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Microsoft it is time to provide a clear message

The problem with Microsoft is the messaging. How is DRM important? What are the benefits of being always onlne? Why charging a fee for used games can be beneficial as long as I don't see a difference in my used game purchase.

Address the ability to share games with 10 friends and families as an excellent idea especially since on my current system(Xbox 360), I have hardcore gamers on my friends list who always play Call of Duty and never anything else and I also have my friends who only use it for casual experiences and watching movie apps. So the opportunity of expanding/sharing with them and showing them that there are many experiences to be played is something Microsoft can address. It can also drive games sales for long term business growth.

Why Microsoft does not speak on the always online benefits?

Explain how some of the upcoming games including Titan Fall, Battlefield, Forza and so on benefit from the persistent online worlds, the ability to upload updates and let me turn on my system with out having to wait for long install times.

Address the ability to sell used games or even why charging an extra fee is key?

Provide a clear message as to why a small charge for used games will apply as you make your purchase (and you won't see or feel the difference as the game will cost the same as any other used game purchase) allowing the fee to go to publishers in order to bring down the prices of games, create bigger and better gaming experience in the long term as well as help publishers who are on the brink of going out of business.

Many gamers on this website are going to disagree with me. I understand why. Forcing many of the big issues are not what gamers want to hear. They want to be educated on the decisions MS has made.

Overall, When the Xbox One is launched the potential of the console can be tremendous and if proper communication is displayed then gamers can and will accept the changes, specifically, with the intergration of features the xbox one will provide such as game DVR, Cloud, Snap functionality, HDMI in and out for a more intergrated TV experience and the games which is what really counts (at least for me). It will be interesting to see what they decide to do going forward before launch (If they decide to change anything or communicate better). Gamescon and TGS are also gaming events that can help them change that perception that gamers have about them. What do you gamers think?

dedicatedtogamers3960d ago

"The problem with Microsoft is the messaging."

The problem with Microsoft and the Xbox One is absolutely, positively NOT the messaging. Blaming the messaging is a cheap cop-out. It would be like claiming the Virtual Boy failed simply because it didn't have enough marketing (sadly, Nintendo does believe this, but that's another story).

Microsoft needs to improve its PR, sure, but the negative reactions toward the Xbox One are due to its clear-as-crystal problems: 24-hour DRM, used game restrictions, Kinect requirement, and no renting/borrowing (unless using Microsoft's "library" feature). There is no confusion. There is no need of better messaging. People simply do not like what Microsoft is offering.

What you qualify as "improving the message", I qualify as "rolling a turd in glitter". The core product and the core features stink. No amount of "messaging" will fundamentally change that. In fact, all it will do is trick unfortunate customers who don't dig deeper into the truth.

Donnieboi3960d ago (Edited 3960d ago )

Preach it!

khowat3959d ago

The xbox one and it's myriad of restrictions is the worst idea anyone can possibly have, there are so many restrictions just tied to limiting used games and then others tied to mandatory kinect, privacy issues.

but I believe the problem is in their image and messaging, they are presented as some out of touch idiot cash loving execs who want to sap everyone dry with features and restrictions that hard for even them to justify, all this time Microsoft has never given anyone the opportunity, for even a moment, for any gamer to even consider any of the positives of any of their features, and there are some; some for microsoft and some for us, but instead have just provided use with a bunch of rules and regulations like we're children.

Godmars2903960d ago

MS had two opportunities to speak their "message" and the first one was so bad they focused too much on the one they really didn't need to. Or rather games have become a moot point in the wake of DRM.

In their pre-E3 presentation they needed to talk about sharing with 10 family members like they needed to talk about TV. They needed to give an idea of how "the cloud" would have improved a game, even if such wouldn't be ready at launch, and how Kinect 2.0 was more than just a voice controlled TV remote. After that games would have been icing rather than the band-aid on an open gut wound it was.

RoninRaven3960d ago

Who are you trying to convince? How do you want Microsoft to convince? Yourself, and people like you. You remind me of those people that stick with carrying on a bad relationship with someone that was caught cheating. If they do it once they will do it again if you allow it. And no sugar coating will change that.

Automatic793960d ago (Edited 3960d ago )

@dedicatedtogamers

"The core product and the core features stink."

I don't agree with you. As someone who has used Xbox 360 and all that it offers. I believe that the Xbox One has a lot of potential especially since it is much more then a gaming system. At its core the features that are used with the games are fantastic. Game DVR is one, Cloud and Snap are another. You seem to be the one who is always leading the charge when it comes to being negative about MS while also praising the competition who has pratically not disclosed how its system is going to work. For all you know you may be getting a current gen system with glossy features. Most gamers don't want something to be forced upon them and I agree completely with that but educating them on the product and what it offers is a step forward.

zerocrossing3959d ago (Edited 3959d ago )

But even you must be able to admit that MS are pushing some iffy design/function choices.

Did they really need to make it so that you absolutely must install your games to the Xbone's hard drive in order to be able play them? or that you can't play games unless you log into your account first? or that you also simply can't game offline for any longer than an hour?

And then there's Kinect 2, a potential privacy concern, so much so that the Xbone may have trouble even getting released in Europe and Australia, many people don't like the idea of having a camera watching and listening to them, others can spin it anyway they want but MS is in fact working with the NSA (National Surveillance Agency) who specialise in data mining, MS have also been caught spying on people over Skype, an app they are all too keen on promoting as one of the Xbone's core functions.

Then we have the issue of ownership, if I don't actual posses a physical copy of a game and am just gaming over the cloud (a network of servers) then am I not just renting the game? what about when those servers inevitably go offline in the future will I loose all of my games and data? the xbone is unusable offline so does it become nothing but an over priced brick?... So much for legacy consoles...

I'm not a Sony or Nintendo fanboy trying to bash the competition, I've had both the OG Xbox and the 360 and have enjoyed gaming on them, I'm just a concerned consumer who dislikes the current direction MS is taking because it conflicts with certain rights and privileges we as gamers are/should be entitled too.

khowat3959d ago

The kinect thing is kind of shady, it limits content depending on who's in the room or charges more for paid movies if more people are in the room
it also watches to watch you watching tv and what you're watching and rewards you with badges and achievements like you're a child. What irks me about MS right now is not so much their policies,it's the fact that it seems that with them the consumer doesn't come first. Don't get me wrong companies can make money, but I don't like it when they don't make money from being popular or making things people want to buy but by using every single secret means and under-handed trick they can to exploit every single one of their unfortunate cutomers, it's a shame really, the xbox one line up looked pretty good
I like Quantum Break

Darrius Cole3959d ago

The core product and the core features do stink.

I know you don't agree with that because you stated as much in your blog. But you are looking at it with rose-colored glasses. You are an Xbox fan who is looking for a reason to like the Xbox One, and slanting all of the information you get in the Xbox One's favor. But fact is that the drawbacks clearly outweigh the benefits of the Xbox One. When you look at it in context, which is to say "what are the benefits of buying the Xbox One, compared to the benefits compared to the benefits of buying a PS4" then the Xbox One looks even worse.

There is no consumer benefit to DRM, not a single one.

The drawbacks to having a camera and microphone in your house connected to the internet GREATLY outweigh any benefits that said camera and mic may bring.

The drawbacks to requiring the system to be online everyday greatly outweigh the benefits of being the requirement.

Automatic793959d ago (Edited 3959d ago )

@ Darrius Cole

"There is no consumer benefit to DRM, not a single one."

XboxOne will do everything the PS4 does, but it will also allow for game sharing online with up to 10 Gamertags. I know that's not as cool as driving to a friends house and handing him the game, but it's being forced on everyone. The XboxOne will also allow your entire game library to be accessed and played remotely. I know, another serious drawback when you can carry all your discs with you all the time. Kinect is still up in the air since we didn't really see much more than the tech demo at e3. Other than be a tool with a 100% attach rate to help evolve gaming, it spies on us and reports our unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise to the government to get us disqualified for Obamacare.

Everyone knows "hardcore" gamers are content using old tech and always resist the newest devlopments. Look how slow the hardcore gamers embraced broadband, HDD's in consoles and a paid unified online service.

I am not just an Xbox fan but a fan of all gaming systems. I just don't respect the hypocracy and made up stories that whiny fanboys keep making up.

generalthadeape3959d ago

It may be too late for Microsoft-- everyone already sold their Xbox 360s to get the most out of them before the One is released & took that money to pre-order a PS4-- I know I did--(I sold two of them on Craigslist last week)!!!

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