200°

This Isn't The First Time Microsoft Aired a Console Ad Without Games

People have been brutally criticizing Microsoft for airing an Xbox One commercial without showing any videogames.

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geekparty.com
Muerte24943885d ago

though. That's primarily direct at gamers?

NatureOfLogic3885d ago

You're first console commercial and you don't show the console or games? *scratches head* MS focus is clearly not on games.

AngelicIceDiamond3885d ago

Well its an Xbox. People know what it is and what they're buying.

I criticized it little myself, but it makes sense to advertise its NFL capabilities seeing how the first kick off was last night.

Plus this is not the only advertisement you'll see come launch trust me.

malokevi3885d ago

"focus".

hmm.

I see games that I like. I think that's pretty much all that matters.

Mass appeal is a good thing, me thinks.

nukeitall3885d ago

Looks at MS games: Forza 5, Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Titanfalls, Quantum Break and so on.

Looks at competition: indies, indies and more indies.

Looks at both MS and competition gaming features and sees MS matches everything and adds SmartMatch, SmartGlass, dedicated servers, the cloud and so on.

...but hey, let's focus on the ad. MS is clearly not focusing on gamers!

malokevi3885d ago

"People have been brutally criticizing Microsoft for airing an Xbox One commercial without showing any videogames."

Oh, really? Quelle grand suprise!

People are obviously bored. Who cares? I thought the commercial was nifty! Some crazy camera angles.

Godmars2903885d ago

How odd is that MS repeated the exact same "mistake" they did with the first XB1 presentation? How much does it say about their thinking or how much their original intent has changed in light of all the reversals.

GryestOfBluSkies3885d ago

i think this and their other recent comments (drm was 'ahead of gamers', for example) suggest that they still believe in all of their original policies. they only changed these things because of pre order numbers.

rainslacker3884d ago

The commercial in question was aimed at people who watch football. They were marketing it not to gamers, but football fans.

While I question their focus overall, this particular ad was meant to reach the audience that was watching it.

OTOH, Sony did have a GOW ad for the online SuperBowl broadcast.

Godmars2903884d ago

Think about that. Sony, who makes games and sells a game system, bought ad time during the Superbowl to sell a game. Whereas MS did an ad to let people watching football know that they could watch football, talk to friends via skype and run a fantasy football league, via their media center.

rainslacker3884d ago

I don't really need to think about it. It has not gone unnoticed by me that they seem to have a overly zealous fetish for being primarily a media box that also plays games, instead of the other way around.

My point was though that they want to get those football watchers on board. The reason for this is probably because that market is very lucrative, and MS seems to want a piece of all the pies.

It's not a bad strategy overall, just not terribly appealing to me. For our part, as gamers, we don't care about what MS has to offer, but it is in MS best interest to advertise those features to people that do care about them.

Godmars2903884d ago (Edited 3884d ago )

And the problem with *THAT* is that MS has a history of not developing games. Of spending more money, far more, and advertising and exclusives which often turn out to be limited. Even their indie push was more about generating "content", stuffing their library with titles for the sake of stuffing it with titles, than making new much less quality IPs.

So then the issue at once is if this NFL thing does bring in NFL viewers, where will MS's attention go to? Nevermind that this is another example of how their attention is limited.

At the very least you have to admit that, yet again, MS have opened themselves up to ridicule. It also says something that, when looking at the launch line-ups of both systems, the games don't present a "casual" face to the general consumer or anything new or different from what's come before.

negative3885d ago ShowReplies(2)
sAVAge_bEaST3885d ago (Edited 3885d ago )

They paid big bucks for the NFL -Marketing- partnership,. -dat casual crowd.

EXVirtual3885d ago (Edited 3885d ago )

It's not even that they showed an ad that was solely about multimedia. Sony has done the same thing I believe.
It's that it's the first commercial for the XB1. It completely shafts gamers. It really shows what they want the XB1 to be first and foremost: A multimedia hub. And because of that, I think that the number of exclusives coming out for the XB1 will lower massively in about 2 years.
@corvusmd, it isn't fanboys just filling the place with bad XB1 news, it's because of the fact that there has been a pile of nothing but bad XB1 news and very little good news. On the PS4 side, there has not been that much bad news, almost next to none. It is reasonable to say that MS repeating the mistake of the initial reveal. It wouldn't even be that bad if they showed both the multimedia and games, but there were no games. Zero. And again, this is the first commercial.
@mars290, the point is there were NO games.

corvusmd3885d ago

Sony has, they do it all the time actually...I posted some links yesterday, but the bottom line is these fanboys are just looking for anything to talk trash about the XB1 for. They don't care if it's reasonable or not, they just want to fill the internet with bad news about the XB1 cause they are feeling the pressure now and have staked their entire online persona on PS4 crushing XB1...and if it doesn't...they have to admit they were wrong...so it's all about the Smear campaign.

Godmars2903885d ago

Yes. Like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Or this one:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Or this one:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

And who could forget this one - sackboy version:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Overall point: when they talked about media, they talked about everything else. It wasn't just about one and one thing only.

That commercial says that the XB1 is an NFL viewer which has apps which help you watch the NFL.

nukeitall3885d ago

@mars

"That commercial says that the XB1 is an NFL viewer which has apps which help you watch the NFL."

It is called targeted advertisment. Nothing wrong with advertising the most appealing thing, you know NFL viewer, to NFL viewers!

Whoaa... what a revelation and not a total conspiracy theory by a known Sony fangirl!!!

hop3lessfray3885d ago

I feel like both consoles are designed to be that. Microsoft hasn't been shy about it (All in One). Sony has done a better job of catering towards the gamer audience while eventually reminding people briefly at E3 that they're Sony and can offer a shit ton of music, movies, and television shows.

Hicken3884d ago

Bubbles for well said. That's really the bottom line. Rather than spending a bunch of time on it, Sony just reminds people from time to time.

rainslacker3884d ago (Edited 3884d ago )

Is it really necessary to advertise to gamers on TV right now. If it's not available right now, or within a couple weeks, why try to get the regular gamers to buy it. Besides right now GTAV is on everyone's mind, not to mention the other rather high profile games that have come out recently.

We already know almost everything about it, and most of us have made a decision. It would be a waste to spend a lot of money on us right now when a press release will achieve the same thing.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3884d ago
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230°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv7219h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle6h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18813h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio3h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Cacabunga5h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21835h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga4h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

purple1018h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos8h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

XBManiac7h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1016h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic5h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

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300°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere1d 16h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN1d 13h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos1d 10h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN1d 4h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo1d 5h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies1d 1h ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

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

blacktiger1d 13h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Mr Logic23h ago

What a stupid thing to say. The elites give 0 fucks what we say on an obscure website in the comments section.

Crows9023h ago

You can always reach out and give them jobs at your company man. Don't wait

Profchaos1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

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

Tacoboto1d 15h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos1d 14h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long1d 11h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel1d 14h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator1d 13h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10112d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref12d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde12d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197212d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville12d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218311d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos11d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 11d ago
isarai12d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref12d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan12d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00711d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197212d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

12d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197212d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

12d ago
12d ago
Zeref12d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde12d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197212d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197212d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier11d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto12d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218311d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto11d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 11d ago
Hofstaderman12d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts12d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts11d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic11d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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