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Xbox One

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Nikkoru:
Here's my analysis, post-research.

If you have nothing solid to say about your console, don’t reveal your console. This isn't magical insight gleamed from a crystal ball here. Just don’t do it until it’s ready! And for all these policy ideas regarding the system which you're playing around with, don't leak them only to preform a soft semi-retraction a tweet or two later. This is basic PR 101 here people, hell, it's Sun Tzu,

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”

Replace "enemy" with "customer" and "battle" with "fuck you" and you pretty much get the idea of why they have their heads up their asses.

If they thought ANY of these stupid ideas would fly with consumers, then they obviously don’t have any idea how a customer-based industry works, and I could run their company better.

For one, don't advertise your game console as a Smart TV Box - that's what any gamer ever would describe as a feature not the purpose of the machine. If it is the purpose of the machine, don't call it X-Box. Video gaming is not an afterthought in this context, not something you mention halfway in as a feature to your totally awesome fantasy football Skype machine. Secondly, if you have nothing to show your core audience, then show nothing and postpone it until you have SOMETHING of substance to show. We (read non-XBOX fanboys) were ever-so-pissed-off that there was nothing to talk about here except the aforementioned nebulous rumours of doom and our reaction to them was OMGWTFBBQYOUBASTARD S because there's nothing for us to love here. If you want consumers to ignore the stick you intend to wallop them with you've got to have one hell of a shiny carrot dangling there. Thirdly, don’t make a console dependent on something that can see or hear you all the time; For one, it's goddamn creepy, for another there’s privacy concerns to think about. I don't think we believe in the infallibility of network security if we ever did, and that's a lot of trust were putting into a corporation which I frankly lack in every regard. What if their servers got hacked or MS decides to do market research and generally use your Kinect to go big brother on your ass?

This is not quantum mechanics here people, this is common sense and basic respect for the audience you intend to sell your shit to. And the fact that a lot of people at Microsoft never thought of any of these things tells me there’s a good number of people in the Xbox development team that deserve to be fired.

As to what they've released thus far. I will tentatively address them under the assumption that they may change (but probably not, again, assholes).

Why should I care about daily internet requirement?

I personally spend several weeks during the year in a place without internet connectivity, I know people who have no stable internet connection (shock of shocks) who still enjoy gaming as a hobby. It doesn't benefit me at all as a consumer while inconveniencing me unnecessarily.

It is not just about internet connectivity. Its also about being completely tied down to a network like this. With this everything is tied to XBL, and if it fails so does every single console sold regardless of having a proper high speed internet connection. What happens when the servers get shut down like original Xbox live? Will we just have abandon everything we invested in because we simply won’t be able to use it anymore? Will we be required to buy Xbox-two to keep what we've earned and payed for?

Those are the issues that come from a “feature” or rather system requirement like this.

Used/loaned/traded/rented game restrictions.

On a personal note, I have done all of the above. In fact, I've as many used games as new. This is one perk for a console gamer that PC gaming can't replicate. However, companies like Steam have gotten far better at adjusting their pricing to meet consumer demand. What are the chances that MS are going to keep prices inflated to maintain their cut? I want a reason to buy a console and making them more PC-like is not the solution, particularly when you're half-way through the system's life cycle and superior gaming computers are being released for cheaper.

A great deal of assurance in shelling out 60$ for a new game, is that you can trade it in for a percentage of the expense later and buy more games. While I agree that some aspects of the used market should be changed, like returning games the same month of purchase to flood the market with slightly cheaper used copies during the important game launch, I buy games months or even years after the release well after it has much tangible benefits to publishers. After all, it might make me want to buy their next game all the more.

The XBOX one basically reduces itself to glorified and vastly overpriced rental system. You don’t own anything, you are just spending a lot of your money to rent a game for a really long time, and when the network drops your rental period ends.

New restrictions on independent games

Xbox Live does not allow independent developers to self-publish anymore, forcing them to go through MS for everything. This to me is worst  of the worst here. The XBLA was the main point of differentiation that made Xbox a gamers system. After all they're putting these little guys with innovative ideas out there on a marketplace where they're seen and can get paid for their work, creating some absolute gems and opening up gaming in new directions for the console market.

Well, now Sony and Nintendo are that, where MS was years ago. Just fuck MS.

Edit: And X-Box One... really? Really? That's what you went with? Was this seriously focus-grouped or something, I can't think of anyone saying it's a good name. It's a minor quibble, but added into the whole presentation it's just symptomatic of the utter lack of polish they put into it. Not that X-Box was a super-cool name or anything, but it was unique like the Wii, this is just confusing.

SeventyX7:
I'm pretty sure they DID focus group everything.  They just didn't focus group the target demographic of the 360.  I have a strong suspicion Microsoft wants to broaden their audience in the same way the Wii did last generation.  Microsoft sees all this money on the table in the form of not just casual gamers, but non-gamers. 

The Xbox One reveal was actually incredibly telling.  It was as if they were presenting to themselves.  They were revealing their own wet dreams of taping into the market of "everyone."

The problem is, people still aren't going to buy the Xbox One unless they play games. 

Nikkoru:

--- Quote from: SeventyX7 on May 25, 2013, 05:08:33 AM ---I'm pretty sure they DID focus group everything.  They just didn't focus group the target demographic of the 360.  I have a strong suspicion Microsoft wants to broaden their audience in the same way the Wii did last generation.  Microsoft sees all this money on the table in the form of not just casual gamers, but non-gamers. 

The Xbox One reveal was actually incredibly telling.  It was as if they were presenting to themselves.  They were revealing their own wet dreams of taping into the market of "everyone."

The problem is, people still aren't going to buy the Xbox One unless they play games.

--- End quote ---

I just can't imagine anyone going "X-Box One, now that's a catchy name" and most people would assume you're talking about the first X-Box just as you need to distinguish the PSX from its successors. Throw in the fact that the rumour names were acceptable-verging-on-cool like the 720, Fusion, or even Durango, and the obvious pun that's sitting right in fun of you to mock this system, it's just baffling. Then again, I really don't care what a system's called. The Wii is a silly name as well, and I've bought two of them at this point.

I think the main problem isn't the gaming, clearly a margin of the market will come to them regardless when their one or two system sellers will be hyped and some people just won't see beyond that. What their problem is that people don't want one device to do everything. This is something Sony learned at its expense just a few years ago. I like having a tablet, a laptop, a television, a phone, a gaming console - it seems counter-intuitive that people should want several devices when they compress them into one or two - but it makes it cheaper and easier to replace when they inevitably improve the tech or repair when any one misfires. Smart televisions are going to keep getting better and better, and your X-Box One won't. It's going to be redundant with other, better options and they won't be restricted by MS with its profit models.

It's like they want to be Apple, but don't quite understand how to go about it. They don't take an evolving and ill defined technological trend which exists in its nascent form and try do it better while branding it as there own, they come in somewhere after the trend's been established and take existing ideas and market the hell out of it until they get some of that pie. It's less profitable than being a trailblazer, but much more secure for stockholders. Thus we get this homogenized entertainment platform that hits two dozen existing trends but just fails in the "WOW!" factor or obvious usevalue Apple can summon up in its dreariest days as the novelty isn't there. When hipsters say mainstream, they are it.

I don't even like Apple, but you have to respect their understanding of themselves and their consumers which has made them so ungodly profitable.

Something I forgot to mention that I've seen raised as a legitimate concern.

The storage space is going to be a hassle with a forced install. If you are buying games, installing apps and DLC, and storing other media into the system, I suspect that you'll be paying for more space down the road.

Bob2004:

--- Quote from: Nikkoru on May 25, 2013, 02:33:14 AM ---“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”

--- End quote ---

I actually used this exact quote in my marketing and strategy exam last week, coincidentally enough.

I think  it could just be their attempt to differentiate themselves from Sony and Nintendo, who are probably going to be producing straight gaming machines (although doubtless targeting different parts of the games market), so you can sort of understand what they're aiming at with the unified entertainment system nonsense.

But I think it's a bad idea unless all the different markets your device is aiming at have a lot of overlap, and you're appealing to all those different parts. Xbox, as a brand is (obviously) considered a gaming brand. You think Xbox and it's about games. Which means, you're unlikely to appeal to many people who aren't interested in a gaming machine, which frankly eliminates a large part of the market for a unified entertainment thing which they can use with their TV. It's mostly only going to sell to the gaming market, regardless of function.

But gamers, for the most part, want to play games. They may or may not want a TV entertainment system, I imagine many of them do, but games are their priority. They are also going to be fairly well informed as to the features of the product before they buy it. So what Microsoft have done is tell the games market that their device is going to be less focused on games (which people generally take to mean as "less good at games"), which is going to piss them off, in an attempt to appeal to other markets which are going to have very limited interest because it is still being thought of as a games machine with extra features.

If Microsoft wanted to create what they seem to have created, they should have called it something other than "Xbox", IMO. It would be better to either create a dedicated games console (taking the same middle-of-the-road marketing position they did with the previous two consoles would work well), or create something which isn't a games console at all. Not both.

Or maybe they're banking on people having forgotten about all the problems and restrictions by the time it launches and just buying it anyway. Which honestly isn't out of the question, knowing gamers.

rostheferret:

--- Quote from: Nikkoru on May 25, 2013, 06:59:17 AM ---It's like they want to be Apple, but don't quite understand how to go about it.
--- End quote ---

Y'know, this is EXACTLY what I was thinking. There is quite literally nothing here that interests me in the slightest. The games gear towards FPS and Sports. I can't stand the former without my mouse and can't stand the latter full stop, and even if I did, the idea of flipping off independent developers who innovate new ideas and forcing me to not buy used games, which most of my collection is made up of seeing as I have plenty of stuff that I missed in previous years to keep me occupied and I'd rather not shell out £50 when I can spend £10 instead, seals the no-buy deal. Internet here is notorious for having hours of random downtime. It doesn't happen often, but I hardly entertain the idea that I can't use a service I've paid for because they can't log me into an unsecure server and watch me masturbate, especially seeing as I never really use the online multiplayer. That's ignoring the fact that they're gearing this to be an overpriced cable box, which is the most pointless damn thing I can ever imagine. I have never sat there watching a film and thought to myself, I want to ignore whats actually happening in the film and remove myself from this immersion they've created to google someones name. I've never had the compulsion to sit there talking over skype whilst enthralled by a TV show. If I wanted to watch something with MY friends, I'd GO OVER THERE AND WATCH IT WITH MY FRIENDS. And even if for some reason I did want this function, I would want to pause the programme so I didn't miss anything, and then want some sort of keyboard in order to conduct my search. A keyboard such as the one at my PC a few feet away, or on the phone in my god damn pocket. But hey, now I'm ranting pointlessly because this whole half a speech about TV isn't even relevant because their major new feature isn't going to be available here (in the UK) at launch.  I don't need a media player. I have a god damn media player. It's called an HDMI cable that runs from my PC to my TV and I'm betting it'll work a whole lot better than their latest and greatest.

I've been relatively happy so far with the consoles Sony have put out, but I'm no loyalist. If one company shits in a bag and another hands me something awesome, I don't particular care what name is stuck on the front, but I'm having real difficulty imagining any other way they could have persuaded me NOT to buy their product.

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