Microsoft cancels post-E3 media roundtable

So then I wonder, will the media (polygon notwithstanding) get the opportunity to ask MS pertinent questions that will yield responses that don't stink of pre-baked tone deaf PR propaganda inundated with jargon and misdirections.
 
jschreier said:
I don't think Microsoft is dumb enough to stonewall after how the Internet reacted to their reveal event, but if that were to happen, I imagine we'd call them out just like we did last month.

So much vitriol in this thread. It's like you're all forgetting that journalists have been trying to get answers from Microsoft for weeks now, and that their answers have been absurd. You're nuts if you don't think every journalist in LA will be trying to get some straight talk about how used games/always online will work on the XBone.
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Oh I wasn't mocking kotaku. I was making fun of Microsoft and how badly they are going to avoid questions at E3. I doubt they will say anything, but they'll spout some words and spin their answers so it makes it look like they answered your questions.
 
Rhindle said:
More like: No reason to have a Q&A when you don't know what the A's are yet.

The broad policy issues are not going to get locked down by next week. They probably won't be sorted out until much closer to launch given all the 3rd parties that need to be involved.

Trotting out a bunch of guys offering speculation and inconsistent messages is the last thing they need.
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They could have sent Major Nelson once again (renember the glorious yahoo live chat)...
He could just give the PR answers like he did back then D:
 
jschreier said:
And no, a roundtable is not more biting than a one-on-one interview. I'm not sure where you're getting this idea.
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Well that's generally the case in other media from what I've seen. I can't think of any group Q&As for video games I've seen though. Not that one on ones ever achieve much.

Really it's just a question of courage. From practically all the gaming press interviews I've seen, (again, except Luke Smith anyway), it's like the press are scared to ever press anything, and never ask any challenging follow ups.

It could be because some viewers find it irritating. There was a pretty big deal made about an interview with Tarantino a few months ago in the UK, the interviewer kept hammering away, rephrasing the same question until Tarantino outright refused to address it. No one in the gaming press I know have nearly the stones to try it.
 
maxcer0081 said:
this sounds like microsoft. it sounds like the same tactics they've been using for the last 3-4 years. multiplat advertising, timed exclusive content, forcing publishers to have parity on games.

my biggest fear is that they force publishers to have parity compared to PS4 games, negating any hardware advantage we might have in our inevitable PS4 purchases.
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I don't think MS is in the position to force anyone to do anything. We've seen nintendo rise and fall (and rise again and fall again), we've seen Sony go from most popular console ever to third place. Are developers really going to bow to MS as if it's a given they will be successful this coming gen? Anyone who even halfways pays attention to videogames should know that absolutely nothing is a given.


I think publishers are siding with MS because MS is giving them money and pushing a stricter DRM scheme. But they aren't going to sever ties with Sony. Because they know just as well as any of us do that a year from now Sony might be at 10 million consoles and MS might be at 2. Or maybe it's the other way around. Crazier shit has happened.


Edit: And if MS has the power to 'force' parity they wouldn't need to be spending so much money right now to hide the fact that it doesn't exist.
 
Seems like DRM is still a go. I knew they weren't going to have answers 2 weeks later. MajorNelson would have answered by now. They have no clear answers and probably won't talk about it till it's close to launch.

June 10th is going to be such an epic day. It sucks Gaf will probably be dead or 80% of it. lol
 
famousmortimer said:
I mentioned the other day that I was hearing rumors of Microsoft throwing around a considerable amount of money to have publishers only show games on the Xbox One during E3. Most people dismissed my admittedly flakey news as 'that's what always happens.'


I've talked to more people since then though and this isn't the usual jostling for publishers on stage that happens at E3. Microsoft is throwing BIG money around to reverse course on idea that they aren't a games console. The rumors are that PS4 versions of multiplats, by those who do take the money, won't be shown AT ALL. Not on stage and not on the show floor.


I don't feel bad for Sony because business is business. I'm sure they will find a way to have a decent show... or they will have to recover afterwards. That's not really my concern.


Now, there's no need to take my word on this if you don't want to. But do keep an eye on E3 next week. With them buying up everything in sight and now potentially cutting an open roundtable out(to assumedly talk one on one with friendly press) and word that finding multiplat games on the ps4 on the show floor will be much harder than anticipated.... just keep an eye on it. Maybe my sources are wrong. But I feel confident enough in this info to share it.


I'm not saying to jump to conclusions. I'm just saying it may be something to keep an eye on.
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This is some ripe bullshit from MS and the publishers that take the money, if true.
 
well this is one way of getting pubs to lead on your console...pressure them to make sure their version is ready for E3 to collect on the money hats.

so I guess we are going to be hearing this alot from 3rd Party devs. "um.....our PS4 builds are not *ready* yet"
 
The truth of the matter is, people have now been saying for weeks that MS will reveal all at the E3 conference with a flourish.
It'll show the games focus, the date, price. Show the console ACTUALLY running. And most of all, assuage any doubts about their new draconian DRM and monitoring practices.

Except, cancelling this means they won't give the answers people want. This is good. MS and other companies NEED to start fearing the press.
 
wth is going on at microsoft?

steve-ballmer-head-in-hands.jpg
 
10k said:
Oh I wasn't mocking kotaku. I was making fun of Microsoft and how badly they are going to avoid questions at E3. I doubt they will say anything, but they'll spout some words and spin their answers so it makes it look like they answered your questions.
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This is something that needs to be taught to PR people:

If you have news that could negatively impact your business, just get it over with and give reasons for your decision, even if that reason is 'profit'. People hate being lied to and dicked around when being screwed over. Better just to screw them over and be done with it. At least you're being honest about it.
 
We're reaching the point where it doesn't actually matter if Microsoft has something to hide that they don't want people to know about the Xbox One before buying it.

The perception that they have something to hide is already doing more damage to their reputation than just coming out and saying what the caveat is would do. And canceling opportunities for the press to be able to ask questions? That really adds to the perception that there's something bad they're not saying.

I have no idea if there is anything, but it looks shady and it's not getting any better with this.
 
jschreier said:
I don't think Microsoft is dumb enough to stonewall after how the Internet reacted to their reveal event, but if that were to happen, I imagine we'd call them out just like we did last month.

So much vitriol in this thread. It's like you're all forgetting that journalists have been trying to get answers from Microsoft for weeks now, and that their answers have been absurd. You're nuts if you don't think every journalist in LA will be trying to get
some straight talk about how used games/always online will work on the XBone.
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I appreciate ya man. You guys are the few who could get any answers
 
Meanwhile on Kotaku

"Hey look at this awesome fan made video about the new kinect"

"Hey look at how many promises were kept from MS's 2012 E3!"

"How awesome was the 360? So awesome!"
 
famousmortimer said:
I don't think MS is in the position to force anyone to do anything. We've seen nintendo rise and fall (and rise again and fall again), we've seen Sony go from most popular console ever to third place. Are developers really going to bow to MS as if it's a given they will be successful this coming gen? Anyone who even halfways pays attention to videogames should know that absolutely nothing is a given.


I think publishers are siding with MS because MS is giving them money and pushing a stricter DRM scheme. But they aren't going to sever ties with Sony. Because they know just as well as any of us do that a year from now Sony might be at 10 million consoles and MS might be at 2. Or maybe it's the other way around. Crazier shit has happened.


Edit: And if MS has the power to 'force' parity they wouldn't need to be spending so much money right now to hide the fact that it doesn't exist.
Click to expand...

Would be suicide to cut ties with Sony. They would lose tenfolds more profit than their perceived loss from used games.
 
famousmortimer said:
I don't think MS is in the position to force anyone to do anything. We've seen nintendo rise and fall (and rise again and fall again), we've seen Sony go from most popular console ever to third place. Are developers really going to bow to MS as if it's a given they will be successful this coming gen? Anyone who even halfways pays attention to videogames should know that absolutely nothing is a given.


I think publishers are siding with MS because MS is giving them money and pushing a stricter DRM scheme. But they aren't going to sever ties with Sony. Because they know just as well as any of us do that a year from now Sony might be at 10 million consoles and MS might be at 2. Or maybe it's the other way around. Crazier shit has happened.


Edit: And if MS has the power to 'force' parity they wouldn't need to be spending so much money right now to hide the fact that it doesn't exist.
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E3 Is supposed to be the industry showcase, hiding your wares is just bloody weird.
I hope you're wrong, but I am a bit downbeat about the show now.
 
And let's be honest, if your idea of a gaming company is one that just throws money at people to buy their shit, without nurturing the development of teams which Sony has spent enormous sums of money doing, then well you have a long hard road of realization ahead just like Microsoft does.
 
My only gripes with kotaku lately was that retarded mass effect week and "boobs from video games from every decade" cause that's what I really needed more of. Definately not saturated thoroughly among all media
 
There's many ways to look at this.

1. They don't know themselves what it is, and how much this is going to restrict/limit gaming

2. They don't know because they are waiting for Sony

3. They are somewhat more scared of answering questions from multiple journalist at one time

4. The know everything and are going to be addressed everything at the presentation (which would be dumber than any of the above, so is highly unlikely)

I'm betting on no.2
 
StuBurns said:
One on one interviews are far less biting than group questions. There's much more opportunity to deflect responses. Not to mention the press have a fairly terrible record of asking any tough questions.

Last time we went through a generation change at least we had Kotaku's very own Luke Smith hammering away at everyone.

(You look like Desmond from Lost, don't you think?)
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Geoff is pretty good at this too. I remember him hitting Reggie with some tough questions during E3 2011, the WiiU reveal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ5KXO4hQ8k

He even tried hitting Mattrick with a DRM question RIGHT after the reveal, which he cunningly answered.
 
I still can't believe that MS managed to get screwed by Sony. I mean Sony had to screw themselves in the process but wow! You gotta give it up to Sony for shocking even their own developers with their reveal. It seems pretty clear now that MS is not ready and are actively scrambling to get things in place. If MS stumbles out of the gate it will be interesting to see how they react and if they could pull a resurgence. Right now, I think MS needs to scale back some of the Xbone stuff and bring back some focus to the 360 for this holiday season because that system is enjoying a lot of positive momentum for them. So far the Xbone has been a clusterfuck
 
SpaceNun said:
And let's be honest, if your idea of a gaming company is one that just throws money at people to buy their shit, without nurturing the development of teams which Sony has spent enormous sums of money doing, then well you have a long hard road of realization ahead just like Microsoft does.
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Eh, that's a little one sided. In the last two years Sony has closed a bunch of studios while Microsoft spent hundreds of millions on new exclusives.


Note: Although the above is true, it's also a one sided view of things.
 
animlboogy said:
The perception probably comes from the way reporters at press conferences tend to shout every prurient question imaginable. We had Infowars dudes yelling at Obama just a few weeks ago!
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A roundtable is not the same format as a podium press conference. A roundtable is a few journalists, interview subjects, and PR people all sitting around a table, usually with a presentation of some sort from the interview subjects, followed by a boring & uncomfortable Q&A.
 
StuBurns said:
Really it's just a question of courage. From practically all the gaming press interviews I've seen, (again, except Luke Smith anyway), it's like the press are scared to ever press anything, and never ask any challenging follow ups.

It could be because some viewers find it irritating. There was a pretty big deal made about an interview with Tarantino a few months ago in the UK, the interviewer kept hammering away, rephrasing the same question until Tarantino outright refused to address it. No one in the gaming press I know have nearly the stones to try it.
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And what has been gained from him refusing to adress it at all? If he doesn't know the answer and/or isn't able to tell you just yet, I don't see a point in constantly pressing anyone. Except it takes time away from other questions people might be interested in.

While gaming is fun and boohey, it's a business first and foremost. That's why the representatives get schooled on the answers the company wants to get out. If they don't know/can't tell you the answer to a question, then they simply don't know or can't tell you. You won't get anything out of them anyway if you repeatedly ask. Has that ever really worked? I don't think so.

It's a business, people. Stocks can crash, people can get fired et al. if some representative screws up and gives out information he/she isn't supposed to. That's why they are so very careful in their wordings and that's why it's astonishing how badly MS screwed the Xbox DRM thingy up.
 
If there are any devs lurking, we are counting on you to do the right thing for the future of gaming and the future of your own credibility.
 
Say what you will about Kotaku, I feel like J and his colleagues have been doing a good job pushing MS on questions. I feel they have done more than say...IGN or some of the other major publications.
 
jschreier said:
We still have one-on-one appointments scheduled AFAIK.
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But is it easier for them to manage one journalist rather than more?

It's great that you'll be able to get answer easily. But I'm sure that the PR guy is much more happier for this than journalists are, since they can manage their exec easily.
 
It's pretty much a given with this latest development that they're planning to bring their flawed xBone to the market as is with no further changes to appease the pissed off potential customers.

By preventing further discussion they're hoping for a positive wave of game announcements to overshadow the DRM clusterfuck that casual consumers won't be aware of.

They'll likely try and stonewall questions on the DRM/used games matters until after release of the system.

Can you imagine the balls on these fuckers? It makes the arrogant disrespectful PR Sony trotted out at the PS3 launch pale into insignificance compared to Microsoft's current attempt to blindside potential customers with this anti-consumer bullshit.

They're never going to change or even be willing consider the customer view of these grievances.

Fuck that.
 
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