eyes and ears and can properly understand what they mean when they say "E3 will be about the games"

i am disappointed by the lack of BC but ps4 doesnt have it either so it becomes a non-factor in deciding which one i want first. overall i was impressed by xbox one ( dont like the name though ) and i was impressed by ps4. each one still lacks a few things i want but as a whole, both are solid.

[JBallerX]

I agree. I am a fan of both companies and have owned both consoles at some point.

However, I was underwhelmed by the conference overall because I did want to see more games. They spent the majority of the time hammering on TV. I use my 360 more for games than netflix and hulu, but it is probably a 60-40 split or 70-30 some weeks. I know E3 is where the games will be shown, and this was just a reveal to show what the console can do. A lot of people just want to bash everything they can when they get the chance. I don't care to bash either console or others choices of which consoles they choose to purchase.

All I can say for now is that my money is still up in the air after the conference. I was pretty sure I was grabbing an Xbox, but I need to see some great games @ E3. Bottom line for me: I will have the system the majority of my friends and family have so we can play together.

"people fearing that their control over the consoles and games they purchased was being taken away from them. That's an important issue."

This comment makes no sense at all. Nothing is being taken away from consumers. You have a choice in buying these things. Vote with your wallet. If you don't like something...don't buy it! What a privileged society we live in to think that this is what it looks like to have things taken out of our hands.

[Captain Qwark 9]

nice reply, and good point.

as of now my money is still on the xbox, it has more features than the ps4 did or at least more were shown and what games were shown for ps3, nothing impressed me too much ( still better than almost nothing like ms but i knew that going into it ) this can still change for me though, while they showed what i expected here and nothing more, i do have high expectations for the games at E3 and as long as they come through, i will stick with the xbox. if however the 15 exclusives happen to be 6 retail games ( fable, forza, halo, gears, dace central, kinect sports ) and then another kinect game or two and the rest arcade games, then i too have seen my last days with xbox

[Darrius Cole]

JBallerX, the notion and definition of ownership is important. If Microsoft does indeed do what they are saying that they will do now (that's IF they do it), and you decide to buy it over the competition which does not. Then you will be weakening concept of ownership. That will make it harder for the next person to own and control what he buys. Then next generation they or some other company will go just a step further.

I had a PS3 and a Xbox 360; I gamed more on the PS3. Before that I had a PS2 and an Xbox 1 Sr. and I gamed more on Xbox 1 Sr. I was resolved to buy both the PS4 and the Xbox 1 Jr. But if Microsoft sticks to its current plan, I won't be buying the second Xbox 1 Jr.

There is no way I'm going to pay them full price for something and then not own it, and have my purchase be a slave their servers. That goes for Xbox 1 Jr., the PS4 or any other system that may or may not release.

@Qwark 9

The mix of games that you described is probably what you are going to get. Microsoft has to do it somewhat like that because they are going after more than just the core gamer, and if they want those other markets they have to give them games as well. You know what they say about the Jack of All Trades.

P.S.

For those of you that don't know, the saying goes "Jack of all trades, Master of none"

[Captain Qwark 9]

i dont mind the used policy as much as everyone else either. for starters if it allows me to install games and play them from my hdd without a disc, that kicks ass.

for those worried about the price, i think it will be a safe bet to assume gamestop and second hand sellers will price accordingly. lets say for example the used fee is $15.00, like an online pass. then gamestop will like give someone 20 for their trade in and instead of charging you $55.00 like they normally would, they will like charge you 40. it really only hurts their profits.

and as far as renting or borrowing, i admit that sucks but i rarely rent or borrow and if the trade off is to play games without the disc, well worth it imo. its also wicked sweet if i can log in on any machine and play at my buddies house or in another room, or anything like that. cloud gaming will finally see its potential there imo. i would be curious to see how quickly your profile reloads on a different machine though, i know recovering a gamertag takes flippin forever now

as a whole, im still leaning toward the xbox. i liked what i seen. games will be the deciding factor though so we shall see in a couple weeks.

[Brazz]

bubble for ya, Well said.

[coolmast3r]

R.I.P
XBOX One
(2013-2013)

[DevilishSix]

lol, classic

[just-joe]

I have seen so many article about what the system can and can't do and they all seem to contradict the other. There's a fee for used game, there's no fee as confirmed by twitter, there is a fee confirmed by Phil Harrision, you need to be online to play, but you don't, but you kind of do. Information about this system should not be this convoluted.

[InTheLab]

I guess they figured..."well, people are dumb enough to pay to access Netflix on top of what Netflix charges, so surely DRM and Kinect will be A OK."

[KontryBoy706]

2013 SONY takes its rightful throne back. With a vengeance

[Jeff257]

So they are saying it was a disaster? I'd say it was more like a shipwreck.

[BladerunnerZX]

This statement sums up the Xbox One and Microsofts current policies :

"Microsoft’s intentions are abundantly clear: the Xbox One is aimed squarely at those who wish for a do-it-all, fancy set-top box which is packed to the hilt with multimedia capabilities and can ensure the company never misses an opportunity to cash in on its consumers. The ever-shying Xbox controller is sadly the last remaining sign that Microsoft still actually cares about gamers; because the above decisions present undeniable and damning proof that they do not. "

- from awesomegames.co.uk.
__________

Microsofts Xbox One is not only anti consumer but it is heavily ANTI GAMER.

All gamers must see that all of the restrictions that Microsoft has built into the Xbox One such as no used games and an always online requirement ( the Xbox One must be connected every 24 hours even to play single player games) are heavily geared toward restricting both your usage of the Xbox One and nickel and diming the consumer into oblivion.

As a gamer for over 30 years I ask the gaming community as a whole Please do not buy an Xbox One.

Do not support these anti consumer tactics.

[DevilishSix]

ah, the rub. The article stats that the reveal was such a disaster that MS will need to rely on its games to convince people to pony up its hard earned cash in this recessive market, but MS does not have the first party resources to pull that off.

This is their third console and there is a trend of few first party Core titles. We only have to look at what happened to 360 to get a picture of Ones future. A nice amount of exclusives the first few years then a dwindling amount thereafter. The 360 has had few first party games over the last couple years, with only one content swallow release this year (gears).

So the notion MS can/will fall back on its games, to smooth over their core fanbase and early adopters, is falling on my deaf ears.

[guerojose]

1. I don't understand why people would assume that MS will allow you to just "put a towel over Kinect". It seems that if they're making it mandatory, they could also require a room view.
2. Who is out there wanting to switch back & forth between a game and watching TV, or using Skype?
3. I don't think that BC on the PS4 is a closed issue. Streaming games via Gaikai may be the BC solution, for ALL THREE previous gens.
4. All this about "low power states" is nonsense. The thing has to be always ON in order to have an active mic array, and signal processing, and voice recognition software, in order to distinguish "on" from "mom" or anything else. Otherwise, the console's gonna power up with any sound. Just wait until we have measurements of actual power draw on a live unit. May sound like a cool, futuristic feature, but I don't see how this is remotely useful.

[claterz]

This sums up the conference

http://youtu.be/XPjUO2YSjn0

[xxV0rschlaghammer]

I'm an Xbox fan and I'm disappointed, a big non-selling point for me is still the uncertainty of used games, the uncertainty of being able to share games with family who live in the same house as me but have separate consoles, etc, why should I have to own a single player game that someone who lives with me has and is 20 feet away? It makes no sense, and makes no sense for the "market". Let me give you an example here:

I played Dragon Age: Origins originally through a borrowed copy, shortly after beating it the ultimate edition came out, and I went and bought it right away to play through again, had I not played it the first time, I'd of never bought the game.

To be honest I'm really on the fence over the whole situation, on one hand I like the Xbox brand, I like Xbox live, I like the Xbox exclusives, but on the other hand I hate Kinect, I hate what is essentially DRM, I hate the fact that basically Microsoft is making the console digital only but not, because owning a physical copy of the media doesn't do you a damn bit of good, much like owning a physical copy of a Windows installation disc but no serial key. And especially worse that since these games require activation, what happens years down the road when someone wants to go back and possibly play a game? What if their original system broke and they purchased a second hand one in the future long after MS stops supporting it and the servers are shut down? Are all my investments in games totally and completely gone?

These are reasons why I don't like digital distribution, that are now carrying over into MS's physical "digital distribution" the only thing they're avoiding with this method is peoples bandwidths caps.

Wake up people, if you don't like digital distribution, and you're an Xbox fan, or just a gamer you should realize this.

my other big complaints involve the terrible, terrible name, the fact that Kinect is REQUIRED to use/boot up the Xbox, and the severe lack of focus on games and no live presentations of gameplay at all. I realize Microsoft said that this reveal would mostly be about the console and it's other features aside from gaming, but c'mon man, they could have shown something more than some gimmicky tech that while admittedly looked interesting to me, I have little to no use for (I don't subscribe to cable or satellite TV, so the live TV part to me is completely losto n me, and I don't understand why'd they bank on that anyways, I mean honestly, with internet getting better like they're expecting it will, especially with their heavy bet on cloud storage systems, etc, more and more people are switching to just streaming their media/tv/movies).

If E3 doesn't clarify and or fix things OR if there are more than 3 or 4 Kinect games in their list of "exclusives" I probably won't buy the next Xbox with a 90% certainty. And it's not because I have a problem with them releasing Kinect games, to the contrary, I don't like Kinect but if others do, more power to MS to launch games for it and support it totally, but at the same time I feel 90%+ of core gamers aren't really interested in it, and those will be the ones who will end up being early adopters of the new console, probably much before any of the casuals buy a new one anyways, so why market to them at first? It makes no sense at all...

The whole thing really upsets me as I was really looking forward to the next Xbox to only get this.

[sway_z]

Dude..ain't nobody got time to read all this ^^

[xxV0rschlaghammer]

lol I don't really care, if people do then good, if not oh well, but I have to say something as an Xbox fan, this shit is just terrible.

[Rupee]

These are exactly my thoughts. :/ I'm probably going to skip both on launch and see where they are in a year or so after launch. I think I'll try to beef up my computer in the meantime.

[xxV0rschlaghammer]

Yep, if E3 rolls around and these things still aren't clear I'll just upgrade my PC or build a new one or something. The whole situation is very dishearting as an Xbox gamer.

[leogets]

set top box with kinect. loooool gimmick or what. where's the graphics that blew us away like sony did??? Xbox go home!

[Dape]

@Edonus
Bill gates richest man in the world.... No wonder why the xbox one is aiming more towards entertainment instead of gaming. Please turn off your tv or your "xbox one" and do some research on Rothchild family, Rockefeller family....

[sway_z]

ALL GAMERS SHOULD UNITE AND TELL BOTH MS AND NINTENDO TO FIX UP!!

SONY seem to be the only company that thought this thing out. Ironic considering the PS3 launch.

[AzaziL]

The canned applause and cheers from MS employees backstage really took the cake. I could even tell during the livestream that it wasn't the press getting excited for something as mediocre as some guy's fantasy team doing well.

[SOULJER]

It left me with the feeling of falling face first in SHIT.

[Jamaicangmr]

"The way things went today, though, those games had better be damn exciting, because Microsoft has an uphill battle convincing consumers that a console burdened with so many restrictions is worth all the trouble."

You know it's serious when Kotaku starts writing the truth. Not sure what the Xbox1 is but a compelling gaming console it isn't.