{"id":1297,"date":"2013-06-07T09:27:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T09:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2013-06-07T09:27:32","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T09:27:32","slug":"xbox-one-how-not-to-do-a-console-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2013\/06\/07\/xbox-one-how-not-to-do-a-console-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"XBox One, How Not To Do A Console Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe how badly Microsoft appear to have got this.<\/p>\n

After the PS4 launch all Microsoft had to do for a more successful launch than Sony was,<\/p>\n

\n

Show the console<\/p>\n

Show some interesting games<\/p>\n

Show some cool features<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But first, the name, XBox One? If I went into a shop to ask for an Xbox One I\u2019d be told \u201cSorry, we don\u2019t sell those anymore\u201d.<\/em> From a marketing perspective I can see why they might go with it. Since they are intent on bringing all your entertainment into one place it sort of makes sense. But in reality it\u2019s ridiculous!  <\/p>\n

Anyway, show the console? Check!<\/p>\n

\"Xbox<\/a><\/p>\n

They talked about hardware specs which sounded ok, but it\u2019s not like I can upgrade the components inside so they are what they are. They promised near silent operation and no repeat of the failure rate of the Xbox 360. If they can deliver that then great. Not something I\u2019d specifically buy one for though.<\/p>\n

Interesting games? Meh. <\/p>\n

Forza 5<\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019ve never had a problem with the Foza franchise and from a graphics perspective it\u2019s good way of showing the capabilities of the new device but\u2026..it\u2019s not going to make me want to rush out and buy one on launch.<\/p>\n

Quantum Break<\/strong> \u2013 ok cool, some new IP! But again at the moment not specifically making me want to part with my cash on day one.  <\/p>\n

Call of Duty: Ghosts<\/strong> \u2013 not for me. If you\u2019re a COD fan I guess this might be interesting but I\u2019ve tried other Call of Duty games and it\u2019s not something I can get excited about.<\/p>\n

and that was it for games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait for E3\u201d we were told! <\/p>\n

And features! Here are a couple that are of note.  <\/p>\n

New controller<\/strong> \u2013 yep ok. I\u2019ve been pretty happy with the controller I currently use but you can always improve right? But once again I\u2019m not going to go rush out buy a console off the back of it. <\/p>\n

\"Controller\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TV \u2013 <\/strong>Let\u2019s get to it then since this is what Microsoft spent more time talking about than anything else. As it\u2019s been said in plenty of other places Microsoft seem to want to build an entertainment system that happens to play games whereas what the majority of people want (i.e gamers) is a games console. <\/p>\n

They talking quite a lot of the inconvenience of having to switch inputs between TV, Blu Ray and games console and how the Xbox One means everything is in one place! Come on, switching inputs isn\u2019t that hard. My kids managed to do it ok and they are seven and four years old! Also if my countries TV system isn\u2019t supported it\u2019s not a lot of use. For me it sounds like a \u201cnice to have\u201d instead of \u201cOMG I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE\u201d. <\/p>\n

Kinect<\/strong> \u2013 Every console will come with one and you have to connect it. I don\u2019t have a a Kinect for my current Xbox for two reasons. First, my living room is setup in such a way it just wouldn’t work and secondly there isn\u2019t anything worth using it for that justifies the cost! That said, Skype is a big deal for me. We\u2019ve got family the other side of the world and currently to use Skype everyone has to crowd around a PC, Laptop or phone and it\u2019s a bit of a pain. Having a large screen and being able to not worry about being seen is cool. But again in the grand scheme of things this is a \u201cnice to have\u201d. I could quite easily replicate this by hooking up a PC to my TV and a camera just above it. <\/p>\n

Cloud \/ Azure<\/strong> \u2013 this could be interesting if developers use it in the right way. Microsoft have an enormous amount of computing power available in their datacentres. Allowing game creators to make use of processing away from the device could make for some interesting experiences. It will likely be some time before developers figure this out though.  <\/p>\n

So as launch it felt ok. But nothing that made me want to rush out and buy one but it caught my interest enough to wait for E3 and see what was next. Games after all are why want this, despite where Microsoft are obviously trying to take this I want games first. Anything else after that will be a nice bonus.  <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t quite understand why Sony and Microsoft did the reveals in this way. If you\u2019re holding stuff back for E3 why not just do it all there? <\/p>\n

But what really ruined it was how they have dealt with the things they hadn\u2019t <\/strong>mentioned.<\/p>\n

There had been plenty of rumours about how the new Xbox would require an always on Internet connection or second hand games would be a thing of the past or how with the required Kinect sensor will having a camera permanently turn on in your living room have an effect on your privacy? <\/p>\n

Instead of just coming out with it they talked in very vague terms that only added to the confusion. On top of that different people were being quoted with totally conflicting information. All of this made it very infuriating when you\u2019re supposedly trying to make people excited.    <\/p>\n

This meant that people were talking about that instead of the launch itself. Twitter, Facebook, forums, gaming sites and blogs were full of people asking for answers. <\/p>\n

It appears Microsoft were a little worried about it so last night they tried to clarify some of those points<\/p>\n

Ouch\u2026.<\/p>\n

Always on<\/strong> \u2013 your console will need to \u201ccheck in\u201d<\/a> at least once ever 24 hours. This is because the discs aren\u2019t really needed. You install the game onto the hard drive and play it from there. It\u2019s a not very obvious way of weaning us all towards digital distribution (games will be available to download on the same day as they are released on disc) and that \u201ccheck in\u201d mechanism is to ensure you\u2019re playing a game that\u2019s tied to your Xbox account. <\/p>\n

Second Hand<\/strong> \u2013 Well they certainly scotched the rumour that Microsoft<\/a> will be taking money for second hand sales. They wont. But the publishers<\/u> now have the option to. Furthermore that link above has a lot info on how \u201cgames licensing\u201d will work. Thing is though a lot of that will be very confusing to the average consumer who just wants to put the disc in and play the game.         <\/p>\n

Privacy<\/strong> \u2013 Kinect will be under your control apparently<\/a>. You\u2019ll be able to pause Kinect sensing and control what happens to pictures and videos. Also,<\/p>\n

\n

When Xbox One is on and you\u2019re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This was the one page that was actually specific around certain scenarios. (I think, the privacy angle is not something I\u2019d given a great deal of thought to) <\/p>\n

This actually hasn\u2019t helped. Microsoft were skirting around the issue during the launch because they knew it might be received badly and I\u2019d say \u201creceived badly\u201d will be an understatement. <\/p>\n

To Microsoft this may sound amazing but there are people who own an Xbox 360 and don\u2019t have an internet connection at all. There a people in the world who get all their internet access from their phone. A permanent fixed connection isn\u2019t always wanted or needed. As it stands these people will be excluded from Xbox One.  <\/p>\n

The second hand sales area is what will be frustrating most people however. The key thing is how Microsoft are talking about it in terms of \u201cgames licensing\u201d. For many years publishers and consumers have seen games in entirely different ways. Under law you never own the game, you are given a license to use the software but that isn\u2019t how consumers see it. If you have a disc (or cartridge) then it\u2019s \u201cyour\u201d game and you can do with it as you wish, even it that means selling it, lending it to a friend or giving it away once you\u2019ve finished with it.<\/p>\n

On top of this there is the money side of things. The second hand sale market hits publishers directly in the pocket. They can only ever make a profit from a game sale once. <\/strong>After that however, other people make plenty of profit from it. Stores such as Game can buy and resell that game many times over, making a profit each time. The whole area of the way Game (and other stores) work the second hand market could make an entirely separate post that as lengthy as this one already is but it\u2019s obvious that publishers want a slice of that money.  <\/p>\n

As I understand it game retailers will need to work with Microsoft to facilitate this system to re-activate the second hand game and pass on the cut to the publisher. If this mechanism is complicated and costly it\u2019ll likely mean big trouble for small independent shops (which will be a travesty if it\u2019s true \u2013 there aren’t enough of them about as it is) <\/p>\n

Sony must have something similar in mind surely? This will have been asked for by the publishers but if Microsoft are going alone on this then Sony will clean up this generation! If I were a retailer and Xbox has this \u201cbaked in DRM\u201d and the PlayStation didn\u2019t then I\u2019d only stock the PlayStation! <\/p>\n

In the run up to a console release you need to drive interest and demand for your product. At the moment everything Microsoft are doing seems to be having the opposite effect and Twitter, Facebook, forums, gaming sites and blogs seem to be full of people who are saying they don\u2019t play on getting an Xbox One. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll need to pull something special out of the bag at E3. <\/p>\n

After all that, looks like that PlayStation 4 reveal wasn\u2019t so bad after all? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe how badly Microsoft appear to have got this. After the PS4 launch all Microsoft had to do for a more successful launch than Sony was, Show the console Show some interesting games Show some cool features But first, the name, XBox One? If I went into a shop to ask for an<\/p>\n

<\/span>Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,34,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaming","category-playstation","category-xbox"],"yoast_head":"\nXBox One, How Not To Do A Console Launch - Andy's Techie Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2013\/06\/07\/xbox-one-how-not-to-do-a-console-launch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"XBox One, How Not To Do A Console Launch - Andy's Techie Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I can\u2019t believe how badly Microsoft appear to have got this. 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