Gamertag Radio interviews Trixie, an ex-Xbox employee about her new novel, the reason why she left Microsoft and much more.
*"Xbox is run by mostly middle managers with no gaming experience"
*"Xbox left J Allard"
*Xbox Community
*Xbox Live Gold member vs ads
*The reason why Inside Xbox failed
Xbox conversation starts at 25:04.
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I miss the old days of developers (and console makers) being die-hard gamers, from the entry-level guy all the way up to the boss.
Game consoles are no longer dedicated gaming machines like they were in the past and gaming consoles are your one stop social media hub and the next gen consoles will take social media even futher...heck I expect the 720 and PS4 to be 20% console and 80% PC.
With this said its not hard to see why Sony and MS are hiring experts of all sorts that dont have a back ground on gaming...Sega was made up of people who were hardcore gamers but lacked the business mentality and the Dream cast ended up sinking them.
Sure my gamer instinct is pissed about how gaming is no longer just gaming but from a business perspective this make sense and in these times you can not just rely on games and have to offer a variety of things with your gaming service.
Nintendo is now feeling the pressure because they lacked so many things that MS and Sony offered and are now playing catchup...the Wii U online can either break or make Nintendo.
Edit: My point was that the gaming business has become more than just games and experts from other fields are needed in order for the company to make a profit and survive.
lol now if wiiU takes off the tablet crazy will be part of everyday console gaming.
One of the big companies already bought into cloud gaming so yikes.. Console gaming so popular it is killing it as a hardcore platform.
After looking at splinter cell the only stealth game left is MGS. Kojima stands alone.
Nintendo's longtime president Yamauchi prides himself as the emperor who never played a single video game on any Nintendo console since they started doing games in the 1980s. Bitter irony eh?
Of course they are all about the money.
But the question is who among them are doing their homework about nurturing the industry and making it grow up.
My point is by this time if you are really passionate about legit video games you should be able to discern for yourself who is are REAL DEAL from the PHONY POSERS.
Who continues to make the effort to move games forward and who holds it back and who brings it backwards? who brings new stuff to gaming . who abuse it & just in it for money only?
The music industry isnt run by Musicians...
The Sports Industry isnt run by Sports Atheletes
The Game industry isnt run by gamers
The Xbox is a platform for games and entertainment, just as any console is at this point.
Just because we all love and play games doesnt necessarily make us all qualified to manage a business.
MS made some great business decisions this gen that has put the Xbox brand in a great position.
But at the end of the day, like Sony and Nintendo, not all of those decisions are perfect.
Evil
It's too big a business now. While I have no doubt some of the middle managers do enjoy games, I am under no illusion it's in the same sense a lot of people enjoy games; casually, on their phone, the yearly COD/Madden/FIFA release.
Problem is, even the ones who play games, like Shuhei Yoshida are still in charge of a company/part of a company and the bottom line is all that matters.
Once your TV has all the functionality of a tablet computer built into it from the start, your console connecting to services such as Facebook will just be redundant. At that point, it becomes all about the games once again.
In fact, TVs may eventually give the consoles direct competition if they come with game-streaming platforms such as OnLive pre-installed. The execs at companies such as MS are going to be in for a hard time if they think their current stategy will continue to work in the future.
The next gen consoles will be more PC than gaming consoles and if this true then this will kill 2 birds with one stone...sure they wont replace PC's but what if gaming consoles can do 80% of what a PC can do.
The 1st reason is games and type of games they want depends on which console they buy and if it then works with a service they have they will use there consoles to access there service.
Obviously Smart TVs are still in their infancy, but looking forward, there's no doubt that the tech and user experience will improve.
What tablets can do now, TVs will be able to do within a few years - the point being that the "console as an internet/social media hub" model isn't really the future.
I am still mad at M$ for not working something out with Jay Allard though. I am surprise that Apple our Google didn't give him an offer he can refuse. He was the brain that made Xbox a viable alternative to what was already on the market. He created Xbox Live (Voice chat; maket place; XBLA; Achievements; ...). He is a gamer and gets excited about things that make gaming more enjoyable and promotes growth.
These new guy are more focused on how to make more money with the Xbox. I understand that side too, but they have to know that gaming has to be the main focus or it will all blow-up in thier faces. Halo4 show that someone there still understands that Xbox will only allows other areas to grow if the gaming side remains very strong.
If any company reflect the idea of more gaming dedication over another company, I think we would head over to that console. But there are other factors that I'm sure I don't see right now.
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When you have a company as large as Microsoft, the innovation, the hunger, the eagerness to prove themselves gets lost along the way. Plus the Xbox brand was created with more than just gaming. That division is there to work within all of Microsoft's vested interests.
Steam doesnt fit the comparison in this subject. On top of that MS didnt start out in the gaming industry and so when they went to make the move into that industry the reasoning was simple: to make money with a new product.
Valve on the other hand was created because people wanted to make games for a living.
I feel there is a disconnect between those who run the Xbox division and the consumers, and that could be allocated to what this article is suggesting. If we agree to disagree that's fine but I don't feel I missed the point at all. If you get involved with something you should have people running it that have an interest and either have experience or gain experience while being there.
@nukeitall
I don't believe their budget was all that limited. This is Microsoft we are talking about and their initial investment with the Xbox back in 2001 was by no means small. Sony also seen Nintendo and Sega as competition and they managed to provide a product consumers wanted while not appearing as though it was run by a bunch of managers with no gaming experience.
Microsoft also bought Rare for $375 million dollars. That's not something a start-up company with a limited budget does. Look at Rare today and it's obvious they are nothing like they used to be.
Almost no one can enter the console business without heavy investments unless you want to be like ouya. Only way to be taken serious is to make serious investment.
To the gaming industry, that is a start up.
The beginnings of Xbox is detailed in a book called The Xbox 360 uncloaked. It is a great read.
I wonder if nuke read it.
From the start, the Xbox division had to prove itself and had very limited budget. In almost all ways, it was almost like a startup company.
MS perceived Sony's dominance as threat, and so the battle began.
That man is responsible for all the social aspects of deadspace 3,simcity and generals 2 among others. He is responsible for destroying those franchises to get the casual gamer with social media aspects like implementing twitter and facebook in games.
Gaming and profits, I mean. Games earn profits, and profits feed gaming. It's the dedication and commitment to both sides of that coin that varies from company to company.
There is plenty competition, and people have free choice to choose what they want.
More importantly, a company has to survive in order to continue to feed their stuff to the public. I'm of the belief that companies that cater to the niche, and/or is unprofitable eventually needs to die.
Our government is a perfect example of a money pit that will never ever be efficient.
This trend has more to do with the direction of technology and what consumers expect with their hard earned cash. You either support this direction or die.
Just pre ordered an oppo 103, even the mighty reputation of their hardware had to do this due to the competition's offerings.
This trend has everything to do with the software age sparked by PC advances and Apple products. The race to succeed in this software age is a smart move by companies, even more so for a company that actually makes products in this market by default, in this new age.
The people complaining support products with offerings not on par or are not as supported by most businesses that partner.
Gamers are gamers and will always have community, they don't need special treatment anymore than the LGBT community needs special treatment/events/zones. Gamers are consumers just like anybody else. They're consumers first and gamers second, like a gaming event, gamers are gamers.
All electronics are evolving to multi media devices and to wish the industry to go backwards because you don't like the fact the device was designed to appeal to others is nonsense.
To a business it would be like a baby boomer wishing smartphone makers, would sever deals with other businesses, stop adding to the capability of the hardware and not allowing apps and other multi media capabilities just because all they want to do is talk on the phone.
What MSFT did makes sense considering they added massive amounts of casuals and now have the most diverse fanbase.
1st MSFT was too core and all they did is cater to the hardcore with games and community, then it was just for casuals and now just business centric. As if the new kid on the block becoming the next start could catch a break ;)
+bub
@thebudgetgamer It's not a bad combo, the problem always comes from the deals that are negotiate.
"You want money people, but you want money people who know what they're talking about creatively as well."
You also need the creative people to have some understanding for business.
That is why my product is selling so well. I started off small and now I'm in the empire business.
You want money people in charge of money, and creative people in charge of the creative part! You need them all.
I figured this would get a lot of heat, but how if this disgruntled "ex" employee any different than disgruntled "ex" employees of Sony? The only difference is that this is a former Microsoft employee so it must all be true, while the ex Sony employees were obviously let go for good reason right?
As for next generation, there will be no "hardcore" or "casual" consoles. Nintendo, Microsoft and even Sony will need to cater to every type of gamer right from the start. Wii U is sporting a tablet controller, Xbox 720 will have Kinect 2.0 and I wouldn't doubt the PS4 will have a Move 2.0 or something similar to Kinect, they did patent something similar a while back.
I think the fact that Microsoft is putting out games the quality of Forza Horizon, Halo 4 and Gears Of War Judgment 7+ years into the life of the Xbox 360 proves that they care about the gamer's. The fact is that the core gamer was tapped on for the Xbox 360 years ago, same with the PS3, which is why PS3 is focusing on family and casual gamer's this holiday. Wonderbook, LBP Kart and PlayStation All Stars is a page right out of Nintendo's book.
You cant compete in this day and age of Smartphones and Tablets if you don't offer more than just a core gaming experience.
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@wastedcells
It's what he does. In fact, in that Sony article he's talking about he brought MS into it... lol. A little insecurity on his part.
It's funny seeing you flip flop Chunky. I was waiting to see how you'd react to this "obviously critical news." I was hoping "sour grapes" and excuses wouldn't be in the air.. lol...
Did pepbizmo even have a comment in that ex-Sony Employee article? Yet you still felt the need to bring it up though.
I agree that no company is going to stop catering to the core next gen though. Nintendo acknowledged that they needed to focus on the core more. MS and Sony saw what happened with Nintendo in regards to lack of third party support so I doubt any of the three wants that happening to themselves next gen and will by all means try to prevent that from happening.
I knew it wouldn't be long before chunky came to MS defense! he just can't help it
@wastedcells
Because he knows mostly Sony fanboys are in here trolling, commenting with their worthless opinions. Who wishes for something to be less capable screaming neglect? I'd rather have a feature rich console than a console where the maker buys studios making games no one wants or can afford only to shut down the studio.
I think features like Facebook, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix gives an additional value to the consoles.
When you're forced to pay to get those otherwise free features it definitely detracts value, not adds it. There's no rebuttal to that. Imagine if Google forced you to pay to access those websites... you'd stop using Chrome and switch to something more reasonable wouldn't you? Not Xbox consumers though.
I'm just glad I don't support them, because there's absolutely no excuse for actions like that.
But im talking about consoles in general and the fact that people are whining because their consoles do something more than playing games.
And like stated above look at the free-to-play models (options to spend over 100 bucks in a game instead of buying it for 60?) Look at casual facebook "you need energy, wanna buy some?!" tactics.
It has become "how do we make money?" NOT "how do we make a good game?" Some developers see this and want to go back to games over money, thats why they are leaving companies and starting their own.
Current-gen games can cost 3-4 times what they did last generation, yet are games sold for 3-4 times the price? No. So things like DLC or micro-transactions have become a necessity.
And even with that, publishers are still posting losses in the financial reports.
Sadly, this makes putting business people in charge a necessity to survive in the retail market.
You've got to remember that money is required to make great games, and no matter how great marketing is needed to actually make people aware of its existence.
Otherwise you get cases like Oddworld: Stranger and Jet Set Radio Future. You can't assume that game quality is equivalent to sales or that people will always buy innovative games. The business people must be there to make consumers aware of it and get sales large enough to fund further games.
The costs rose because of the publishers. They put these massive teams behind a single game just to churn it out as fast as possible. Otherwise look at the small "angry developer left big publisher" start ups, and indie games as whole making similar games within a matter of a few years.
Yeah it's more expensive, but quality does sell. Advertising is one area where you would need the person specifically hired to do that job. However turning to a publisher these days is an issue. The publisher wants rights, wants a yearly release, or wants to milk the game for DLC so they can make money too. Don't want that? Well have fun dying without marketing.
Also remember a lot of bigger companies report losses or lower than expected sales for tax purposes as well. If they report a loss they get a benefit.
I think if certain ones reporting low sales went back to the "how do we make a good game" formula, sales would go back up. Look at EA. They focus on making (for example) NFS Hot Pursuit good, it sells well, they go back to crap, no one cares about it anymore.
Hell, Americans were running the gaming industry during the Atari era, and that only became about money - connection much?
make new freaking consoles, breathe some new life into the corpse that is console gaming!
pc is the only platform where true innovation, creativity, new ways to game, new graphics and new ideas are always coming out, steam workshop makes nearly any game a day one purchase for me, if i know i and the community can tinker with everything in the game and make a totally new game with the core assests, I'm sold.
console games have lately just been crapped out re-treads of ancient ideas, with ancient graphics and terrible performance
i have a lot of hope for the wii u, it is certainly the litmus test to see if sony and ms will even bother making new consoles or just ride the corpse of their last gen ps3's/ and 360's down into the stinking pit of obscurity