Just to clarify before the xbox fans explode – I’m not saying that you are an idiot if you buy the Xbox One, I’m saying that Microsoft treats its customers like idiots and so if that’s your thing then you should support them by being first in line for an Xbox One with a nice side serving of backtracking, broken promises, and PR bullshit.
Believe it or not i actually quite like Microsoft as a company. I am a huge fan of all their Office products, i program in Visual Studio, and I develop processes at work in SharePoint. These are all world class products and when MS talk about them then they keep it simple because the products speak for themselves. “this is SharePoint 2013, we have added these features...” simple.
So why does a company that is based on sensible tech with clear intentions turn into a vague, buzzword spewing, smoke & mirrors, crock of crap when it comes to the Xbox? Why are they patronising me with “rocket science technology”? Do they think that I am going to be impressed by “5 million transistors”? Is that honestly the best thing they could think of to say about the Xbox One or do they just think so little of us that they just don’t give a crap? Seriously 5 million transistors ???
This behaviour is nothing new, it began right around the announcement of “Project Natal” which developed into everyone’s favourite overpriced dust gathering webcam – Kinect. Natal promised us the ability to scan real world objects into games and to engage with sophisticated AI software which would recognise our expressions and emotions. What did we get? A load of awful arm flailing, a couple of abysmal attempts at hardcore games, and then finally Microsoft accepted it was crap and just made it into a microphone for voice controlled features which nobody uses anyway, and would have worked just as well through the regular xbox mic.
Fast forward a few years and here we have the Xbox one being announced under a similar fine mist of bullshit. We are told that the Xbox one hardware is superior to its competitor, when it clearly isn’t. We are told that hardware doesn’t matter anyway, except clearly when it’s 5 million transistors. We are told that Xbox One’s account based policies are the future, but then they aren’t. We are told that Kinect is the future because it can see our heatbeat, I say that that is just plain stupid. We are told the power of the cloud will add around 300% more processing power, I found this insulting enough to write a separate blog on the issues surrounding such a bold claim.
The original Xbox was the hardcore console and I loved it for it. The Xbox brand now makes me cringe, and I mean that literally. From the slimy suits who get up on stage to the patronising corporate drivel that falls out of mouths insulting us as idiots who know nothing about technology. We knew these DRM features were not necessary, we knew they could easily be turned off, we know that a camera that can read your heart rate is going to add NOTHING to 99.9% of video games, and we know that the cloud isn’t going to make a console more powerful than a competitor box with better specs.
I will not support a product that treats me like an idiot, but hey each to their own.
Shenmue: Reclaiming the Path is a fan game using Dreamcast-era visuals, and tells a new story within the Shenmue saga taking place in both Hong Kong and Guilin. Its expected to release on September 16th.
Something about recreating old school graphics in an era of HD high poly photo realism just hits a spot. I'm not nostalgic cause I mostly played GameCube and GB/A, but it's a visual style that gets over looked even by indies.
As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people
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
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
While the mainstream media always sees things turning in favor of the hero, here are 6 games that own being a bad guy.
Good blog. Yeah, it's not like people who buy Xbox One are idiots, but Microsoft certainly does not have very much respect for its fanbase, especially the core gamers. My choice on Xbox One was decided a long while ago when Microsoft started integrating GFWL in a lot of PC games.
As soon as I saw the XBox One DRM plans, I was like "nope, not gonna be fooled". And yes, I know they rolled back the DRM, but they've tried that stuff TWICE now (thrice if you include Xbox Live, which is a form of DRM) and it's pretty obvious that's their end goal.
5 Billion transistors :p
But yes Microsoft has been stumbling all over the place. No one really argue that. I have all 3 consoles and their mishaps has me leaning to PS4. Shame though, I was a big Xbox fan.
I'm still waiting for clarifications in Sony's camp as well. For the first time since Sega Master System versus Nintendo Entertainment System I'll be watching on the sidelines to see exactly how it all pans out.
Seems to me both camps are trying to sell us a glorified rental system and I don't like it. Goes for both Xbox Live and PSN plus.
Just to clarify.......
You are saying that you are an idiot if you buy the XBone.
Just be a man about it. Or are you just like the N4g submissions? All title.
A product cant "treat you" like an idiot. You buy a product, you like it or you dont.
But how quickly people forget. I guess that's why people live in the now and not the past.
To each his own. Game on.
I think the difference in their marketing strategies between the Xbox and their other software products is that their productivity software isn't being sold to the general masses, outside of the basic Office package of course.
When you look at Office, VS, sharepoint, etc, they are being sold to corporate decision makers, and people who develop on those tools for whatever reason and understand those tools. With these kinds of people it's not usually good to treat them like idiots, because they're not. They can smell PR BS from a mile away, so it's best to keep it simple and explain what the new features are, and how they will affect productivity.
When you look at the Xbox brand, or even Windows, it is a mass consumer product. It has to sell to everyone from young children to dear ol' grandma. It's selling to not what I would call idiots, but the lowest common denominator. Those PR buzzwords work on people like that. Sony does the same thing too, although I will admit they do treat people less like idiots. Sony itself had a few indiscretions with the PS3 in this regard.
The thing I find about most forum goers, and possibly myself to a degree, is that we're really tech minded, although in many cases not technically knowledgeable. Some people see "da cloud" and think it's awesome. Some People see "Kinect can do this" and suddenly everyone who never cared about it thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. So obviously, this type of marketing PR works. It gets people talking about what they want them to talk about.
I single out MS for those examples, but it's true for Sony and Nintendo as well.
Now, with the X1, MS made some serious errors in how well their PR would go over among the general gaming community. They treated the fairly well informed community like the general masses. We are not that. We could be likened more towards the corporate buyer, or serious software user who is knowledgeable of the product and can, for the most part, cut through the PR BS. And many did just that. Everything backfired on them, and they clung to their ideals for a while, and continued to treat us like idiots because that's what they know to work for the general masses. It may still work when they go full force into marketing it outside the online forums such as this one.
I speak in generalities of course. There are still plenty on here, and other forums, who lap it up without much critical thought.