What To Expect From Microsoft At Gamescom

The team got together to discuss what we thought Microsoft would show at their Gamescom conference. Tune in on Tuesday morning to see what Microsoft does next!

[Bigpappy]

The only person that I have some agreement with is Shannon. The rest really seem to have and anti-Xbox vibe going on, or are trying not to get hate mail from there mostly PS readers.

Shannon seems to know that releasing a non Kinect sku would spell serious trouble for M$. They said Kinect was an integral part of X1. So what they need to do is show the value of having it in every box. If they can't do that, then they should go the way of the wii-U.

Most of these opinions seem to be trying to sell the theme that X1 is DOA. I would just ask that they let Sony and M$ finish what they have to say before calling and end to the competition.

[colonel179]

They are already struggling though. All the 180 they have done is not because they listened the community feedback, but because they didn't see the community pre ordering the Xbox One. They must have had entered panic mode to actually decide to make those reversals. Is not like they design a product and spend all the money in R&D just to throw it all away one month later. I even think that if the Xbox One doesn't sell well the first year (even sooner) that they will indeed offer a Kinect-less SKU.

Microsoft has it tough, not only convincing people to get an Xbox One, but also to convince them why is it a good value to spend $100 more than a PS4 or $150 than a Wii U; and also too, convince them why Kinect is necessary to improve the experience. If they fail to do that, they will be in a race full of obstacles for the remaining of the generation.

PS4 doesn't have it easy either. Even though they are in a great position right now, they need to maintain it for the long term. They need to be careful about what they do, and keep offering great games like they have been doing on the PS3. The issue is that they are pushing indies too much, and while that's good, it doesn't seem very good for a $400 device to run small, iOS-like games. They also haven't showed too many first party titles. They have only 4 at the moment. Which in terms of first party games it's very few for a launch. So they also have to prove and keep the momentum going.

[Bigpappy]

You actually make very good points. I agree with most of them and applaud your mentioning that strong the indie with no real management may not be as sweet as it sounds.

But my point is, that M$ has done a good job with offering a good launch line up for the core. They will no doubt offer even more core games at Gamescom.

But what they need to do most right now at this event is to show customers how they policies with make gaming and using X1 in general better for gamers. And, even more important, They need to show a crap load of Kinect related stuff in a very impressive manner.

They need to demonstrate how it works with controller based games to enhance them. They need to do this by showing it in use on stage or by a pre-recorded video. But SHOW it.

Then they need to show the Kinect only games, that the family can get into, and SHOW how the Kinect has improved over the first. This is, very, very important. Because they need to show why $500 for X1 is a better value that $400 for PS4. A lot of people are not focus on the feature set, they are looking at Kinect as why they are paying more. So if M$ wants to sell X1 with Kinect, their biggest job is to sell Kinect.

[abzdine]

what is now missing is kinect, so i guess their conference will be kinect focused..

[n4rc]

Customer feedback and preorder numbers are the same thing.. Stop trying to pass them off as money grubbing when they all do the same thing..

And its not like they have wasted all their r&d.. Nothing has changed on a hardware level.. A few policies changed that some people didn't like but could have futhered the Industry but we never got to see it come to fruition.. Which is a shame..

Mostly its all blown out of proportion IMO.. Look at rrod or the ps3 launch or the psn hack... Both ended up just fine

People love gaming too much for either to fail IMO.. Tho I agree its in their best I interest to show kinects worth to people

[Darrius Cole]

I half agree with Bigpappy and N4rc.

I agree that Microsoft has to justify Kinect, therefore they have to show Kinect enhancing AAA games. I hedge my agreement because it is based on the assumption that they can show Kinect actually enhancing AAA games. The odds are that they can not.

Cameras and motion control have been tried before, and frankly by people who are better at making games than Microsoft. All the motion control games in the past have been soft-core kiddie games, dance games, and exercise games. Why should we believe that Microsoft now has anything different?

It's unrealistic to think the Microsoft has some secret sauce for effectively utilizing cameras and motion control in hardcore games and that Microsoft just hasn't shown it yet. If Microsoft had a hardcore AAA game the needed Kinect but was still a must buy for the hardcore, I think that that would have shown it by now. They definitely would have shown it before they did all of these reversals.

If they get up at Gamescom and show a bunch of softcore Kinect stuff, then they will only drive away the hardcore and infuriate them more than MS has already done. That will only make their problem worse.

[UltimateMaster]

If they expect us to buy an Xbox One with the kinect, they'd better show us what the kinect can do.

[HammadTheBeast]

I'm a bit disappointed that they're not even streaming their conference, 90% of the people who watch these things aren't there.

I'm curious about their Fifa deal though.

[ABeastNamedTariq]

I'm disappointed too. MS not doing it makes me think that they aren't confident in their presentation or something. We like to watch these conferences. Their BS excuse about parties or something doesn't sit well with me. Gamers will be paying attention to Sony's conference, eating up all the details, while they wonder if MS said anything yet. The spotlight will be on Sony first.

I think they're going to focus on entertainment and what not during the conference, and upload the "snippets" about gaming (announcements, release date, etc.).

In summary: Bad move, MS.

[_FantasmA_]

They probably aren't streaming it because they don't want millions of people to hear them getting booed at on live air. They deserve though, heck maybe people should throw tomatoes at them too.

[Gazondaily]

Yeah the lack of streaming has got me concerned. If Sony come out with some amazing announcements (which I suspect they will) it will only serve to enhance their momentum against Microsoft.

[Grown Folks Talk]

They aren't streaming it because the talking portion will be minimal. It's mostly going to be hands on time playing it. It's not going to be a traditional conference.

[T2]

Ya good points ... I feel MS took a major risk in pushing for kinect so adamantly ... If kinect is met with lukewarm response they are going to have tough time selling a more expensive system ...

[Ripsta7th]

Suchh... big... words...

[Godmars290]

"They said Kinect was an integral part of X1. So what they need to do is show the value of having it in every box."

And they've only failed to send that message. I don't know how many times I've pointed out that where Kinect 1.0 received years of play up before it was finally released, the only being promoted for Kinect 2.0 besides voice commands has been it's debug mode.

MS needed to show it actually working better, but instead they've only all but removed something they've always said was vital to their console. They promoted in bad faith in other words, and the only way they're going to get credibility back is with actual, visibility better working than Kinect 1.0, games.

[Kryptonite42O]

I think the smart thing for MS to do is keep the kinect included, and lower the price to $400 to compete with the PS4..
you might not hear as many people complaining if they knew they were getting the Kinect for free...
and I don't think that MS would lose money from doing this, as it would mean selling twice as many consoles. I watched an interview online where Mr. Pachter says on average (estimate) every Xbox 360 owner spends about $1000 in the 10 years of owning the console.. (10 years of live + games)
so for every million consoles sold they would generate about a billion dollars. so the more consoles they sell, the better chance of turning a profit in the long run. that extra $100 charge as of right now isn't helping if its cutting their sales in half..

keep kinect & lower the price to match the PS4.

[urwifeminder]

Well said pappy people are trying to kill it before it releases it has to start before it finishes I think it will be fine either way I will be playing.

[Godmars290]

And when the PS3 had its issues, there was never a general cry to lay off.

When RRoD was a thing on the 360 many said wait and see, but with the PS3 those same people generally kept to an unforgiving stance.

[theWB27]

That's what the whole thing seems to be about with the Micro hate from Sony fans. Because Sony was talked about before...Sony fans are going to blow everything out of proportion as some type of revenge.

That sentiment makes things even more pathetic. I can't see how people take this so personally. I really don't. They're machines made by huge companies that sees us as numbers...yet people like you act like Micro came and wrecked your home, stole your life and left you under a bridge.

GET....OVER....IT.

[Godmars290]

Really, because there seems to be a major lack of common sense from the Xbox fan camp, I wish MS had kept everything in place because its coming clear that such would be the only way many like yourself would have realized how bad what MS was planning. Maybe.

We are not talking about an offhand comment about price which lingered for years, but thought out choices which would have brought rapid changes to the industry and greatly effected consumers.

It is staggering that many can't see the difference.

[n4rc]

Unless you can start pointing to individuals that bitched you out 7 years ago.. You seem incredibly petty..

Most people commented signed up around the reveal so we can talk about a product we want.. Not 7 years ago..

Give it a fkn rest already

And wow.. So were all lacking g common sense because we dont share your "Microsoft is going to kill gaming" viewpoint?

Quite frankly.. I've seen this level of ignorance a few times from you now and I'm just going to ignore you.. You ignore what we say so what's the point?

[trafalger]

"And when the PS3 had its issues, there was never a general cry to lay off."

that happened because of the ps3's high price tag. it also happened because sony put so much marketing into bluray and how powerful the ps3 was. those two things didn't start to pay off until years later, mainly when mgs4 came out. the ps3 had a weak launch of games and struggled maintaining parity with the x360 for 3rd party titles. that conflicted with consumers who were told the ps3 was more powerful. sony also had many delays on big projects which did not ease the pain for gamers early on the ps3.

the xbone has two issues going forward much like the ps3 did. it has to prove why it costs more and now instead of bluray on the ps3 its kinect on the xbone that is raising costs. the other issue is on paper the ps4 is more powerful which again will relate to higher costs for consumers.

to counter both they need to showcase kinect and get the hardcore to start believing in it and also xbox live to show why it's still better than what sony offers and now that multiplayer also cost a subscription on the ps4 that makes the argument better for m$.

if multiplatform games on the ps4 show an advantage compared to the xbone we will see the same journalists go after m$ like they did to sony on the ps3. if kinect fails to attract the hardcore journalists will also go after the xbone like they did on the ps3. in other words a lot of the criticisms towards the ps3 was justified. what the xbone won't have to deal with is poor development tools and headaches like trying to play games right away on the ps3. patches, mandatory installs and updates slowed gamers to a crawl. that has been rectified on the ps4.

[candoa]

Stop making the X1 a ps4. You want a kinectless SkU? Get a ps4, I don't want two ps4 in the market.

[pompombrum]

Kinect shouldn't define the X1. What defines any console is the games. The whole "without kinect all we have is a weaker ps4" is one of the most absurd arguments I've seen on here.

[TheArtfulDodger]

This depends on whether the Kinect is seen as a option peripheral or a peripheral that will revolutionize X1 gaming. If the Kinect is an integral part of the gaming experience, then the X1 is no longer 'simply a console' it's a motion-sensing kinect-based, gaming experience. It's completely different from the PS4 in this sense.

[nukeitall]

@aiBreeze:

Except 99% of the games released for either console is a multiplatform game available on both.

What differentiates the consoles are just a handful of exclusive games and a few features otherwise.

That is a really old way of thinking. Consoles are no longer used for *just* gaming, like a very small group of people want it.

Xbox One is just a PS4 with a few more bells and whistles and Kinect added. Even the hardware says so.

Whatever the PS4 can come out with, the Xbox One can too. There is little differentiation between the two.

Differentiating software is very important, but it is taken as a whole, not just a sum of exclusives.

People don't buy a game because it is exclusive. They buy a game, because it is good!

[Marius_Titus]

Expect the best graphics.

[ABeastNamedTariq]

You had me going there until I saw your username.

[Kydawg]

"No Mr. Powers, I expect them to die." Muuahhahaha! Muuuuahhahaha!! Muuuahhaha, muahhaha........huew........he e.......ho.....

[HammadTheBeast]

Best in what context?

[Hicken]

The fanboy context.

[KonsoruMasuta]

Surely you jest!

[MRMagoo123]

Yeh they will shows xbones best graphics which is probably forza at the mo , if you are referring to Ryse all i can say is LOL.

[josephayal]

They say they want to beat sony at gamescom.. I honestly didn't expect Microsoft to reveal anything major at Gamescom

[M-M]

Gamescom hasn't happened yet.

[black0o]

they aren't streaming it .. sony is just FYI

[gdguide]

If they are smart, they will push the X1 hard at Gamecom and have another few big titles teased. They can't just show what they've shown. They're doing wayyyy better than the first reveal, but need to convince a lot of gamers why they should spend $550 on a console that no longer needs Kinect plugged in and needs a $50 Live to have some X1 features they bragged about. Microsoft can do it though. Sony played it too easy at the last conference.

[Bigpappy]

Sony is playing the Keywords game (faster RAM, Better GPU, Cheaper price, no DRM) and so far it has worked well for them. But Sony has not show better games and exciting new features. They also need to have a strong casual option to win N.A and U.K where many parents allow children to play games. When the Holiday season comes around, it is the moms out there spending the money. They get in line and throw some elbows, or online and do the research then buy right there.

So if M$ has a good Kinect showing and advertises smartly, which they are known to do, they could quickly take over N.A and U.K.

If Sony can have a good counter to Kinect with their own camera (there have been really good at countering M$ so far), they could convince some of those casuals that they also have what Kinect has. But they have to show some good casual games using the cam to pull that off.

[ABeastNamedTariq]

And MS hasn't been playing the keywords game?

I'm not disagreeing with your point, I'm just pointing out that MS has been too (e.g. - cloud, future, unlimited, infinite, all-in-one). Also, "better games" is subjective.

And I think that the biggest factor for most moms will be price. Little Timmy may want an Xbox, but some families may not have the biggest budget, and that $399.99 price tag is going to be a very attractive selling point.

Knack, for now, is Sony's casual option. It's currently the only retail family game that will be available on next gen consoles (correct me if I'm wrong). Lack of a family game on the shelves (I believe KS Rivals got delayed?) may hurt Microsoft. Currently they have, what.. Dead Rising, Ryse, and Forza, right? Forza isn't exactly a family game per se, but I believe it'll sell we'll because it's their only E game.

But Sony has a traditional family/kids game with an appealing character and fun gameplay. It appeals to kids and old school adults.

And don't forget, you can't sell people on Kinect without games to take true advantage of it. I'm talking party games. Just Dance, KS, etc. But of course, that may be rectified during Gamescom.

[No_Limit]

@ABeastNamedTariq,

Wrong, both Zoo Tycoon and Project Spark are launch window games made specifically for children and concerning parents, both will be released before the end of this year. And why did you considered Knack a family game anyway? My definition of a family game is a game that can be played together with family and feature local multiplayer gameplay, which Knack lacked.

[Kingthrash360]

I fully expect another 180.

[_FantasmA_]

2 180s make a 360. This VCR will be just another 360, with more TV, more Halos and Forza, while PS4 will the next generation PS2, and will hopefully dominate.

[theWB27]

So essentially since the X1 is just a 360, and the PS4 is the next gen PS2, they are on equal footing. Cause that math leads us to being where we were 8 years ago. PS3 and 360 launch.

If you think 150 million people are going to buy a PS4 then you're as delusional as your comments show.

PS2- 150 million sold
Xbox-24 million sold

PS3-80 million sold
360-80 million sold= 160 million- 24= 136 million

That still leaves PS short of 150...so we have to take another 14 million from the X1 which leaves us at 10 million consoles sold for the X1 in order for PS to reach that former glory of 150 million. That's based off the total sales of this gen between the two.

AGAIN- In order for Sony to return to it's former glory, from those numbers, means the X1 will have to sell 10 million consoles in order for Sony to reach that 150 million.

Lets cross those fingers huh... -_-

[VsAssassin]

I expect another 180 from MS in that they will be announcing the XBone launched with the price of $399. If this happens, I will lose further respect in MS.

Note that I never owned an MS console before; however, their flipping and switching and reversing will somehow hurt their credibility if they don't stand firm with their ideals for the next-gen.

As for the PS4, I will expect full support from this camp. Sony has proved gen after gen that they're serious on delivering stupendous gaming experience. Not only they spoil us with great games, they also continue the support even past the life cycle of their particular console.

Gamescom can't come soon enough!

[meatysausage]

you'll loose respect if they announce a lower price?
How is that bad for anyone?

[VsAssassin]

Because all the flipswitching that they're doing aren't really for the consumers; they're all for saving their faces and wallets.

If Sony didn't blatantly spat on their faces at E3 about the DRM fiasco, and in other media forms like Jimmy Fallon for that matter, they wouldn't be changing leaf all of a sudden.

That or if the masses loved the idea of restrictive online DRM to begin with.

[Rimeskeem]

Im expecting them not to shoot themselves in the foot

[Xsilvermist]

They already did by not streaming it.

[AllroundGamer]

They are afraid to stream it, cause they need to edit the video and cut out all the booing, so it doesn't happen like on E3...

[Fergusonxplainsall]

I expect them to show that they'll sale Xbox One without Kinect. Especially in that region, since people think it goes against their rights and privacy.

They said it'll be a short show but expect it to be sweet..

[christocolus]

rare, epic and ninja theory anouncements plssssss...and more from black tusks game.

[strigoi814]

Another 180 and maybe rename their console PS4 jr.

[_FantasmA_]

Or PS4 Wannabe60.

[Kingthrash360]

or Ex-box1.

[FAT MAN GO BOOM]

MS - Welcome to Games Con Germany we would like to welcome you, we are excited to tell you about all the changes we have made to the Xbox One... only a few tweaks...

What did we change in Policies??? Well EVERYTHING so we are rebranding the Xbox One to Xbox Schizophrenia One The One and only Console that comes with multiple personality disorder medications for entire month... Only requiring a small monthly refill fee from your closeted Video Pharmacy Game Store..

Yes Xbox Schizophrenia One also suffers transgender console personality ... Xbox One is really a PS4 trapped in a Xbox One Body...

After many operations the Xbox Schizophrenia One is now less of an Xbox and now more of a PS4... But it is still shunned as a freak that dress up as the other console...

Prostest are on the rise and parents do not want to expose their child to that thing... Worried of being infected by residual DRM or paywalls to access anything and everything, or dare I say to not being able to trade their own personal belongings... for what every they want to whom every they want...

Here at MS we care about the consumers we will lie are pants off telling them not how they will benefit from the policies but taking you to the future... Why the future because

For the first time ever we are showing off a new feature of the Xbox Schizophrenia One the will change everything and turn this industry world up side down...

Xbox Schizophrenia One NEWEST FEATURE IS TIME TRAVEL - YES YES Time travel Owning a Microsoft Xbox Schizophrenia One will allow you to travel into to the future ONE second at a time... That is why we call it the ONE the Xbox Schizophrenia One.... Xbox Schizophrenia One SECOND AT A TIME TRAVEL...

Thank you, thank you thank you please enjoy the rest of games con Germany sorry we have nothing new to show you right now since we had to blow are load at E3 due to the horrible Policies and TV debacle - I know who wants to pay for cable and a cable box only to plug it into the Xbox Schizophrenia One to use well to use the Xbox Schizophrenia One as a cable box....

It is like wanting to go on a trip so you take your car which does have good gas mileage and taking it on your trip but first you drive that into a transport Truck that burns three times the amount of gas... Only to place the both of them on to a train why cause well on the train they have some other features the truck and car does not have...bar bathroom and a caboose but all of those features are behind a paywall ... so you just sit there.... And if you don;t have access to an online connection well... You can put the car into the truck and the truck into the train but the train can't go anywhere...

So again Microsoft and Xbox Schizophrenia One wish you a happy games con... Until we meet again or change our next policy...

Cheers to All and .....

Oh Sorry well we meet again it will not be sorry this just got handed to me it looks like we are going to change a policy once again..

MS and Xbox Schizophrenia One would like to announce that gamers will be able to look forward to a new feature... we will offer the Xbox Schizophrenia One in Jet black or Piano Black or Midnight Black... with DAY ONE ADOPTERS being able to get the day one exclusive colour One AM...

Thank you again Germany, for our time and not starting WWIII....

[Ripsta7th]

U wasted precious time writing all that BS

[FAT MAN GO BOOM]

Well I am glad to see some people understand that I was joking....

cheers

[Mikefizzled]

Mark my words. Spencer will announce Crackdown 3.

[MRMagoo123]

Its too late for that saints row 4 already did it all and probably better, after playing the other crapdowns its prob for the best

[FrigidDARKNESS]

A huge exclusive announcement from a major publisher and a possible new piece of hardware announced.

[Master-H]

And non of it live-streamed ? where's the logic in that if they're trying to generate hype for their product? what are they thinking ?
Here's a crazy scenario , what if they're announcing some Kinect stuff with on-stage demos and are afraid of the boos and the negative reaction, so they want to sugarcoat it personally in the interviews afterwards ? lol
I don't know, your guess is as good as mine Frigid, one thing for sure we will know what's up tomorrow my xbone friend

[Grown Folks Talk]

Like there won't be posts, tweets, articles, & videos anyways. If the game of your dreams was announced, are you gonna be like "Well I would like it, but it wasn't live streamed."

[FrigidDARKNESS]

You don't have to have a livestram to make big announcements. MS has made big announcements at TGS and PAX and those weren't stramed.

[boing1]

Nothing. Only a handful of countries will get x1 in europe at launch so they won't bother.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

Will i expect again to hear the statement "we will kill sony!!" from gamescom?

[MRMagoo123]

What to expect from MS at gamescom? nothing at all really i have a feeling thats why they arent doing live feeds or anything like that, i have a feeling they blew all there barrels at E3 and along with all the flip flops on policy have no idea what they can show.

[Xsilvermist]

Microsoft Kinect argument is stale they really don't give a good reason as to why the kinect should be with every console, here's a Scenario Ps3 cell now this thing made the ps3 expensive ashell which is why i got a 360 first but SONY proved to us its power when their first party studios made amazing looking games that justified the Cell. Now look at MS launch line up not even one first party studio showed us how kinect 2.0 can change gaming if your own studios aren't interested why would third party developer be that's what puzzles me all they do is show the thing telling your heartbeat and other stuff that's irrelevant if not really implemented into a game. But i still gotta wait and see but it does'nt help MS with whole community screaming no more kinect games. I've always own both consoles shit still have the first xbox but this time i'm sticking to one since the ps3 gave me more value as a customer i became a Sony boy loved their exclusives So Ps4 it is remember in the end were all just customers aiming for satisfaction.

[andibandit]

Your comparison with Sony is weird because Sony didn't exactly come flying out the gates with amazing games, that took a couple of years.

[Xsilvermist]

MGS4 and heavenly sword look awesome graphically at the start of ps3 cycle

[andibandit]

heavenly sword was an ok game, nothing amazing, and mgs4 came out in 2008.....

[andibandit]

Anyone know who will be hosting the MS conference now that the Don is gone?

[SynestheticRoar]

The new CEO she was in charge of window too. I hope something good comes from Microsoft.

[dodo101]

IT has been confirmed that there will be no conference!
https://twitter.com/geoffke...

Only a showcase.