Next Gen Xbox Reveal Confirmed for May 21

[rell826]

Console sales =/= winning a generation to me at least. The Wii sold the most product on a horrible gimmick, but outside of that it had nothing to offer.

[h1]Xbox One: Microsoft's Mixed Messages[/h1][h2]An analysis of the Xbox One reveal.[/h2]

by Keza MacDonald

May 22, 2013

Confusion reigns in the wake of the Xbox One reveal yesterday. Cast an eye over the games news today, and there are conflicting reports about everything from shared accounts to pre-owned to the nature of the console’s online requirement. The event itself was boldly top-line – here’s what it looks like, here’s what it does, here’s how it changes things – but in attempting to present a simple message, so much crucial information was glossed over that total confusion and speculation have sprung up like weeds in the cracks in our knowledge. The Xbox One is supposed to be an easy-to-understand, all-in-one solution – but currently Microsoft’s messaging is anything but unified.

“

It's genuinely not clear to me at this point whom the Xbox One is aimed at.

It's genuinely not clear to me at this point whom the Xbox One is aimed at. Is it an entertainment box that plays games, or a games console that caters for entertainment? Sony was very up-front about that when it presented the PlayStation 4 to the world back in February: it was pitched very much as a machine designed around both gamers and developers, a games console with other features. For the first 30 minutes of the Xbox One reveal it was essentially pitched as a live TV and sports viewer with a really impressive interface and super-quick, integrated Internet connectivity.

There’s nothing wrong with that as a product - if it works like the conference showed it working, it will be a great product – but it’s confusing to everyone who still sees Xbox as primarily a gaming brand. To announce a new games machine and then not actually show any games save an already-announced Call of Duty, a live-action teaser for a new Remedy game and new EA sports titles is a confusing message.

“

A tangle of obfuscation has sprung up around crucial issues that were passed over in the conference.

Microsoft has outright said several times that it’s saving all that stuff for E3, but that’s a strange decision. Why do half a reveal now, and half in a few weeks? Gamers are the people upon whom Xbox’s brand is built, and they, not the mainstream consumer, were surely the people tuning in excitedly to watch last night. Microsoft has plenty of lip-service to the importance of gaming to the Xbox One, but at the same time it hasn’t really shown anything to back it up. This has sent out mixed signals.

The real tangle of obfuscation, though, has sprung up around crucial issues that were passed over in the conference: technical specifications, internet requirements, and pre-owned games. I don’t know enough about tech specs to find the holes in Microsoft’s information, but this is the Internet, and there are plenty of people who have.

On the subject of the console’s internet requirement, the information wasn’t vague so much as completely contradictory. Don Mattrick came out and said it wasn’t always-online – but then an FAQ  turned up on the Xbox website turned up with the spectacularly conflicted phrasing “it does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet.”

"You do not require an always-on connection to be able to use Xbox One," said Xbox’s UK marketing director. "It is clearly designed to be connected to the Internet, and hopefully from what you've just seen you realize some of the benefits that brings. But if your Internet connection drops, you will still be able to play games, still be able to watch Blu-ray movies, and still be able to watch live TV.” But then it emerged that the console will still need to connect to go online at least once every 24 hours, according to another Microsoft exec Phil Harrison, and possibly more often – we still have no clear idea how this works.

There are two conclusions to be drawn from this: either Microsoft’s various executives don’t know what the deal is with the internet connection requirement, or they couldn’t get the message straight in time for yesterday, settling on vagueness instead of reassurance. Both would be massively uncharacteristic for a company as thoroughly marketing-trained as Microsoft. Either way, the fact that Mattrick and co spent the entire conference talking about other things suggests that they were rather hoping nobody would mention it – not an effective strategy when you’re trying to integrate something that’s clearly going to be unpopular.

“

Surely the best way to approach these issues would have been to be upfront about them and be ready with reassurance.

Another unpopular and unclear issue yesterday was game-sharing and pre-owned sales, which was handled with the same total lack of clarity from Microsoft representatives. After a few hours of back and forth, of talk about sharing games with family but not with friends, of being able to take a game round to a mate’s house and play it but not leave it there, of mandatory hard-drive installs and purchases tied to and apparently verified through Xbox Live accounts, the company eventually settled on a message: “We have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.” That's not good enough.

Surely the best way to approach these issues would have been to be upfront about them and be ready with reassurance about things like server infrastructure and ownership rights, not to purposefully ignore them and then say conflicting things when the press inevitably pushes you on the issue. This is exceptionally poor information management, and points to the broader lack of specifics that surround this whole reveal. We were shown plenty of vision, but no detail. Right now the Xbox One still feels amorphous, despite the fact that we've seen the box.

The last time that a major console reveal inspired such bewilderment was when Nintendo debuted the Wii U at E3 2011. A combination of unclear second-hand reportage and Nintendo’s obfuscating insistence on showing off the controller rather than saying anything at all about the box or its technical specifications meant that many people weren’t clear on whether it actually was a new console, and that misperception carried on right up until launch.

Microsoft is facing a different set of potential misperceptions: it’s not for gamers, it’s not as powerful as the PS4, it won’t let me play used games, it won’t let me use it if it isn’t connected to the Internet. Unless these questions are cleared up well before release the Xbox One will be launching into an atmosphere of confusion, or even suspicion, from many of the people who could be its early adopters and evangelists.

E3 is the second half of this reveal. Right now, there’s a lot riding on it.

 

[ssjjfar]

Console sales =/= winning a generation to me at least.

After console sales, everything else is relative. Some people like PS3 Games more, some people like 360 games more, some people like Wii games more. Some people say this consoles games are better/more fun more w/e. Its all opinion based on whatever one persons preference is, and they will purchase that console based on it, which only leads back to console sales.

Tbh this is first time I can remember where a console war was so close, and throughout the entire time too.(especially between 360 and PS3)

 

[iYen]

Once wiiu comes out with smash brothers online mario kart online zelda online theywill sell like hot cakes

I literally only bought the wii for one game, which was ssb brawl.

 

[lobotomybeats]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

 

[bamez]

a huge part of 360 success was its head start into the next gen.  Even though PS3 is a more powerful machine, for a year the 360 was the only thing out so the following was/still is huge.  3rd party game devs developed games for the only system out, then ported PS3.  Then to add to that success, Live is better than PSN even today, no cross game chat, no playing music from you HDD while you play, consoles come with headsets.  

With these consoles releasing within maybe weeks/months apart, you take that advantage away, and I'm not sure how it will pan out.  I just hope these consoles don't come with composite cables.

 

[Trent Reznor]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

And this is why for the first time in my life I am NOT stoked about any next gen console.

Theres still At LEAST 10 PS3 games I need to play as well as replay a few classics.

I KNOW I won't be copping next gen for quite awhile.


The thing that PS2 and PS3 had above everyone at the time were the DVD and BluRay players respectively.

A LOT of people bought into the next gen so that they could not only have a cutting edge system, but also the newest movie technology as well. Thats not the case anymore with HD streaming available.


I don't see either one being crazy instant successes. Will they sell out? Of course, because Americans are shlubs for anything "new and cutting edge, " but I can see the first year numbers not being what PS2, PS3 and 360 numbers were.

 

[a55a5in11]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

Damn I forgot about this whole thing. Hmm. I wonder if 2k and gta will be brought over to next gen. I wouldn't be mad if I missed 2k though. It's gradually gotten worse since 2k11

 

[Bend_The_Knee]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

Interesting, always thought you were a volleyball-only fan.

 

[a55a5in11]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

Interesting, always thought you were a volleyball-only fan.

Bruh
Professional volleyball league 2k14

 

[Bad Religion]

Xbox One in Japan Remains Uncertain
Unclear messaging leaves questions unanswered.
by Mitch Dyer MAY 23, 2013

"Will the next Xbox be sold in Japan?" is a frequently asked question given the 360's enormous failure in the East -- and it's something Microsoft is still sorting out.

"I think you'll see some announcements in the not too distant future that I think might delight people," Microsoft's Phil Spencer told IGN. The corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios continued, "To me, heading up studios, it's always been a place where we fine the most creative games in the market." That said, the future of Xbox One and Japan still seems uncertain.

Japan remains "an incredibly rich content development community," Spencer said, "and something we're spending a lot of time with and thinking about -- the Japanese creators, and having them creating content on our box and having that show up to the worldwide audience." Japanese-developed Xbox games aren't a terribly new concept, nor do they have a bearing on the console's availability in that particular territory. Will it or won't Xbox One make it to Japan when it debuts "worldwide"?

"We'll get into specific regions later," Spencer said.

Global is Microsoft's goal, of course -- who wants to launch a console without being able to brag about its availability everywhere? -- but it's unclear if Xbox One will actually launch in Japan when it debuts "worldwide" later this year. With delightful announcements inbound, perhaps E3 will better illustrate what Xbox One means for the Japanese market one way or the other.

 

[lobotomybeats]

Interesting, always thought you were a volleyball-only fan.

What made you think that?

 

[derryj3]

[h4]Worldwide sales figures[/h4]

1. Wii – 99.84 million as of 31 March 2013[SUP][8][/SUP]
2. PlayStation 3 – 70 million as of 4 November 2012[SUP][54][/SUP] (IDC January 2013 estimate: "about 77 million")[SUP][55][/SUP][SUP][56][/SUP]
3. Xbox 360 – 74.94 million as of 31 December 2012[SUP][57][/SUP]

WII U vs xbox 1 vs ps4 is a totally different battle my dude.
The motion gimmick is avaliable now on all 3 "next gen" out the gate, and it seems that xbox has the greatest gimmick feature. Save this post and lets see those sales numbers in 5 yrs

 

[derryj3]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

So when you get a new system you just through away the old one? I don't understand the issue here.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Has anyone talked about the unlock fee? It looks like if you buy a used game & want to play it on the new console, you will have to pay full reta price of game in order to play....

 

[Bend_The_Knee]

What made you think that?

Just joking, brah. Randomly threw something out there.

 

[lobotomybeats]

That voice recognition stuff is going to be a ***** if you have a parrot that repeats everything you say.

 

[lobotomybeats]

Just joking, brah. Randomly threw something out there.

Oh, I do enjoy some women's volleyball, though.

 

[curbsideprophet]

^^^ that makes absolutely no f****** sense.

If dude at the used car lot told me I could have my 2000 pontiac grand am for original sales price, I'd backhand him into traffic

 

[bamez]

Has anyone talked about the unlock fee? It looks like if you buy a used game & want to play it on the new console, you will have to pay full reta price of game in order to play....

no one has, tell us moar!

 

[shoelyesses]

The DVD aspect of Blu-ray players, is that before blu-rays, everyone had libraries of DVDs. It's not mainly about buying new DVDs to play in bluray player, its about keeping your old collection of DVDs and still being able to play them without out multiple devices. Its why back in day we had DVD/VHS combo devices, because people still had all their VHS from before DVDs were introduced.

When I got my PS2 way back when, I gave my PS1 to my younger cousin because all my games now worked on PS2, other people just sold there old consoles. No one will be doing that off bat this time around until a lot of games are available.

At launch there is no reason to buy 10 games if your only going to be playing 2-3. Not to mention people usually prefer certain genres to others. I hate racing games, but a lot of people love them. I like RPG games, but a lot of people hate them. I'm gonna buy the game or games I like and Joe is gonna buy the ones he likes.

If there are two action/adventure games out at release day, someone who likes that genre is only going to buy one to start, and maybe after they finish that one will they go out and buy the next one, especially if they hear it is good. Increases in sales in later months usual result from newer people buying console, and from word of mouth of hearing a certain game is good. There are only a few games that (some) people think they must have on their release day, and they usually are franchises like CoD or Madden. In later years it usually results in price drops when it's released as greatest hits. Anyways people DO buy games when they are cheaper. I never said they didn't.
You have that backwards, If someone could sell there 360 for $100 to go towards purchase of X1, they would more easily if they can maintain their collection of games form last several years. The most likely reason they are doing it is to keep cost down and not do what PS3 tried to do. Even though a lot of people will stick with Sony or MS, if they have been with them in past, BC would help sway people to stay with that manufacturer. But it doesn't matter since neither of those two are deciding to do it this time around (via hardware anyways).

Id agree if the wii out of the gate didnt do so  well...Did it have b.c....um not really (yea i know it had gamecube etc...) But it sold out the gate because it was cheaper...had a variety of different games, they were inexpensive, and it had the whole netflix factor. Most ppl dont continously play order games, the reason they have said games is because the trade in value is so low, or perhaps they never really got a chance to play the game much.

Why in the world if i have a xbox one...gta v is out...and im thinking oh i want to play gta iv for 360 but dont want to have to set up the older system. No way i can see someone having a ps4...2k14 comes out and they negate to not only buy the ps4 version but opt to play/buy 2k13 for ps3 and money wasnt a determining factor.

I love old school games...and through emulators just about have every game system and game ever released including mame...but usually i go back to play games either no longer in print, games i missed out on due to not having the money to buy them at the time of release. I dont even see a point in having a collection of games (especially most genres inwhich replay value is non existant) outside of the fact i never got a chance to beat them... or in my case my kids who never experienced playing them...

I loved metal gear solid...but i cant see playing it over and over after ive beaten it...especially when a newer/better version is available on a system i done drop well over 500 bucks on. Nor can i see myself buying the outdated lesser version on a older system...especially when i invested all this money in a newer system, outside of i dont have the funds to buy the new system version.

I loved batman arkham etc... but i cant see years from now wanting to play it again on xbox one...the 360 version, when there is a newer xbox one version out. But i could see someone wanting to buy iy cause its cheap, they never got around to playing it and its a great game. And i think this is why majority of ppl want backwards compatibility. To get games from previous systems they missed out on due to not having the money etc... Or games that were slept on. If it was the majority in your scenario..places like gamestop wouldnt even exist. Majority of ppl who want b.c. isnt ppl who hold games for years and want to play past generation games over and over despite newer and better versions of games/systems have came out.

 

[gllahone84]

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/5-features-new-xbox-that-are-about-to-ruin-everything/

 

[D Double]

Saw that gif earlier, had me rolling.

I'm still going to cop though, x2.
I only play cod and the rest of the time my 360s are used for streaming netflix or comcast on demand or as an extender.
For me it isn't a sony vs microsoft thing anymore, I just like the way xbox integrates and updates their dashboards.
The controller is a big deal too, I can't wrap my hand around a sony controller for longer than 10 minutes(big hands).

The controllers for both have changed for the better.

When the wii u came out, I thought that it wasn't too stellar.
Now, I think that it'll definitely sell more consoles/games than M$/sony.

Have you seen how bad the Wii-U is selling?

Nintendo always wins the console wars they just don't have game sells.

PS1 sold 70 Million more than the N64
PS2 sold 133 Million more than the Gamecube
Wii sold more than the PS3 but a lead that was once 40 million is now down to 20 million since the wii sales have slowed down a lot. Once ps3 starts hitting the 3rd world countries it might even pass it. The PS2 sold 55 million after the PS3 came out and it reached a nice price point.

[h4]Worldwide sales figures[/h4]

1. Wii – 99.84 million as of 31 March 2013[SUP][8][/SUP]
2. PlayStation 3 – 70 million as of 4 November 2012[SUP][54][/SUP] (IDC January 2013 estimate: "about 77 million")[SUP][55][/SUP][SUP][56][/SUP]
3. Xbox 360 – 74.94 million as of 31 December 2012[SUP][57][/SUP]

Once wiiu comes out with smash brothers online mario kart online zelda online theywill sell like hot cakes

Gamecube had all those games and only sold 23 million and the Wii-U at this point in time is selling less than the Gamecube. They need a wii sports or brain training in addition to the marios and zeldas to really take off.

Im wondering why people care so much about the always on issue. Like if you dont have reliable wifi or wifi at all, there are alot of things you are missing out on, besides xbox. Its sort of like an acceptable loss from a business standpoint when weighed against issues like piracy etc

What about soldiers out in the field who want to play some single player games. I've seen some of them angry over the news already.
Internet is not great everywhere.

in all honestly neither of these next gen systems have me wanting to buy out the gate.

the evolution of gaming is not what it once was.

the selling point for these systems forward on will be more about an all in one entertainment system and less about the games because the xbox 360 set a standard for that and people were jumping on that.

Like that fat loser said in that video dont nobody want all this useless crap that we already have access to. stream music and netflix cool. but ll tht other extra crap is not needed. give me games. next gen games.

and i mean next gen games not some cod crap "oh for the next gen consoles we will implement destructable invironments blah blah blah" you mean the **** **** battlefied has been doing for YEARS? oh ok

Did you watch Sony's conference? It was the opposite of this. They focused on the games and showed quite a few.

 

[ncvikingx97]

Does anyone know if 360 controllers will work with the one?

 

[a55a5in11]

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/5-features-new-xbox-that-are-about-to-ruin-everything/

 

[swendro]

The lack of backwards compatibility has us in this weird lame duck period for consoles. It'll be interesting how it affects sales of current generation games. Like NBA2K14. For me, that's usually a release day pick up. What would be the point now because of the lack of backwards compatibility?

So when you get a new system you just through away the old one? I don't understand the issue here.

Seriously. I don't get it. And there's not going to be a next gen conosle for everyone that wants one right away. There's going to be PLENTY of people still buying current gen games, for a long time. Madden 12 came out on the PS2(!).