Microsoft Conference: Will they Bring It Like Sony Did?
- Thread starter RyanReedyMusic
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CliffyB's Cock Holster
I really can't see MS changing course marketing-wise with the new XBox from where they have been driving 360 for the last 3 years. Why would they? Its working for them (in the all-important NA market anyway), so why risk changing tack and losing momentum?
More than that though the current approach is reflective of MS long-standing desire to lock down the living rooms of America; games were just a means to an end and most if not all of the original 360 team with a slant towards gamer-centricism are long gone.
As I've said, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them throw gamers a bone or two at the outset, just to show that they remember who got them to the prom in the first place, but I believe it won't be much more than a token gesture.
XBox is MS entertainment brand, gaming is just part of that.
More than that though the current approach is reflective of MS long-standing desire to lock down the living rooms of America; games were just a means to an end and most if not all of the original 360 team with a slant towards gamer-centricism are long gone.
As I've said, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them throw gamers a bone or two at the outset, just to show that they remember who got them to the prom in the first place, but I believe it won't be much more than a token gesture.
XBox is MS entertainment brand, gaming is just part of that.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
The only thing I remember Sony bringing was RAM.
No Killzone is like every other shooter aside from it's graphics. I can't think of any other game that looks or plays anything like Halo( except for maybe Destiny in the gameplay dept) whether you like Halo or not, it's not "just like every other shooter"frankly there was nothing at all special about Killzone 2 beyond it's graphics. Not a horrible and it's competently made, but it did absolutely nothing for me. Even the new one they showed had great graphics but the gameplay didn't move me. It was basically the same shit but prettier.
Again i have to point out the expanding of first party studios, new startups, and the amount of talent they've been hiring there( from the likes of Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Irrational, People Can Fly , Ubisoft etc) would suggest they are doing a bit more than a "token gesture".
They brought streaming and recording any game whenever you want which is great.
Chuck Norris
Banned
I haven't played Killzone 3, but Killzone 2 was quite unique in its gameplay. Very heavy and deliberate
statham
Member
don't forget the share button!
fatgamecat
Member
I'd guess PS4 will have slightly more memory width, while Xbox 3 will have a slightly better CPU/GPU. And of course those slight differences will be exaggerated to mountainous proportions. They'll both look pretty much the same.
I dont know why you had to say KZ since I did not even mention it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5N-CRrP9xjQ#t=183s
How original. There are so many new ideas and unique gameplay moments that are new here that it just astounds me. I have never seen gameplay like this before.
Since you brought KZ into the topic for some reason I liked KZ2 and hated 3 and have given ample reasons why many times. I am not looking forward to KZ SF as well judging by what I have seen. Halo has become the same drab like every other shooter. Nothing more nothing less. If you enjoy it more power to you.
KZ2's campaign pretty much put me off the rest of the series. It didn't really wow me with the gameplay story or Kerberos erm i mean Helghast( sorry i keep getting them confused with each other for some reason.) Halo is the only shooter that i still get hyped for before release. and Killzone's gameplay just doesn't match up, to it. Even Halo 4 which is supposedly a "bad" Halo game is far more fun to play than Killzone can ever hope to be.
Great but both things that MS have been rumored to be bringing since June of last year. A large part as to why I think Sony was eager to announce first. They are tired of being seen as behind the curve when it comes to things like this.
MS has only one possible way of having me get a 720 at launch (for reasonnable reasons, I may get it just because it's a new console and I'm a whore...):
Spartan OPS season 2 with next-gen graphics. or BIG new IP that smells like MS broke the bank for it.
Destiny on PS4 is the shit (best console hardware, possibly free MP, VITA, 360-level controller), and nothing Kinect 2 can do will change that.
Spartan OPS season 2 with next-gen graphics. or BIG new IP that smells like MS broke the bank for it.
Destiny on PS4 is the shit (best console hardware, possibly free MP, VITA, 360-level controller), and nothing Kinect 2 can do will change that.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
I just have a hard time coming up with what would be available for the next Xbox at launch. 343 just launched Halo 4 a little over 4 months ago, a new Gears game launches next month, and aside from Turn 10 a lot of their other studios are unproven or have lost a lot of talent (Rare for instance). Guess that makes the Microsoft conference all the more interesting to keep an eye on, however, I still remember the last years conference and there are several games that were first party announced then that haven't been spoken of since. Remember Ascend: New Gods, Matter, and Lococycle? Those were all announced at E3 last year and barely any details have come out since. Would this year be any different?
My point is there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the games for the next Xbox. The people that are suggesting they would money hat a 3rd party game like Call of Duty or Respawn's new game are living in Fantasy Land.
Edit: In comparison I could name 5 proven Sony studios that I know are due for a game in the first year of the PS4 beyond the 3 studios that announced on the 20th.
My point is there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the games for the next Xbox. The people that are suggesting they would money hat a 3rd party game like Call of Duty or Respawn's new game are living in Fantasy Land.
Edit: In comparison I could name 5 proven Sony studios that I know are due for a game in the first year of the PS4 beyond the 3 studios that announced on the 20th.
OldJadedGamer
Banned
Reading GAF recently it sure seems that way.
Actually they have been hiring a lot f new talent ( Rare for instance) lately, you should check out the "4 new IP's" thread. Black Tusk has a lot of good people in it as well. Maybe MS ain't so good when it comes to acquiring devs, but going by Turn 10 and 343I they seem to e pretty good at building them. Lionhead and Rare supposedly have multiple teams working on games. So i am looking forward to seeing what they have been working on all this time. Black Tusk especially since unlike 343I they aren't taking over an established IP, so there are no real expectations there.
Yeah you people have been pushing this hard in every thread about MS lately, you better hope you are right. Or else you're going to look kind of silly if it doesn't play out that way. Just sayin...
Its got RAM in it?
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
I followed that thread for awhile, and yes they do seem to be acquiring devs for their studios, but 2 questions stick out.
1. How many of these teams are Kinect focused?
2. They have been acquiring a lot this talent very recently, so realistically how far along are those studios with their games?
I not trying to be snarky, but legitimately interested. So many people keep saying Microsoft is going to focus heavily on the core gamer as well, but am having a hard time visualizing with what.
Kinect, Racer, Shooter, and maybe Windows 8 integration. Rest will be social this and media that.
In retrospect, the Sony one was not super amazing, yet what I got out of it is is that its easier for developers, many features have potential, and Sony is more core gamer focused.
I'm sure they will have some secret announcement though, especially if they are actually having their own event. Maybe they'll push square enix to reveal their next FF at the MS event with some timed exclusivity or something.
In retrospect, the Sony one was not super amazing, yet what I got out of it is is that its easier for developers, many features have potential, and Sony is more core gamer focused.
I'm sure they will have some secret announcement though, especially if they are actually having their own event. Maybe they'll push square enix to reveal their next FF at the MS event with some timed exclusivity or something.
Interfectum
Member
Sony's not a gaming company and they have all of those apps coming to PS4. They even have a dedicated 'share' button that will most likely be synced with whatever social account you want.
digoutyoursoul
Member
One thing I have learned throughout the years of gaming is nothing is certain (maybe apart from the Jaguar failing). To say they don't bring anything, I'm sure Nintendo and Sony especially would love a Halo or a Gears on their platform or some of that Xbox Live money. They were the first to really set up online console gaming which I was glad after trying the horrendous PS2 online set up.
I admit I'm skeptical myself but to completely dismiss them without knowing anything about their upcoming portfolio is ridiculous in my opinion.
Don't forget Core Publishing Studio, as it would appear, going by a job description last year, that Microsoft are investing $300 million dollars to publish 3rd party developer games over the next couple of years. It will be intersting what games they will launch with considering Halo, Gears and Forza have all been released recently.
Kill Your Masters
Member
And games... Also the share button is a gaming related feature. They even changed their architecture to allow better game development.
You're right but it's been 2 E3's without them showing anything and focusing on Kinect, social applications. It's a trend that is hard to leave or modify in my opinion. They fully embraced the "closed platform" model and are trying to enclose you in their universe as much as they can with stuff other than gaming.
1. Who knows, really? There was little to no mention of Kinect in most of the hiring posts or info. The only Studios that have been said to have "Kinect focus" was
Kids and Lifestyle Entertainment
Playful Learning
Good Science Studio
Rare is called a "Kinect studio" these days but right now signs are pointing to them working on multiple projects, at least one is thought to be a racer, and another a shooter of some kind.
2. Vancouver before being renamed "Black Tusk" has been around for a few years now and worked on Microsoft Flight i believe( feel free to correct me if i am wrong , i probably am) but there is no telling how long they have been at work on this new shooter game. I think they should have at least something to show, maybe at E3. The other new teams are unknown though.
Exactly. Sony is an electronics company that also happens to make games, just like MS is a software company who happens to make games, only Nintendo is a games company.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
That would sound to me like a fund set aside for Epic to continue helping with Gears, which won't be a launch title because Judgement comes out next month, and for devs without a publisher like Indies, a community that wont need a publisher on the other platforms. I am sure gearbox would be interested in some of that though.
digoutyoursoul
Member
I know what you mean, the best thing people can do who dissatisfied is not invest in Xbox, don't buy the games and don't subscribe/renew again for Gold. It's a business, the only way for them to listen is if enough people vote with their wallet however lets see what Durango is all about first.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Yea too bad there's nothing suggesting Durango will have the more powerful GPU. =|
Looking through that I don't see anything about recording and sharing gameplay, is there another link I should be looking for?
Background DVR != Sharing and PS3 did the whole background DVR thing first with Torne.
/shrug
Naked Lunch
Member
Microsoft won't have to do much. Outside of eye candy - wasnt too impressed with Sony's showing.
Sony's controller is butt and hasnt changed in over a decade. Analog placement is terrible. Missed opportunity. Pretty much seals I wont be getting a PS4 till its first major price drop.
Share button is stupid. Outside of fighting game tournaments or something who seriously watches or cares about what other people do in videogames.
I havent been impressed with Sony's online service yet on any console and im sure MS' new Live will be even more improved.
Sony's controller is butt and hasnt changed in over a decade. Analog placement is terrible. Missed opportunity. Pretty much seals I wont be getting a PS4 till its first major price drop.
Share button is stupid. Outside of fighting game tournaments or something who seriously watches or cares about what other people do in videogames.
I havent been impressed with Sony's online service yet on any console and im sure MS' new Live will be even more improved.
That would sound to me like a fund set aside for Epic to continue helping with Gears, which won't be a launch title because Judgement comes out next month, and for devs without a publisher like Indies, a community that wont need a publisher on the other platforms. I am sure gearbox would be interested in some of that though.
The job description clearly implied that it would be used for new IPs, and I am sure Microsoft has already dumped a load of cash in Epic's bank account for the Gears series.
This is ridiculous. Sony's big holiday tentpole release last year was Playstation All Stars, which bombed. Their recent E3s were full of non-selling trash like Move and Wonderbook.
Yet, Sony seems to have a very large emphasis on big budget games with the PS4.
You can't judge what these new consoles are going to be like out of the gate based on the previous models.
By the way, the RAM thing is eye rollingly dumb. Nintendo also paid out the ass for fancy RAM in the N64, and that didn't exactly do them any favors since the good games for that platform were few and far between.
At the end of the day, people care about software. That is ALL they care about. Gaming hobbyists at the fringes (i.e. us) like having console spec circle jerks. The general public just does not give a shit. It's as if none of us has learned the lessons of the Wii and the popularity of iOS gaming. If the Wii U was properly marketed, with games people wanted, it wouldn't be having issues at the moment.
For you, obviously.
But they will have to really bring it if they want to gain more than just the diehard Xbox crowd. This applies to all of the big 3.
lol If that's all it took to get you to not buy a PS4, you might want to consider another hobby because that's pretty petty.
Plenty of new games, full BC and excellent controller would do it for me.
Horsemama1956
Member
I shut off the conference when I saw the controller. When they said they were retiring the Dual Shock, I thought they meant the incredibly shitty stick placement. The gimmicks they slapped on it didn't help either.
As long as MS doesn't add a bunch of gimmicks to the controller, and mess with it too much, the next Xbox would be my choice in console.
we are talking about PR, right? They can do whatever they want...they can focus on core gamers in this reveal.
Chuck Norris
Banned
The controller looks much improved actually.
Maybe, maybe not.
I think they'll do more than make a token gesture. I think they'll put in at least 2 years worth of effort. Hopefully more but based on this gen probably not.
I think they actually might go considerably further than the PS4 in terms of games for at least the first year. In terms of other stuff though they might not do as much, for example providing free online, having features to match what was shown at the recent Sony conference, etc.
I also think that they might try cover too many bases and that may cause them problems. Over reaching and trying to do everything entertainment-wise might lose them customers.
TheContact
Member
Who here thinks Microsoft with announce a partership with Twitch.tv?
Microsoft is going to either need to match Sony's plans or beat them. While Sony will allow people to take screenshots and record then upload to YouTube, current PC clients like Origin already have Twitch integration, allowing people to stream their games effortlessly. With the new architecture this generation, it will be easier to stream your console games online without too much impact on performance. I think if MS came out and announced this feature it would sway a lot of would-be early PS4 adopters, probably myself included.
Microsoft is going to either need to match Sony's plans or beat them. While Sony will allow people to take screenshots and record then upload to YouTube, current PC clients like Origin already have Twitch integration, allowing people to stream their games effortlessly. With the new architecture this generation, it will be easier to stream your console games online without too much impact on performance. I think if MS came out and announced this feature it would sway a lot of would-be early PS4 adopters, probably myself included.
AppleSmack
Banned
I wonder what they can do to top Sony. Those IPs they have been working on better be good.
Boss Man
Member
This. And I think they will too.
E3 is going to be the real battle.
Edit: Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft made a deal with Twitch.tv. MS is going to bring more 'names' to their box I think. I think MS knows the U.S. market very well, bigger names carries huge significance to us.
Do you really think it is that important a feature. Cool, yes but seems like something only a certain niche of hardcore people will get into. I play a hell of a lot of games but have no interest in recording or uploading my own stuff.
Put it this way, I don't think it'll harm MS too much if they don't match Sony on this particular feature.
So you're dismissing the console because Sony didn't make a 360 pad? I dont even.
Ps4 has built-in streaming already, it's not with twitch though.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
When did Phil go to Microsoft?
WrenchNinja
Member
Its either because deals arent ready, Twitch doesnt want to do it, or theyve went with Microsoft.
No, it's not. I bought pretty much all my shooters this gen on a 360 because of the controller. The DS3 is putrid for shooters. There is nothing sweeter than blowing yourself up because you brushed one of the triggers and tossed a grenade at your feet.
And then the non-offset sticks made my thumb joints ache.
It's just a bad design for shooters.